Elton and the guy who used to be Amare Stoudemire were in stark contrast on Sunday.  Two guys whose skills have more or less completely left them, but one is still able–through pluck, grit, determination, and a bunch of other words generally used to describe depression-era boxers–to contribute; the other is an albatross.  Amare has a lot to learn from Brand.

Offensive limitations aside, he’s somewhere between good and great nearly every time he steps on the court.  Today, he was great.  He Turner and Young, when the three are on the floor, give the Sixers a trio that, in size, athleticism, and skill, nobody can match.

Well.  He didn’t do a whole lot of good.  He didn’t do a whole lot of bad either.  Till next time kid.

What else is there to say?  Evan Turner has gone from bust / afterthought to arguably the Sixers best player faster than you can say “Thank god Jodie Meeks isn’t playing 25 a game anymore.”  Dude looks confident, skilled, and generally like the National Player of the Year he was just 24 months ago.

Okay. So, he was pretty bad today, but he contributed to the 7-6′s impressive wrangling of Linsanity.  Holiday scored 8 points on 14 shots, but Lin got only 14 on 18.

Lou Williams was an absolute Tom Berenger-level sniper today.  He missed his final five shots, but still finished 10/19. He likes to shoot.

Thad Young provides so much electricity off the bench it’s a wonder he isn’t regulated by the NERC.  Dude was outstanding again today, just jumping over and through everybody in his path.

It was nice knowin’ ya kid.  Good luck and watch your top knot.

8 points on 13 shots is not good, especially when you are coming off an 18 point night.  Most concerning for us were his 3 missess in the 4th Q.  EB looked tired and old during that stanza and his shot was flat.  Also…is there a forward in the League who gets his shot blocked more often?  EB simply has no lift.

We’d still like to see him be a little more assertive in the half court offense, but that’s being really, really picky tonight.  His defense on the perimeter during the 2nd half was simply stellar.

Tony went 2-3 from the field in 11 minutes and didn’t make any major mistakes.  For a guy who has no right being in the Association, what else could we give him but an A?

Simply amazing again tonight.  We’re not ready just yet to start a Jeremy Lin level of hysteria here in Philly for Turner, but after a second straight double-double, we’re getting close.  Of special note was his 7 points and 3 boards in the 1st Q that helped the Sixers stay in this game when they were getting killed down low.  Is it me or does ET simply appear to have more energy and spring in his step then everyone else on the court.  He looks “fresh” (for lack of a better word) compared to the rest of the ballers out there.  He also hit the bucket that gave everyone in the WFC free Big Macs…’nuff said.

Holiday got off to a slow start and didn’t score his first basket until 3:40 remained in the 2nd Q.  He quickly followed that up with a 3-ball, but because of foul trouble couldn’t keep the momentum going in the 3rd Q.  So, after a long stretch on the bench, Jrue simply took the game over in the 4th.  Jumpers on the break, 3-pointers, following his own shot, back door cuts, Holiday did it all in the 4th (Holiday scored the Sixers’ first seven points in the fourth.).  His 4th Q totals — 10 points, 3 rebounds and one charge drawn.  He basically closed out the Jazz in this one.

Except for two ill advised running leaners in the second half and a couple of missed FTs, this was one of LW’s best games of the year.

The leader of the “Night Shift” was red hot in the 1st half and his energy carried the Sixers during the late 1st and into the 2nd Q.  At one point he scored 8 straight for the Sixers.  However, even while he was carrying the Sixers, we were concerned that he was scoring by settling for jumpers (That all went in.).  That came back to haunt him in the second half as his J went cold.  It took him a second to adjust, but Thad eventually did and then scored the ball off the bounce.

Meeks missed 2 3PAs and had two awkward drives to the rim during the 2nd Q and that was all the evidence Collins needed to realize that Jodie didn’t have it tonight.  He did not see the floor in the 2nd half.

It seems Lavoy Allen is deep in Doug’s doghouse as the kid from Temple saw limited minutes in the 1st half and no burn in the second at all.  C’mon Doug.  Lavoy is certainly a better option then Ol’ Man Battie.

“Big Nik” missed a couple shots that he usually knock down, but other then that it was a solid night.  We’ll continue to push for more minutes for the rookie as well still remember what he did vs. Houston when he got 28+ minutes of playing time.

Another day at the office for Iguodala, who held Pierce to 13 and continued to be the beating heart of the best, and most consistent, aspect of the 7-6′s game. When I say “D” you say “Fence.”

When Craig Brackins is playing, it means something either very good or very bad has happened. Tonight, fortunately, it was the former.

With zeros in almost every category, Battie is giving a whole new meaning to “empty stats.”

Oh. My. God. ET delivered the sort of performance we’ve been waiting two years for.  Since getting the starting nod the last two nights, he’s looked like a completely different player.  Monday’s misses aside — and they became makes on Wednesday anyway — he just looks so demonstrative out there.  Turner also did a nice jobe defensively on Rondo at the start of the game.

An okay performance on the offensive end, but after the Sixers got torched by PGs Derrick Rose and Brandon Jennings in consecutive games, it was nice to see the red-hot Allen (0-5 on FGAs) and Rondo (2-6 on FGAs) struggle thanks to Jrue’s defense.

Elton Brand was outstanding tonight.  At one point he had dunks — like jump up in the air and put the ball directly into the hoop with your two hands — on consecutive trips down the court.  I think I need to sit down.

The human victory cigar got lit in the fourth period.

Lou, who’s been hot and cold of late, was sound on Wednesday, but did the lion’s share of his work once the outcome was decided.  So like mid-second quarter and beyond.

Jodie, who looked great off the bench against the Bucks, looked less than that tonight.

LA did some nice work on the glass, snagging one particularly impressive o-board from the clutches of Kevin Garnett.

With Hawes reportedly on the mend, the Montenegrin stepped his game up.  He was a terror on the boards, stayed with his own misses, and delivered the kind of performance that, when you look at the numbers, leaves you wondering ‘That was all?’

EB’s string of double-double comes to an end vs. MIL and it was not pretty.  Early foul trouble may have prevented him from getting into the flow of the game but we have to point out…How many times did Brand fail to score because what little vertical lift he once owned is now completely gone?  Too many to count.  Also Drew Gooden simply killed him all night.

What else can we say about Dre taht you haven’t heard already?  Yes, he scored the ball efficiently, got his teammates involved and played solid defense on Jennings at times.  And he nailed several “bail out” 3′s that saved the Sixers at the end of the shot clock.  However “the leader” of this team didn’t score his first bucket until there was 4:50 remaining in the 1st Q, had only one FGA in the 4th Q (which he made) and shot 2 FTAs.  We need more from him in these close games.

A quick start — 3 for 3 in the 1st Q had us excited that “Big Nik” was headed for a huge game.  But that 1st Q was followed by and 0-5 the rest of the way.  Foul trouble also hampered his efforts last night.

Well, a lot of you had your wish granted last night as Collins shook things up and ran Turner with the first-five.  Whether ET capitalized on it or not is a matter of opinion.  We know it’s very hard, but let’s try to ignore for a minute the 0-10 start ET had last night (1-12 overall) and the fact that he missed some easy bunnies and lay-ins.  He was a monster on the glass, something the Sixers desperately need.  ET also got to the rim with easy, but simply couldn’t finish. He also did a nice job of getting the other Sixers involved and played good defense.  Still 1-12 is hard to ignore and we are trying hard to do just that.

Obviously not a great shooting night for Jrue and Jennings simply killed him in the 1st Q.  But the thing that stood out for us is that Jrue spent too much time playing off the ball.  The Sixers need to get to the rim (and thus the FT line) more often and for that to happen Jrue has to your primary ball handler.  He also did a much better job on Jennings as the game went on, but 19 first quarter points is unacceptable.

A big scoring night for LW was capped by a stellar 4th Q.  He even drew a charge in the final quarter.  LW also got to the FT line which is something we have been begging the Sixers to do for weeks now.  However he chucked up (and missed) an ugly jumper at the :45 mark of the 4th Q with the Sixers trailing by only two points.  And of course he missed another “last shot” with 6 ticks remaining and the 7-6 down by two.  Can we please go to someone else as our closer?

We love the double-double he had last night as Young-Smoove was one of the few Sixers who brought the energy and did not look tired.  He was rewarded by Collins with a start in the 3rd Q.  But we’ll only think of one thing for Thad in this game…How on earth did he miss that point blank tip-in during the final seconds?

With ET in the starting lineup, Meeks became part of the “Night Shift” and provided an instant lift off the bench.  He nailed two 3PAs at the end of the 1st Q.  Then he hit another to open the 2nd Q and threw in a driving lay-up for good measure. Jodie had tallied 11 points at half, but Capt. Streaky only scored 1 bucket the rest of the way.  He missed two wide open 3′s in the 3rd and finally another one at the 5 min. mark of the 4th Q.  Uggghhhhh

Let’s just move on.