The 76ers once again found themselves coming up just short in the Orlando Pro Summer League, falling to the Utah Jazz 84-80 in day two’s opening game.

The good news is that the Sixers got off to a much better start today, attacking the basket early and shooting over 44 percent for the game.  Still, it wasn’t enough to secure a first W for the 7-6 down in Orlando.  Jacob Pullen and Justin Holiday led the way for the Sixers with 23 and 16 points respectfully.  Pullen got the start at point guard today following an impressive performance yesterday against the Pacers.  He continued to aggressively attack the basket and use his quickness to his advantage.  Despite his skinny frame, Holiday continued to find the ball, leading all Sixers with seven boards. 

Rookie Maurice Harkless had a nice basket from the lower block early, but once again seemed to disappear.  The rookie out of St. John’s certainly wasn’t playing bad, but struggled to create plays for himself off the ball.

 
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You remember that “good guy” in high school that had a noble head on his shoulders, a bright future, looked a little young for his age, and roamed the halls with a tight circle of friends that were all generally overlooked?

Now do you remember how he always seemed to befriend one of the most beautiful/outgoing/popular girls throughout his four years of school?  Do you remember, during his junior year, when he had finally had enough of listening to firsthand accounts about how all of the “D-Bags” took advantage of that girl?  Do you remember when he worked up enough courage to finally ask her to Prom in hopes of building a foundation for their last year as pre-collegiate adolescents?

Do you remember how he sent her on an anonymous scavenger hunt around the town, leading her to a tucked away bridge in the middle of a mindless gap of town?  Do you remember hearing the story about how, when she arrived, he stood there in a button down shirt and dress pants; sweating his butt off and holding a single rose in front of a giant poster that read “Prom?” in scribbled red marker.  Do you remember hearing about how, after providing a constant shoulder to lean on for the better part of two years, she slowly walked up to him and said “I’m sorry, I can’t” because she already said “Yes!” to the senior starting quarterback that would eventually become a giant flame out?

Well that boy is exactly what the Sixers are in the crowded Eastern Conference High.  They are the young, bright future boy that just got denied everything they deserved.

 
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Obviously the 76ers have a huge, must win game (literally) tonight and we’ll have plenty to say on that later today.  But for now, we just wanted to lighten the mood a little with this post.

As you may or may not know, sneaker companies frequently hit their NBA endorsers with special edition sneakers for the post season.  A number of the 76ers have been rockin’ new shoes during the playoffs and so far we like what we have seen.  With a little help from our friends at Li-Ning, we’re going to take a look at the kicks Evan Turner (11 & 8.6 a night in this series) has been wearing vs. the hated Boston Celtics. 

After the jump, a sneak peak at the shoes Turner will be wearing tonight in what hopefully will be a big 76ers W ….

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What a difference a MVP makes!

Rather, the absence of a MVP.

The Sixers, who were outclassed, out-hustled, and outplayed in Game 1 of their first round match-up with the Bulls, looked like a team destined for postseason greatness in Game 2.

The Sixers stunned the United Center crowd last night as they thrashed Chicago, 109-92.

Yes, the Bulls were without Derrick Rose, their reigning MVP, who is out for the year.  Yes, the Sixers took full advantage of it. However, this victory was just as much about a stellar effort from the Sixers as it was a post-traumatic Bulls team, who seemed to be in a comma-like funk during the second half.

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Orlando Magic

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Final Recap | Box Score

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Philadelphia 76ers

	Elton Brand, PF 31 MIN | 4-10 FG | 0-0 FT | 7 REB | 1 AST | 8 PTS | +3 Wow.  What a defensive performance from Brand in this one.  Brand played 31 tough minutes and played great defense on Ryan Anderson as well as help defense on Dwight Howard all game.  He also added 4 blocks and 2 steals to his defensive stat sheet. Howard shot 6-17 on the night and that was in large part of Brand on the blocks.  Coach K would’ve been proud.
	Andre Iguodala, SF 42 MIN | 5-11 FG | 3-9 FT | 11 REB | 6 AST | 14 PTS | +12 Iguodala played a solid game.  He filled the stat sheet and the team was +12 with him on the court.  He held Hedo Turkoglu to a season low of 1-9 from the field.  He also notched another career milestone, surpassing Sir Charles on the Sixers all-time steals list putting him in fourth place with 1,007 steals.  I’m still disappointed though that the man cannot hit his free-throws.  Going 3-9 on the night is unacceptable, considering only a few weeks ago he missed a free-throw that could’ve given the Sixers a win against Denver.  For the sake of his team, he has to put in some extra time in the gym at the foul line.  Can we get Herb Magee to come over to PCOM for an hour or so?
	Tony Battie, C 17 MIN | 3-5 FG | 2-2 FT | 9 REB | 0 AST | 8 PTS | +8 He sure didn’t seem like the oldest man on the team in this game.  Battie held his own against Howard and played well on offense and defense.  8 points and 9 rebounds in 17 minutes is a great night for Tony Battie.
	Jodie Meeks, G 24 MIN | 2-6 FG | 1-2 FT | 6 REB | 1 AST | 7 PTS | +8 Meeks played a solid game.  He defended J.J. Redick very well, limiting him to 3-13 shooting.  Outside of that he didn’t need to do too much in this one.  It’s worth noting that the 3-headed monster at the shooting guard spot of Meeks, Williams, and Turner had nearly identical minutes in this one however with 24, 25, 24 respectively.
	Jrue Holiday, PG 30 MIN | 3-11 FG | 0-0 FT | 0 REB | 6 AST | 6 PTS | +4 Jrue was cold from the field, but defended well and distributed the ball effectively as well.  The Magic were without Jameer Nelson which made Holidays job a lot easier.  With the toughest stretch of games coming up for the Sixers, Holiday has to find his rhythm for the team to have success.  He has the task of defending two of the best in the game in Derrick Rose and Dwyane Wade next.  It’s his chance to make a statement around the league.
	Lou Williams, PG 25 MIN | 4-13 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 9 PTS | -4 Awful shooting from Lou in this one.  His 9 points stopped his streak of five straight games hitting for double digits.  As I said for Jrue Holiday, Lou needs to be on point for this tough stretch of games coming up.  He’s still leading the team in scoring and will be looked to often to provide that scoring in the next few games.
	Thaddeus Young, F 31 MIN | 5-13 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 2 AST | 10 PTS | -3 He tested Dwight Howard and Howard showed him why he’s one of the best defenders in the League.  Young scored 10 points but on 5-13 shooting as many of his drives to the cup were defended well by Superman.  He’ll have an easier time with those takes when he’s not going in against the 3-years and counting NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
	Lavoy Allen, PF 17 MIN | 0-4 FG | 0-0 FT | 5 REB | 3 AST | 0 PTS | +7 He did an outstanding job for a rookie making Howard work for his looks.  Lavoy continues to shine in the absence of Hawes and Vucevic.  He’s done it offensively on a couple occasions, but against Howard it was his defense that made the difference.  It seems for the moment that even when Hawes and Vuc return that Lavoy has earned some minutes of his own.  It’ll be interesting to see how coach Collins uses him the rest of the season.
	Evan Turner, SG 24 MIN | 4-7 FG | 4-6 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 12 PTS | -10 Besides Tony Battie, Turner was the only Sixer to shoot above 50% from the field.  Turner had 12 points on 4-7 shooting, and it was nice to see him use his size and strength to get a few looks from the free-throw line.  He’s currently third on the team in FTA’s behind Lou Williams and Andre Iguodala, but only shooting 63%.  He averaged 75% from the line in his final season at Ohio State, so at least we know he’s capable of hitting them on a more consistent basis if given the opportunity.

After the Jump, Six Things We Saw Last Night

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Sometimes there are games during the course of an NBA season that you have to sit back and enjoy.  This was the case for Wednesday night’s game against the Denver Nuggets in Philadelphia.  The Sixers were a team at 10-3 who were riding the momentum of a three game win streak, the Nuggets a team at 9-5 who had just dismantled Lebron James and the Heat just nights ago.  To add to the storyline of this game was the Sixers home record.  The Sixers entered the game with a perfect 6-0 record at home which was second in the NBA behind the Spurs who were 9-0.  Each team was also nearly identical when it comes to scoring as well, the Nuggets entered the game second in the NBA in scoring with  104.1 points per game, while the Sixers were third at 102.5 points per game.

Each team has been so successful this season because of the play they have gotten out of their benches.  For the Sixers Lou Williams, Thaddeus Young, and Evan Turner have shown all season great production when their names have been called to help out the 7-6, for the Nuggets there is Al Harrington, Corey Brewer, Andre Miller, and Chris Anderson who have played their part in the Nuggets success.

On this night there was one bench player which out-shined them all, and one who is very familiar with the Sixers.  Andre Miller who served as a nightly stat-machine in his playing days with the Sixers, showed why at the age of 35 that he’s still got it.  The classy veteran had 28 points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists, and 2 steals in nearly 39 minutes of work to lead the Nuggets to a 108-104 overtime victory.

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On August 11th Philadunkia’s home team hired Rod Thorn as President of Basketball Operations, effectively demoting Ed Stefanski.

At the time many people, including all of us here at Philadunkia, were asking is this a good move?

In an attempt to answer this larger question we have broken it down into its component parts:

Did Stefanski deserve the demotion?

Was Thorn the right hire?

And if not Thorn, who?

After the jump we take a stab at the first question and examine the Stefanski era.

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Recently Chad Ford and John Hollinger, the “NBA Insiders” over at ESPN.com, posted their Future Power Rankings of NBA teams.  As a refresher, we remind you that the Future Power Rankings are ESPN Insider’s projection of the on-court success expected for each team during the 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.  Or in simpler terms “a convenient way to see the direction your favorite team is headed.”

As we read over the most recent rankings by Ford and Hollinger we were not surprised to see that these respected NBA scribes placed the Sixers at #25 in their Future Power Rankings.  That’s right about where we had the 76ers in our own NBA rankings.  What surprised us is the accuracy with which these “national” writers analyzed the issues that plague Philadunkia’s favorite franchise.  It was as if they follow the Sixers on a daily / nightly basis or had secretly hidden a microphone here in the Philadunkia offices and had been listening to our conversations on the state of the franchise.

After the jump are the words ESPN.com’s Ford and Hollinger wrote about the state of the Sixers.  The breakdown will sting a little, but sometimes we need to hear the truth from outsiders for it to really hit home…

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While the 76ers finally struck gold with their talented and young (19 years old) starting point guard Jrue Holiday, the Sixers also currently have questions as to who will be backing up the club’s floor general and poster boy for a brighter future.  In my opinion, the Sixers still need to find someone that can give Holiday a breather once and awhile or (knock on wood here) fill in for Holiday should he miss a few games because of injury. 

The likely candidate for head coach Doug Collins is combo guard Louis Williams.  Williams is entering his fifth-season in the NBA (all with Philadunkia’s home team), but as we learned last year, his game is better suited to be a scorer than a facilitator of an entire offense.

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