Heat vs. Sixers tonight.

[JoMal]

If you guys don't think Philly can't win a series against Miami, you're nuts.  Look at the boxscore.  Miami shot .511 from the field and still lost to the Sixers shooting only .441.  Sure Shaq was subpar, he couldn't make any freethrows.  But everything else Miami had problems with was due to the Sixers efforts.

Miami had 20 turnovers to 13 for Philly.  That's Philly's defense on the rest of the team when Wade isn't scoring his 48 pts.

There's no doubt that Miami is a very good team, and last night they weren't quite at the top of their game because Shaq has been out.  But Shaq didn't cause all those turnovers.  Philly forced those turns, and that's how they win games.  Miami wanted to send a message to the Sixers last night, and instead got a message they don't want to hear:  Philly isn't going to lie down in the playoffs.

They have all the pieces, but lack experience.  Korver can shoot three's with anywon, Dalembert can block shots and beat any center down the floor.  Iverson can break a team down all by himself.  Igoudala plays above the rim.  Jackson can score mid-range jumpers, Mckie can still be a defensive spoiler.  They're not a championship team this year, but no team in the East is a complete team, including Miami.

 

Rick, I admire your support for your Sixers. I really do. But you claim this game shows how the Sixers can beat a team like the Heat. I have to ask you if you can guarantee that over a seven game series, you also can guarantee that in at least 4 games the Sixers will shoot .971 from the FT line AND get there 34 times as a road team, cause 17 (not twenty) turnovers, including 9 by Shaq alone, and have the Heat shoot only .647 from the stripe themselves?

Can you guarantee that Shaq will be recovering from an apparently serious stomach virus in each game and certainly look weaker as a result? That Iverson can carry your team in each and every playoff game and have a game like he did against the Heat in this one. Yeah, maybe he can, but we both know that just one missed FT or Shaq shooting 50% from the line and we aren't having this discussion.

It was a great win by the Sixers, no question. But you can hardly say this game will dictate the success or failure of the Sixers in the playoffs. Your team has lost too many games because those very things did NOT click for your team, remember?

It's absurd to think that Webber's going to fold because fans are booing him.  If he's that weak, he wouldn't even be in the NBA. "Impossible to please"  BULLSHIT!  All it takes is a willingness to play hard. Philly fans support players who work, chase after balls, and get rebounds, not fancy behind the back passes that go out of bounds, or missing wide open shots for no reason.  If Webber doesn't have any guts, he's not going to last, and that's not too much to ask for an overpriced athlete. 

Welcome to the C-Webb world you apparently have missed having your head stuck in the Deleware riverbank sand. He IS that sensitive, even with that twenty million dollar a year salary. Amazing, isn't it? A guy can be making more money then God and still get the nervous yips because people boo him.  You would think that with all that money his feelings would be put up on a shelve for later.

And please do not suggest he does not have a willingness to work hard. Hard work and rehabilitation are also integral to Chris Webber, more then you can even imagine. But so are those passes you are unimpressed with. The thing is, in Sacramento, those passes nearly always worked.

In Sacramento.

But as you noted, Philly fans support players who work (that certainly is Chris), chase after balls (he can't, so BOOOOOOOOOOOO, and get rebounds (gimp, remember?), so BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO even louder,  not fancy behind the back passes that go out of bounds (try booing the teammate who stands there wondering why the ball suddenly appeared in front of him like magic), or missing wide open shots for no reason (could it be because his teammates also seem unable to pass him the ball where he likes it?).

All I am saying is that his job is very tough right now, but to know your fans have no faith in you and in fact are working real hard to ensure you feel as uncomfortable as possible on your home court should make you think what can you do to give him a chance at succeeding.

We expect performance, so he can put up or shut up.

Ouch! Too bad that does not apply equally to the other Sixers at times, huh, rick?

[Derek Bodner]

Ouch! Too bad that does not apply equally to the other Sixers at times, huh, rick?

Erm....just about all meaningful athletes get booed at one point or another.  So yes, it does apply to pretty much everyone elsee

[rickortreat]

NO, there are no guarantees for a barely over .500 team.  They can win, but there's no way of knowing how good they actually are.  I think they only started to get "it" around ten games or so, not enough to tell how they compare.

Tonight they won a second game of a back to back on the road to a playoff team with something to play for.  Indiana has been playing really well the last few weeks, and they weren't hurting like the Heat.  But the Sixers managed to stay in the game and out-toughed the Pacers at the end, with Iverson finally icing it with a bucket to go up by 3 with .08 left.  

Does winning two games in a row against playoff teams make this team a good one, or just a team that looks like one on occassion?  What happens in the playoffs will tell us how good they've become.

[WayOutWest]

Indiana has been playing really well the last few weeks, and they weren't hurting like the Heat.

What?  The Pacers have been hurting forever and a day now.  

You cannot base your absurd playoff assumptions about the Sixers on two games against gimpy playoff opponents.

Make no mistake, the Heat and Pistons will wipe the floor with the Sixers.

[JoMal]

Ouch! Too bad that does not apply equally to the other Sixers at times, huh, rick?

Erm....just about all meaningful athletes get booed at one point or another.  So yes, it does apply to pretty much everyone elsee

Getting booed is one thing. Getting serenaded with a chorus of boos for.....what? Being a Sixer? Stepping on the court? Having the audacity for being passed the basketball. Or worse, shooting it?

YOU try to work under that type of scrutiny while attempting something difficult.

[JoMal]

Does winning two games in a row against playoff teams make this team a good one, or just a team that looks like one on occassion?  What happens in the playoffs will tell us how good they've become.

It is indicative of the Sixer's season that they would beat teams like the Pacers and Heat, but bookend those wins with losses to the Celtics at home and the Nets, both arguably more important games for Philadelphia, being that they are division rivals and especially in the Net's case, their key competition for a playoff spot.

Frankly, if not for Cleveland's strange late season nosedive, it would be extremely hard for the Sixers to keep hold of the eighth spot in the playoffs, as the Nets now have the seasonal edge with this win.

[Derek Bodner]

Here we go with the "Booing is bad" argument.

Look JoMal, different cultures.  You're not going to see it my way, I'm not going to see it yours.

Players don't get booed all that often.  Plays get booed.  Effort gets booed.  Stupidity gets booed.  It's not a damning voice.  It's something that can and will change.

A boo doesn't mean we hate you.  It means you didn't perform.  It's something if Chris doesn't learn quickly he's going to have a hard time.

I do get scrutinized at work.  Thing is, I don't get to publicly berate my boss (RE: coach) in the media to thousands 2 days into my job, like Chris did.  I don't get that forum.  Chris helped put himself in the predicament he's in.  He's not some innocent baby in this.

We don't all sit around, sing songs, and hold hands while things fail to get done.  Chris wants to get cheers?  He can hit more than 39% of his shots.  Actually try to get near an offensive rebound.  Stop criticizing the coach and acting like he knows all.  

He's been getting his shots (17.8 per game, he gets 18 per game for his career).  We've been running the halfcourt offense through him for most of the games.  O'brien has changed his defensive scheme for him (no more fronting or hard trapping).  It's time for Chris to produce.  When he does, he'll get standing ovations (like he did for hitting free throws against Miami).  When he doesn't?  He will get booed (like missing 3 out of 4 free throws down the stretch against boston to essentially eliminate us from the atlantic and #3 seed).  And he'll need some thicker skin.

[Reality]

A boo doesn't mean we hate you.  It means you didn't perform.  It's something if Chris doesn't learn quickly he's going to have a hard time.

I do get scrutinized at work.  Thing is, I don't get to publicly berate my boss (RE: coach) in the media to thousands 2 days into my job, like Chris did.  I don't get that forum.  Chris helped put himself in the predicament he's in.  He's not some innocent baby in this.

We don't all sit around, sing songs, and hold hands while things fail to get done.  Chris wants to get cheers?  He can hit more than 39% of his shots.  Actually try to get near an offensive rebound.  Stop criticizing the coach and acting like he knows all.  

He's been getting his shots (17.8 per game, he gets 18 per game for his career).  We've been running the halfcourt offense through him for most of the games.  O'brien has changed his defensive scheme for him (no more fronting or hard trapping).  It's time for Chris to produce.  When he does, he'll get standing ovations (like he did for hitting free throws against Miami).  When he doesn't?  He will get booed (like missing 3 out of 4 free throws down the stretch against boston to essentially eliminate us from the atlantic and #3 seed).  And he'll need some thicker skin.

 :cry:  :cry:  :cry:
Can we start a tissue drive for Chris?

Food drive also?  Or can he feed his family at present?

Freakin wuss.  Try being chained to a sewing machine as an 8 year old in a sweatshop.