Amazing, nobody challenged Ed Stefanski's statement

[is1531]

I waited for a weeks to see if anybody would challange Ed Stafanski's remarks, that if Jason Smith was not injured, he would not have signed Ratliff. Maybe Ed was telling the truth, but the statement makes no sense from a depth standpoint.

Jason Smith is a 7ft PF and center that takes 20 foot jumpers to score his points. He can rebound a little, but is hardly a defensive force. On the other hand Theo Ratliff can have a defensive inpact on the current 76ers team.

The best part about Theo is that you can pick and choose when you want to use him and I think he will still be effective. I think they will use Evans in the same capacity. Whenever they think the team needs a charge on the defensive boards, the 76ers know they can count on Theo and Evans.

Theo's contract did not deepen the 76ers pockets. Afterall, the 76ers needed players to fill out their roster. You do not want a roster to be only 12 players since somebody could get hurt

Theo and Jason would not have collided for time since Jason would have been a rotation player, while Theo would have been used for players in foul trouble and players getting pushed around. For example he would have played more minutes against Orlando and possibly Boston.

Why didn't Jasner or Fagan challenge the statement that Ed made with regard that Ratliff would not be here if Smith were not injured. Somebody should tell Ed the Pistons did not mind having an extra big body last year and they were not undersized and they utilized more players than the previous years.

In the meantime 43% are against the signing of Donyell Marshall while 36% think it was an okay move by Ed. I guess when it came to Marshall Ed felt they had plenty of room for Marshall. Ed, tell me where you see the room, because the way Marshall plays now, I do not see it.





Please replace Dee Lynam with Rebecca Gomez.

[dbodner]

Let's be fully honest here. Ratliff has been on 3 teams during the past 2 years, where he averaged 9 games played per team. It's a nice, happy, feel good story, and Ratliff played well against us in the playoffs, but he's not someone you really want to rely upon. I don't think it's a stretch to think that smith's injury forced the Sixers to rely on someone they previously wouldn't have.

[Skates]

Given what was available Ratliff was a decent signing, much better than getting Magloire. But if the success of this season depends to any great extent on Ratliff getting consistent minutes we are screwed. The extra depth and veteran leadership of Ratliff and Marshall wil be great and they will contribute here or there, but they are extra guys. If Smith was not injured there would have been even less big man minutes available for Ratliff. How well this team does this year will depend far more on how Williams, Young and Speights develop than on how much the old guys can give. Prior to his injury Smith would have been in that group of young guys. I am sure Stefanski never intended to go into the season with 12 players, it just might have been different players that we signed to fill out the roster.

And no, I am not going to challenge a meaningless statement made by the guy who just landed Elton Brand for us. Ed can say whatever he likes as far as I am concerned.

[Loose Cannon]

Who cares. Ed is the savior, he can do or say whatever he wants.

[The Guilty Party]

Seriously, while I'm all for being a fan and questioning every move made by a GM... I have to say that I'm not going to blitz Ed about whether he would have signed Theo Ratliff or not. I think there's a chance that we could see Elton Brand pulling as many as 10 minutes a night at center for when the Sixers play small ball....

Miller/Ivey
Williams
Iguodala
Young/Evans
Brand

.... hence when you combine that with Sam's 33 minutes a night, that leaves all of 5 minutes to fill at center. Am I going to get my panties in a bunch of whether or not we sign an aging veteran to play those 5 minutes? No.

[sec-106]

Who cares. Ed is the savior, he can do or say whatever he wants.

[Fire BK]

Am I going to get my panties in a bunch of whether or not we sign an aging veteran to play those 5 minutes? No.

Eddie's been a straight-shooter since day 1.

[Samson]

Who cares. Ed is the savior, he can do or say whatever he wants.

[CoachK]

I wouldn't think anyone would challenge the fact that if Jason Smith was able to play this year Ratliff wouldn't be here. Ratliff isn't just on the downside of his career, he's at the point that vultures are following him around.

I'm one of the 43% against the signing of Theo Ratliff. I would have signed a NBDL player or would have taken a chance on a player that didn't get drafted.

[sixerswillrule]

Who cares, really. It doesn't matter what would have happened had Smith not got injured because he is injured now, that's all that counts. We're more upset about that happening than anything Ed said...

[is1531]

Let's be fully honest here. Ratliff has been on 3 teams during the past 2 years, where he averaged 9 games played per team. It's a nice, happy, feel good story, and Ratliff played well against us in the playoffs, but he's not someone you really want to rely upon. I don't think it's a stretch to think that smith's injury forced the Sixers to rely on someone they previously wouldn't have.

Ed is telling us that he would not have picked up Theo if Smith had not been injured. In this case Ed is misjudging the ability of Jason smith, at least up till this point. Smith could get better, but at this juncture, Smith has not manifested himself to be be a quality defensive player. Over the course of time that could change.

Once Ed stated that Theo would not be here if Smith were healthy, then the media should have asked, does that mean Smith would have been your back-up center? I would have loved to hear Ed's answer. It's vey possible that Ed would have said, we would look into a bunch of different combinations, that would have included Smith, but i can not give the media a pass here for failure to follow up on Ed's remark.

What I am saying here is, the price was so cheap for Theo, why would you not want his veteran presence, even if Jason was 100% healthy. It would allow Cheeks to work the best combination , especially against tough matchups like Orlando and Boston.

If Smith would have stayed healthy, he would have been a regular rotation player, which would not have be in conflict with Theo, who only would have been a situational player. However, when Ed made the statement about Theo being signed only because Smith was injured,, Tom Moore, Kate Fagan and Juice Jasner decided not to follow up. I would have handled it much differently at that point. When a GM gives you material to work with, you have to know when to counterattack.

[freshie2]

I think they ultimately would have ended up signing another big even if Smith did not get injured. You look at this roster from top to bottom, compared to what BK used to provide, and it's difficult to question any of the moves Ed has made.

[is1531]

I think they ultimately would have ended up signing another big even if Smith did not get injured. You look at this roster from top to bottom, compared to what BK used to provide, and it's difficult to question any of the moves Ed has made.

I do like the moves he made.

[docwasoverated]

I think they ultimately would have ended up signing another big even if Smith did not get injured. You look at this roster from top to bottom, compared to what BK used to provide, and it's difficult to question any of the moves Ed has made.

spoken like a true politican..you took both sides..lol

[docwasoverated]

i agree that ed's quote should have been followed up ..i believe the gm is just kissing up to his other bench players and keeping the hope alive that somehow or someway the evans contract can be dealt.i like the theo signing because he plays like sammy..he can run,defend the rim from the slashers and play the post player. not as good as sam but well enough to keep elton and sam from loggin major minutes. gotta be fresh for our deep playoff run!

[is1531]

i agree that ed's quote should have been followed up ..i believe the gm is just kissing up to his other bench players and keeping the hope alive that somehow or someway the evans contract can be dealt.i like the theo signing because he plays like sammy..he can run,defend the rim from the slashers and play the post player. not as good as sam but well enough to keep elton and sam from loggin major minutes. gotta be fresh for our deep playoff run!

All I am saying is just because the 76ers are on the way up, that does not mean that the 76ers fans should accept everything that Ed says as the Gospel. Just remember this 76ers fans, Pat Williams did a great job as Gm for the 76ers for many years, but in his last season Pat and Katz decimated the franchise, sending the 76ers down that river of no return for 22 years. It's only now the 76ers are trying to come back upstream.

Ed does not have Pat Williams resume, but I will give him credit for the good things he does, but I will not turn away from bad things that he will do.

P.S.- If the press does not ask good questions, then our Gm gets a free ride from the media. I have seen that in this town for too long. Show no fear!

[dbodner]

You need to stop bringing up whoever you're campaigning for. It's off topic every time you bring it up.

[freshie2]

I think they ultimately would have ended up signing another big even if Smith did not get injured. You look at this roster from top to bottom, compared to what BK used to provide, and it's difficult to question any of the moves Ed has made.

spoken like a true politican..you took both sides..lol

Maybe I'm mis-reading...which conflicting sides did I take?

[docwasoverated]

I think they ultimately would have ended up signing another big even if Smith did not get injured. You look at this roster from top to bottom, compared to what BK used to provide, and it's difficult to question any of the moves Ed has made.

spoken like a true politican..you took both sides..lol

Maybe I'm mis-reading...which conflicting sides did I take?

ed said he would not sign a big if not for the injury to smith.you disagreed.but in the next sentence you suckup to ed

[is1531]

The NBA writers in Philadelphia that cover the 76ers are the pits. I go on line to read the view of other posters, since I know their is no fairness and balance with the 76ers beat writers. They are nothing more than information takers. I see Jasner as nothing more than a teflon man. For example, try sending Juice Janser an E mail. He does not even start a sentence with a capital letter. He does not use paragraph's in his E mail. It just goes to show you that an editor will go to extremes if he likes you. I just think Jasner is awful. Tom Moore is pretty good.