New Sixers uniforms: a missed chance

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.

Exclusive interview: Lara Price on Sixers’ “new” logo

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.

New/old logo: tomorrow is the day

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.

Sixers finish West trip in winning fashion

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.

Iguodala goes Hollywood, sinks Lakers at the buzzer

(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.

Unusual, happy finish for the last game at The Spectrum

(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.

The Spectrum… aaaahh, nice memories…

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):

Sixers finally pull out a 48-min effort

(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.

Exclusive interview with Federico Buffa

(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.

Apparently Brand’s comeback is not hurting Sixers…

(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.