Posted: Tuesday, April 28, 2009, 1:50 PM | 5 comments |
 

Sixers' Young responds to Orlando strategy
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Marcus Hayes reporting in Orlando ...

Second-year Sixers forward Thaddeus Young might have taken offense to the Magic’s stated strategy on the final play Sunday night.

With just under 15 seconds to play in the tied game, Rashard Lewis, guarded by Young, set a screen near the top of the key for Hedo Turkoglu, who was guarded by veteran stopper Andre Iguodala. Turkoglu said afterward that the Magic’s strategy was, whoever wound up being guarded by Young would take the last shot.

The Sixers switched. Young took Turkoglu. Turkoglu hit a game-winning three-pointer over Young with 1.1 seconds to play.

Young dismissed the diss.

“I kind of actually figured it out. In the games like that, I know they’re going to find the young guys and go at them. It happened last year. It’s nothing big,” Young said today.

So, he’s not upset at the perception of him being the target?

“Mad?” he asked. He looked away and gave a little nervous laugh. “Not really. Being a second-year guy, you know they’re going to come at you a little bit. Sometimes, young players make slip-ups and don’t do some of the things that vets do. Right now, I’m not looking at it as anything bad.”

Like his coach, Young spun it as more of a compliment to Iguodala.

“We all know Andre’s a great defender. A lot of guys don’t like playing against him because he’s very active,” Young said. “A lot of guys don’t like playing against me.”

Those guys apparently are not in Orlando.

To read the initial comments and about the war of words from today's Daily News, click here.

*

From the mouth of Stan Van Gundy:

On the chess mismatch: “Look, Tony’s made some good moves. I haven’t done a damn thing.”

On injustice: “You couldn’t have a more obvious travel than Lou Williams’. And then we got a really tough call on Miller’s drive. Hopefully, that stuff doesn’t affect it, either.”

On knowing his enemy: “They haven’t done anything to surprise us. Maybe if they came with a quintuple-team, that would surprise us.”
Posted by Marcus Hayes @ 1:50 PM  Permalink | 5 comments
5
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:54 PM, 04/28/2009
    war of words?? come on daily news writers. I get that you're trying to drum up interest in a series and a team that hasn't exactly captivated the region, but to headline stories with "war of words" when all turkoglu basically said was he'd rather go after Young than Iguodala is a bit of a stretch.
    — Potus415
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:44 PM, 04/28/2009
    Let's be realistic here. The Sixers, even with a healthy Brand, are not a championship team. There are very low expectations that the Sixers would get past the Magic going into the series. Ticket prices are way to high for me to want to pay to watch this watered down product they call the NBA in 2009. The NBA playoffs pale in comparison the the NCAA March Madness. Things have not been the same since Magic, Bird, and Jordan retired.
    — Bill R4
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:39 PM, 04/28/2009
    Speak for yourself Bill R4. I personally enjoy watching the Sixers more than the Big 5, just like I enjoy watching the NFL more than Penn State.
    — Tartan69
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:36 AM, 04/29/2009
    I agree Tartan, I like watching a young team develop into a contender. Besides, Bill doesn't know NBA basketball. With a healthy Brand we'd be favored in this series. You add a 20 and 10 player to the Sixers and their at the top of the league. It's amazing anyone would write that. You have to be really ignorant.
    — ricky
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:52 PM, 04/29/2009
    Brand only slowed this team down, and the team is worse with him. Yet we are stuck with his monster contract. This team won't win a championship ever...unless they are willing to lose games and win a lottery pick someday. It's a team of role players.
    — nervegenerator


5 comments
About Bob Cooney
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.

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