The first round Eastern Conference Playoff tilt between the Sixers and Heat hasn’t exactly gone as planned for coach Doug Collins, Andre Iguodala, and company. We should have seen it coming since although Philadelphia made a remarkable improvement (+15 games) from last year’s 26 win team, their talented group of youngsters (and Elton Brand of course) just can’t match either the intensity or talent of Miami’s core of James, Wade, and Bosh.
Once the Sixers missed out on a golden opportunity to steal Game 1 behind an unbelievable start which saw them amass a 15 point lead early into the 2nd quarter and failing to win their first home playoff game in 3 years in Game 3, it was an uphill battle leading to a nail-biting ending to at least win one at home in Game 4 and force the series back to Miami.
I won’t go into pointing fingers at who exactly was to blame for Philly’s lackluster performance (Iguodala’s 6.3ppg, Elton Brand’s 3 pt, 7 rebs in Game 2, and Spencer Hawes’ 18pts and 7 reb totals) early in the series, we’ll take that up at another point. But at the very least, Philly fans should be ecstatic that NBA Playoff basketball has come back to the “City of Brotherly Love.”
While they aren’t quite all the way back like the hey-days of the early 80’s or the A.I. led bunch that ran all the way to the ’01 Finals, I think everyone would agree that the Sixers led by a talented core of baby ballers like Thaddeus Young, Lou Williams, and Evan Turner are at least headed in the right direction. All they need is a take charge, star player to add to the mix to help lead them to the promised land.
Now that the drib and drab is over, fans in attendance during Game 3 of the series at the Wells Fargo Center were witnesses to some entertainment that took place not on the hardwood, but rather in the stands. Thanks to my boys over at the 700 Level.com, I want you to draw your attention to the Jumbotron to bear witness to the dancing fat man, who breaks out every dance move under the sun to the hip-hop classic “It Takes Two” by Rob Base and DJ Easy Rock. Hang in there until the 0:27 mark, when the Re-Run clone from What’s Happening fame shows some skin to reveal just how big a Sixers fan he really is:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
