Archive: February, 2009
Upon further review … the call stands.
Ed Stefanski, president and general manager of the 76ers, said today he had been in contact with Stu Jackson, the NBA’s executive vice president of basketball operations, to see if there was any grounds to protest the ending of yesterday’s 98-96 loss at New Jersey, which the Nets won on a 48-foot desperation heave by Devin Harris that beat the buzzer by the slimmest fraction of a second. The three-pointer - New Jersey’s 12th trey of the night - erased a 96-95 Sixer lead in about the time it takes to blink your eyes.
“Stu went through the procedure on such a call,” Stefanski said. “They went through the tape, freezing each frame, and (the shot) was taken within allowable limits. There was no clock malfunction. All three officials went over the replay and ruled the basket was good. They got it right. The ball was clearly out of his hands.”
Sixers forward Elton Brand underwent successful surgery on the torn labrum in his right shoulder this afternoon.
The one-hour procedure was performed by Dr. Craig Morgan at the Christiana Surgery Center in Wilmington, Del.
Brand suffered a dislocated right shoulder against the Milwaukee Bucks on Dec. 17. He will miss the rest of the season.
The 76ers insist the availability of Elton Brand tonight against the Indiana pacers remains a game-time decision, but . . .
ComcastSportsNet is reporting on its website that Brand will not play.
Clearly, both stances could turn out to be correct.
The 76ers shut Elton Brand down for the second half of last night's 100-99 loss to the Boston Celtics, but apparently not for any longer than that. At least not right now.
The power forward, recovering from a dislocated right shoulder suffered Dec. 17 against the Milwaukee Bucks, underwent a magnetic resonance imaging scan today, which the Sixers say showed that the injury is healing as expected. Brand is scheduled to visit Dr. Craig Morgan, his personal surgeon, tomorrow in Wilmington, De. He is being listed as day-to-day, but is expected to be available to play tomorrow night against the Indiana Pacers.
Although it would seem, from a layman's point of view, to make sense to give Brand more time to heal without the demands of practices and games, coach Tony DiLeo said ''We're not thinking about Elton shutting down or (that we) have to replace him somehow.''
Bob Cooney has been at the Daily News for more than 20 years, working in the sports department for the past 15. This is his third season on the Sixers beat. He has covered just about everything, but mostly college basketball, where he was the La Salle beat writer for six seasons. E-mail Bob at cooneyb@phillynews.com and follow him on Twitter.
