Saturday, November 03, 2007
SIXERS NEWS
After an encouraging win over the Bulls last night the Sixers returned to the Wachovia center tonight for their home opener against the New Jersey Nets. Thanks to a triple double by Jason Kidd and a game high 20 points from Richard Jefferson the Nets pulled out the win, despite another gritty performance from the Sixers. Offensively, 6 Sixers(Andre Iguodala, Andre Miller, Samuel Dalembert, Kyle Korver, Louis Williams, and Rodney Carney) scored in double figures. Defensively, Samuel Dalembert piled up 4 blocks and 9 rebounds, Reggie Evans racked up 11 more rebounds, and Kyle Korver, yes Kyle Korver capped off a double double with 11 rebounds of his own. However, it was all not enough tonight. The Sixers led early 19-17 after the 1st period. The Nets rallied ahead in the 2nd period, taking a 38-34 lead into the half. New Jersey increased their lead to 67-57 after the 3rd period. In the 4th period the Sixers rallied to twice cut the Nets lead down to 2 , but threes, first by Bostjan Nachbar and then by Kidd helped the Nets stay ahead. Andre Iguodala hit a three pointer of his own, to help the Sixers get back to within 3 with 4 minutes to play. However, Dalembert missed 4 of his 8 free throws over those final 4 minutes and the Sixers never got any closer falling to the Nets 93-88. So the Sixers drop to 1-2 overall, but you have to like how they go out and play as hard they can every night. Eventually playing that hard consistently will pay off them.
EAGLES NEWS
Tomorrow the Eagles will play their biggest game of the season thus far when they take on T.O and the NFC East leading Dallas Cowboys at the Linc in primetime. If they win, they'll be right back in the thick of things and brimming with confidence. If they lose however, they'll be all but out of the picture in the NFC East and possibly in the NFC playoff picture as well.
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers return to action Monday night in New York against their archrival the Rangers.
Friday, November 02, 2007
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers took the tough loss on Wednesday in their season opener against Raptors, today they pulled out a tough win over the Chicago Bulls in Chicago. Andre Iguodala had another solid game with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists. Andre Miller actually led the Sixers with 25 points, Willie Green chipped in for another 13 points, and Reggie Evans and Samuel Dalembert picked it up big time in the front court with 9 points and 9 rebounds, and 14 points and 11 rebounds respectively. On the whole the Sixers ruled the boards with 55 to just 36 for the Bulls and that ultimately proved to be the difference. The Sixers jumped out to an early 28-20 lead after the 1st quarter. Chicago rallied to within 1 at the half(42-41). The Sixers pushed back ahead by 10, at 71-61 after the 3rd quarter. In the 4th quarter with Iguodala posting 11 of his 22, the Sixers pushed further ahead for a 75-63 lead. The Bulls rallied one final time halfway through the quarter to cut the lead to 81-79, but Andres Nocioni missed a three to put Chicago ahead. From there with just under 4 minutes to play Dalembert dunked and Miller converted a 3 point to play to push the lead back up to 87-80 and that was enough for the Sixers to hold on for a 96-85 win. So the Sixers even their record at 1-1. Hey, maybe they're not so bad after all, or maybe the Bulls are just getting off to their usual slow start, who knows.
FLYERS NEWS
That's more like it. The Flyers got back on track tonight, with 3 goals, and 29 shots on goal, to 26 shots on goal for the Washington Capitals. At same time, Antero Niittymaki, yes Antero Niittymaki sparkled with 24 saves, and the Flyers got the much needed win. Washington led early 1-0 in the 1st period on a goal by Tomas Fleischman. The 2nd period belonged to Philadelphia with goals from Daniel Briere, and Mike Richards for a 2-1 lead. Early in the 3rd period R.J Umberger made it 3-1 with a power play goal. Wunderkind, Alexander Ovechkin scored a power play goal of his own, late in the period, but it was too little too late, as the Flyers hung on to win 3-2. So the Flyers improve to 8-4, and now remain in 1st place in the Atlantic division.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
FLYERS NEWS
This 7 game road trip is just beating up on the Flyers right now. After tonight, through 4 of the 7 games the Flyers are a measly 1-3 and they're struggling to score goals. Tonight in Montreal against the Canadiens, they had only 19 shots on goal to 37 for the Canadiens, and just 2 goals to 5 for the Canadiens. Mike Richards and and Scottie Upshall scored the 2 goals. As for Marty Biron, he came up with 36 saves, but it was all for naught, as the Flyers defense just kept breaking down in front of him, allowing odd man rush after odd man rush, and putting Biron in impossible positions, hence the 5 goals. Saku Koivu put Montreal up 1-0 early in the 1st period. Mike Richards drew the Flyers even late in the period on power play goal. Goals from Alexei Kovalev and Tom Kostopoulos pushed montreal back ahead 3-1 in the 2nd period. More goals from Guillaume Latendresse and Chris Higgins helped the Canadiens increase their lead to 5-1 in the 3rd period. Finally, Scottie Upshall, tacked on a meaningless goal for the Flyers with about 30 seconds left in the 3rd. So in the end the Orangle and black fell 5-2, to drop to 7-4 overall but somehow still remain in 1st place by a point over the Penguins. Still, their performance tonight is not going to cut it for the rest of the season and they're going to have to start getting back on defense and putting more shots on goal from now on, or this will be a long season for the Flyers.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
SIXERS NEWS
Ahh growing pains, that's what the Sixers experienced tonight. 23 points and 8 rebounds out of Andre Iguodala, and 20 points, including 4 threes, by Kyle Korver were not enough for the Sixers tonight in their season opener against the Raptors. Early on they were right with Toronto, trailing by only a score of 58-50 at halftime. However, with Andrea Bargnani scoring 7 points early in the 3rd quarter the Raptors surged to a 22 point lead with 6 minutes to play in the period. Somehow, with new Sixer Reggie Evans pulling down rebound after rebound, and Korver hitting threes, the Sixers were able to cut into lead and get back to within 14 (81-67) heading into the 4th quarter. There with continued dominance on the boards, they were to cut the Raptor lead all the way down to 1, and after yet another Evans rebound, they appeared poised to take the lead. However, as he was rolling in for a a go ahead layup Iguodala was stripped of ball by Raptor PG T.J Ford who took it the other way and dished it to Bargnani for a crushing 3 pointer. The Sixers never got any closer, and Toronto held on to win 106-97. You can't fault the Sixers effort in this game, but they've got bigger problems to fix than just playing harder. While the Sixers front court was strong with Iguodala and Korver scoring in the 20s, Andre Miller dropping 15, and Willie Green adding 12 points among others, the Sixers frontcourt wasn't so solid. Sure they were solid on the defensive end, with Evans ripping down 15 rebounds and Dalembert blocking 4 shots, but together they combined for just 10 points on the night. Clearly that's not going to get it done, and if the Sixers hope to win at all this season those two will have to pick up the scoring slack.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers begin their 2007-2008 season tomorrow night, so here is a little preview to get you started. Most critics don't give the rebuilding Sixers much of a chance to do anything this season. Given that they are a part of the loaded Atlantic division, featuring, the suddenly formidable Celtics adding KG and Ray Allen, the still dangerous Nets adding Jamal Magloire, and the potentially dangerous Knicks with problem child Zach Randolph in towe, you can understand their lack of enthusiasm for the Sixers whose key free agent signee was, Reggie Evans, one of the NBA's best rebounders and most inept scorers. Philadelphia didn't exactly help their cause, with a dismal 2-5 preseason. Of course it was only the preseason, but it showed just how uneven and inconsistent this team can be. For most the part though, they appeared to play well when their defense was stout, and not so well, when it wasn't. At the same time the offense was not very good, averaging just 91 points in those 7 games. So the key for the Sixers this season is to play strong defense night in and night out. With only one AI now they just don't have the scoring to simply outscore people every night as they did in the past. As of now it appears the Sixers starting 5 will consist of Willie Green at shooting guard, Andre Miller at point guard, Andre Iguodala at small forward, Evans at power forward, and Samuel Dalembert at center. Key contributors off the bench will then likely be Kyle Korver, Louis Williams, Shavlik Randolph, Calvin Booth(also acquired in the off season), Rodney Carney, and rookies Thaddeus Young and Jason Smith, although the rookies likely won't make any significant impact until later in the season. So what is there to expect from the Sixers this season, well if Iguodala and Green pick up their scoring, if Evans and Dalembert rule the boards like they're capable,and if Andre Miller can spread the wealth and make all of his teammates better, than the Sixers have a chance to be somehwhat decent, perhaps 10th or 11th in the Eastern conference. Too expect anything more than that though would be ludacris, for the Sixers are rebuilding and rebuilding is always a gradual and time-consuming process, that requires patience from fans and management alike in order to succeed. So in short, the Sixers are not looking to win this season, they're looking to set themselves up for success in the future, and until that future arrives, there is no reason to expect anymore from them than what's expected.
Monday, October 29, 2007
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers return to action, Thursday, in Montreal against the Canadiens. Hopefully they'll stay on track and get another win.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
EAGLES NEWS
It wasn't pretty but thanks to 333 yards passing and 1 touchdown from Donovan Mcnabb, the Eagles pulled out a 23-16 win over the Vikings. Other Key offensive contributors, were Reggie Brown with 8 catches for 106 yards, and Kevin Curtis with 5 catches for 76 yards. Without Curtis and Brown the Eagles offense would have gone no where as Brian Westbrook was held to just 46 yards rushing, and L.J Smith was held without a reception for the entire game. As for the Eagles defense it was all Trent Cole all the time, as he recorded 2 sacks and forced countless other Viking mistakes on the day. Also, the Eagles as a team proved effective in limiting rookie running back extraordinaire Adrian Peterson to just 70 yards on 20 carries. Early on the momentum belonged to the Vikes who took a 7-0 lead with just under 7 minutes to play in the 1st quarter on a 9 yard TD pass from Kelly Holcomb to Visante Shiancoe. The Eagles countered with a David Akers field goal in the finals seconds of the quarter. The 2nd quarter belonged to Philly,as halfway through the quarter, Westbrook scored 2 TDs in 3 minutes on a 6 yard shovel pass, and a 1 yard run for a 17-7 lead. Minnesota countered with a Ryan Longwell field goal with 58 seconds to play in the half to cut the lead to 17-10. Akers then missed a 59 yard attempt as time ran out in the half. The two teams traded field goals in the 3rd quarter for a 20-13 Eagles lead. Another field goal early in the 4th quarter, cut the Eagles lead to 20-16. Akers and the Eagles pushed back ahead by 7(23-16), 3 minutes later with a 25 yard chip shot. After the Eagles defense stood stout, and forced a punt, Mcnabb and offense ran the clock all the way down 28 seconds, as the Vikes were without a timeout to stop it. Sav Rocca then boomed a 64 yard punt and by the time Minnesota had the ball back, there were 15 seconds left and they were buried back at their own 10 yard line. One meaningless play later it was over and the Eagles had improved to 3-4, to save their season for now, but next week it's another must win at home against T.O and the 1st-place Dallas Cowboys.
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