Staff Blog
Morning Rounds, November 13th
The NBA had more than a couple of legitimately interesting finishes
last night, lets go quickly around the league …
- Want to know how good the Lakers are? The beat a Hornets team that won 56 games last year and added James Posey by 7, and the headline in LA is about how poorly Phil Jackson thought Kobe played.
- Atlanta, huge holes and all, is balling. Boston needed a last second 20 footer to beat the upstarts.
- Dwight Howard was a man amongst Bobcats, pulling off a feat that hadn’t been done since 1996.
- Rudy Fernandez can absolutely get buckets. I’m searching for a good comparison for him that works but haven’t found the perfect one yet. The closest I’ve got is either the player Kevin Martin is trying to become (but with a less polished J), or the inverse combo-guard of Brandon Roy. You gotta love that Blazers team, they held off MIA in Oden’s return to action.
- The 76ers won a game on the shoulders of Jose Calderon and
Anthony Parker. That isn’t a compliment.
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| Pierce for the Win |
| Barry Chin | Boston Globe |
“I’m tired of hearing about money, money, money, money, money. I just want to play the game, drink Pepsi, wear Reebok.” – Shaquille O’Neal
Three lines on their world:
- Joe Maddon and Lou Piniella both picked up some hardware
- The Hawks and the Celtics played a classic
- and Greg Oden returned to the court
Three lines on ours:
- The Sixers took down the Toronto
- Charlie Manuel was runner-up for the Manager of the Year
- and Danny Briere is off for about a week
Phillies, Birds, Sixers, Flyers and what everybody is talking about, after the jump
SIXERS
Kate Fagan’s notes look at Samuel Dalembert’s early struggles, Royal Ivey’s tribute, and more. SKIP
Phil Jasner’s notes remember Donyell Marshall’s big game against the Sixers, check the validity of Elton Brand’s “period of adjustment” and more. READ
PHILLIES
Sam Donnellon tries to make the point that there are perceived tiers of managers but lays out no criteria in doing so. Still, his break down of all the ways Charlie was a great manager this year is worth checking out and remembering happily. READ
Todd Zolecki checks in with Charlie about his almost attaboy. READ
David Murphy looks at Charlie’s season as manager. SKIP
EAGLES
Ashley Fox credits Donovan McNabb for Chad Ocho Cinco’s “good” attitude and gets him to admit his love for Philly. READ
*if you can only read one Um, so Les Bowen seriously buries the lede here. He writes an article that is supposed to be about the myriad problems that plague the Birds’ short yardage running game, but is actually about how crazy the Shawn Andrews situation is. This will get it’s own post at ten, so either wait for that or … READ
After writing a ‘Andy Reid needs to man up’ column yesterday Ashley Fox’s email was flooded by people in agreement. The Inqy runs their letters. SKIP
Bob Brookover’s notes report that there have been complications with Shawn Andrews, Dhani Jones has found himself a home in Cincy, and more. SKIP
Reuben Franks’ notes report that McNabb missed practice for personal reasons, Brian Westbrook wants the ball, and more. READ
FLYERS
Sam Carchidi reports that Danny Briere is out for a week. SKIP
TODAY and MORE
The Inquirer continued their Big 5 preview, moving onto Villanova’s tight-knit group. God I love the Big 5.
Other than that, Temple lost another close game, the Flyers have Pittsburgh, the Jets and the Pats clash tonight and everyone else is chilling. Except a pick on the Thursday night game, and we’ll try to get you about a post an hour. If you missed us yesterday we introduced The Chollies, talked with a man who wants his GM fired more than you do, looked at the future of left field, asked what was wrong with the Sixers and so much more.
As always, feel free
to email
with any questions, suggestions, comments or complaints.
whoa, re: Dwight Howard – not since Hakeem. Remember when Hakeem used to observe the Ramadan no-water fast before sundown – and play!
“When he plays an afternoon game, he pants for water—and drinks not a drop. Still, he says, ‘I find myself full of energy, explosive. And when I break the fast at sunset, the taste of water is so precious.’”
http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Islam/2000/12/Hakeem-Olajuwon-A-Ramadan-Interview.aspx
Gotta love sports