Losing games and adding ping pong balls with their logo on it to the Draft Lottery machine just got a little easier for the 76ers as Thaddues Young (13. 8 & 6 a night) who started last night, is out for the foreseeable future with a broken thumb.  He joins Louis and Mo Speights on the Sixers injury list.  All three are listed as doubtful for the Sixers game against the Nets on Wednesday.

It’s a bit of a shame that the injury happened to Thad at this point in the season as he had finally pieced together some quality nights recently including a 32-point effort at Toronto on March 7th.  We’re willing bet his late season up swing would have continued to as his minutes were sure to rise under the directive from above to play the bench cats major minutes.  Typically when he gets a lot of burn, Thad produces and a late season surge would have been great for a player we feel had his confidence ruined by Eddie Jordan.  Thus we’re disappointed by the news as Thad could have used a positive end to 2009-10 as something to build on for next year.

Continue Reading

Coming off their solid performance against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night it was disturbing to see the 76ers crash back to pathetic basketball against the Miami Heat on Sunday and then again last night vs. the lowly New York Knicks. 

However we can not blame the players for what happened in the last two games as it’s clear that to us that a directive has come down from above and the tank in on. 

The Sixers (23-44) basically held tryouts over the last two games for their bench guys.  In an effort to help determine which bodies they want to keep around for 2010-11 several “role” players received extended minutes in Miami on Sunday and then again last night vs. the Knicks.  Stefanski had to know that making such a move against D-Wade and the Heat would be a huge risk and could very well get you throttled, which is exactly what happened at American Airline Arena on Sunday (104-91).  However, even when at full strength, the Sixers have struggled against the Knicks this season so one would be crazy to think the Sixers could continue playing the reserves for extended minutes and win at home vs. the pitiful NYK.  Well, last night Louis Williams was out with a “lingering” back problem and Mo Speights continues to sit with his gimpy knee, so the reserves again saw a ton of tick, and shocker, the Sixers dropped another one to the Knicks, this time by 10 points (94-84).  It was the fifth straight loss for the Sixers and their 10th in their last 11 games.

Continue Reading

We’re not sure what was said and done at Thursday’s closed door practice over at PCOM on City Ave., but one thing is for certain the subject of respect – for themselves, the Sixers fans and most importantly the game itself – must have been discussed at length, because the team that took the floor last night against the Cavs was 100 times better then the garbage that wore the Sixers uniforms during Wednesday night’s pathetic loss to the Bobcats.  In fact with the Sixers sitting at 23-42 and clearly out of the playoff picture, we would say that last night’s game was perfect. 

Think about it for a second…

Continue Reading

This Friday, ‘ How many will a rested Lebron hit for tonight? ‘, edition of “Fo’ with the Foes” — Philadunkia’s advanced scouting series which with the help of an accomplished journalist from around the NBA beat or blog world, previews upcoming 76ers opponents — features tonight’s foes the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

What would you like us to say about tonight’s game against the 50-win Lebrons?  Philadunkia’s home team has lost seven of their last eight and played like absolute dogs in three of their last five games.  Additionally, the Sixers have also been outscored by an average of 15.3 points in losing their last three runs at the Wachovia Center.  On Wednesday night against the Charlotte Bobcats  the Sixers hit rock bottom nd gave their most pathetic effort of this very sorry season.  They gave up 37 points in the 1^st quarter, trailed by as many as 29 for a minute, then several players quit trying at all in the 3^rd, they ended up losing lost by 15 and got booed by the home crowd.  In short, this one tonight against the East leading Cavaliers isn’t going to be close or pretty to watch. 

However if you want to make this game remotely interesting, we suggest you take the Cavs, lay the 7 points, then sit back and watch the cash roll in.

For a little more insight into the Cavs team the Sixers face tonight, we turn to our man John Krolik from cavstheblog.com to answer two questions on the Cavaliers from us here at Philadunkia as well as provide us with two points of analysis on this Cleveland squad from an insider’s perspective. 

Continue Reading

On Wednesday Kate Fagan had a story in the Inqy which said sources told her that 76ers head coach Eddie Jordan will be fired at the end of the year and those same sources indicated to Fagan, “that Jordan could be fired before this season ends – if it becomes obvious he has lost the team…”  Of course the higher ups inside Comcast-Spectacor are denying that any such decision has been made, but since Fagan has always been a solid sports journalist, we’re going to roll with her version of this story.  

So with that thought in mind and with the 102-87 beat-down the Bobcats gave the Sixers (23-41) last night fresh in our heads, our question to Comcast-Spectacor Chairman Ed Snider and his right hand man Pete Luukko is, “How much more lost do the Sixers need to appear before you fire Eddie Jordan?”

Continue Reading

After last night’s 107-96 debacle against Indiana, which was missing its best player in Danny Granger, that one word pretty much describes the 76ers (23-40), Eddie Jordan and us today.  It was another horrific loss by the Philadunkia’s home team that featured no defense, insane lineup choices / rotations and poor shot selection.  You’ve heard it all right here before, so there really isn’t anything new that we can say from an X & Os standpoint about loss number 40 in this train wreck of a season.  We’re simply tired of writing about the same issues the day after every Sixers game.  Basically we’re toast.

It obvious that arguably the Sixers two best players Elton Brand and Andre Iguodala, have quit on this season and are toast too. 

Continue Reading

Obviously we have all been reading over the last week about how Allen Iverson’s personal life is a an absolute mess right now.  We did a post last week on the fact that his wife had filed for divorce on the same day that he and the Sixers parted ways for good this season.  Stephen A. Smith wrote a lengthy story in the Inqy yesterday about how Iverson is battling the bottle and gambling problems.  Every NBA “expert” on TV has weighed in on the topic as well.  Last night “The Answer” finally spoke — sort of.  Iverson sent a message to his fans via his Twitter account and the “statement” is sad and encouraging at the same time.

Here is the Tweet that Iverson posted last night… 

Continue Reading

This Friday, how many points will we lose by tonight edition of “Fo’ with the Foes” — Philadunkia’s advanced scouting series which with the help of an accomplished journalist from around the NBA beat or blog world, previews upcoming 76ers opponents — features tonight’s opponents the aging, but still very good Boston Celtics and of course the lovely Alison Preston. 

Are you old enough to remember when the Celtics at 76ers on a Friday night in March was something really big?  Some of us here at Phildaunkia are old enough to remember the days when a nasty rivalry existed between these two franchises and we miss it.  Back in those days, a Friday night game against the visiting Celtics would have been the only thing people in this in town would be talking about and the Spectrum would have been standing room only.  Sadly, in 2010 a visit by the Celtics does not garner a whiff of interest from sports fans here in Philly and there are plenty of seats available for tonight’s game down at the Wachovia Center.  Everyone in this sports crazy city is significantly more focused on the Phillies spring training games or the Eagles free agent moves.  To be honest, we can’t blame the Philly sports fan for not caring about the 76ers, as the Sixers (22-38) have been horrific to watch lately and they are an NBA team that lacks direction in every aspect of the game.

It’s not going to get any better tonight with Boston in town either, as this game is a brutal mismatch.  Boston will be looking for its League best 22^nd road win tonight.  The Sixers are the third worst home team in the NBA.  Philadunkia’s home team has lost four straight, the last two by an average of 20 points, while the C’s have won two straight and 6 of 9.  The Sixers are ranked 24^th in the League in scoring at 97.6 ppg., which is not helpful when you are facing Boston, the #1 ranked defensive team in the NBA (94 ppg. by opponents).  The Celtics boast stars like KG, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo.  The Sixers, well we have Iguodala, Louis and Willie G.  The C’s are intense and focused as they are fine tuning their game for a big playoff push.  Philadunkia’s home team, to be honest, based on their last two on-the-court efforts, we’d say they’ve mailed it in for 2009-10.  Alright, you get the point.  This isn’t going to be fun tonight.  So let’s move on. 

For a little more insight into the Celtics team the Sixers face tonight, we turn to our man Brian Robb from celticshub.com to answer two questions on the Celtics from us here at Philadunkiaas well as provide us with two points of analysis on this Boston squad from an insider’s perspective. 

Continue Reading

So you think you’re having a  rough week?  Well quit your whining and check out what has been going on lately in the life of Allen Iverson.  We guarantee the stretch of days between March 1st  and March 7th does not make Allen’s “Best Week Ever” list. 

A little over a week after he announced that he was leaving the 76ers for the foreseeable future to be with his ill 4-year old daughter Messiah and just a couple of days after he allegedly made an ill-advised and controversial appearance at a 2010 CIAA late night club party in Charlotte, NC there is now a story in the Atlanta Journal Constituiton today that claims Allen’s wife of 8+ years Tawanna Iverson, has filed for divorce. 

What makes it even more difficult for Allen, is that according to the AJC, Tawanna filed the paperwork on Tuesday, the same day that 76ers General Manager announced that Allen “will not return to the Sixers for the remainder of the season, as he no longer wishes to be a distraction to the organization and teammates that he loves very deeply.”  

Continue Reading

Obviously we all know that head coaches in the NBA want to win every game and thus one could confidently state that head coaches in the League hate losing.  We know that’s not rocket science we’re unleashing on you, it’s just a common sense item that hoop heads take as a given.  But we wanted to make sure we’re all on the same page, because you wouldn’t come to that conclusion about our head coach Eddie Jordan if you watched the 76ers last night. 

Down in Atlanta on Wednesday evening, the Sixers suffer through yet another embarrassing loss and dropped to 16 games below .500 (22-38).  However, we bet today in that twisted basketball world of his, Eddie Jordan is probably smiling ear to ear.  See even though the Sixers lost and lost bad, Jordan ran the team his way last night and not in the style that had been directed from the front office back in January.  The style of play which had racked up a 7-5 record between January 31^st and February 23^rd, which for the 2009-10 Sixers was a tremendous feat.

Here’s what we are talking about…

Continue Reading