The 76ers really showed us something last night.
Specifically, that on the offensive end they're not just the Allen Iverson
show. Aaron McKie rose to the occasion and despite a bit of the flu scored
a season-high 24 points. This win breaks a 13-year losing streak for Philly
when playing in Utah. While Stockton came to play, the Mailman failed to
deliver, dropping a mere 12 points (and only grabbing 5 rebounds) on the
Sixers' tough defense.
Can the 76ers win a championship? If they were
in the Western conference then no, of course not. But in the East, the
Heat, Bucks, Cavs, Knicks, Pacers and Raptors would all put up a good fight
(the Bucks are very hot now and we're almost ready to take them seriously,
but we insist on another week's worth of success before we're fully convinced),
but the only team that could and perhaps should beat Philly is the Hornets.
The Sixers and Hornets are the conference's best, with the Bucks in 3rd.
The Cavs minus Z shouldn't beat the aforementioned teams in a playoff series
no matter how many loose balls they dive for. Look for Philly to trade
Matt Geiger the moment he's healthy and shows everyone he can still (sort
of) play.
Michael Finley had 38 points and the Mavs scored
114 to beat the Sonics. Coach Don Nelson is now the third most winning
coach in NBA history. He's behind Lenny Wilkins (#1) and Pat Riley (#2).
Lenny Wilkins was a terrific player and is a good
coach, but if we coached 4779237597234679 games we'd rack up a nice amount
of wins, too.
Back to the Mavs. When Don Nelson leaves next week
to deal with his prostate cancer, it won't be Del Harris taking over the
head coaching duties, but Nelson's son, Donnie. Donnie has never had a
job as an NBA head coach, but he's been around forever and there's little
reason to think the team will slump under his control. Rotations and distribution
of minutes probably won't change.
Zydrunas Ilgauskas has broken a foot for the 4th
time in his 5 year career. We officially give up on him. Sorry. Trade him
for donuts. They're more sturdy. And, I'm hungry. Mmmmm, donuts.
Derrick Coleman came back to action after being
on the injured list due to being about as conditioned as those donuts we
just traded Ilgauskas for. Coleman didn't look as bad as we expected, actually.
To make room for Coleman on the roster, forward Eddie Robinson was placed
on the injured list with a bruised tailbone. Otherwise known as a "busted
ass."
"Hi. I'm Eddie Robinson. I'm on the injured list
with a busted ass."
Give it up to the Hawks, who are playing respectable
basketball despite having been without Jim Jackson, Alan Henderson and
Chris Crawford.
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