Making this quick before leaving for the weekend (maybe I’ll be able to update the post later, with all the sums etc).

Ok, it’s a given that this is a pretty young team, with some veteran presence only in the back up department.

So I tried to check our players’ playoffs experience, making a small research through the years.

My source has mainly been Basketball reference and here is what I found.

In order:

SPEIGHTS, IVEY: 0 playoffs games played.

Barely a surprise: the first is a rookie, the second sucks (LOL) and has always played for bad teams (feel free to add the Sixers to this category).

YOUNG, WILLIAMS: 6 playoffs game played (2-4 record)

They were members of 2007/2008 Sixers, that were eliminated by Pistons, 2-4.

IGUODALA, DALEMBERT, GREEN: 11 playoffs games played (3-8 record).

They were members of two Sixers teams that made it to the postseason, in 2004/2005 with Jim O’Brien, and in 2007/2008 with Maurice Cheeks. Sixers lost to Pistons in both occasions, 1-4 in 2004 and 2-4 in 2008.

MILLER: 21 playoffs games played (5-16 record)

Here is the recap of his career in the postseason:

• 2004 (Denver Nuggets), lost 1-4 in the first round to Minnesota
• 2005 (Denver Nuggets), lost 1-4 in the first round to Spurs
• 2006 (Denver Nuggets), lost 1-4 in the first round to the LA Clippers (LOL)
• 2008 (Philadelphia Sixers), lost 2-4 in the first round to the Pistons

(uhm, I think I gave some strong arguments to his critics, LOL)

EVANS: 22 playoffs games played (9-13 record)

• 2005 (Seattle Supersonics), won 4-1 vs Kings, lost 2-4 to Spurs
• 2006 (Denver Nuggets), lost 1-4 to the LA Clippers
• 2008 (Philadelphia Sixers), lost 2-4 to the Pistons

RUSH, 31 playoffs games played (19-15 record*)

• 2003 (LA Lakers), won 4-2 vs Timberwolves, lost 2-4 to the Spurs
• 2004 (LA Lakers), won 4-1 vs Rockets, 4-2 vs Spurs, 4-2 vs Timberwolves, lost 1-4 to the Pistons in the NBA Finals

Funny how the only guy that basically NEVER gets his ass off the bench for the Sixers, is the only one with a winning record in the postseason…

RATLIFF, 33 playoffs games played (20-23 record*)

• 1996 (Detroit Pistons), lost 0-3 to Magic
• 1997 (Detroit Pistons), lost 2-3 to Hawks
• 1999 (Philadelphia Sixers), won 3-1 vs Magic, lost o-4 to Pacers
• 2000 (Philadelphia Sixers), won 3-1 vs Hornets, lost 2-4 to Pacers
• 2008 (Detroit Pistons), won 4-2 vs Sixers, 4-1 vs Magic, lost 2-4 to Celtics

In the two seasons in Philly he was coached by Larry Brown.

MARSHALL, 41 playoffs games played (22-20 record *)

• 2001 (Utah Jazz), lost 2-3 to Mavericks
• 2002 (Utah Jazz), lost 1-3 to Kings
• 2007 (Cleveland Cavs), won 4-0 vs Wizards, 4-2 vs Nets, 4-2 vs Pistons, lost 0-4 to the Spurs in the NBA Finals
• 2008 (Cleveland Cavs), won 4-2 vs Wizards, lost 3-4 to Celtics.

CONCLUSION:

Excluding the two old asses that close this list, and a guy that likely won’t play a minute vs Orlando, we have a laughable playoffs experience, and even smaller background as for series won… I’m afraid the updates that will be made on this post after this year won’t help much in improving the figures.

Have to go, leave comments and send me the corrections, if there is anything to edit.

*= clearly the record refers to the TEAMS, as they did not play in every game of those series.

For example Ratliff in his rookie year in Detroit played only in one out of the three playoffs games for the Pistons, while Marshall was riding the pine as a Cav and was getting on the court sporadically, same Rush for the Lakers.

Forget the ‘furious comeback’ (from -20 in the second to +4 in the fourth), forget the BS about the “pride”, the “reaction” etc etc, the game in Charlotte will go down as a 101-98 LOSS, while it should have been a WIN. 

And forget the 4th seed also, with a 40-37 (.519) record, that spot is definitely out of reach, we’d rather think aboout making it to the 5th, because Miami is there with a 1/2 game advantage, and our schedule looks extremely tough: three of the five games left on the road, and the two at home versus Boston and Cleveland, that both have important goals to reach.

And then again, when you get blown out by the Nets and you lose to the Bobcats immediately after, you can’t expect nothing good vs stronger opponents.

How about this: Sixers’ record against New Jersey and Charlotte is 1-7 (!!). So there you already have the answer to the question “Why didn’t we get home court advantage in the playoffs ?” that you’ll ask yourself at the end of the regular season. 

As you might guess, I am SLIGHTLY disapponted after losing for the third time this season to Larry Brown’s team. But after all, there is a reason why Sixers are floating around .500 all year: they could never find any consistency.

So there you have the exciting Ws at LA Lakers, vs Spurs (in a blow out), at Portland, the sweep against the Rockets (yes, we did that. And they had Yao and TMG in both games), and then the Calvin Booth-ugly losses at Minnesota, at Golden State, at O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A f’n C-I-T-Y (+ the 1-7 aforementioned record) that leave you speechless… That’s immaturity in the best case, mediocrity in a more realistic analysis.

After watching the Charlotte game, I remembered what George Karl said after we let another W slip away, in Denver: “The thought that comes to my mind is, bad teams lose games they’re supposed to win, and good teams win games they’re supposed to lose” . Remember that game?

I mean, how can you possibly allow Charlotte, the third worst offense in the NBA (less than 94 PPG) to score 63 points in the first half ??? On 57% shooting (22/38)? And 5/11 from behind the arc ??

Or allow Raymond Felton (good player, nothing more) to score 21 at the break, 32 at the end, setting a new career high ???

Yes, Lou Williams played very well again, the third quarter comeback was nice, we saw a possessed Willie Green almost singlehandedly carrying the offense (13 pts in the quarter on 4/5, including three treys), but we couldn’t finish the job. One more time. Another wasted effort.

Significantly, the game winner came off an airball by the MVP of the game: Gerald Wallace, completely lost by Iguodala on that play, grabbed the ugly, short floater by Felton and put it back with a layup (…), giving Charlotte a 99-98 lead with 30 seconds to go.

Then Iguodala missed a (makeable) step back jumper, Wallace was fouled and made his free throws (101-98), and the final three pointers by Iguodala and Green (at the horn) were off the mark. Another loss.

But several, bad mistake were committed before these plays:

1) Sixers missed three wide open threes in the fourth quarter (Green, Iguodala, Ivey), and I mean w-i-d-e effin’ open. When it’s just you and the basket, you have to knock them down, period. Miller, who had a good game, also misfired on an uncontested corner jumper with 1 minute to play that could have got us a three point lead.

2) Sixers allowed two, very costly, three point plays to Diaw & Okafor in the final minutes. It means we weren’t even good at fouling them.

3) Sixers allowed FOUR OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS in the last 3 minutes of the game, one leading to the decisive field goal, as we saw.

4) Sixers allowed Bobcats a lot of open shots on the perimeter down the stretch: it doesn’t appear on the boxscore, because Augustin and Felton missed them, but you can’t give shooters such a big room.

I have few more things to add before we start thinking about tonight’s game vs the Bulls. I’ll leave those in…

SIXERS4GUIDOS’ BONUS STATS AND RANDOM THOUGHTS – Iguodala is 4/11 on free throws in the last two games, Reggie Evans, after an impressive season from the line (for his standards, I mean), is 0/8. Make it a combined 4/19, circa 18 % – I love the blue collar guys, but Ratliff, Evans and Ivey combined for 4 points in 57 minutes of action last night. You detect something wrong there? LOL - Sam is stealing money again. He picked up two quick fouls (something that never happens, right?) but I think he should play more when we need rebounding, Theo is not as effective under the boards, collecting 5 rebounds in 25 minutes of action - Leave Dalembert (who had 9 in 19 minutes) on the floor until he fouls out, no reason to keep him on the bench in the final minutes when he has four, because the second chance points killed us, again - There is no reason in the world also to start Evans AND Dalembert and still get outrebounded by the other team (42-34), that’s completely unacceptable.

I’m out on a four day business trip and I completely missed the 96-88 W over the T’Wolves (37-33). Two things I noticed about that game.

First, Minnesota started Kevin Ollie (!!), Bobby Brown, Brian Cardinal, Rodney Carney and Craig Smith: that has to be the worst starting lineup in the history of the League.

Second, former Sixer bum player Carney went 7/8 from behind the arc, but Sixers, led by Thaddeus Young (29) and with only two other plyers in double figure, won the game, playing basically just one quarter (the third) and holding off Minnesota down the stretch.

I did watch the 95-100 home loss to the Bobcats, though (37-34, .521).

Not an enjoyable show, to be honest. Talking about a 33-50 half time score, that included Sixers’ 36% FG pctg (13/36) vs Charlotte’s 51% (19/37), with a -15 difference in rebounding (12-27). The first two quarters included multiple three seconds violations, tons of second chance opportunities allowed, limited circulation of the ball, no movement offensively.

You think that after such a poor effort, Sixers would have come pretty spirited after the break.

Instead, on their first offensive possession, Bobcats found Okafor under the rim for an easy dunk, extending the lead to nineteen (33-52), their largest. Sixers gave few sign of life, and Charlotte remained always in control, thanks to great circulation (they played even too unselfish bball, passing up on many open shots) closing the period at 60-73.

Sixers finally woke up in the fourth, sparked by Thaddeus Young and mainly Lou Williams, who scored 12 of his 14 points in the quarter, but the best they could do was cutting the lead to two (92-94 with 1.20 left). Nevermind, Okafor from the high post found Diaw for an easy layup (92-94), Miller missed a shot and Bell secured the game from the line (92-96).

I would forgive just Young, Williams and Evans, who gave 100% as usual and is having a good stretch of games. Iguodala played so-and-so, Green and Miller were horrible, Sam (reportedly slowed down by the flu) subpar.

We got killed under the boards all night, and when three of your five starters combine for 18 points on 6/20 from the floor there is not much you can expect.

Charlotte is a good, rising team, of course well coached, with balanced offense and many solutions.

Diaw is in great shape and creates mismatches with his inside-outside game, Bell is always reliable and Wallace does a lot of good things on both ends of the floor. I must say I appreciated Larry Brown’s work, his hand on the team is pretty evident.

Sixers play the Pistons tonight: Detroit has won ony two of its last eight games, the wins coming vs the Clippers and Wizards. BTW yesterday night Butler missed the last second shot that could have won the game for Washington. You draw the conclusions….

Check Need4Sheed and Pistons Nation for coverage about Detroit. I’ll be back at FBP (full blogging potential) on Monday.

Or at least tells  only a part of the truth.

Yes, the win is confirmed, 93-87, Sixers’ thrid consecutive, and our record too, 16-20, .444.

But recapping the Charlotte game I would like to focus on some things that aren’t evident on the boxscore.

If you remember I am not obsessed by statistics, let’s say I usually give them less importance that many analysists and fans, especially american ones, do.

And I want also to give some credit to guys that I often criticized bashed, let’s call them “Sixers4guidos’ favorite whipping boys”.

The first one is Dalembert – in the picture – , who has been a-w-f-u-l for large part of THIS season. Judging from the boxscore you would say: “Another bad night”. Only four points, 2/6 from the field, while Okafor had 24 on 10/13… WRONG ! Sam actually played well !!

He boarded, had some excellent blocks, two consecutive, and was instrumental in the decisive third quarter, when Sixers used a 14-2 run to go ahead, after a pretty sloppy first half (43-45).

Not only that, but, hear this, HE DIDN’T COMMITT DUMB FOULS, or goaltendigs !!! He had only a bad catch in the first half and a miss in the third because he tried a tough (too tough) alley oop dunk instead of simply grabbing the ball and then laying it in. Nothing compared to what he has used us to…

So more power to Sam, he was good last night. He still sucks, though (LOL).

The second one is Green. First off, 11 points on 5/9 in only 18 minutes of action is nice. But this is what the boxscore tells. What you cannot read there, is that he played also good defense, didn’t force a shot (!) and helped that nice run in the third, also with a couple of steals.

Willie is 16/25 from the field in the last three games, that is 64% baby !! He looks more in control, having found his role in this rotation.

The last lie on the boxscore regards Iguodala. He played a good game on both ends, don’t be fooled by his 33% from the field. Gerald Wallace (a poor man’s Iguodala ??) made things tough for him in the half court, not allowing drives or easy baskets, but Andre set his team mates up effectively: seven dimes vs only one turnover are calderon-esque numbers… 

I like also how he didn’t take bad decisions: all the shots he missed were good ones. All well done by Andre.

A quick look at the TRUTHS told by numbers to end the post.

Andre Miller was a beast, again. After his wonderful performance at Milwaukee, he was hot from start (11 points in the first, on 5/7) to finish (9/12, including another three, to end the third), schooling young PG Singletary and the solid Felton. A couple of quick passes to Young and Green off the bounce were the nuggets in another fantastic night for Andre.

I don’t know if there is still somenone left on the “trade Miller” bandwagon, in case he would better jump off quickly… I said it since day 1, this guy is a keeper. Extend him for another two years, for a reasonable price (how about 15/16 mill ?).

The final number that is absolutely true is that Bobcats offense - the worst in the league before the game, with an average of 91.5 points scored – struggles, and I’m being kind.

This despite Okafor knocking down all of his first seven attempts. But circulation is poor, and the hole at SG, with Bell still recovering after the injury, is big. Good luck Larry Brown.

Bring on the Hawks, tomorrow. (But I’m not done yet, check the part below the pic).

SIXERS4GUIDOS’ BONUS STATS AND RANDOM THOUGHTS: We always look great in those classic uniforms (take a look above !!). Never too late to sign my “Bring the old Sixers’ uniforms back !” petition – Carroll started the game with 3/3 – Reggie Evans scored all of his four points in the fourth, including 2/2 from the line, where he is 58% for the season: not bad considering that last year he ended with 46.7%… - Sixers shot 5/23 in the final quarter, but Charlotte never came closer than six points (91-85) – Thaddeus Young was the key offensively in the third, 11 points with 5/6, mainly in transition and in the low post.

Good picture, though.

Barely a consolation, after the disappointing 93-84 loss vs the Bobcats, that only yesterday’s Sixers (7-7, .500) made look like a half-decent team.

Instead, they were, are, and will remain, one of the weakest teams in the NBA, I’m sorry for their fans.

Bobcats entered the game with a 3-9 record and a 86.8 ppg average (worst in the League), numbers that speak volumes about their limits. Still, they managed to pull a rabbit out of their asses, and Sixers helped them in the best way.

I don’t feel like recapping the whole game, I would like to focus on some points that I think are keeping this team on the ground, instead of letting it fly like it’s supposed to do.

1) uniforms. Back to the sucking black ones, with the ugly logo = sucking, ugly loss.

2) perimeter defense. Pathetic. We allowed Charlotte to shoot 57% from downtown (8/14), something I’m sure they didn’t even dream of before the game. Slow rotations, lazy “help and recover” moves: we let them shoot wide open most of the times. Some use of Ivey would have helped last night vs Charlotte quick guards.

3) perimeter offense. Pathetic, again. In Sixers’ half court offense, the ball simply DOES NOT MOVE. If Lou Williams is on the floor (btw, this is happening too often lately: 27 minutes last night, when he was cold again), our typical offensive possession is: dribble-dribble-dribble-attempt of drive-step back-pump fake-forced shot with the defender sticked-miss. The other four players on the court usually watch, and hope that he knocks down the shot. Unacceptable.

Sometimes we start with Iggy having the ball, and the sequence is more like: nearly palming violation dribble-stubborn drive in the middle of a perfectly set defense-double team-jump-dish-turnover-fastbreak on the other end.

4) Offense, in general. Stagnant and predictable.

We occasionally, somehow, almost unexplicably, make the ball circulate and build a good outside shot: last night it even happened a couple of times (LOL). In this case, it’s usually a ’simple’ miss. Lou was 1/7 from downtown, and on many he had from good to excellent looks. Iguodala misfired on two wide open threes in the 4th, same for Thad earlier in the game.

In Sixers’ offense few players touch the ball. Our centers, of course, are never involved. No one is asking to run plays for Sam or Speights, but anyway a cut or an alley oop every now and then would be appreciated.

But the ball doesn’t circulate well around the perimeter either. Miller and Lou Williams dribble too much for my taste, while Iguodala’s (bad) habits have just been covered.

Team mates look for Brand a lot, to be honest, especially Iguodala: the problem is that even the mascots of our opponents know that, and make adjustments (double teams, rotations etc), so that he can never play one-on-one like he would like to do. He’s still taking too many mid range jumpers, but I sound like a broken record underlining this again and again.

I already said also that our shooters (and I mean mainly Rush, but maybe even Marshall could get spot minutes in some situations) for mysterious reasons sit on the bench much. Rush, brought in to open defenses and improve our (horrible) three point shooting, was a DNP CD last night. From there it’s pretty tough to contribute.

So Bobcats (not Phoenix, or Raptors, B-o-b-c-a-t-s ! A team coached by Larry Brown !!!!) scored 24 points on threes, while we scored 9 (3/14). It’s a -15 deficit. We lost by 9. Do your maths.

I just hope that the upcoming, tough games (Orlando and Boston) will “stimulate” our guys enough, because this is becoming annoying, even for a ‘half full’ type of fan like me.

Mo has to shake things up, bench LW more, give Rush some serious playing time, strengthen our defense, draw and make them run some plays. A “visit” by Stefanski wouldn’t hurt either, or a couple of his “suggestions” to the coach.

Time to man up in Sixerland, before it’s too late. We lost to Minnesota and Charlotte, a bell should ring.

SIXERS4GUIDOS BONUS STATS AND RANDOM THOUGHTS: Ajinca cracked me up with a sequence of: unbelievable traveling violation + ball-in-the-stands pass + turnaround airball. He finally made a jumper, and the crowd erupted – Thank God we didn’t sign Okafor this summer. This guy still doesn’t have a reliable move in the low post, and makes Dalembert look like Olajuwon. Six turnovers, also – I was happy to see Morrison back, I like the guy. If only he picked another game to show he’s ok… – Thaddeus Young had his first night off. No problem.

Enough said.

And not coincidentially, they are over .500 for the first time in the season.

Who follows this site knows I’ve been lobbying for the old, classic, Sixers uniforms since day 1, and even started a petition to bring them back full time at the beginning of 2008 (125 smart Sixers fans signing so far, and counting…).

As I said many times, I’ve been in contact with Sixers franchise (marketing and PR dept) about this specific topic, that is taken into serious consideration by the organization.

Pretty obvious, since uniforms = merchandise = $$$$…

Imagine my shock few minutes ago when I realized that ESPN.com put a link to Sixers4guidos (!!!!!) - scroll down, to “Uni watch: NBA throwback update”, Sixers - , to this old post of the last summer.

Yeah, that was actually an update of the first one - the petition I mean - but anyway, I should thank the crew from ESPN.com.

So there are many good news related to this subject:

1) a small streak of Wins in this season, that improved our record

2) a return to the old unis. Temporary, but still MUCH appreciated. Something is telling me that the current, sucking uniforms (and logo) won’t last much: maybe we will definitely get rid of them next season, when we would possibly go back to our tradition (colours, logo, uniforms) full time.

3) another peak of traffic for this site

Remember that Sixers sources openly said to me that Ed Stefanski is a fan of the old classic Sixers uniforms ! So we can count on a pretty powerful ally inside the organization… Just keep pushing, sending mails, signing my petition: results are coming, you see, the hard work is paying off. 

Keeping this rate, Sixers will go 69-0 to end the season (LOL), Sixers4guidos will surpass ESPN.com, Ricky will be hired as Snider’s guido ghost writer.

Few lines to recap the previous two games (I’m writing this while Sixers are playing the Charlotte Bobcats, but I’ll watch the game tomorrow, replayed).

The 89-88 win vs Clippers (6-6, .500): I have to tell you the truth, I couldn’t catch it, they took it out the list of replayed games on Sunday. For what I saw (= highlights) and read, it was a tough game, decided in the last minutes by a rare (well, not so rare… see below), flat three by Andre Miller, and a late jumper by Elton Brand, facing his former team for the first time. Still, it was scaring to see the Clippers having multiple possessions for the game winning shot, that fortunately didn’t go down. On that play, it was a mix of good defense and pure luck, honestly.

The 89-81 win vs Golden State (7-6, .538) was a good game, that we had to win twice. First when we built a 22 point-lead (57-35 in the second quarter), then when we went on a 13-5 run to close it, after Golden State tied it at 76 in the fourth, capping a 19-4 break by the Warriors.

Young and Dalembert had a couple of key putbacks to give us the lead again and stop the draught, and Andre Miller connected again from downtown (!!), immediately after he fed Iguodala for a wonderful alley oop dunk (84-78, 87-71). Our point guard eventually sealed the game from the line.

Brand was our top scorer and got some good press, but I didn’t like the fact that he took too many jumpers, again.

I liked more our defense (Golden State, #1 in NBA in points scored, was held to a season low 81 points, + ZERO points allowed in the last 3 minutes !), Dalembert, terrific in the first quarter, very effective overall, and the contribution from the bench, despite the low %.

What has still to be fixed is:

1) ZERO points on fastbreaks. Shocking, also considering who we played.

2) too many shots blocked (f’n 15 !!!). This is a consequence of our lack of mid range game: guys evidently don’t have much faith in their outside shot, and were getting to the hoop only to see their attempts REGULARLY rejected by Golden State’s big men. Turiaf looked like a french Bill Russell last night.

3) too many turnovers to let Warriors get back into the game. This happened in the third quarter, and Miller (for the main part) and Thad (partially, he got really unlucky in a couple of plays) should get the blame.

Let’s hope we will go on tonight vs dear old buddy (?) Larry Brown and his sorry ass young team.

How about Sixers wearing the RED throwback uniforms (still missing) and getting a win on the road ????

To be continued tomorrow.

…and brought Sixers fan a nice gift: THE FIRING OF BILLY KING.

Yes, King got the axe in the late night in Philly, as David Aldridge and Phil Jasner reported.

I’ve read it this morning on the best Sixers blog, Passion & Pride, (congratulations guys), and could not believe it.

But it’s actually true. Ed Stefanski, former GM of the New Jersey Nets, replaces King, and a press conference is about to be held in Philly in few hours to introduce the new general manager.

I am happy. I never liked Billy King.

The second post of this blog, more than a year ago, was about his flaws. Since then, nothing changed.

I wanted him gone after the Iverson trade (a move that I liked, though), I confirmed that he doesn’t have a plan, that he sucks, and I repeated it few days ago.

To his credit, I liked the Hunter-Evans trade and I thanked him for not being Danny Ainge (LOL).  Damn, the Internet is nice…

The overall record of his 10 years tenure in Philadelphia speaks for itself: Sixers lack of accomplishments, current mess, cap hell situation is all on him.

It would be stupid to repeat all his mistakes one by one. It would also be too long. We can make just a short summary, a sort of epitaph (LOL):

* horrible decisions on coaches: Ayers, Ford, Cheeks… he even brought back Larry Brown last year. To do what, nobody still knows..

* bad signings (I refer both to free agent and extentions), overpaying average players and/or jacking up too long deals, killing our financial flexibility: Greg Buckner, Eric Snow, Aaron Mc Kie, Derrick Coleman, Kenny Thomas, Brian Skinner….

* bad trades: Van Horn, Glenn Robinson… I’ll give him Webber, because we gave up three stiffs to get an all star, and Iverson, because what we got back was ok in my opinion

* totally absence of int’l scouting while the NBA was going global. Frachises were  bringing in the Yao Mings, the Ginobilis, the Parkers, the Nocionis, and we were getting Efthimios Rentzias, or drafting Edin Bavcic.

* idiotic decision of NOT tanking in the second part of last year = no playoff, no high pick. He lately tried to trade up, and of course couldn’t do it…. so what was the purpose of those 30 wins after Iverson was gone? “Create a winning culture”? LMAO !!

You put this beside the team’s record over the last 5 years (after Larry Brown left) and you draw your conclusions.

Actually I am surprised it think it took this long to fire him. I would have done it after he fired Jim O’Brien, a good coach, coming off a positive, winning year; but at that time he was clearly (still) backed up by Ed Snider.

But the boss had enough of the losses, the low attendace, the money wasted. About time.

Hey, do you know that Sixers are still giving around 28 millions to Chris Webber and Aaron Mc Kie this year? One is probably sunbathing, the other is an assistant coach but gets a 7 million salary as a player…. and we have Ollie on our books for another 3 millions: make it three guys paid more than 30 millions for NOT playing.

And guess who is giving them the money? The one who (finally) had enough of that.

I don’t know much about the new GM honestly, but I am sure of this: it will be hard to do worse than Billy King.

It’s a pleasure to create the new “Stefanski” category on my blog.

Welcome home, Ed. Clean your new desk, you have a lot of work to do.

First it was a whistle, then a breeze; now it looks like it’s going to be a wind.

The news everyone of us was waiting for is about to materialize: 3 years and 4 coaches later Larry “fresh air” Brown is ready to be back as part the organization. Officially, this time.

If you are a typical Negadelphian, and you perhaps might think this move sucks, well… you are right. Just take a look at Brown’s smirk here left !

Think for a second about “fresh air”. Concentrate on the concept for a minute, please. What does come to your mind? Green fields? Cherrytrees? Beautiful young girls in bikini? New explosive basketball talents? An innovative, charismatic, self-assured coach in his forties?

Well, keep this images in your head ’cause according to this article Sixer’s new breeze of fresh air might be a bit older and, frankly, a bit stinky. More like backwater than a mountain lake, to be honest.

Yeah, fellas, while looking at the future the Sixers decided to rely upon the past. Which means, dear guidos, that the good ol’ Larry’s back with us, apparently consulting Billy King on how to rebuild the team and get the best out of Iverson.

The funny thing is this new job (for which we don’t know yet if Larry gets paid or not: we got some ideas, though…) is – his agents words – “fresh air”. To Brown, of course. But to us?