Staff Blog
Where's the best sledding hill in Philly? (1 Answer)
Morning Rounds, February 10th
With a little under eight minutes left in the third quarter of last night’s Suns/Sixers game Shaquille O’Neal grabbed his third rebound of the game, tossed the ball to his point guard and lumbered up the court. Nine seconds later Jason Richardson converted a layup, just in time for Shaq to finally cross the three point line and get set to enter the key. The Sixers wasted no time responding, and with the big turning and lumbering back they keyed a break of their own, racing down the floor and getting two back in transition. Two straight scores, one for each team, and on neither play was the 15-time all-star so much as in the lane. Seconds later he was taken out of the lineup and called it a night.
I’m not pointing this out to kill Shaq but rather to point out two things: first, the seven seconds or less Suns are truly a thing of the past, a point drilled into the minds of anyone who caught more than a few minutes of last night’s game; and second that the Sixers got really lucky with the schedule. The Suns, playing on the second night of a back-to-back weren’t going to win this game. They looked old, tired and divided. They packed it in early, and no one was on the same page. Part of that is just one of those nights. Literally no one on the Suns played well. While everything Thad Young and Marreese Speights tossed up did seem to go in this one was more was about PHX than PHL.
Before the game I couldn’t believe that we were hearing trade talks around Amar’e – how could you trade a 26 year old all-nba center? Now, while I certainly still don’t agree with it, I can kinda see it. The Suns didn’t have a lot of heart in them. Speights‘ game was amazing, yes, and it’s exhilarating to see a young big who can score around the basket with both hands, but he got four dunks in the second quarter alone, a team who cares doesn’t let that happen.
Oh well, one team’s loss is another’s gain … any way the Sixers can find a way to finangle Amar’e away from a team in need of a change?
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“They dunk everything.” – Thaddeus Young, explaining the similarities between Amar’e and Marreese
Three lines on their world:
- Alex Rodriguez admitted his steroid use. Good for him.
- Al Jefferson tore his ACL, he’s done for the season.
- and Plaxico Burress has apparently been sued 9 times in the past year.
Three lines on ours:
- The Sixers took care of the Suns at home.
- Villanova prepares for a showdown with Marquette
- and Elton Brand went under the knife
Phillies, Birds, Sixers, Flyers and what everybody is talking about after the jump
PHILLIES
READ
Jim Salisbury continues his profile of Charlie Manuel.
Sam Donnellon looks at what the Phillies have done to the political career of the Mayor of Clearwater.
Randy Miller reports that Ryan Howard has been working on his glove.
SKIP
David Murphy admits it is a slow day, catches up with Mike Zagurski.
Cameron Smith suggests that Will Ohman may be interested in the Phillies.
Bill Conlin basically puts together a list of various Phillies’ he’s liked.
SIXERS
READ
SKIP
Kate Fagan reports that Elton Brand went under the knife.
EAGLES
READ
SKIP
FLYERS
READ
Ed Moran reports that the enforcements are on their way.
Wayne Fish says the economy hasn’t caught up with the Flyers.
SKIP
TODAY and MORE
With only February news to talk about, the columnists have gone national:
In a fitting irony Rich Hofmann asks why legitimate sports news outlets are covering A-Rod: “Wouldn’t this stuff be much better covered in Us Weekly than in Sports Illustrated?” he asks, in print.
Phil Sheridan on A-Rod, steroids, and the people.
John Gonzalez calls out Bud Selig (someone new and random everyday now, apparently)
and, way more importantly, Marquette visits Nova. Should be a good one. As always, feel free to email with any questions, suggestions, comments or complaints.
