Tough loss for the Sixers tonight. I will be watching the next two games very carefully. It is important that they bounce back against the NBA’s upper echelon teams. The next two are against Atlanta and at Miami. Two or three games do not make a season but I think we will get a pretty good gauge on if the team could possibly win a first round playoff series by these next few games. They have handled their business well and done all they were asked and beat the teams they should. These next few are more of a true measuring stick.
Checked the weather for Sunday and as of 10:00 PM eastern things are looking better then originally forecasted in San Francisco for the NFC Championship Game. It still looks like rain everyday this week but at kickoff it has dropped to a 30% chance of rain with winds much less then were thought at 9MPH. Important to keep an eye on that.
In the AFC matchup if Baltimore wants a chance they are going to have to get Ray Rice more involved in the offense. Against Houston considering both games he played against them he averaged 2.8 yards per carry on 31 carries. I think he will have more success against New England that ranked 31st in the NFL in total defense.
Look for New England to find a way to get a favorable matchup on Ray Lewis with one of their tight ends. Lewis in the twilight of his career is still one of the NFL’s best at playing what is in front of him but I think he will be challenged to try and keep up with one of New England’s two outstanding pass receiving tight ends. No one does it better then the Pats at identifying the other teams weakness and subsequently exploiting it.
Great Night for the Big 5. Temple hard fought win over LaSalle. Although it will never be the same as it was before Rolie Massimino ruined the tradition when he moved Nova to the Big East.
Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin will interview for the Dolphins head coaching job again tomorrow. There seems to be a divide among who the top candidate is there. Some say Bronco offensive coordinator Mike McCoy is the leading candidate. Which leads me to why all the love for Jeff Fisher ? Lets face it, the pickings are slim out there coaching wise. I have to believe Indianapolis knows who their target is as they continue to get rid of anyone with ties to Peyton Manning. Some say Marty Mornhinweg ? Just remember you get what you ask for. No love for Andrew Luck from this writer.
Huge news that Gunner Kiel the nation’s number one high school quarterback has backed out on his verbal commitment to LSU and has said now he will attend Notre Dame in the fall. That gives Notre Dame a huge boost and in my opinion is great for college football.
Remember the name Jeremy Liggins. He will quickly emerge as the leading candidate for the LSU job. They are very thin at quarterback now as they proved in their loss to Alabama last week. And speaking of Alabama and idiots who just can’t help themselves from self-destructing. The Tide’s All American cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick was arrested on a marijuana possession charge. This will surely do him no favors in April’s draft.
The Eagles brass I am sure is hard at work addressing their glaring needs at Linebacker and safety. I am sure them bringing in Trent Edwards is just a huge smoke screen right ? One thing to give Eagle Fans hope is Mel Kiper’s first mock draft came out today and had the Eagles taking Boston College Linebacker Luke Kuechly with their 1st round pick. Please tell me he is right. He Is by far the best option.
Playoff predictions Friday…
Support your local animal shelter. Every time you buy a dog you kill another one in a shelter who desperately needs a home.
The Sixers are now 1-3 against playoff caliber opponents. And the win came against an under manned Indiana team. The Sixers’ positives are continuity (which I don’t think they should make any significant trades to change) and coaching. They lack a consistent closer, a dominant rebounder (I am talking more about a Ben Wallace type than a low post scorer so no I am not joining the ranks that insist they need a stud C/PF) and Holiday needs to play the right way. His assists: turnover ratio has to improve and the assists need to increase period. I am not as high on Holiday as I was before the season because I do not like the way he is playing right now. Doug Collins needs to reign him in and continue to bench him when he displays a selfish shoot first mentality. Holiday is buying into his own hype a little bit and wants to be a star before he is ready. He needs to listen to his coach and do it Doug’s way or he will never get beyond the “potential” phase.
Also in criticism of Collins (which I usually have almost none), Lou needed to be on the floor last night in crunch time. You don’t beat a team like Denver trying to defend when you don’t match up well. He had a defensive line up on the floor and he needed to have a scoring line up out there instead, Lou is our only closer and he left the game in Iggy’s hands again and the quick triggered Holiday.
Bottom line. Holiday has to play better for us to get to the second round this year. His development and how well Collins handles him will show just how good of a coach and teacher Collins really is.
Saw the 76ers-Nuggets game last night: Sixers came back but could not close it out…Iguodala got the last shot, missed, but got fouled…Then missed a free throw that could have won game…Jrue Holliday also made a bone-head play (don’t remember if it was in OT or at end of 4th quarter) where he drive to hole, try over the shoulder pass, and threw it right into a Nugget’s arms…Then he fouled the guy.
Sixers have no one who can finish consistently at the end of game…You can see it in their eyes, especially Iguodala, that they look unsure…Collins gonna have to find a finisher, and not ‘Dre.
Also, Holliday let Andre Miller run wild…Hawes didn’t play, and they missed his presence in the middle…The Serb from SoCal, the rookie, don’t even get into game…No Meeks either.
76ers not in top rung of teams as things stand…The Nuggets just jitterbugs, and Sixers blew it.