Andy Natalie's Philadelphia 76ers fan blog

     IF this was 1997 the people of Cleveland should start saving money for playoff tickets and at least a NBA EAST Finals series. Yes IF it were somewhere between 1995 and 2003.

There is no question that Cleveland has needed a big man of consequence ever since LeBron became a Cavalier. Yes the services of Zyldrunis Ilgauskis has been greatly appreciated and he has had some memorable seasons. However his days of solid and sometime All Star performances are long gone. No disrespect but his age has rendered him mediocre at best. Additionally his skills have always been displayed away from the basket. These are 2 major reasons that Ilgauskis has not provided LeBron with a second tier star to compliment him.

Continue reading "THE SHAQ EFFECT"

Talk about slim pickings. The NBA draft continues to spiral into a wasteland. Fortunately some of these picks will pan out for someone to some degree. But more and more if you don't have a top 3 pick, than you can throw a dart at a board and pray. What does that say about the overhyped Tyler Hansborough?

Honestly other than Blake Griffin, I don't see a clear cut bona fide NBA player in this draft. Oh there are NBA players here but that is only in a relative sense. That is seen in the fact that Spain's Ricky Rubio is projected as a top 5 pick and the #2 talent behind Griffin. Yeah, and 18 year old kid who has yet to play in the USA. And yet there will be couple guys who bust out after they get to the next level, I just don't see any more no brainers other than Griffin. With the exception of guys who will at least be bench or role players. But I am talking about potential All - Stars and immediate impact makers.

Continue reading "NBA DRAFT 2009: 76ers Wishlist"

Kobe may not need Shaq to carry him after-all. And honestly I think this stuff is sometimes over dramatized. Not to say that the Lakers Championships in early 2000's were not heavily earned with the help of the Diesel. Because he was indeed the catalyst of those teams.

But let us not forget that they were Kobe's introductory years into the NBA. It should be noted he came right out of High School. And frankly no guard can carry a team all alone. Yes people are screaming right now, Michael Jordan did it. Lest we forget that he did have Pippen and later Dennis Rodman. Check your history and check out how he did without a sidekick.

Continue reading "Kobe's Confirmation in Sight"

  2009 NBA FINALS

 VS

Heading into the 2009 NBA Finals I thought this was a fairly good match up on paper. I did believe the Lakers had some overall advantage with experience on the floor and with Coaching. Well, as did most of the known universe.

It was also pretty clear that each team had similar height length to counter one another. Although I was not sure how Gasol, Bynum, and Odom would handle the physicality of Dwight Howard. So far they have done very well. Of course Phil Jackson has thrown as many big bodies at him as he can and given Howard a variety of double teams.

Continue reading "The Dwight Fight"

Shots On Goal

TEAM

1st

2nd

3rd

T

Detroit

19

9

11

39

Pittsburgh

11

11

9

31

The tale of the tape gives you an overview of how Game 4 played out. It was important that Pittsburgh pick up the offensive chances and they did. However they are fortunate that their netminder Marc-Andre Fleury was up to the challenge as he was tested with 39 shots on goal.

For the Penguins Crosby and Malkin were the catalysts as they should be. Malkin got off 6 shots on goal and Crosby 3. Both had a goal and an assist.

Continue reading "PENGUINS GET EVEN"

GAME 1 Los Angeles 

      100          75

Kobe made no bones in Game 1 wth his "opening statement" of 40 points, 8 assists, and 8 rebounds. The Lakers dominated the 2nd and 3rd quarters and then never looked back. Kobe Bryant was "sick" in parts of this game as he was not to be denied at times. Yes even with Orlando playing good defense and contesting his shots, Bryant delivered. He was over, under and around the rim all night.

LA's Lamar Odom was also a key figure in this victory as he chipped in 11 pts and was active on the glass with 14 boards. Pau Gasol also had a nice night with 16 points and 8 rebounds. Andrew Bynum added 9 rebounds to the tally.

Continue reading "KOBE SHOWS COURT IS IN SESSION"

Last night Pittsburgh authorities put out an APB for Sidney Crosby who has been missing since the series verses the Hurricanes.

Hey Sid the Kid is a great player and he has a great team around him. But they are not the Detroit Red Wings. But the Penguins made the most of their 20 shots on Chris Osgood netting 3 of them. They added an empty net goal to close the deal 4 - 2 over the powerful Red Wings.

Evegni Malkin played a very good game with 3 assists on the night. Pittsburgh's Maxime Talbot had a great game scoring 2 of the Penguins goals. Sergei Gonchar scored on of Pittsburgh's 2 power play goals.

Over Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury saved 27 of 29 shots and Chris Osgood kicked back 17 of 20 Pittsburgh shots.

Crosby was somewhat quiet again, but he did manage 3 shots on goal and 1 assist nonetheless.

Continue reading "THE VALIANT PENGUINS ARE HANGING ON"

Something happened on the way to the NBA Finals. Neither the Boston Celtics nor the LeBron Cavaliers made it to face the Kobe Lakers.

Actually no one should be surprised. Well not totally anyway. I was fairly certain that without Jameer Nelson at the point, the Orlando Magic would struggle with the 76ers and fall to the Kevin Garnett-less Celtics.

Well the Sixers did give the magic a tough match up. But the Magic gutted out the Celtics in 7 great games. I know missing Kevin Garnett is huge but I thought that Big Baby Davis, Kendrick Perkins, PJ Brown, Pat O'Bryant, and Scott Pollard were enough big bodies and length to hang with the 3 towers of Orlando. Dwight Howard the beast, Hedo Turkoglu, and Rashard Lewis. Handling them means more than height and post presence but some ability away from the basket.

Continue reading "Destiny Magic?"

The mediocre 76ers have had some success recently but they were not happy with Mo Cheeks leading them. They allowed Tony DiLeo finishes out the year and to his credit the team did finish stronger than they started. They even gave the Orlando Magic a tough series in teh 1st round.

But clearly DiLeo was in over his head. And even he knew it.  Thankfully and wisely he informed the 76ers he was not interested in being considered for the full time gig. I don't think he would have had a shot anyhow.

Without much fan fare Eddie Jordan's name quickly popped into the fray. Really not to many other names of note were considered it appears.  Even Avery Johnson allegedly said don't bother asking me.

The 76ers did interview local Villanova head coach Jay Wright. Hopefully that was just a chance to get him an interivew for future pro job options. Because frankly that would have turned out to be a disaster. Name me a college coach who jumped right into the pros without any NBA experience and had success? Look at Pitino or Calipari just as an example. The NBA is far different from college. First of all the big time schools get superior talent. Naturally they should be somehwhat successful over inferior schools. In fact, I wouldn't hire Coach K right from Duke to a head coach in the NBA.

Continue reading "Crossing With Jordan?"

The recent version of the Detroit dynasty has proven to be an offensive force to be reckoned with. And of course Chris Osgood continues to be among the elite goaltenders in the NHL.

However that isn't what makes them such a formidable team. The fact is they just flat out know how to win. And Game 1's 3 to 1 victory was a classic example.

The Penguins offensive attack was up to the task but Chris Osgood was up to the challenge And Detroit as a whole matched the Pittsburgh intensity. The bottom line is the Red Wings find ways to win.

You know things are going great when Justin Abdelker steps right in for an injured player and scores in his first start. In the Stanley Cup Finals!

Hopefully the series will stay competitive but the Red Wings are not going to concede victory. The Penguins are going to have to pry wins out of their death grip.

Continue reading "The Red Wings Make a Statement"