Philadelphia shooting guard Jodie Meeks was consistently scoring all night; ending with 18 points and helping his Sixers coast past Boston by 17 points (86-69).

“I’ve been getting in a rhythm and playing my game.  I’m not focusing all on scoring this week, but just getting better as a whole.” Meeks said.  Meeks added 2 steals and after two games is the 76ers leading scorer with an 18 ppg.

“Jodie could be a very explosive player off the bench for us.  The way we’re playing defensively really suits his style. He has very good instincts, he closes out very well and he disrupts passing lanes,” said a pleased Philadelphia head coach Doug Collins.  “I told Jodie that coming off the bench you have to be a high percentage shooter and you have to make minimal mistakes.  Those are things he does.”

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The matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Nets was the game many NBA experts had pegged as the must see matchup from the 2010 Orlando Pro Summer League.

The game had quite a few different storylines.  First and foremost it was the debut of Sixers guard Evan Turner and Nets forward Derrick Favors, both top three picks.  Of course both teams also made coaching changes, both hiring former television analysts; Doug Collins (TNT) to Philadelphia and Avery Johnson (ESPN) to New Jersey.

 But instead it was Philadelphia point guard Jrue Holiday who stole the show Monday night, scoring 23 points and dishing out 8 assists.

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No Lebron?  No Wade? Not Even Amare or Bosh?  Unlike Eastern Conference foes Miami, Chicago and the New York Knicks, our Philadelphia 76ers do not have the luxury of cap space [$64.3 million owed; which is currently over the projected $56.1 million luxury tax cap].

So instead of acquiring a big name free agent, the Sixers must utilize the mid-level exception to help bolster a frontcourt that is in desperate need of a rebounding and shot-blocking presence.

Just a couple of days before the 2010 NBA Draft, general manager Ed Stefanski pulled the trigger on a deal that sent starting center Samuel Dalmbert to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for small forward Andres Nocioni and 7-foot-1 center Spencer Hawes.  Most fans were giddy about trading the whining, under performing center because of deficiencies on the offensive end and his general demeanor about being a 76er.  However the trade punched a big whole in the Sixers frontcourt.

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The 76ers announced yesterday that they have added five players to their 2010 Orlando Pro Summer League roster.  Among the additions were two former NBA Draft picks: Ndudi (“Indy”) Ebi (pic at left), a first-round draft choice of the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2003 and Trent Plaisted, a 6-11 second-round pick in 2008 by the franchise formerly known as the Seattle SuperSonics. 

Rounding out the roster are three prospects with local ties : former Xavier big man Jason Love who played his high school ball at Abington Friends; former Temple scoring machine Ryan Brooks and LaSalle’s Vernon Goodridge.

More details and a few comments after the jump.

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A few weeks ago when the NBA Draft Lottery was held in New Jersey, the Philadelphia 76ers organization prayed for a miracle.  Of course, there prayers were answered and they were awarded with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft.

Tonight, the 76ers wisely selected the mature, silky smooth and do-it-all junior guard/forward Evan Turner out of The Ohio State University.  Some experts believe that Turner is too eerily similar to what the Sixers already encompass in starting shooting guard Andre Iguodala and that the two cannot co-exist together, but nothing could be further from the truth.  When Iguodala declared after his sophomore season from the University of Arizona (2004), he was labeled an athlete, was a complimentary role player for the Wildcats and did not possess the ball handling skills that Turner beholds in his repertoire.

Additionally, Turner’s resume is far more accomplished than Iguodala in these early stages of his career. Just this past season, Turner earned First Team All-American honors, Big Ten Player of the Year and the Big Ten Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.  Furthermore, he did all this as the “go-to” guy and has handled the pressure that came with it. Even though Turner missed numerous games with a broken vertebra in his back, he still managed to win the Associated Press, Naismith and Wooden awards for Player of the Year in college basketball.  In fact, Turner is widely considered to be the most NBA-ready prospect coming out of his draft class and should be an early favorite for rookie of the year.

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The 2010 NBA Draft is just hours away and if you have been following all of the mock drafts, online expert predictions and television analysis, it seems pretty obvious that the national sports media believes that the 76ers are locked in to taking Ohio State’s Evan Turner with the No. 2 pick in tonight’s Draft.

However, no one knows the Sixers better then our colleagues on the Philadelphia basketball scene and in the local sports media.  So with that in mind, we reached out to our contacts across the city and pulled together a sampling of opinions from Philly basketball minds on which prospect the 76ers will draft at No. 2 tonight as well as why Ed Stefanski and company will go in that direction.

Check out their thoughts after the jump.

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Recently there have been two online posts by reputable basketball writers in this town that have raised some red flags for us here in the Philadunkia offices over the possibility of the 76ers drafting Evan Turner.  Don’t get us wrong, we still think Turner is a great basketball talent, the best overall player available to the Sixers at the #2 spot and that he could have an immediate impact on the team.  However two pieces we have read in the last few days both of which have included quotes from NBA front office types have caused us to further review just how good of a fit Turner would be for the 76ers.   

The first article that caused us pause on the Turner front ran on “The Philly Post” and was written by local college basketball guru Michael Bradley.  The short and sweet of Bradley’s post was that if the Sixers draft Turner, Iguodala has to go as they can not play together.  The second story that made us reconsider the selection of Turner by the Sixers was put together by legendary basketball scribe Dick Jerardi for the Daily News.  That story included NBA player personnel people on the record about Turner and how he is not the prototypical NBA 2-guard, which in our opinion is what the Sixers desperately need to find in the 2010 Draft.     

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Over at CSNPhilly.com, Dei Lynam is killing it with her 2010 NBA Draft Coverage.  Another great video she posted over the last couple of days is this interview with Doug Collins about how the 76ers can get better defensively despite trading Sammy Dalembert.

Foxsports.com’s NBA scribe Jeff Goodman has the 76ers drafting Evan Turner.  The highly respected experts at draftexpress.com also say it will be Turner.  But more importantly, did the Sixers own website accidentally tip off the rest of the world to the franchise’s plans for draft night with this image?

Stephen A. Smith writes that the Sixers must draft Evan Turner as “When you’re the Sixers, you have no choice but to pick a player of Turner’s caliber…”  However, Smith flat out refutes the idea that Collins is running the Sixers player personnel decisions, something many sources inside the NBA rumor mill are saying is happening.

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With the 2nd pick in the first annual TrueHoop Network Mockdraft, the Philadelphia 76ers select…Evan Turner from Ohio State University.

Despite all the trade rumors and the idea that new head coach Doug Collins is allegedly infatuated with Georgia Tech big man Derrick Favors, we’re making the obvious choice and grabbing Turner at #2.  He’s arguably the best all-around basketball player in the draft, has a tremendous basketball IQ and fills an immediate need for the Sixers at 2-guard, something we have been praying would be addressed for two years now. 

Barring another big trade and assuming the Sixers also do the smart thing an actually draft Turner, in our opinion the Sixers first five on opening day 2010 will be Jrue Holiday (PG), Turner (SG), Andre Iguodala (SF), Thaddeus Young (PF) and Elton Brand (C).

The New Jersey Nets are now on the clock.