The Phils continued spring training today against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Joe Blanton got the start and allowed 3 runs on 5 hits, including a 2 run homer by Ryan Church, in 2 innings of work. Meanwhile, Dwayne Wise led off for the Phils with a triple and scored a run, in a 2 run 1st inning. Later Greg Dobbs knocked in a run to tie it at 3 in the 7th inning. From there neither team could score for the remainder of the game into a 10th inning and the game ended tied at 3. So it wasn't the best start to spring for Joe Blanton but it's early yet so there's nothing to worry about.
Saturday, March 06, 2010
Friday, March 05, 2010
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers finished off their post Olympic road trip in Buffalo tonight as they looked to bounce back from an embarrassing loss to Florida by tightening things up against the Sabres. They actually got to U.S Olympic hero, Ryan Miller, early in the 2nd period, with Simon Gagne scoring just 4 minutes in, for a 1-0 lead. A couple minutes later Thomas Vanek beat Micheal Leighton to knot it up at 1. Then early in the 3rd period Mike Richards got to Miller again, unassisted for a 2-1 lead. That is, until Adam Mair knotted it up at 2 with about 6 minutes to play. From there neither team could score for the remainder of regulation so the game went into overtime. There, just a couple minutes in Tim Connolly broke the Flyer's hearts with the 3-2 game winner.Still, since the game went into overtime the Flyers at least earn 1 point.
The Flyers' defense was again a little off allowing 35 shots on goal, but Leighton picked them up with 32 saves. Unfortunately, his teammates didn't help him out enough with some goals and the Orange and Black came up short in this one. Simon Gagne and Mike Richards continued their sparkling post Olympic play tonight as well. They will have to keep it up if the Flyers are to make the playoffs and go anywhere this season. For now with the 1 point tonight the Flyers now have 70 overall, just enough to remain 6th in the Eastern conference. So they are okay for now.
The Flyers' defense was again a little off allowing 35 shots on goal, but Leighton picked them up with 32 saves. Unfortunately, his teammates didn't help him out enough with some goals and the Orange and Black came up short in this one. Simon Gagne and Mike Richards continued their sparkling post Olympic play tonight as well. They will have to keep it up if the Flyers are to make the playoffs and go anywhere this season. For now with the 1 point tonight the Flyers now have 70 overall, just enough to remain 6th in the Eastern conference. So they are okay for now.
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers welcomed the Boston Celtics to the Wachovia cennter tonight as they looked to snap their current 4 game winning streak. They already upset the Celts once this season in Boston so a win in this one was not totally out of the question. In fact it looked like the Sixers believe they could win and actually they had the lead heading into the 2nd quarter. At the half they were still within 3, and heading into 4th quarter they were still down just 8. With a couple minutes left to play they actually had a chance to close within three again after a steal by Andre Iguodala, but he came up short on a layup, then Boston was successful on their next trip down the floor to up the lead to 5. They then turned it up on D from there, causing the Sixers to blunder their way through the rest of the game. Eventually they lost a heartbreaker 96-86. So once again they put up a good fight against one of the NBA's best, but proved that they just aren't at a high enough level this season to be able to come out on top.
Lou Williams was impressive again with a game high 22. Andre Iguodala added 14, and Elton Brand returned to the lineup to contribute a solid 17, but after that the rest of the Sixers were befuddled by the Boston defense. The fact that the Sixers were even able to keep this one close simply speaks to the way Boston is playing right now, especially considering they recently lost to the Nets. Still against the Sixers they were able to shoot 50% from the field and hang on for the win. So the defense or lack thereof continues to hurt the Sixers. Anyway with the loss the Sixers drop to 22-39 overall, still good enough for 10th in the East, but now 8.5 out of 8th.
Lou Williams was impressive again with a game high 22. Andre Iguodala added 14, and Elton Brand returned to the lineup to contribute a solid 17, but after that the rest of the Sixers were befuddled by the Boston defense. The fact that the Sixers were even able to keep this one close simply speaks to the way Boston is playing right now, especially considering they recently lost to the Nets. Still against the Sixers they were able to shoot 50% from the field and hang on for the win. So the defense or lack thereof continues to hurt the Sixers. Anyway with the loss the Sixers drop to 22-39 overall, still good enough for 10th in the East, but now 8.5 out of 8th.
PHILLIES NEWS
The Phils continued spring training today with an A and B game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Cole Hamels got the start in the A game and allowed 1 run on 2 hits and struck out two in a couple of innings, in a 14-9 loss. Jamie Moyer started the B game and tossed 3 scoreless innings in a 3-2 loss. So it was a good start to the spring for the 2 biggest question marks in the Phils starting rotation. After their first outings of the spring it looks like it is going to be interesting to see who gets the number 5 spot in the rotation, Moyer or Kyle Kendrick.
Thursday, March 04, 2010
PHILLIES NEWS
It's official the 2010 spring training season has begun for the 2 time defending NL champions, as the Phils played their 1st spring training game today against the Yankees. Roy Halladay got the start and tossed 2 scoreless innings, without allowing a hit, not a bad way to start his tenure with the Phils. Kyle Kendrick, in his quest to earn the #5 starter job or the job as the Phils long reliever, followed Halladay with 2 more scoreless innings and the Phils took a 1-0 lead into the 9th. Sergio Escalona almost blew it allowing to rally ahead 2-1, but his teammates picked him up with a 9th inning rally for a 3-2 win. So it's a good start for the Phils in spring training and here's to another great season. Play ball!
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers have really fallen on hard times again as of late, as they traverse the toughest part of their schedule this season. Things didn't get any easier tonight as the Atlanta Hawks, currently 3rd best in the East, welcomed the Sixers to Atlanta. Once again the Sixers fought hard all night and kept it close with the Hawks for a good chunk of the night. Unfortunately, the Sixer's defense again failed to hold up, allowing Atlanta to shoot 50% from the field and 40% from the beyond the arc, and eventually Atlanta pulled away in the 3rd quarter to win easily by 19, 112 - 93. Once Atlanta got control in the 2nd half it was never really in doubt and there was nothing the Sixers could do. Their defense just isn't good enough right now beat teams like Orlando last night or Atlanta in this one. The only bright spot for them on D was Dalembert who racked up another 10 rebounds and 2 blocks.
As for the scoring ,Lou Williams had a huge night, scoring 30 while dishing off 3 assists. Meanwhile, Andre Iguodala had 11 and 7 assists, Willie Green posted 17 off the bench and Sammy had all around night scoring 10 points as well. All in all when it came down to it the Sixers were simply out classed by Atlanta tonight. With no Elton and no AI, they just don't the talent or desire to match up with elite teams like Atlanta has been this season. Hopefully they'll figure out a way to turn things around before they get too bad, but it is not looking good right now. With the loss they drop to 22-38 overall, but incredibly that's still good enough for 10th in the conference, but now 7.5 games out of 8th.
As for the scoring ,Lou Williams had a huge night, scoring 30 while dishing off 3 assists. Meanwhile, Andre Iguodala had 11 and 7 assists, Willie Green posted 17 off the bench and Sammy had all around night scoring 10 points as well. All in all when it came down to it the Sixers were simply out classed by Atlanta tonight. With no Elton and no AI, they just don't the talent or desire to match up with elite teams like Atlanta has been this season. Hopefully they'll figure out a way to turn things around before they get too bad, but it is not looking good right now. With the loss they drop to 22-38 overall, but incredibly that's still good enough for 10th in the conference, but now 7.5 games out of 8th.
FLYERS NEWS
After racking up their 5th straight win with ease last night against the Lightning, the Flyers traveled across Florida for a meeting with the Florida Panthers. The Panthers haven't been that much better than the Lightning this season so you would think this one would be another easy Orange and Black win. Unfortunately, while they have brought their scoring back from the break with them, it seems the Flyers totally lost their way defensively. They allowed a whopping 42 shots on goal and hung Micheal Leighton out to dry more than once as the he allowed a season worst 7 goals. The Flyers did at least keep it close for a while early on. Florida jumped out to q quick 2-0 lead after the 1st period, but power play tallys from Danny Briere and Jeff Carter twice pulled the Flyers within one early in the 2nd period, at 2-1 and then 3-2. They then seemed to run out of gas as Florida scored 3 straight goals for a 6-2 lead. From there the Orange and Black made one last push with goals by Ville Leino in the waining moments of the 2nd period, and Ryan Parent early in the 2nd period, cut it back to 6-4. Unfortunately ,that was as close as they would get before Florida closed out a 7-4 win.
Playing on back to back nights just after the olympic break was simply too much for the Flyer's to handle. The defense and Leighton had undoubtedly their worst games of the season thus far, but they were clearly fatigued. They have some time now before their next game so hopefully the'll be able to right the ship again before long. Otherwise it could be a long rest of the season. If nothing else it was at least nice to see the Orange and Black fight all the way to the end rather just rollover as they seemed to at times earlier this season. So anyway despite the loss the Flyers still remain 6th in the Eastern conference, and only 6 points out of 5th.
Playing on back to back nights just after the olympic break was simply too much for the Flyer's to handle. The defense and Leighton had undoubtedly their worst games of the season thus far, but they were clearly fatigued. They have some time now before their next game so hopefully the'll be able to right the ship again before long. Otherwise it could be a long rest of the season. If nothing else it was at least nice to see the Orange and Black fight all the way to the end rather just rollover as they seemed to at times earlier this season. So anyway despite the loss the Flyers still remain 6th in the Eastern conference, and only 6 points out of 5th.
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
FLYERS NEWS
The Flyers returned from the Olympic break tonight with newly crowned gold medalists Mike Richards and Chris Pronger in tow. They were on a 4 game winning streak heading into the break and tonight in Tampa against the Lightning they simply picked up where they left off. It was tight for the 1st 2 periods, with Steve Stamkos scoring twice for Tampa and Mike Richards scoring in the 1st period and assisting on a Dan Carcillo score in the 2nd period for a 2-2 tie after 2. The 3rd period however, was all Orange Black. Richards assisted Simon Gagne on back to back power play goals for a 4-2 lead just 5 minutes into the period. A few minutes later Claude Giroux assisted James Van Reimsdyk on another score for a 5-2, and then a couple minutes after that Giroux himself scored on the power play for a 6-2 lead. Finally a few minutes after that Jeff Carter scored shorthanded to finish off the 7-2 route, the 5th straight win for the Orange and Black.
Richards had some night with a goal and 3 assists which just goes to show how a gold medal can change a person. Gagne was equally impressive with a 2 goals and an assist, as was Giroux with a goal and 2 assists, and Dan Carcillo with a goal and a assists. Still, Richards' 4 point night was the most remarkable. I don't know he was able to come up with a performance like that, especially after all those games he just played at the Olympics. While the scoring was off the charts, the Flyers' defenisve effort was not their best, allowing 34 shots on goal, but it was certainly. Plus, as usual Micheal Leighton held his own with 32 saves, more than enough for the win. With several teams struggling to shake off the post Olympic exhaustion, it would be huge if the Flyer's could keep playing like this, but I guess we'll see. At any rate with the win they now have 69 points overall, good for 6th in the East and well within range of the most of the teams ahead of them.
Richards had some night with a goal and 3 assists which just goes to show how a gold medal can change a person. Gagne was equally impressive with a 2 goals and an assist, as was Giroux with a goal and 2 assists, and Dan Carcillo with a goal and a assists. Still, Richards' 4 point night was the most remarkable. I don't know he was able to come up with a performance like that, especially after all those games he just played at the Olympics. While the scoring was off the charts, the Flyers' defenisve effort was not their best, allowing 34 shots on goal, but it was certainly. Plus, as usual Micheal Leighton held his own with 32 saves, more than enough for the win. With several teams struggling to shake off the post Olympic exhaustion, it would be huge if the Flyer's could keep playing like this, but I guess we'll see. At any rate with the win they now have 69 points overall, good for 6th in the East and well within range of the most of the teams ahead of them.
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers and AI officially came to an agreement today that Iverson will not return to the Sixers for the remainder of the season as he continues to tend to his ailing daughter. This is doesn't mean he's retiring or that he's finished with the Sixers for good, but it feels unlikely that he'll come back with the Sixers next season or play for anyone else.
Monday, March 01, 2010
SIXERS NEWS
The Sixers returned home at last tonight as they welcomed superman, Dwight Howard, and the Magic to the Wachovia center. The Magic came in with the 2nd best record in the Eastern conference while the Sixers came in with no AI or Elton Brand, who was shelved just before game time with achilles tendinitis. So needless to say there weren't high hopes for a a Sixer victory on this night. Still the Sixers came out firing in the 1st half and actually had the lead after the 1st quarter before going into the half down by 7. In the 2nd half Orlando heated up from beyond the arc, opening things up for Howard to dominate underneath. As a result the Sixers found themselves down 21 heading into the 4th and they could not recover, eventually falling by 21, 126-105. All told Orlando hit 15 treys, shooting 65% from beyond the arc and 58% from the field. You're just not going to win very often when you allow Orlando to put up those kinds of numbers.
For the Sixes it wasn't a terrible night with all 5 starters scoring in double figures, but with no AI or Elton, that left Lou Williams and Thad Young in the starting lineup and thus zero production off the bench. So that didn't really help them tonight either. Jrue Holiday was the real bright spot for the Sixers as posted the best night of his career thus far, with a career high 23 points and 6 assists. Andre Iguodala added 19, Thad Young 17, and Lou Williams 13, and Sammy Dalembert had another great night with 12 and 11 rebounds. Unfortunately, Sammy D's effort just went for naught tonight. The other positive for the Sixers tonight was that they finished just about even with the Magic in rebounding, 35 - 34, but again that didn't really help them on this night. Anyway with the loss the Sixers drop to 22-37 overall, but remain 10th in the Eastern conference, now 6.5 games out of 8th. Things could be worse I suppose
For the Sixes it wasn't a terrible night with all 5 starters scoring in double figures, but with no AI or Elton, that left Lou Williams and Thad Young in the starting lineup and thus zero production off the bench. So that didn't really help them tonight either. Jrue Holiday was the real bright spot for the Sixers as posted the best night of his career thus far, with a career high 23 points and 6 assists. Andre Iguodala added 19, Thad Young 17, and Lou Williams 13, and Sammy Dalembert had another great night with 12 and 11 rebounds. Unfortunately, Sammy D's effort just went for naught tonight. The other positive for the Sixers tonight was that they finished just about even with the Magic in rebounding, 35 - 34, but again that didn't really help them on this night. Anyway with the loss the Sixers drop to 22-37 overall, but remain 10th in the Eastern conference, now 6.5 games out of 8th. Things could be worse I suppose
Sunday, February 28, 2010
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