A dose of reality is the toughest pill to swallow. Unfortunately, that pill has finally been prescribed in the realities facing this Sixer team. It's been a refreshing season, seeing a team that actually has aspirations and one that has come together to play team basketball. However, as the season has worn on, I think the "new car smell" about this team is starting to wear off, not only for the team and immediate fandom, but to opposing teams. While this could seem like an in-the-moment criticism, acknowledging the flaws and weaknesses (both short and long term) of this team relative to the sudden rise in competition, the brimming confidence that I had has tempered. Bottom line, I believe that this Sixers team has reached its ceiling.

Meanwhile, up the New Jersey turnpike...

I don't know if you've heard but there's some guy playing some good ball and causing a lot of buzz. The hype train of Jeremy Lin is at an all-time high. With each game, the bar is set higher and higher for both him and the Knicks. While I'm thoroughly enjoying the spectacle from the NBA fan perspective, I'm not getting caught up enough to say that the Knicks are automatic title contenders or that Lin is the new Steve Nash to D'Antoni's system. However, Lin's story is remarkable. By now we've all heard his tale from the major media outlets. He's an underdog story, which is half the reason he's captivated the nation. He's a humble and, by all accounts, a good guy that's made him so likable. None of this is new. However, his story presents 2 lessons (among other things) that I think are important for both the NBA, as a whole, and this Sixers team/regime. Below, I explore the first of the two lessons.

Continue reading this post »

 

 

There isn't really any post draft coverage, this is just a central way of reaching everyone because more people go to this site than they will go and check the FF boards. (Actually I don't know if this is true... whatever).

 

There will be some DONG awards and such when I have time to gather some stats and footage and... stuff. 

But, now that the draft is over... For those who participated, post your teams in the comments section (if you want). For those who aren't, just point and laugh at the weakest teams and the worst drafted players or something. Thoughts and questions are cool too!

 

via www.phillygameday.com

Well, since the NBA and the Sixers are on the shelf with the L*CK*UT, we might as well amuse ourselves in some other fashion. Last years, Fantasy Football league was pretty fun. I can't remember off the top of my head who won (AKA I didn't win and being the poor sport that I am, decided to just ignore the rest of of the playoffs after I got knocked out), but I'd like to have a go at it again. I was thinking of starting up another league and expanding the amount of teams participating in order to involve more of the LB community. For the former league, whoever is the league commish there, we could start up that league again as well!

[Note: League information is listed at the bottom]

[Update 1: As of 3:45PM, 8/15, the league is set to 16 teams. This can easily be extended to more if people want to make it even more competitive. Please make suggestions if you have any.]

[Update 2: As of 11:36PM, 8/31, We have, as of now, 14 teams. Draft is set for tonight at 10:30PM. I could not get it to 9 as Yahoo wouldn't let me. I can postpone if necessary! Let me know!]

Continue reading this post »

Alright so I was going to check my fantasy scores when I came upon this. Key in on the links pertaining to the Dallas-Washington game and you tell me what's wrong. 

 

 

Continue reading this post »

Hey guys, I'm a fantasy football buff but I have a hard time making decisions when it comes to my teams (I swear its because I win and lose by such small margins). So one of my leagues has a very weird point system; Qb's earn the most points usually (they have the most opportunities, attempts, completions, 6 pts per td, etc.), 1 ppr for WR and RB, 1 pt per 10 yards rec or rush, etc. There are a lot of points to be earned. After the jump is the makeup for my team.

Continue reading this post »

 

  

 

After reading over the two sides of the Jrue Holiday reactions and the comments that followed, there was one thing that irked me a little bit; the "win now" mentality. Don't get me wrong, the goal is to win. However, aren't we setting ourselves up for failure by setting the bar too high? There's that addage that over expectations always lead to disappointment. I think we've all been told at some point in our life that, while its always good to set goals and have high hopes, we need to be realistic.

Progress. It's a simple word but it is also one that has big meaning in my life. I strive to be a better person everyday but as I am far from perfect, I experience failure once and a while. But with each failure, I try to do progressively better for the next time. Even if I failed the next time, if I had made any significant progress from the first failure, I can take solace in the fact that working harder has an effect even if the results are not exactly what I wanted. My personal motif aside, this philosophy resonates in all aspect of life, sports included. Here are the comparisons between the past 3 seasons:

 

 

 

Year         Wins     Losses     Conference                       Playoffs

06/07        35           47                 10th                               Did not qualify*

07/08        40           42                  7th                                Yes; Lost 1st Round 4-2 to Detroit

08/09        41           41                 6th                                 Yes; Lost 1st Round 4-2 to Orlando    

*End of Iverson's tenure, 5-18 pre-trade, 30-29 post-trade

Following the Iverson trade, we began a transition into a mid-season rebuilding mode. I initially thought we'd be working towards a Lottery pick at that point (sitting at more than 10 games under .500). Yet somehow the Sixers were able to put together more wins than losses, post-trade. Even though we missed the playoffs, I had something to be optimistic about the next season. At the end of the 07/08 regular season, we sat 2 games below .500 yet thanks to the pitiful East, we were in the playoffs. No one expected us to do anything that season OR the playoffs and the sixers gave a surprise by pushing the Pistons back a little before being ousted. At that point, we had a sucessful season, improving and making the playoffs as a result. Flash forward 1 season and the feelings of success has been interchanged with disappointment.

Lets recap... In one season, we've gone from a team working to get deeper into the playoffs to a team working to desperately win it all as far as the fans and expectations are concerned. Apparently, after 1 year, the window is closing and closing fast! Brand is now a decepit old man, Iguodala has reached his ceiling, and we need to win it now because 2 years from now, it's too late. I know I exaggerate the worries of many but once the suicide hotline was ringing off the hook after Holiday was drafted, is exaggeration out of the question? For some reason, that imaginary bar keeps getting pushed higher for a team that just year ago made the playoffs for the first time since the 04/05 season. It is the Philadelphia atmosphere and media that stems much hype of any major sports team, I realize that. However, its downright preposterous to feel as if the window is closing after 2 years.

The core of the team is young and if we don't win the big one next year or even the year after, it's not the end of the world. Why was this year a "disappointing" season? We didn't make progress. When we made the playoffs a year ago and got eliminated, there was plenty to be optimistic about. We bounced back and we were building. This year when we got ousted, there wasn't as much optimism. Why? No progress was made. We ended the regular season at .500 and didn't get out of the first round again. We are not in the rebuilding mode nor in the 1-piece-away-from-the-championship mode. However, I think we've already made big steps in the off season towards possible championship runs.

We finally have a coach. DiLeo did a good job in the interim position but it was obvious he was not the solution and Cheeks was a poor hire from the start IMO. Holiday may not be our starting PG today, but there's a good chance he will be a top guard in the league and possibly a piece of a championship team down the road. It's been pointed out countless times, Brand is still in his prime (and can bounce back potentially this year being healthy and with a new system). I've been hard on Iguodala but he has grown a lot and he still has room to grow. He's slowly becoming the true leader of this team and the guy you want to have the ball at the end of close games (I couldn't resist).  

That damn imaginary bar needs to be pulled down. I know many if not most of you understand and know that this team is getting closer but still not there yet as far as a NBA championship goes. However, the saying "Rome wasn't build in a day" totally applies to those who feel the drafting of Holiday or the neglect of Lawson, Maynor, etc. significantly changes the results in regards to a championship this year. Let's just see if, this time next year, we've made some progress, or just took another step back.

Hey guys. I know I have only been a part of this blog for more or less a month but as an Eagle's diehard I know I've been a part of the family my entire life. To break the trend of many of the recent blogs of trades, signing players, and the upcoming draft, I thought I'd spur on a discussion in this manner. After going through a few of the blogs of the NFL, I've noticed that the tagline for these teams really identify the team. If you don't know what I'm talking about, at the top of the screen it should read "Bleeding Green Nation: An Unoffcial Philadelphia Eagles blog". I am referring to what is italicized. Now what I mean when I say an identity is what unites us all as Eagles fans. For example the Redskins blog is "The home of Over-Priced, Over-the-hill Free Agents" which is clever, funny, and regardless of the positive and negatives something that has become the identity of the organization in recent years. Now I'm not inciting something to change it or have the power to do really anything but write out my thoughts, but what exactly identifies us as the Philly Phaithful? If we could sum up how we felt as Eagles fans in a tagline to show the fans of other teams who we are, what would it say?

Be a little creative with it. It could be a fact about the team or fans, an inside joke only us fellow fans would know, or anything at all. Just try not to be crude about it or disrespectful towards other teams and such. Here's an example:

Bleeding Green Nation: Where the 700 levels still live on

Yeah, I put like 10 seconds into that thought so it may not have been that great but you get the idea. So give me what you got and to keep this post open for some time, how about giving it some recs? I'd feel a little sad if I thought this up for nothing.

After I read Joe_D's post about a "true number 1 reciever", it got me to thinking.  I remember at the beginning of the NFC championship games where our recievers were not sufficient enough to help us get over the hump. They were small, not physical and were hardly game changing. Most clearly I remember the Carolina game where our recievers were thoroughly dominated. I want to say that this was the breaking point and the outcry of a physical reciever just got to loud to ignore. Then the T.O. episode occurred and the rest was history.

Now back to the present. Aside from the T.O. years, this Eagle's WR core currently is probably the best it has been in many years. The Eagles still don't have that physical reciever to make its offense go but contrary to what most people think, I don't feel that getting a physical reciever will change the results and help us win the big one. In reality, I feel that the Eagles lack a lot of tools to become a Super Bowl team. These holes in the team presented itself in how the Eagles operated and the results they presented. For example, we lacked a TE threat and even though we developed a decent recieving one, we still could not find a blocking TE. In addition, we did not have a legitamate fullback and no matter how much you can defend Eckel (who I agree did a decent job), he did not help with the rushing attack to become more than just a change of pace. This is the my major point of this blog.

When was the last time the Eagles had a legitamate rushing attack? The 3 headed monster attack of Staley, Westbrook and Buckhalter was just like last year's Earth, Wind, and Fire and was probably the last time the Eagles could have more rushing yards than passing yards. Accountability for the rushing attack, opens things up to the reciever. Just like argument that accountability of a big reciever opens up the playbook, by having a threatening rushing game that could break out in long runs or gain yards on command I know that the play action will regain its effectiveness (And that is what McNabb thrives on!). As much as I love the big play ability as the next person, we don't have a fall back if the passing game isn't working. I'm not saying there should be a change in the FO or coaching. But just think of how the Cardinals ended the season and how they operated in the playoffs. They were still pass-first but when they needed to shorten games and grind out yards to finish, they were able to. This is a statement that I couldn't be confident about when referring to the Eagles.

So it's up to you on what you think is more important, a rushing attack or a "number 1" reciever. As for me, a big reciever would be nice but how about getting back to the basics? I don't know if someone's brought up this topic of WR vs Rushing attack but I think its important to look at the whole picture than just a single area. Our recent Super Bowl run attempt was a product of our Defense (Our offense was pretty anemic). Once they ran out of fuel, the offense only performed for a little more than a quarter and that is when we succumbed. We need to shorten games. High scoring games are exciting but wears the team out unnecessarily. How to shorten games? The rushing attack.

 

 

Poll

What do you feel is more important to the team and their success in the future?

27%

Having a Number 1 reciever to open up the playbook

20 votes

65%

Having a consistent rushing attack to open up the playbook

48 votes

6%

Neither, the team has what is needs to win and just needs to execute better

5 votes

73 votes | Poll has closed

Before I get jumped on, I'll explain what brought me to write this post. I am a resident of South Jersey which means that Philly sports are the hometown team. I am a huge philly diehard when it comes to the big 3 sports of football, baseball and basketball. I don't deny that I can be as ruthless as it comes to Philly fans against their team, but I know that unlike those barbarians, I am a realist when it comes to criticism and don't outright curse out the team or call for people's heads. Now what gets me the most riled up are fans that don't recognize fault within the team. This stems from a roommate of mine who outright believes that the Sixers are one of the top 10 teams in the NBA regardless of what our record tells and the style that our offense plays.  For example, he feels that after beating a team once, he'd later claim that we could beat that same team in the playoffs. 

Now when it comes to players on the team, this same friend can go on to list the strengths and strengths of every player on the team. No that was not a typo, I said strengths twice. Why? Because he fails to even consider that there can be some criticism against the "star" players on the team. I am no hater but i think we have good but not great players. 

Now this brings us to the main reason I am writing this, Andre Iguodala. Iguodala is an incredible athlete. He has the physical tools to be a star. He is a great finisher when it comes to driving to the hoop and unlike the previous A.I., he is not selfish. I love watching him play and when the team is running and gunning, he is lethal. So why do I have beef with him?

Unlike what my friend says and other hardheaded philly phanatics, Andre Iguodala can't be compared to the Wades and Bryants of the league. If we are just talking about a great player, than yes thats Iguodala. But when people (aka those like my friends) try to convince me that Iguodala will lead his team to an NBA Championship, I don't see it happening. He may one day be part of a team that wins a championship, but not a Dwayne Wade carrying and willing his team to a victory. My arguments?

1. He doesn't have that killer instinct. From interviews to just watching him play, Iguodala doesn't have that drive that most team center pieces should have. James, Wade and Bryant command for the ball and when the team is struggling they have the ability to carry the team to victory. This "killer instinct" is something I just don't see in Iguodala and this leads me to my second point.

2. He isn't a lights out shooter (when he needs to be). He has his games when he is on but over the past few years (I'm discarding the years with Iverson), he is still averaging less than 20 ppg. More importantly, I've seen Kobe and Wade make near impossible shots, highly contested shots and yet I can't see Iguodala making that pull up with a hand in his face. I think that's probably the reason he doesn't have that killer instinct.

For areas he needs to improve?

1. Andre's bread and butter is his dunks and finishers. Yet he is only averaging around 6 attempts a game at the free throw line. He should be getting there a respectable 9 to 10 attempts at the line and to do that he needs to drive to the basket more instead of settling. 

2. He has to be that buzzer beater. Confidence plays a big part in playing well. When you are confident, you play better. Already this year we've seen two handfuls too many of buzzer beaters. Recently against the Lakers, we got slight revenge with Iguodala hitting a three in the closing seconds for the win. When it comes down to one sixer's position, Iguodala needs to have the ball in his hands, not Lou Williams, not even Andre Miller. For him to be a legitimate all-star, the ball needs to be in the hands of the team's best player. 

3. He needs to be to the team Leader. Unfortunately I don't have the exact games in front of me, but I remember games where after leading by as much as a double figure, the team came to lose in the final seconds of the game. Now how is that going work if the Sixers aim to be a legitimate contender? Iguodala at the moment isn't the that leader who can will his team to victory.

 

So when I look back on what I wrote. I notice that I shouldn't be knocking on Iguodala but the fans who claim he is worth the money we paid for him because he is an all-star like a Wade or Bryant. I know basketball is a team game and one player can't make or break a team otherwise the team is doomed from the start. But to those fans who believe that this team will make it to the NBA Finals with Iguodala leading them, unless philly miracle occurs, I don't see this happening. Can Iguodala become that piece to surround talent with? Maybe. But with the big 3 teams of the East (Magic, Celtics, and Cavs), I don't see a way that Andre Iguodala will lead us to victory.

Note: I'm not a hater, just a realist. Everybody's entitled to their opinion and I can respect those opinions. 

 

 

Poll

Do you believe that Andre Iguodala will lead the 76ers to a NBA Championship?

19%

Yes

6 votes

80%

No

25 votes

31 votes | Poll has closed