Posted: Thursday, April 30, 2009, 11:55 PM | 19 comments |
 

Sixers lose badly, final team meeting at noon Friday
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With just under eight minutes left to last night's 114-89 elimination loss to Orlando, the courtside illuminaries were dialing up the next chapter in their lives.

On the far end of the court, Jimmy Rollins, in a green Phillies warmup, was talking on his cell. Former Sixers President and GM Billy King pulled out his blackberry for a quick look, maybe a score, maybe a salient observation from a supporter.

Flyers center Mike Richards was also in the house, and if he was as relieved as disappointed, well who could blame him. Because as bad as the stinker he captained last Saturday -- coughing up a three-goal lead at home -- well this was worse.

Wasn't it?

At home, with Orlando's star center Dwight Howard suspended and versatile guard Courtney Lee in the hospital having surgery on his broken nose, the Sixexrs managed to lose by 25 points. Worse, they trailed by double digits for much of the game, shot 40.8 percent for the game.

"No I wouldn't say it was embarrassing,'' said Thaddeus Young after scoring eight points in over 41 minutes of play.

Well, then...

Maybe that's part of the problem, no?
Posted by Sam Donnellon @ 11:55 PM  Permalink | 19 comments
19
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:59 PM, 04/30/2009
    Humiliating in every sense of the word. No heart, no hustle, no strategy. The pressure description was right on, because the minute the 76ers weren't playing the ultimate underdog they completely choked. Really disappointed and expected more, I really thought we had grown as a team. Curious what a healthy Brand would bring to this table. Sigh.
    — evolutionary
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:11 AM, 05/01/2009
    World Series honeymoon is over - Birds, Flyers, Sixers all end in stinkers - back to Loserville, USA - thank you Phillies
    — jhjack
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:16 AM, 05/01/2009
    there was a hidden message sent! start looking!
    — losteagle
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:19 AM, 05/01/2009
    Let's face it. The Sixers are an overpaid, under-achieving bunch of millionaires. If any of us working people consistently underperformed like this bunch on ne'er-do-wells, we would find ourselves in the unemployment line. Kudos to the NBA players union who have ensured that this mediocrity will continue forever... in phoenix, phlash
    — phoenix phlash
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:23 AM, 05/01/2009
    Someone should tell whoever the architects of this team were/are that they call it BASKETball because you're supposed to be able to shoot the ball into the freakin' BASKET!!!! This team is pathologically one-dimensional - they even put it on their cups and towels. "Run with Us." It's not track and field, it's basketball.
    — phillyinnyc
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:23 AM, 05/01/2009
    Two parts talent and two parts heart...the Sixers lack talent and lack heart. This is game 6 of the NBA Playoffs and you're at home...if you cannot bring anything more than you brought tonight, then it is time to make some real changes to this team. Much of this team has been together for two years and have won 40 games and 41 games respectively. Plus, two years in a row they lost by more than twenty points in a game 6 at home. I can give them a pass for last year's loss to Detroit, but losing this game by 25 points to a Howard-less Orlando team IS embarrassing. I agree that if the players aren't at least a little bit embarrassed for their performance, then this Sixers team will never, ever be more than a .500 club. If you want to know what heart and desire are, you should've watched tonight's Celtics-Bulls Game 6. A completely different level of talent and heart.
    — MrPhillie
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:36 AM, 05/01/2009
    it will be another decade before the sixers are even relevant in the playoffs. until then they will continue to be a minor speed bump to teams with a legit shot at a championship.
    — jayfril
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:53 AM, 05/01/2009
    Yeah part of what sucks is that Lebron is going to make life hell for the Eastern Conference for a long time to come, so even if we become a 50 win team somehow, I'm not sure it's going to make much of a difference. 41/41 just puts you in the meat of the draft, so our only hope has to come through a trade, which will almost certainly mean breaking up this nucleus. Still shocked by the disgracefulness of the loss tonight, especially in the context of the Bulls ridiculous effort against the world champs, like MrPhillie said. Hard to believe Chicago is a 41/41 squad too.
    — evolutionary
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:24 AM, 05/01/2009
    Fire DeLeo.
    — Huge
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:29 AM, 05/01/2009
    Why in the world did the sixers want Orlando when Boston was without KG. Andre Miller had to say "We got the team we wanted". Why can't you just say Orlando is going to be tough, instead of giving them extra motivation. They were 0-3 against Orlando. Andre good job sticking your foot in your mouth!
    — mikeef74
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:33 AM, 05/01/2009
    The Sixers suck. I agree totally with you phoenix phlash. This was an embarrassing loss and this whole group deserves to have their paychecks revoked. Go Phillies!!!
    — grimm39
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:46 AM, 05/01/2009
    The Sixers and Flyers - two steps forward, two steps back. Neither team is going anywhere. The Eagles? They can't win the big games. The Phillies may not repeat as World Series champs, but they'll play every game hard and not quit 'til the last strike is called.
    — steveku2
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:02 AM, 05/01/2009
    HOW will they change though? Who wants Sam, Elton & Iggy's contracts?? That is the problem with the NBA.
    — Snake


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About Sam Donnellon
Donnellon's career began in Biddeford, Me., in 1981, and has included stops in Wilkes-Barre, Norfolk, and New York, where he worked as a national writer for the short-lived but highly acclaimed National Sports Daily. He has received state and national awards at each stop and since joining the Daily News in 1992 has been honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors, the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association, the National Association of Black Journalists, the Associated Press Managing Editors of Pennsylvania and the Keystone Awards. He and his wife of 26 years have raised three fine children, none of whom are even the least bit impressed with the above. E-mail Sam at donnels@phillynews.com
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