Game Thread - Washington VS Philadelphia

[dobrojim]

Btw, I am watching postgame coverage and I decided to look up Julie Donaldson, the hot anchor, on Google. Apparently she has quite the sordid past. Can someone tell me if this was covered on this board yet?

I wanna know about Autria's past.

<jk>

[P'Oed]

Damn, a few nice games and Nick Young is our shooting guard of the future? Sorry ya'll, I don't think I buy it yet. That was a pretty awful shot at the end of regulation. I give the dude credit for rectifying it though. I really hope he keeps it up but I'll believe it when I see it.

[closg00]

NEW YORK -- Philadelphia 76ers forward Elton Brand has been suspended without pay for one game for committing a flagrant foul against Washington Wizards center JaVale McGee on Tuesday night.

NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson announced the punishment on Wednesday. Brand will miss the Sixers' game against the Toronto Raptors Wednesday night.

Brand was ejected with 3:32 left in regulation for a deliberate two-handed knockdown shove on McGee after a dunk in a 116-114 overtime loss to the Wizards.

[Hoopalotta]

That was ridiculous and good fun all around with certain clutch aspects boding well for future playoff series. And it was particularly satisfying to see the Sixers exiting in an inglorious shamed dejection yet again in the exact same manner. Some nice breakout games there too. But, that said, I don know about getting too giddy on the overall awesomeness of this squad's prospects this year.

That was really stealing one there, I mean, a shoddy opponent just completely choked. I'll take it, but I'm not going to get carried away. Good for the team's morale anyway and probably quite critical from that perspective.

+1

I'm happy for the guys that they pulled this one out, but I'm under no delusions that we have turned the corner or anything. We played a pretty bad game - just less bad than Philly.

The best news isn't the win, it's the continued excellence of McGee. He is flat out dominating out there.

Yay! Give it up for the Kings of Mediocrity. Anytime anyone gets too upset, you both tell them to calm down and not blow things out of proportion. Anytime anyone gets too happy, you both tell them to come back down to earth and not blow things out of proportion.

You guys realize this is a Message Board right? Things written and said here have no bearing on reality (save for 1 playoff series in 05 & an Amazingly Sucky thread).

I find it just as annoying as some of you seem to find me, to see you guys constantly preaching that nothing is ever good enough to truly be happy about, and nothing is ever bad enough to be upset about. It's ridiculous.

GET HAPPY WHEN THE WIZARDS WIN.

Well, Krizko, I see your point - I definitely really wanted the win and was cheering and fist pumping during the actual game, but I had a pretty serious inkling that the Sixers really just had an outright bed pan malfunction on a night when they should have won by 10. They were just disgusting in the clutch (in fact, I checked their forum and a few there said they wouldn't watch another game all season). After the buzzer sounded, something about it just didn't feel right and if we play like that every night, we're a bottom 8 team in the league, easy. Hinrich was like "I'm not sure we deserved to win, but we'll take it" and that sounds about right.

But I certainly am capable of getting irrationally stoked on the squad, I just don't hit the outright rabid about faces that some here do. And I have indeed indulged in some serious Kool-Aid ingestion on at least a pair of our young players. *Burp*

Anyway, weren't you calling me out for undue pessimism after the Knicks game (A thread where there were like 10 people bitching worse than me, might I add)? Now I'm too middle of the road? I'll just go ahead and get pumped up next time and then you can hit me for excessive jubilation. That would about cover it.

[dangermouse]

Clutch-ier Martin

[fishercob]

Greetings from disgustingly gray Cleveland, Ohio. Happy thanksgiving to all.

What a wonderfully fun game this was. I share Hoop's realism on what one can actually take away from a win like this, but it doesn't make it any less fun. Overall thoughts:

First, as many have said before there are really two NBA's. There's one with about 8 or 10 teams of championship or CF contenders and then there's everyone else. So far, the Wiz can't play with the first group -- at all (and that's ohhhhhh kaaay). They can beat anyone from the second group on a given night. Pjilly's terrible, and the Wiz probably don't win if Brand doesn't get tossed, but it's a great win nonetheless. The Wiz need to walk before running, and they're on their way to being ambular. They're capable of horrific stretches on both ends of the court, but their "spurtability" is very real and dangerous. That stretch of consecutive 3 point plays was intense.

Gotta give Nick props, as I've been one of his vocal detractors. I don't expect him to play this well consistently -- especially against the smarter (I.e. better) teams. But if he can continue to provide bench scoring and solid D, his contribution will be huge.

I hate to say it -- really -- but I am growing extremely concerned by what I'm seeing from Gil. His inability to explode to the rim -- to draw contact and finish despite that contact -- is highly conspicuous to me. That is such a huge part of what made him so effective, and if he's lost it it's really going to hurt us long term. Hopefully he has more upside physically. His floor game and shooting are coming along great, though his handle seems a bit rusty too. He needs to cut the TO's.

I'm also growing a bit concerned about Dray. If his physical limitations are indeed hampering him right now, is he risking further injury by playing? Would he better off rehabbing to 100% rather than trying to play himself into shape? Maybe his problems are more between the ears, but I look forward to better play from him.

[Rafael122]

Game is on Comcast right now.