Guzzling Jordan Juice

My God. People had been placing a bulls-eye on LeBron James' back when the Cavaliers dropped the first two games of their series against the Pistons. Now they are up 3-2 in part to a phenomenal (that is an understatement mind you) performance by James when he was essentially the only person on the court scoring for the Pistons in the later part of the 4th quarter and all of the two overtimes played.

Allow me to explain: LeBron had 48 points overall, but he was a one-man wrecking crew in the late part of the game--he made the last 11 field goals for the Cavs, scored the last 25 points as well as 29 of the last 30 points. At one point, LeBron had three guys surrounding him with the shot clock winding down. He shot, off-balance, and made it.

Word on the street is that Jordan had to go through the Pistons to achieve greatness. History has a tendency to repeat itself, and if the Cavs do get over the hump, we will all be looking at this game as the night LeBron James came into his own and established himself as the superstar he was touted to be. I expect the Pistons to put five guys on him in the next game, but even then, I believe LeBron will put up at least 25.

Sir Charles keeps it real

Some of our older Philadelphia people may recall that once upon a time, Charles Barkley played for your beloved Sixers. Here is a picture of him:



Now that he's off the court and in the booth, he rumbles through questions about America in much the same way that he drove to the hoop.


Editor's Note: If The New Republic tries to make you register, I would recommend the venerable username: password combined with the password: password, as a cure-all for your ills.

I promise we're a sports blog!

There have been quite a few articles lately about the Phillies' phailure. Here are a few good ones that I've found.

John Heyman of SI catalogues some of the recent problems and the likelihood that the recent solutions will only make things worse.

Tom Verducci also drops a little SI love on the Phillies. And by love, I mean he leads off a mailbag about how they suck.

Jayson Stark of ESPN also chimes in with two columns about how the Phillies can't get it together. They're both on Insider but to summarize, he describes the trainwreck that is their April. One quote I think is worthy of sharing is "Baseball Prospectus' Joe Sheehan said it best: The dropoff from the top 11 players on this team to the rest of the roster is steeper than most people seemed to notice." Ouch.


To give this a little multi-sport flavor here's one of the funniest blog posts I've seen in a while from FreeDarko. Scroll down through a few posts and be sure to read NBA Playoff Race War Semiotics. It's two parts but well worth it. Only the blogosphere is capable of taking on the question of whether playoff basketball teams are more Asian of Jewish. Great stuff.

Haven't We Seen This Before?

So here we are. 5 games to play, and 4 games out. No, it's not Phillies ready to drop another wild card spot in the late season, it's the Sixers who are trying to climb an unthinkable mountain.

Left for dead after the Iverson trade, they've rallied around a young core of talented players who, even if they don't make the playoffs this years, will no doubt contend next year. Even without Iguodala and Korver out of last night's game, they were able to hold off the Pacers with a ragtag line-up.

As there is very little room for error, I along with the rest of the Philadelphia faithful have ambled down this path before. Get our hopes up, only to take us out by the knees at the last second. I can't imagine that they would get far in the playoffs anyway if they manage to squeak in. Beating the Pistons in a series has never been our strong suit.

Regardless of the outcome, I can't wait for depth to be strengthened by the upcoming draft and watch our team play next season. At least this provides a distraction from the Phillies annual lousy start.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Anytime ESPN struggles with something to talk about concerning the NCAA Tourney after they have exhausted all of their analysis on the recent games, the studio will inevitably focus on Digger Phelps. This year, he called Winthrop to finally break through to the second round. Who had he coached before? Notre Dame. Who did the committee decide to match Winthrop against? Notre Dame. So keep an ear open for Linda Cohn and Andy Katz to come down on the old man. Then again, at least he's not Clark Kellogg and called for the Stanford upset (like I foolishly did also) and is now the target of Bill Simmons in his Madness Diary.

By the way, I'm calling it first: 6 vs. 11 upsets are the new 5 vs. 12 after watching VCU use the BPAS against Duke as well as Winthrop currently dismantle Notre Dame.

How Prophetic

In the first major upset in the first day of March Madness, Eric Maynor, a sophomore guard of Virginia Commonwealth University, hit the game-winning shot with little over a second remaining to knock off the terrible Dukies. Interestingly enough, Maynor himself was quoted in today's USA Today that he "wanted to be in the situation" because he had always wanted to play for North Carolina. Maynor not only hit the game-winning shot, but was 3-for-3 from the field in the last 90 seconds.

This cool cat's not only clutch, but he knocks off the NCAA team that is essentially the equivalent of the New York Yankees. Now this is March Madness at its finest.

March Madness Starts in April

The title to this post was uttered by an inane student from my high school--that seems like ages ago--but it has come to epitomize (only in my trivial mind) the insanity, joy, heart-break, and suspense that ensues during the course of the next three weeks. The top seeds were what most experts expected: Ohio State, Kansas (after quite a scare in the Big 12 championship), UNC, and Florida. Each of the aforementioned teams took home their respective tournament crowns.

As for the rest of the field of 61, I really don’t give a crap about RPIs and strength of schedules. As long as the rest of the top 25 is somewhere in the field, there should be no griping and whining. Basketball experts like Billy Packer are always up in arms about teams like Drexel and Florida State not getting into the tourney. In the big picture, at least to me, these teams would have no shot at getting farther than the Sweet 16 if they’re lucky. I know there are Tournament Miracles like George Mason of last year, but I don’t see those teams every single year. There are always surprise upsets, don’t get me wrong, but in the end, bubble teams will have their dreams burst in one of two ways: by securing a spot but then going one-and-done; or missing out on the tourney altogether and get relegated to the JV tourney of the NIT.

Anyways, on to the madness. Here are a few links of stuff that has been posted recently concerning the craziest time in college sports:

The entire finalized bracket
Celebrating the Tourney with the Forde Minutes
Bracketology Tips if you’ve never actually filled out a bracket (feel free to locate your balls at this point in time)

Sports Illustrated's Breakdown of the Brackets

Sixers, Baby, Sixers

I find it a great pleasure to wake up to a post like this in the morning. I realize that the Sports Guy absolutely shit all over the Sixers organization for letting AI go, but you have to admit that it has been paying dividends in Philly more so than in Denver. I thought there was hope for this deal a while back, and I feel Mr. Simmons was just a little unfair in his judgment of the trade due to the fact that Iverson is a once in a lifetime superstar who packs the stands. That fact is undeniable but he forgot one thing: selling out arenas does not equate to a championship. I give Iverson all the credit in the world for laying it on the line every night for his team, but he isn’t enough of a team player to help a team win the rings. He becomes too much of a distraction with his rants about needing to practice.

Yes, you can be MVP, but a player cannot hurt his skills by continuing to polish them. Yes, you can play with all the grit and determination even at his small size, but that small player can also be a huge distraction to the organization. Yes, you can win the love of a city, but you can also be detrimental to the development of younger players through your selfish play and personal demeanor. At this point in his career, Iverson should realize he should be playing the role of mentor to the younger guys in the locker room, not saying he’s still number one.

Just look at how the Sixers are playing now that the Answer has been moved out West. Hell, there is even talk of making the playoffs of all things. Why you ask? Because the Sixers shed themselves of a great player, but even an even greater burden. Now, their younger players can develop into a team, and from what I keep reading, this team is starting to play with some fire. I’m not wholly expecting the Sixers to make the playoffs, but all in all, it is encouraging to see a team that is finally developing rather than stalling out because of one bad apple.

Globetrotters Find a New Opponent

On February 17 the Harlem Globetrotters are scheduled to play Dennis Rodman and his newly formed basketball team in an exhibition match in Las Vegas. Now this match could go one of two ways. In the first instance, Rodman and his Bad Boy All-Stars will beat the tar out of the Globetrotters. The Globetrotters, having had essentially one opponent in their 81 years of existence, the Washington Generals, would be sure to put on a stellar performance out on the court. The Generals, having only beaten the Globetrotters once in their career, have certainly proved a worthy opponent over the years, continuously sharpening the Globetrotters skills. However, this match may be scripted, in which case the Globetrotters, in true Globetrotter fashion, will artfully beat Rodman and his crew. Now come on Dennis, you out of money or what? I find it difficult to accept a five time NBA champion allowing himself to be pantsed by Curly Neil while Goose Tatum dumps a bucket of confetti on his head, just for fun. Well whatever the reasoning, the match up should prove to be hilariously entertaining.

Nuggets of Gold

I know it will hurt the most for Stain Q. Hagglepuss, but I will shed a tear for the official departure of Allen Iverson, one of the most beloved icons in Philadelphia of my generation. I grew up watching Iverson from the beginning of his career, despite my lack of interest in basketball. Everyone who lived remotely within the edge of Philly remembers how he first crossed over Michael "Air" Jordan. That was only a sign of things to come from a player who gave it his all and fought threw injury and a lack of teammates to become one of the best offensive players in the game.

But on to what we got in return for moving The Answer. The Sixers received a pretty good deal because they were able to swing Andre Miller, one of the best point guards in the game today, and two first round draft picks, giving the team a total of three in the first round. I know I don't have great confidence in Billy King building a great team, but with three picks in the first round alone, that is an ample amount of firepower to start rebuilding this sagging basketball team. I have not yet checked who will be coming out in this upcoming basketball draft, but I hear it may be one of the best in years.

So two first round picks and Andre Miller for a beloved icon. I can deal with it only because whether we traded him or not, there was no way the Sixers were ever going to win a championship with AI. It is sad, but true. Hopefully, this deal is a sign that Billy King has laid off the sauce every time he tries to make a deal. And at the rate we're winning, we could have the first overall pick in addition to those two other ones.

So I'd say the Sixers are officially on the clock.