After a very encouraging performance against the Derrick Rose-less Chicago Bulls on Friday night, the 76ers wrapped up another lost weekend by getting trounced in Toronto 120-88.  The score doesn’t even begin to tell the story as the Sixers were posterized and humiliated by one the best teams in the Eastern Conference all night.  Instead of rehashing that debacle up north through a Rapid Reacts recap and further depressing everyone, we decided to post something a little more positive.

If you have been surfing the old inter web for overseas basketball scores and highlights, then you probably know that 76ers’ 2014 draft day acquisition Jordan McRae is playing extremely well for the Melbourne Tigers of Australia’s National Basketball League.  In fact, McRae’s play (22.6 ppg.) has been so nice, I decided to give him a call to discuss life in Australia, his internet fame and what elements of his game he’s working on “Down Under”.

Q & A after the J…

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Orlando Magic

91

FinalRecap | Box Score

89

Philadelphia 76ers

	Brandon Davies, PF 29 MIN | 9-11 FG | 1-4 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 20 PTS | -1It’s BD’s world and we’re just living in it.  In the 3rd Q BD had a stretch where he scored on a nice up & under from the low block and then on the next trip he drained a 3-ball.
	Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, PF 26 MIN | 2-7 FG | 0-2 FT | 5 REB | 4 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 2 TO | 4 PTS | -9I get that Luc is here to help Joel Embiid adjust to life in the NBA, but does that role require 20+ minutes of run a night?
	Nerlens Noel, PF 17 MIN | 2-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 3 TO | 4 PTS | +8Given the cautionary approach of the 76ers’ medical staff and front office, I’ll be very interested to see how long a sprained ankle keeps Noel out of the lineup.  Before the injury, #4 did drop a smooth behind the back pass to Shved for a lay-in in the 2nd Q.
	Tony Wroten, SG 35 MIN | 9-16 FG | 5-7 FT | 3 REB | 8 AST | 5 STL | 2 BLK | 9 TO | 27 PTS | +5Of course on a night where TWroe buries 4 out of 6 threes, he also turns the ball over 9 times (6 in the 1st half). The no look alley-oop he threw to KJ was fantastic. The two dribble-drive buckets he scored and the 8 points he put up in the late 4th Q kept the Sixers in this game.
	Hollis Thompson, SG 34 MIN | 1-5 FG | 3-3 FT | 9 REB | 1 AST | 3 STL | 2 BLK | 0 TO | 6 PTS | +1This guy is allegedly a good shooter, right? Wait, didn’t I ask that question all of last year as well?

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Houston Rockets

104

FinalRecap | Box Score

93

Philadelphia 76ers

	Brandon Davies, PF 24 MIN | 5-10 FG | 2-3 FT | 4 REB | 3 AST | 0 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 13 PTS | -15That’s two solid games in a row from # 0. BD posted a quick 5 points in the opening Q and in the 3rd Q he had a beautiful up and under move for a bucket.  However his ill-advised 3PA with 5 mins left in the 3rd Q was simply awful.
	Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, PF 25 MIN | 4-9 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 10 PTS | -15I liked Luc’s energy last night and he did some nice things, but nothing really stood out to me about his play last night.  That’s kind of the story of his career.
	Nerlens Noel, PF 30 MIN | 5-8 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 5 AST | 6 STL | 1 BLK | 3 TO | 10 PTS | -6There was a battle raging on Twitter after the game as to what type of night Noel had for the 7-6. Noel had four steals and five assists in the first half.  He was very active on defense all night, including tremendous blocks of a D12 FGA and a Harden dunk attempt.  On offense, he made a very savy dive to the basket in the 2nd Q that led to a dunk.  Still, the 7-foot rookie, failed to grab a rebound until there was 2:40 left in the game.  I know there will be growing pains this season with Noel, but that can’t happen ever again.
	Tony Wroten, SG 31 MIN | 7-16 FG | 4-6 FT | 5 REB | 4 AST | 5 STL | 0 BLK | 5 TO | 20 PTS | -9TWroe rackd up his third 20-plus points in the first four games, but Wroten had 5 tunrovers and only 4 dimes last night.  He did have 5 steals.  In the 3rd Q there was one play I really liked…Wroten had a tremendous dribble-drive to the rim, but missed the lay-in. However he quickly grabbed the rebound and put in the follow up. Still too many 3PAs for my tastes.
	Hollis Thompson, SG 31 MIN | 2-5 FG | 2-3 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 7 PTS | -9I’m over this experiment already.  Hollis has been given every opportunity to grab the starting SG spot and make it his permanant home and has failed to do so.  I’m calling for KJ to start right now.

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This 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 key upcoming 76ers games – features tonight’s opponent, the Houston Rockets who are currently 3-0 (wins over LAL; BOS and Utah), but will likley be without Dwight Howard tonight because of an injured knee.

After the jump, I’ll look a Fo’ key items for tonight’s game.  Additionally, we’ll get a little more insight into this Houston team the Sixers face tonight from our colleague Armin Khansari from thedreamshake.com, as Armin will answer Fo’ questions on his Rockets from us here at Philadunkia.

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This 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 key upcoming 76ers games – features tonight’s opponent, the Milwaukee Bucks who blew a 24 point lead in their opener at Charlotte on Wednesday night and lost 108-106 in OT to the Hornets.

That game also featured the debut of the No. 2 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, the highly coveted Jabari Parker.

After the jump, I’ll look a Fo’ key items for tonight’s game.  Additionally, we’ll get a little more insight into this Milwaukee team the Sixers face tonight from our colleague K L Chouinard at bucksketball.com, as KL will answer Fo’ questions on his Bucks from us here at Philadunkia.

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Philadelphia 76ers

91

FinalRecap | Box Score

103

Indiana Pacers

	Nerlens Noel, PF 35 MIN | 2-11 FG | 2-6 FT | 10 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 3 BLK | 2 TO | 6 PTS | +2 I was very impressed with his athleticism, shot blocking skills and ability to get to the rack on offense. However, he obviously struggled to finish when he got to the tin and most alarming for me was Noel’s inability to guard the pick and roll. I saw flashes of major potential and points where his raw skills were exposed badly. I have a felling that will be the case on a lot of nights. The spill he took in the 3rd was scary.
	Chris Johnson, SF 32 MIN | 5-10 FG | 1-2 FT | 1 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 12 PTS | +1 I was shocked to see CJ’s name in the first-five, but he captalized nicely on the opportunity Brown gave him, scoring point in every quarter of this game. Defensively I like what I saw as well.
	Henry Sims, C 23 MIN | 4-9 FG | 2-2 FT | 4 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 10 PTS | -16 A quick start — 4 pts. in the early 1st Q — did not produce the big night I was looking for from Sims, but he played solidly.  Still, I need more than 4 boards from my “center”.
	Tony Wroten, SG 35 MIN | 9-21 FG | 3-8 FT | 8 REB | 7 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 22 PTS | +8 If this more “mature” version of TWroe shows up every night, the Sixers will be more pleasant to watch than I expected. 7 dimes and only 1 turnover for #8 last night. He still shot way too many 3’s and was awful from the FT line, but overall I like what I saw. The flush in traffic during the 4th Q was smooth.
	Hollis Thompson, SG 29 MIN | 2-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 4 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 5 PTS | 0 Someone remind me again why the Sixers brass is so high on this guy?

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The 76ers tip off the season of the “double tank” (a.k.a. “Tank 2.0″) tonight in Indiana against a very different looking Pacers team. Frank Vogel’s squad is missing a key point to their scoring attack as all-star Paul George continues to recover from the leg injury he suffered while competing for Team USA.  Additionally second scoring option Lance Stephenson signed with the Charlotte Hornets in the off-season.   David West and George  Hill are injured and out for tonight’s game.  However, Roy Hibbert, Luis Scola, Chris Copeland and Rodney Stuckey will be in the Pacers lineup tonight and that likely will be enough to hold off the upset minded Sixers in the 2014-15 season opener for both teams.

The wise guys in Vegas have established the Sixers as a 7-point underdog tonight vs. a mediocre Pacers team that was picked to by SI.com to finish 9th in the East.  Yesterday here at the Philadunkia offices, we analyzed the season opener and the first month of the Sixers 2014-15 schedule.  Obviously it’s not going to be pretty for Brett Brown’s troops and so the following question came up …

When will the 76ers record their first win of the 2014-15 season?

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With the Travis Outlaw / Bo Outlaw debacle behind them, the 76ers roster is now set for opening night.  As we review this group of “developing assets”, cast offs and D-League level players as well as the Sixers coaching staff, we have discovered a glaring omission.  Once again his roster and staff does not contain a veteran point guard or former NBA point guard turned coach to help with the development of Michael Carter-Williams.

The future of the Sixers may very well rest on the shoulders of Michael Carter-Williams.  The young floor general had a great rookie season, but improvement is crucial for his, and the franchise’s future success.  There are definitely facets of his game that could use improvement and Brett Brown is a solid development coach who can fix most of those issues.  However, Brown’s lack of NBA playing experience could be a barrier that prevents MCW from fully developing as a player and leader.  Bringing in a qualified point guard mentor/coach/consultant to work with #1 could not only fix MCW’s faults, but in the long run it could help MCW become a more complete player.

After the jump I provide several suggestions for who I’d like to 76ers hire to serve in this role for Carter-Williams.
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Late yesterday we all learned that Steve Nash has officially been ruled out of the 2014-15 season for the Los Angeles Lakers because of the nerve damage that has led to years of back and leg pains.  The announcement was a bit of a shock given that in late-September at the start of training camp, Nash had the following to say about his health, “A lot better.  A lot different, even…I feel healthier mentally for sure.”

Still, Nash had seen limited minutes for the Lakers in this preseason and there were rumors swirling about continued health issues for #10.  So there was some writing on the wall prior to the official announcement.

This setback has likely ended the playing career of a certain first ballot Hall of Famer and one of the most entertaining floor generals in modern NBA history.  However, 76ers fans who truly love the game can take solace in the fact that in what was likely Nash’s final game played here in Philadelphia, that star point guard put on performance that could go down as the best outing of his final season in the League.

After the jump, highlights and a few facts about Nash’s last game here in Philly.

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As the 109-103 loss in Detroit last night further proved, the 76ers are going to struggle to win many games in 2014-15.  To be honest being competitive every night is going to be a huge challenge for Brett Brown and his troops.  That will be especially true in games where Michael Carter Williams and/or Nerlens Noel are sidelined.  On those nights, the Sixers will be absolutely unwatchable.

So given how bad the 7-6 will be this season — Vegas has set the over/under for wins at 15.5 — why not make the losses significantly more interesting each night by laying a few benjamins on some player prop bets.

After the jump, we list a number of player prop bets you can place with our friends at Bovada.lv.

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