When the 76ers and the Atlanta Hawks square off in Phillips Arena tonight, the Sixers organization and Philadunkia nation will have their second to last view of Hawks forward Josh Smith before he hits free agency.  Ironically enough, the skill set that Smith possess which makes him an attractive free agent prospect for the Sixers makes him a dangerous opponent this evening.

While Spencer Hawes has been very productive as of late for head coach Doug Collins, defensively, he will likely be taken out of the game by Atlanta center Al Horford’s size and skill.  With that in mind, Thad Young, Lavoy Allen and sometimes Arnett Moultrie will be left to cover the polarizing Smith. 

Unfortunately for Collins, Smith is a mismatch for all three of those bigs.

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Philadelphia 76ers

83

FinalRecap | Box Score

88

Charlotte Bobcats

	Thaddeus Young, SF 33 MIN | 2-9 FG | 2-2 FT | 7 REB | 0 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 6 PTS | -14 After a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds against the Bobcats Saturday, Thad came out flat last night and couldn’t get his jumpers to fall.  He did bring his usual hustle however with three swipes and a couple diving saves for loose balls and extra possessions.
	Evan Turner, SF 33 MIN | 6-15 FG | 2-2 FT | 6 REB | 3 AST | 2 STL | 0 BLK | 5 TO | 14 PTS | -12 Evan Turner played 33 minutes, but it was 33 seconds in the 4th quarter which sealed a Bobcats win and continued Turner’s tumultuous season for the Sixers this year.  On a mid-court inbound with the team down 84-83 and a timeout left, Turner nearly committed a five-second violation and lobbed the ball right into Gerald Henderson’s hands for a fast break dunk down the other end.  Back breaker. Game over.  It came right as I was going to give him credit for scoring six points with under four minutes to play…Go figure.  “The Enigma” strikes again.
	Spencer Hawes, C 33 MIN | 5-9 FG | 2-2 FT | 7 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 1 BLK | 0 TO | 12 PTS | -6 Hawes played physical the entire game, but was out-bodied by the Bobcats’ Josh McRoberts who pulled down 16 boards and had a couple huge slams.  By design or not, Hawes also shouldn’t have launched a three to try to cut a five point deficit to two with under 20 ticks to play.  Didn’t the 76ers sign Dorell Wright for that reason?  That was painful to watch.
	Jrue Holiday, PG 37 MIN | 2-24 FG | 1-1 FT | 6 REB | 8 AST | 3 STL | 0 BLK | 3 TO | 5 PTS | -10 From an offensive, defensive and leadership standpoint this was by far the worst game I’ve seen from Jrue Holiday in a Sixers uniform.  His shot was off all night in historic fashion, shooting 2-of-24 from the field for just five points.  According to Basketball Reference, Jrue is the first NBA player in at least 28 years to take 24-plus shots and make two or fewer.  The last Sixers player to shoot this bad from the field was Allen Iverson who shot 2-of-21 vs. the Knicks in 2004.  Outside of his shooting, his defense was equally as terrible on Kemba Walker.  More on this after the jump…
	Damien Wilkins, SG 33 MIN | 7-14 FG | 6-8 FT | 9 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 20 PTS | -7 Damien Wilkins played a hell of a game and deserved to get this win.  He opened the game scoring 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting in the first quarter and ended the game with an efficient 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting while pulling down nine boards. He scored eight-straight in the third including a pretty runner off the glass.  By my standards, he’s shown enough to deserve a new contract in the offseason.
	Arnett Moultrie, PF 9 MIN | 2-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 4 PTS | +1 Moultrie was again given the Collins treatment.  He pulled down three offensive boards and added four points in just nine minutes of burn.  That obviously wasn’t good enough to deserve more minutes. Apparently, this guy couldn’t have done anything to stop the hurt that was put on by Josh McRoberts. Unreal.
	Dorell Wright, SF 19 MIN | 5-9 FG | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 14 PTS | +12 Rocking the red Iverson arm-sleeve, Wright was the most consistent scorer for the Sixers outside of Damien Wilkins in this game.  He knocked down four threes and kept the game close with back-to-back trey’s in the 4th.  Somehow he only got 19 minutes of PT and wasn’t given the three which was instead handed to Spencer Hawes at the end of the game.  Good coaching Doug…
	Lavoy Allen, C 19 MIN | 2-2 FG | 0-0 FT | 4 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | 0 BLK | 1 TO | 4 PTS | +8 Too much playing time for Lavoy, although he did have a nice tip-in and held his own on the blocks. Benefit of the doubt on this one.
	Royal Ivey, PG 16 MIN | 1-5 FG | 0-1 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 0 TO | 2 PTS | +4 No words….
	Justin Holiday, SG 7 MIN | 1-5 FG | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 0 AST | 0 STL | 0 BLK | 2 TO | 2 PTS | -1 It was nice to see the Jruth’s brother score his first NBA bucket with a 20-footer to start the second quarter.  After a failed alley oop attempt to Jrue shortly after, Justin was pulled by Dougie for the rest of the game.  This move must’ve affected Jrue as he went beyond not buying a bucket the rest of the game.  He couldn’t have even been given a bucket from the free stuff section on Craigslist.  It was that bad.
	Nick Young, SG DNP COACH’S DECISION MIN | FG | FT | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | Swaggy couldn’t have attempted some of Jrue’s shots?  After Jrue went 1-of-10, you needed him to shoot 13 more misses?  I’m not saying that Nick would’ve been the answer but when he’s hot, he’s hot and he could’ve at least gotten a chance in this game.
	Doug Collins There’s nothing like building a team up with three straight wins, to coaching them out of a win against the worst team in the NBA.  Hopefully the Sixers are devastated as a team and will start losing some necessary games for a decent lottery pick, instead of trying to pursue the pipe-dream of a playoff spot.  This loss stings even more, as the Bucks lost to the Timberwolves last night 107-98. Keep up the “great” rotations Dougie.

After the Jump…Six Things We Saw

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With a few games remaining and the making playoffs a reality for Doug Collins only, focus on free agency has most assuredly been on the mind of everyone involved with the 76ers.  The draft lottery is just that this year, a lottery.  Free Agency is a much different animal altogether. 

Everyone has a varying opinion on what the Sixers will do this offseason.  From Andrew Bynum to Al Jefferson to Joel Przybilla, each would have a varying effect on the future of the franchise.  Assuming the 76ers decide that tanking isn’t an option in 2013-14, here is what should transpire during free agency. 

No trades or stretch clause are factored in, otherwise I’d trade the whole roster for Andre Drummond and Ryan Anderson.

So, next year’s team currently consists of Thad, Jrue, Hawes, J-Rich, ET, Lavoy, Moultrie, and Kwameeeee.  Throw in the 76ers projected lottery pick and the team has about $13,000,000 to work with this offseason.  The team needs a bit of everything and will take some smart moves to build a playoff team. 

After the jump, I present the plan for what I’d do this offseason, if tanking in 2013-14 isn’t an option…

 
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With multiple prime-time NBA match-ups, the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 rounds of the NCAA Tournament as well as the Easter Holiday (and family visiting) going on this past weekend our beloved 76ers were relegated to DVR status.

But now that we have had time to “watch the tape”, we have some thoughts on what went right for the 76ers this past weekend (winning back-to-back games) and what went wrong for Collins & Co. (winning back-to-back games).

So, on the opening night of the Phillies 2013 season, let’s recap all that went down with the 76ers who extended their win streak to three games this weekend.

 
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A quick Google Images search of Damien Wilkins will put his career for you in a nutshell.  In that search, you’ll see the 6-6, 225 pound swingman dawning a vast variety of the NBA jerseys.  Wilkins has been one of the lucky few who have been able to live the life of an NBA journeyman.

But recently, Wilkins, the current starting shooting guard for the 76ers, hasn’t been playing like a nomadic bench player.  In fact, the 8-year veteran out of the University of Georgia has been averaging 15.2 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.6 steals in 29.0 minutes per game over the team’s last five contests.  Wilkins, who has started 10 games for the Sixers, has been a spark plug for Doug Collins’ team ever since he was inserted into the starting unit to replace a hobbled Nick Young.

Even though the veteran and well-respected locker room presence has been turning heads on the court for the Sixers of late, not many in the City of Brotherly Love truly know a lot about Wilkins off the court and what his thoughts have been about his first season rocking the fabled red, white and blue.

With that in mind, Philadunkia scribe, Jake Fischer, caught up with the Sixers’ cagey veteran and talked about his family lineage, the Sixers struggles this season, his days with the Seattle Supersonics and his obsession with Wawa.

 
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Take a minute and think about these questions for a second:

Did the Philadelphia 76ers ownership just pull off the greatest tanking scheme in NBA history? Will their current horrible reputation be wiped away into them being regarded in the highest light for the Andrew Bynum blockbuster trade?

If I were to tell you that they’ve been pulling the media and fans’ legs all along for the good of the organization, would you believe me?

Putting your emotions aside (and believe me I’m right there with you) the answer to all three of these questions could conceivably be yes. The story of marketing ploys and genius cover ups begins after the jump…

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The 76ers are 5-4 in their last 9 games and if they hadn’t simply given away a game in Denver last Thursday that record would be even more impressive.  Collins & Co. have won 6 games overall in March – their highest monthly win total since December.  There are a couple of reasons for the improved play of the Sixers over the past month, but none have been a big factor than Damien Wilkins.

The 33-year old Wilkins has had a resurgence that is reminiscent of the Jason Richardson we saw in the first month of the year.  Damien’s play of late is both unexpected and more so untimely.  Whether it is a case of veteran savvy coupled with intense mental fortitude or variance, DW has been managed to produce at a level far above even he likely thought possible — 18 points; 5 boards and 4 dimes last night.

 
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The latest in the “30 for 30 Shorts” series over at Grantalnd on ESPN.com is titled Silver Reunion.  In the short film, Director Rory Karpf sits with the men of the 1972 USA Olympic basketball team to discuss their highly controversial 1972 gold-medal game against the team from the Soviet Union.  The footage is extremely compelling and among those on the USA’s history making squad were current 76ers head coach Doug Collins and former Sixer great Bobby Jones.

Reuniting more than four decades after the controversial gold-medal game in which they lost to the Soviet Union and then declined to accept the silver medal, the team members met in Lexington, Kentucky wheer they sat in “round table fashion” and talked to Karpf and his cameras.

Karpf got the members if the 1972 team to provide eye witness accounts of the chaos that occurred that day in Munich as well as give some emotional reactions to “losing” the ’72 gold medal.

The video featuring the thoughts of Collins and Jones after the jump…

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