I am sorry, but this is a missed chance.

Call me nostalgic, call me old fart, call me (uhm, what’s the opposite of “up to date”?), but these uniforms (pics via Sixers.com)…

… that you can also see here…

… still cannot compete with these:

..meaning the, classic, storied, glorious, TRUE SIXERS uniforms that we signed the petition for, and that we outscooped everyone about. The kind of unis that never get old, to sum it up.

Few hours before unveiling the 2009/2010 jerseys, Sixers said via Twitter, in reply to a tweet by your fav guido blogger, that the new uniforms would have been “a nice blend of old and new”. As soon as I read that, I started having a bad feeling…

I think that by simply going back to our 1982/83 jerseys – ok, minus the short shorts - we would have done a better job.

But I don’t want to sound too negative or only complain: they are still a HUGE IMPROVEMENT over the ugly ones we wore for more than a decade.

Let’s see the half full part of the glass: it’s nice to definitely get rid of the nonsense black jerseys. And the fact that the new ones have our old logo on (the real, Sixers logo !!) is a big plus, that’s true.

But the red ones look “too Clippers” to me (hey, I love the Clippers and I think their jerseys are very cool… but it’s their jerseys !), and the white ones…well… uhm… they look like… a missed chance.

Not horrible, not bad, and not even mediocre, don’t get me wrong.

More like “coulda/shoulda”, if you know what I mean.

As promised this is a great day for all of us old school loving Sixers fans,  following the official announcement of the return to the old logo.

In related news, here is the exclusive interview I did with Lara Price, Sixers’ senior vice president of business operations. 

Remember, as Sixers4guidos revealed in January, she was the first to announce, to a group of season ticket holders, that Sixers were ‘going retro’, switching permanently to the old classic uniforms and logos in the 2009/2010 season.

While we all should give credit the franchise for listening to the fans and taking this wise decision, I would like to publicly thank Eric Blankenship, Sixers’ marketing vice president, that had a key role in the process of making this comeback possible.

I’ve been in contact with Eric for a pretty long time and he was always supportive in this ‘battle’: he immediately said to me that he was a fan of the old unis/logos, that in the front office there were fellow “old schoolers” (also at the top…) and definitely pushed me keeping the petition & the ‘lobbying’ activity going.

Bottom line, the franchise takes into great consideration fans’ opinions and feelings, which is is less obvious than you might think (LOL).

But let’s listen to mrs Price.

(S4G) My blog, Sixers4guidos, last year started an online petition to bring the old Sixers uniforms back. More than 130 fans from all over the world signed it and the word was spread all around the Internet: evidently a lot of Sixers fans cared. Reactions after the news of the switch were pretty much enthusiastic, 90% were like “about time”… How did the feelings of fans affect your decision? Did you make any survey, poll, market research before you took it? In case, what were the results saying?

(PRICE) We always appreciate the input from our fans and season-ticket holders.  We take a proactive stance when it comes to surveying them so we can accurately gauge their opinion on a great number of topics, which includes our uniforms and logo. 

As a result, we believe we made decisions pertaining to those elements that will be very well-received both locally and nationally.  
 
I know for sure that Ed Stefanski is a fan of the old unis. Did he play any role in the decision of “going retro”? And Snider/Luukko?

Mr. Snider, Peter Luukko and Ed Stefanski all had major input and were very supportive of the decision to return to the traditional red, white and blue logo. Additionally, it is important to acknowledge that the NBA and Adidas were also very helpful as we went through the design and approval process.  

(great ! thank everybody !!)
 
Can we now safely say that changing the uniforms’ colours and the logo wasn’t exactly a smart move? (NOTE: maybe it paid back in terms of revenues, but I don’t care…). I don’t recall Lakers wearing black jerseys, or Knicks adding gold to their logo, so don’t you agree that Sixers, like Celtics, Lakers, Knicks etc, are such a storied franchise that they wouldn’t need to follow “fashion” trends but they should stick to their glorious tradition? (I’m asking also because next winter among the trendy colours there will be purple, and I am scared…) 

Very rarely do teams go through their entire existence without altering their logo or implementing changes to their color scheme to reflect the times. For example, the Knicks and Celtics adopted black as a primary part of their uniform or logos at various points, while the Pistons changed their logo altogether before returning to a modified version of an earlier version. 

Our previous black, silver, gold, red and blue logo was very popular for many, many years but at this point in our franchise’s history – coming off of our 60th Anniversary – we were ready to make a change to our traditional logo.

(have to check about the other franchises, this research could be interesting. Our logo with black, gold etc MIGHT have been popular for a while but sucked big time, I’m sorry)

Can you anticipate something about the look of the 2009-2010 uniforms? Will they look 100% like the old ones or will something be changed/restyled? In case, what? (please make sure that whoever styled the unis of the ‘Shawn Bradley era’ does NOT take part to this process..)

Again, our uniforms will be a modern interpretation of traditional uniforms featuring the red, white and blue color scheme. We will wear white uniforms at home and red uniforms on the road with no alternate uniform for the 2009-10 season.

(sweet to hear)
 
Let’s talk $ a little bit, if you don’t mind. How much does the total of unis sold count in terms of revenues for the franchise (% on the total of merchandise turnover and/or overall figures, if available: number of jerseys sold per year, total of $ made out of those)?

Per team policy, those are figures that we do not discuss publicly.

(uhm, ok. I won’t complain since this is a day of joy !)

THANK YOU MRS PRICE, THANK YOU ERIC, THANK YOU SIXERS !

Now let’s do the same with the uniforms

(UPDATE: reading Kate Fagan’s article, you gotta love Stefanski’s words…

Stefanski said the organization reached out to fans and received an “overwhelming” response to return to the old logo and uniforms.

We guys were “overwhelming”. How cool is that ??)

Premise #1: this site was the first to campaign to bring the old Sixers uniforms/logo back.

Premise #2: this site was the first to announce that Sixers were switching permanently to their old jerseys/logo, back in January (= reaching the all time peak of traffic, btw).

Premise #3: on June 11th in a live chat with fans Ed Stefanski announced that the new logo would have been introduced…tomorrow.

12:08
[Comment From Guest]
Are the Sixers officially back to the old logo?
12:09
Ed Stefanski: No hints, but I’m an old school guy and you should be ready for an announcement about our logo on June 23.

Premise #4: Sixers just released this announcement regarding their branding. Excerpts:

…The public is invited to attend the Philadelphia 76ers re-launch of their brand identity in the lobby of the Comcast Center…

…Hip-Hop – who will be temporarily sporting a new look in conjunction with the announcement…

All of the above to remind that tomorrow will be a great day for all Sixers fans.

We will dump this shit:

 and finally go back to this:

or something very close to it (I am curious !).

To celebrate this huge battle won, I’ll have an exclusive interview with a Sixers’ top manager up. So stay tuned and party, as a new/old era started for this storied franchise.

After the logo, we would like to go back to the successes of those years also !!

Tomorrow, be here.

And sweep the Blazers !

Pretty amazing way to end a tough five game road trip: a 108-114 OT W over Portland to lift us up to a 36-33 record (.522).

So here was the situation for the Sixers at tip off: fifth game in seven nights (!). Second night of a back-to-back. A raucous, sellout crowd. An opponent with a 28-6 home record, coming from its own 3-2 road trip.

Not exactly the best scenario, right?

But Sixers pulled out a heck of a game, a total team effort on both ends of the floor, coming out of Portland with one of the biggest wins of the season, in a key moment of the year.

I just managed to finish watching the game replayed – this time without any idiot friend telling me the final score… – and I am still pumped. Crazy game, it would took too many words to recap.

To give you an idea of how weird of a night it was, let’s start saying that Sixers had only a five point lead after the FIRST QUARTER (26-31), in which they shot 13/16 (81%) !!!!

In the SECOND QUARTER, despite Blazers’ big men literally partying under our rim, we progressively extended the lead: thirteen on a jumper by Thaddeus Young (36-49), sixteen (the biggest) on a three point play by Williams: 40-56 with 1.20 left.

Lou had nine points in the period, but what shocked the Blazers (and not only them perhaps, LOL) was the mighty Reggie Evans adding ten: Portland shooting 1/14 from behind the arc obviously was also a big factor to explain the 44-58 halftime score.

In the THIRD QUARTER Blazers shooters started getting hot, and with a 12-0 run the game was open soon (56-58, 7 min to play). Blake had all of his three made threes in this period, while Sixers relied mainly on Thaddeus Young, who was 8/9 at the end of the third, including a nice three: 72-75.

The FOURTH QUARTER was amazing, Marreese Speights put us up seven (72-79) but here Portland went on a stunning 13-0 run that included a four point play by Rudy Fernandez (dumb foul by LW), who scored eleven points in less than three minutes.: 85-79 with the crowd going crazy.

Sixers didn’t lost composure and continued to play hard and play defense: Iguodala was guarding Roy, making him things extremely tough, Young had to keep the taller Aldridge, and had his hands full as well.

The major problem for us was r-e-b-o-u-n-d-i-n-g t-h-e b-a-l-l: I lost the count of the offensive boards we allowed (I checked it at the end: 20 !! Leading to 30 second-chance points…), with our bigs forgetting to boxe out or grabbing the damn rock.

After a couple of wild possessions (a stupid alley oop attempt by Iguodala swatted by Outlaw, and a rushed shot by Young, blocked by Aldridge) it came down to the final plays.

Blake drove in the paint and found Oden for a nice dunk (98-96, 30 seconds to play), Iguodala was fouled under the rim by Aldridge and calmly swished both free throws, to tie the game at 98 with 20 seconds left.

Roy wanted the last shot, with Ivey guarding him, but he couldn’t do anything better than airballing a fallaway turnaround jumper as time expired. Overtime, and good D by Ivey on the play.

In OVERTIME we jumped to a four point lead, Blazers had the last run/comeback (103-102 on another three by Rudy) but we eventually closed the game with three baskets by Miller, Iguodala (high flying dunk off a feed by Willie Green, to finish a great fastbreak) and Young, who tipped in a missed layup by Miller: 103-108. 

Dalembert (pathetic all night, 4 boards in 33 minutes, are you kidding me ??) finally woke up and had a block and a rebound to ignite those plays, and Green also played a big part, with a steal on Roy immediately after that dime to Andre.

EXTRA CONSIDERATIONS

How about some boxe out drills ? No less than two hours per day.

It’s nice to make those free throws, uhm? We won the game at the line, more than doubling them (39-16) with Iguodala going 4/4 at the end of regulation, great sign.

SIXERS4GUIDOS’ BONUS STATS AND RANDOM THOUGHTS – I watched the game with Portland’s commentators (Mike Barrett and Mike Rice, if I recall well) and I swear, they are among the biggest homers I’ve ever listened to. They make their Celtics’ colleagues look fair… pretty annoying - Roy was 2/7 with 4 points at halftime – Check this: Sixers won five of the last seven games in Portland - At the beginning of the third we had a 21-0 lead on fastbreak points – Reggie Evans tied a season high with 12 points – This is Bust a Bucket’s recap of the game: Blazers’ fans are complaining about the officiating but I think it’s their own coach to explain better what happened. From the AP report:

Portland coach Nate McMillan didn’t think it was dead legs as much as the Blazers’ offensive mind-set. The Blazers tied a season high by taking 34 3-point shots. The passive attack resulted in only 17 free throws for Portland, as opposed to 39 for the Sixers.

“We played the perimeter instead of going to the basket, and it cost us” McMillan said.

See?

Sixers went back home after the game and face the T’Wolves on Wednesday. Expect DiLeo going deep in the rotation after this huge, long, winning effort.

Check T’Wolves blog for coverage about Minnesota, that has lost sixteen of its last eighteen games (…).

(RETIRE MOSES MALONE’S #2 SIXERS JERSEY – S4G PETITION – SIGN HERE)

The title of this post could have been “More timely three point shooting“, following the one below this. Or “Finally a buzzer beater that goes the right way”. Whatever.

All I can say now is I am one of the happiest bball fans on earth. I could have been the happiest overall. Becasue of this (I love how the video is 100% Lakers until the 2.10 mark…LOL): 

(PREMISE: as you might easily guess, from Monday to Friday it’s extremely difficult for me to watch Sixers games live. When they play in Philly, or anywhere in the East, games start at 00.30-1 AM. It means going to bed at around 3.30-4, and get up at 8, to go to work my butt off for 10 + hrs in office…. when Sixers play West, that’s completely impossible, because games start at around 3.30-4 AM GT – Guido Time)

So I had this plan for today: resist and DO NOT check the score of the Lakers game all day (that’s always a pretty tough task for a die hard fan, believe me), RUN home from office, watch the game replaying, but… “live”: without knowing the score, I mean !!

Had this plan be completed, I would be the happiest fan on earth now. Really.

INSTEAD…

Fellow guido and f’n idiot Raffaele, co-founder of Sixers4guidos, that I hadn’t heard from in like 3-4 weeks (not missing anything, btw…), decided to drop me an email that consisted in these few words: “Biggest win of the season. Why no post up yet?”.

The response was like: 1) (tons of profanities) I was trying to avoid knowing the score, you idiot. Your useless ass completely ruined me the surprise… And 2) the post will be up as soon as I’ll watch the game, you retard. 

So here I am now, trying to recap (yes), the biggest win of the season, (too) many hours late, I know. What can I do?

Let’s start from the finish. Andre Iguodala, whose clutchness has been questioned many times - also on this site of course - hit a fantastic three pointer over Trevor Ariza at the buzzer to give Sixers a 93-94 W over the Lakers at the Staples Center:

Sixers have won four straight games now, and their record is 34-31, .523.

That shot couldn’t have been more timely, for many reasons.

First, it came to overcome another big shot, a “long two pointer” by Kobe Bryant, that put Lakers up two with 6 seconds left, 93-91. Notice that Kobe was 0/5 from the field in the 4th quarter before knocking down that jumper…. Notice also he scored over Iguodala !

Second, Iguodala was 0/6 from three point land before d-e-m-a-n-d-i-n-g the ball for the last shot. That stat included two airballs, one pretty embarassing because he was wide open. So he showed some guts, I like the attitude. Iguodala shot 2/12 before making SEVEN OF HIS LAST NINE attempts !!! Paul Pierce anyone ???

Third, let’s be honest, with all those buzzer beater losses, and with Sixers/Iguodala’s track record in the last seconds of games (excluding this one), I’m pretty sure few Sixers fans believed in that kind of outcome.

But it came. On the road. Against the Lakers. Wow.

That’s why this win has a special taste. And it could have been even sweeter hadn’t Raffaele f’d me up with bla bla bla…

I would like to mention few more things in this special day (unfortunately we can’t party much because we meet the Suns in…well, few hours).

1) Donyell Marshall played another fantastic 4th quarter, hitting all of his three field goals, that, you guessed it, were all three pointers. How about 6/8 frome behind the arc in the last two games ???? And all of them in the final period?

2) this time I have to take my hat off to Lou Williams, that was phenomenal off the bench, especially in the second quarter, when he scored 12 points, coming from three “and one” plays and a three pointer.

But he did committ two big mistakes in the final 1.30 min, not converting a layup and getting blocked by Gasol on a forced drive. Lou, take Iguodala to dinner, he saved your ass.

3) another played that deserves a lot of praise is Reggie Evans, finally used properly. He was a BEAST under the boards, even more than usual, and had two big baskets in the fourth, in the middle of Sixers’ run.

4) finally, a big applause goes to the whole team, that played terrific defense on Bryant for the whole night.

Iguodala guarded him most of the game (which makes his offensive performance even bigger), but also Miller and Green took the challenge, doing a great job of denying him open looks, and forcing him to five, costly turnovers.

5) last but not least, this was a pretty impressive come-from-behind W, because when Farmar hit a three from the corner at the beginning of the 4th, Lakers’ lead was at fourteen, 76-62. It’s a 17-32 run to finish the game, baby.

SIXERS4GUIDOS’ BONUS STATS AND RANDOM THOUGHTS – Sixers started 1/11, Lakers 10/16… Willie Green carried the load offensively for us in the first – Lakers were 59% from the floor at halftime (50-50), Sixers 40%. Lakers had 11 turnovers though – Sam was horrible offensively but very good under the boards, especially on the offensive end – Gasol was unstoppable in the first half, I liked also his vision, he finds the open man extremely well, also with kick out passes – Lakers went on a 10-0 run to close the third (73-62), with Kobe on the bench because of foul troubles.

I want to see more scenes like this:

(RETIRE MOSES MALONE’S #2 SIXERS JERSEY – S4G PETITION – SIGN HERE)

I think everyone, from DiLeo to Doctor J, from Iguodala to Mike Gminski Moses Malone, from the ghost of James Naismith to Harvey Pollack, sensed the fifth buzzer beater loss coming when Chicago inbounded the ball down one with 22 seconds to go.

A finish we got very familiar with through the season, unfortunately.

Instead, Sam Dalembert had perhaps the biggest play of his career and blocked a shot by Derrick Rose, securing Sixers’ 104-101 W over the Bulls, in the last game played at The Spectrum, to cap an emotional night for Sixers’ fans and a close, good, intense game. 

Sixers (32-31, .508) seriously risked a pretty unbelievable fourth quarter collapse, letting a 11-point lead (86-75, with the second of two consecutive fantastic dunks by Marreese Speights, 9.25 to play) turn into a 2-point deficit (94-96, 3.11 left).

That happened because Bulls went 5/5 from downtown to start the final quarter (!!), and tied the game with their sixth three, by Ben Gordon, with 36 seconds to play, 101-101.

That was pretty tough to swallow because Sixers played excellent defence on that play, forcing Salmons to shot a prayer that barely hit the rim at the 24th second. But Dalembert completely lost Brad Miller, who got the offensive rebound and dished the ball to a wide open Gordon at the top of the key. Tied at 101. Tough break indeed.

Then Iguodala demanded the ball in the low post (I liked to see that determination), guarded by Hinrich. Andre had easily driven past his smaller opponent few plays before, scoring on a nice lefthanded layup to put the Sixers up three (101-98, 1.06) and simply wanted to do it again.

This time he was fouled, but could make only one of his two free throws (…), setting the score at 102-101 with 22 seconds to go, and getting me and many of us ready for another last second, disheartening loss.

But Dalembert came, to make Rose’s night dark. After his block, Iguodala grabbed the bell and launched it to Thaddeus Young, all alone in the other half court, for the 104-101 dunk (? Uhm, actually more a two handed layup, LOL), 16 seconds to play.

Bulls had no timeouts left and couldn’t draw a play: on the last possession, Green guarded Gordon well enough to push him to shoot a contested three that rimmed out, sending the sellout Spectrum crowd home happy.

There are some other interesting things I would like to underline about this game. 

1) Sam Dalembert not only had the decisive rejection, but previous to that he altered two shots by Rose and Tim Thomas in the last two minutes. On both occasions, he avoided committing a foul. When he is able to do that, he clearly gives the Sixers another dimension defensively. (And then again, why he does this 3-4 times a year?  But I’m digressing…)

2) Green was put in down the stretch FOR DEFENSIVE PURPOSES. He was guarding Rose, that repeteadly beat Miller in the third quarter (10 quick points in less than five minutes).

I must say I like this move, especially if it comes when Lou Williams is in an off-night, and yesterday was the case (2/6 and 5 turnovers in 23 pretty meaningless minutes). Green did a good job on Rose – and on Gordon on the final shot – so I think this could become a standard set up when we don’t need Williams’ scoring.

3) Thaddeus Young was perhaps stimulated by the presence of Doctor J, because he played simply woderful basketball. His 31 points are the second straight career high, as he had 29 vs Toronto, remember?

Thad scored, pretty much at will, in many ways, as usual: drives, outside shots, low post moves, hooks… he was unstoppable, especially in the third quarter (14 pts), and helped Sixers close the period with a 15-2 run, 80-69. 

Young showed once more that he has the complete package, and by the way he knocked down also Sixers’ only three (1/3 as a team…).

Nice win, historical night. and wild finish:

Sixers play Miami on Sunday, and I’m afraid that Wade will score +40 on us…

Sixers play their final game at the Spectrum tonight, and I took this chance to put together a collection of old videos and pictures that you will hopefully like.

I am nearly 38 years old (my ugly guido ass saw the light in 1971) and I started following the Sixers at the beginning of the 80’s – even if then the media coverage on the NBA was way lesser of course – so this day is special to me.

Let’s make a shot tour through the…

 SPECTRUM MEMORIES

“The Boston strangler” Andrew Toney drops 25 points on the Celtics in the fourth quarter alone (1982), also posting up Larry Bird:

Wilt Chamberlain becomes the first player to score 50 points in a game in the building (1967):

Sixers beat the Bucks in game 7 of the EC SemiFinals, the last game seven played at the Spectrum (1981). Check out “Thunder chocolate” Darryl Dawkins’ unbelievable dunk:

And finally check the girl’s boobs & t-shirt some Doc J’s highlights, a fantastic footage.

To conclude, a nice pic of one of the best Sixers ever (courtesy of this gallery by Sports Illustrated):

While we are in a nostalgic mood, don’t forget to sign the “Retire Moses Malone’s #2 Sixers jersey” petition, a tribute to one of the greatest centers Sixers had (after Wilt and Manute, I mean).

(RETIRE MOSES MALONE’S #2 SIXERS JERSEY – S4G PETITION – SIGN HERE)

And the outcome was the final 115-106 W over the Raptors, a game that wasn’t close as the score might suggest (31-31. 500).

I am happy to keep this recap short: Sixers started to run away in the second quarter, progressively increasing their lead, that reached 20 points with 1.10 to play: 56-36.

Give credit to the Sixers because they continued to stay focused after the break, making five of their first six shots.

Toronto tried some (crappy) zone defence but Sixers never panicked, attacking it with patience and hitting basically all outside shots (finally !!), including a rare set up three by Andre Miller. Guido Andrea Bargnani had a three just before the buzzer to end the quarter 92-74.

Raptors cut the lead to nine points early in the fourth (99-90, 7.04) but Williams nicely fed Evans for a layup on the following play, Iguodala had a steal and knocked down a couple of free throws and Sixers completed the job, without scaring their fans. Good win.

Thaddeus Young will receive honours because he scored a career high 29 points, and he actually played great, scoring from everywhere, but I’m happy to praise two guys that IMO had an even bigger impact on the game, and that I ripped on this blog many times this season.

1) canadian citizen (?) Samuel Dalembert was a difference-maker. His stat line speaks for itself (and the 19 points are a season high), but what you can’t read there is the focus, the attitude, the determination he showed. In the pic, you can get a rough idea of his guard capabilities…LOL.

He was aggressive on both ends of the floor, and simply deleted Bosh, emphatically blocking him three times and basically keeping Raptors’ All star out of the game for the whole night.

The question is: should we be happy for that, or mad because he doesn’t do this every night? Not saying he has to shoot 9/13 every day, or knock down fall away jumpers as the shot clock expires (he did that yesterday) but… you know what I mean.

2) Lou Williams played SMART, EFFICIENT basketball. Maybe one of his best games this season. He was a huge factor in the second quarter break.

Lou was taking the ball to the rim (three consecutive times, for a dunk and two layups, resulting in 7 quick points), cut the dribbles, never forced the issue. I think he took the first outside shot only in the fourth, hitting it by the way. Five dimes and one turnovers in 25 minutes of action is also nice. Well done young fella, just go on like this.

Other points I think are worth mentioning are:

• Iguodala had a “quite” night, we didn’t need his scoring vs Toronto. He had to leave for some minutes with a lower back strain, but when he was in he contributed with some good defence, assists, steals. 
• Similar for Miller, who took only five shots and had a streak of five consecutive +20 point games stopped. Nevermind.
• Sixers shot free throws extremely well last night: consider that four misses came in garbage time (Young and Evans).
• Toronto is a slumping team that showed no passion and aggressiveness. Pretty disappointing, really, I would be extremely critical of this attitude if I was a fan. Six consecutive losses and counting….

In fact..

SIXERS4GUIDOS’ BONUS STATS AND RANDOM THOUGHTS: Toronto took only three free throws in the entire first half !!! Can you say “soft”? – In the same stretch, Chris Bosh was held to a miserable 5 points – Sixers shot 15/22 in the second and 16/21 in the third, how about that ??? It means 31/43, 72%. You can’t lose games that way – Guido Andrea Bargnani had a nice game, but his actual impact, if you go see, was close to zero…uhm…

And finally a special feature I am happy to post.

COOL RAPTORS LINK

Before the game I had a quick exchange of thoughts with Romy of Hoops Heads North, an excellent Raptors blog. Here are my answers to his questions about the Sixers (didn’t have time to put him some Qs about Raps, sorry).

But I’d like to link also his recap of the game and another nice post, a collection of the lesser known nicknames in the NBA, fun reading definitely, that is having a lot of success around the Web, make sure to check it out.

Sixers meet the Bulls tonight in the last game at the Spectrum, I hope I’ll be able to post some nice old pics of the glory days later, for fellow nostalgic, aging fans…

Log on to the mighty Blog-a-Bull for the best coverage about Chicago.

(RETIRE MOSES MALONE’S SIXERS #2 JERSEY ! S4G PETITION – SIGN HERE)

I can hear you from an Ocean away.. “Who the hell is Federico Buffa?”. Long story short: the best italian journalist covering the NBA. Currently for Sky Television.

He has been doing that forever, basically, and here he’s a living legend for every bball fan in Italy, despite still being in his 40’s (http://www.federicobuffa.com/).

Since you cliché-lovers old american asses always love comparisons, I think the definition of “italian Peter Vecsey” might fit.

Seriously, Federico probably knows the NBA better than many journalists living in the US, and is a real basketball junkie just as much as we all are. That’s why he enjoys talking to whoever shares his same passion, including your resident guido blogger.

He’s really a nice guy to deal with, that likes to crack jokes and talk hoops. I met him Friday 23 in Milan, and HERE IS OUR DIALOGUE:

S4G: So how many times did you watch the Sixers this year?

FB: Ten times ! I checked it before coming here (laughs). The last two Sixers games I watched were vs Mavs and vs Spurs, that I commented for Sky.

In that occasion you told a nice DiLeo story…

Yes, when he played in Germany he beat the Milan Xerox team I was rooting for and scored 36 points, in a Korac Cup game. It was 1974/75 if I am not mistaken and the game was played in Palalido, in front of… uhm, around 600 fans.

But the interesting thing is that by that time nobody cared about basketball in Germany, their League and their teams were pretty weak, and were supposed to lose vs us… instead, it was a blowout. I hated him (laughs).

But I always had the impression that he was a real basketball guy and a coach that works hard on the court. Totally different from, say, a coach like Ed Tapscott, another man who took over as head coach this year.

The impression I have is that Jim Lynam is more than an assistant coach to him, he seems to make many calls for the Sixers.

Jim Lynam is Philly basketball, period. Great coach. I met him many times, he’s a nice guy and loves to have drinks in good company (laughs). Anyway, great assistants always make great coaches. Actually Di Leo changed something in the rotations that clearly helped the team and boosted some players’ confidence. He’s doing a great job thus far, he surprised me, I admit.

Same here. Do you think he has chances to stay as a coach also next year?

Yes.

Other coaches that you would see coming to Philly next year?

Avery Johnson, definitely (Ricky smiles in agreement). Maybe Saunders (Ricky nearly throws up).

How about Jeff Van Gundy?

Oh, I would love that, I’m a JVG fan. He’s the best at “teaching” basket and making his players better, also thank to his great staff. But he’s really demanding, he asks a lot to his players and after a while that can backfire.

I see Avery Johnson more fitting with the Sixers job, he would be fine for Andre Miller also. Avery doesn’t work well if his PG can’t watch him in the eyes. With Miller this wouldn’t happen. He is a little demanding too, but with a different style.

Do you see Lou Williams as a future PG for the Sixers?

No, I think he’s at his best as 6th man off the bench.

Brand is coming back and people say he could break the chemistry just created (the interview was made the night before Elton’s comeback).

I think he can fit in Sixers’ system, he is a great trailer. Sixers shouldn’t wait for him, it’s up to Brand finding the right place. If Sixers play their style of basketball, they take a shot in the first 10 seconds of each possession….

How about some small ball, with Brand as center?

I think Sixers can play that way better than anybody in the East. Thad is a fabulous four, and DiLeo had a major role in his improvement. He gave him more freedom, in this DiLeo is different from Cheeks, that was more “old school”, playing classic basketball.

Who’s gonna lose the spot in the starting lineup when Brand will be back full time?

I think Thaddeus Young, that is going to see his minutes cut a little bit also. I don’t think Iguodala can play the two for long stretches, he doesn’t have the required ball handling skills and can’t shoot coming off screens (so we’re stuck with Willie Green…).

Your boy Dalembert – Believe it or not, Federico loves Sam… he says he’s one of the smartest players in the League. OFF the court, he underlines, LOL -  is going to be an All Star, he got a zillion votes…

(laughs) I would like to know who actually voted for him…

How come this guy, so intelligent according to you, didn’t improve at all over the years in the NBA?

I think he hasn’t improved since his Seton Hall years (laughs). Seriously, we all know his limitations but he can change the game like nobody in the NBA, in terms of defense and intimidating presence.

You see Sam being traded?

With that contract, it will be tough. But maybe someone will bite (laughs).

Let’s take a step back, to Cheeks’ firing. Did the move surprise you?

Not much, honestly. He had to pay the price because he wasn’t chosen by the GM, just like Sam Mitchell in Toronto, who also, and not coincidentially, got the axe this year. I think Cheeks is a good coach but he lacks something.

His firing was perhaps the most painful given his history in Philly and his lovely character. Fans liked him. Anyway, Stefanski showed some balls by firing him and giving the team to a coach with zero experience in the NBA. Clearly, he must have been supported by the ownership in that decision.

Speaking of (real) surprises, how about this Speights dude ?? I recall you weren’t high on him this summer.

Yes, I admit he is better than I expected. He’s coming out of a great basketball school, as his fundamentals show, has a great ball IQ and has nice little range. The Speights pick to me confirms that Sixers weren’t sure to land Brand before signing him. That move was a (underrated) masterpiece by Stefanski, who created the necessary cap space in a couple of days… of course, it took David Faulk also (laughs).

To conclude, do you see the Sixers making a move before trade deadline?

It could be, they just have too many assets, especially in terms of good, young players, and many teams will call them…

And would you make a move if you were Sixers’ GM?

No, I wouldn’t touch that chemistry.

Anything we forgot?

That we finally saw some real crowds at Sixers games lately !! (true !) And I would love to see more Philly guys in a Sixers uniform. Starting from my favorite player, Rasheed Wallace (we would like that too !!).

(in the second part of the interview, Federico will cover the NBA guidos, oops, !! italian players. Stay tuned.)

(RETIRE MOSES MALONE’S #2 SIXERS JERSEY ! S4G PETITION – SIGN HERE)

Ok, first off thank everybody for lifting Sixers4guidos’ to its best day ever, with more than 3.000 accesses on Saturday, following our scoop about the return to classic jerseys and logo (and thank again to reader Josh G for letting us know).

That was a great achievement and of course it will push me to do a better job trying to cover our beloved team even from sunny (?) Italy.

Back to work now. Sixers wore THEIR, REAL (I’m not going to call them “old” or “classic”) uniforms last night and celebrated with a 116-110 win over the Knicks (21-21, .500) after a weird game, tougher than expected – and than it looked like after the FIRST QUARTER.

Yes, because we basically jumped over the Knicks from tip off, and quickly built a 15-point lead (29-14), scoring on fourteen of our first twentyone shots, with Iguodala carrying the team (12 in the period). Everybody, including myself of course, expected a blowout then.

New York simply couldn’t get a defensive stop but slowly got back into the game thank to an impressive barrage from behind the arc (7/11 at the end of the quarter !! Duhon was 4/6) and closed it down only six, 36-30. A bargain for them considering how it started.

The SECOND QUARTER was a close one, with Knicks’ reserves  having a great impact, escpecially Nate Robinson (17 at the half) and Tim Thomas. Sixers couldn’t take advantage of the bulk and height edge over the Knicks, and the possible mismatches weren’t exposed.

At the half it was 63-66 (!!), with Knicks connecting on 10/20 from downtown, while Sixers closed with 25/44 from the field.

In the THIRD QUARTER Sixers4guidos’ favorite whipping boys – Willie Green and Sam Dalembert – did a great job. Sam finally started dominating under the boards, being a huge factor in our 33-22 rebounding edge at the end of the period, while Green scored some nice baskets coming off screens. On the other side, Knicks finally cooled off from three point land (“only” 1/5 in the quarter).

Two things I noticed in the FOURTH QUARTER that in my opinion contributed to our win. First, DiLeo substituted Brand with Miller after four minutes, a move that I liked but that didn’t pay dividends because Knicks immediately went on a 9-0 run to go up three (95-89 —>95-98).

Then, with Sixers really struggling and after Speights went 0/2 from the line, Di Leo put Sam Dalembert back in and the move sparked our final, decisive run, because Dalembert completed the job, grabbing every rebound, intimiditating Knicks with his presence and knocking down also a couple of important free throws.

But what is nice to underline is that EVERYBODY CONTRIBUTED WITH A BIG PLAY down the stretch.

Iguodala had two “and one” drives, Thaddeus Young scored on a layup to put us up four after another three by Tim Thomas (110-106) and on the following play stripped David Lee, sparking a fastbreak that ended with an alley oop dunk by Dalembert off a pass by Iguodala (112-106). Miller (fantastic, again) eventually sealed the game from the line with eight seconds to play. That’s what TEAMS do.

Few more notes to end.

1) Elton Brand played a good game after missing sixteen games, in which Sixers went 9-7. He checked in at the end of the first quarter and immediately converted a couple of offensive rebounds, looking comfortable in his moves.

He didn’t force a thing, allowed a three point play on a spinning move by Lee but in the fourth smartly drew a charge from Thomas, showing he’s not afraid of hard contacts. Well done by Elton, he will be fine soon. So much for Brand critics/doubters/haters. (I laughed when I saw his -11 on plus/minus at the half, wondering what negadelphians would have thought about it…).

2) Thad had a tough first half (3/9) but came up big in the final, showing confidence.

3) Miller was great one more time, he schooled every opponent in the low post (if only Sam could learn something from him…), scored on every jumper and was money from the line. 

4) We fouled three times Knicks players shooting from behind the arc. Completely unacceptable. Put the blame on Speights, Green and Sam. That’s NINE freakkin’ POINTS given up in the dumbest way in a close game, DiLeo has to address that, we can’t afford such mistakes.

SIXERS4GUIDOS’ BONUS STATS AND RANDOM THOUGHTS: Nate Robinson really gets on my nerves, he always want to show he’s tough, never shuts up and is horrible to see - He scored a lot but he has a low bball IQ and helped us with a couople of bad decisions in crunch time – Evans was inactive with the flu - Guido Danilo Gallinari sat out to rest his back in the second night of a… back-to-back – Royal Ivey had another ok game, including a nice three in the fourth. – Andre Miller was our top scorer at the half, with 13 points on 6/7 – New York never won after trailing at the end of the third – The first of the aforementioned two misses from the line by Speights was a funny airball. Uncharacteristic for a good free throw shooter like him.