http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/john_smallwood RSS Feed for DN Col John Smallwood en-us Sat, 18 Feb 2012 17:52:59 GMT http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/john_smallwood/20120217_No_trade_likely_good_enough_to_boost_Sixers_into_Finals.html The 76ers have been here before. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/john_smallwood/20120216_John_Smallwood__Do_as_he_says__not_as_he_did.html IN MY Small opinion, former NBA star and budding TV analyst Shaquille O'Neal might have simply used the wrong word. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/john_smallwood/20120213_John_Smallwood__Lock_up_Cole_now.html OK, SINCE team president David Montgomery said that he doesn't "think it's difficult" to get a long-term deal done with Cole Hamels, the Phillies just need to do it. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/john_smallwood/20120207_John_Smallwood__Sixers_show_they_learned_from_Friday.html THIS WAS about a quarter of a season's worth of growth in 3 short days. Last Friday, the Sixers entered the fourth quarter in a tight struggle with the Miami Heat, promptly went ice cold and got run out of the Wells Fargo Center. It was a painful lesson about 36 minutes of solid play not being good enough against the elite teams of the NBA. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/john_smallwood/20120206_John_Smallwood_.html TRY AS HE MIGHT, LeBron James will never top Kobe Bryant. Sure, James and the Miami Heat elicited more than a fair amount of boos when they visited the Wells Fargo Center on Friday. But that will be nothing compared to the venom thrown at Bryant tonight when he and the Lakers make their annual visit to the place many in Philadelphia contend he erroneously claims is his hometown. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/john_smallwood/20120131_John_Smallwood__Have_Sixers_convinced_you_yet_.html OK, SO this is what many of you wanted to see. For the better part of a month, even as the Sixers were building one of the best records in the NBA, a lot of people put qualifiers on their wins, pointing out that they were beating up on the bottom feeders of the league. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/john_smallwood/20120130_John_Smallwood__Birds_should_set_a_place_for_Peyton.html HERE IS A hypothetical the Eagles should be thinking about down at One NovaCare Way. If the Eagles truly are the risk-takers, innovators and out-of-the-box thinkers that owner Jeffrey Lurie continually claims they are, they should be closely monitoring what's happening in Indianapolis - and I don't mean Super Bowl XLVI. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/john_smallwood/20120127_John_Smallwood__Eli_s_chance_to_top_big_brother.html TO BE HONEST, this isn't a debate I contemplated having. On one hand, I've always believed that the accomplishments of New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning have been shortchanged because they have been judged in comparison to those of his older brother, Peyton, of the Indianapolis Colts. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/john_smallwood/20120126_John_Smallwood__Ok__Sixers__we_ll_allow_one_stinker.html YOU CAN chalk this Sixers loss up to inevitability, or a lack of frontcourt players. Or you can simply acknowledge that when he wants to be, New Jersey Nets guard Deron Williams is one of the best players in the game and rocked the Sixers for 34 hard points and 11 assists. http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/john_smallwood/20120119_John_Smallwood__Racial_slurs_wrong_but_not_criminal.html STICKS AND STONES may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. Well, actually, that's not true. Specific words uttered in a specific context can inflict as much pain to the psyche as a blow to the stomach or nose.