Since there don't seem to be any Yankees fans on this board, it makes no sense to try to get anyone riled up. The truth is these are both very good teams and they have some respect for each other. The fans are a lot more alike than they would care to admit. It might gall the rest of the country to see these two teams in it, especially the Yankees. Not too many Philly fans west of the Mississippi.
The two teams played each other earlier in the Season and the Phils won, but that was before they got Martinez, Lee and Happ.
If you really need to make fun of them, their nicknames are the Skankies, and the Silly's.
Obviously the Series is more important, but I'm anxious to see the Sixers get started. Their first match-up is the team that knocked them out of the Playoffs last season and went on to lose the Championship in the finals. Orlando has been through some changes and hardly anyone thinks they'll be back, but they have been on a mission in preseason, blowing every team out winning by double-digits.
When the Sixers were able to play at their best, they could actually stay with Orlando and even beat them. But this is drastically different team for the Sixers, no Andre Miller. No Reggie Evans. Instead Lou Williams and Elton Brand. The Sixers should be better than last season, replacing Evans with Brand alone should be a 10 pt. swing!
There aren't that many teams in the league with more than a handful of players able to give them 15 pts. and 10 rebounds a night, or 15 pts. 5 bds. 5 assists. The Sixers have over 8 of those or their roster. Once they develop the Princeton and add that to their running game and pressure defense, they should be able to take another step up in the league. Brand, Young, Iguodala, Williams, Speights, Smith, Carney, Dalembert. Plus Kapono, rookie Jrue Holiday and Green who aren't quite at that level but can put up numbers now and again. Even if Sam isn't quite a 15 and 10 player, I expect more than 15 from Iguodala and probably Williams. Brand and Young are also candidates. There should be enough shots for everyone and they are an unselfish group for the most part.
It will take them time to develop the Chemistry to play to their potential, and six of them are still improving as individual players. Orlando is a good test for the Sixers, the first elite team they're going to play since this team came together. I'm anxious to see how they respond to playing a good team.
