EmKingsFan4
Starter
Also, don't know how long this will last, but Indiana losing to LA last night and Sixers winning against ATL knocked Pacers out of Playoff running and put Sixers on it in Eighth place. GO WEBB!! HEY IVERSON!!...GIVE CWEBB THE BALL FOR GODS SAKE!!!!
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Posted on Mon, Mar. 07, 2005
For Sixers, Sunday is a day of rest
[size=-1]By PHIL JASNER[/size]
[size=-1][/size]
MIAMI - Reality said the 76ers, even with just 23 precious chances remaining to establish themselves as a playoff team, needed a day off yesterday more than they needed practice.
Even though they have a revamped roster? Even though they've been desperately trying to incorporate Chris Webber into their offensive and defensive schemes? Even though the immense shadow of Shaquille O'Neal and the Miami Heat - tonight's opponent - was already looming over them?
Not a difficult decision at all, said Sixers coach Jim O'Brien, fresh from Saturday night's 98-97 victory in Atlanta.
"There's a fine line between execution and having the legs and energy to execute," said O'Brien, who cancelled a workout at La Salle High, less than 4 miles from AmericanAirlines Arena. "The reality is, we just needed to get away from basketball for a day. And with the minutes everyone [in the regular rotation] has been playing, it would have been foolish to practice with any of our top eight. Sometimes you need a chance to rejuvenate."
And if the players wanted to celebrate their Saturday victory, even though it was the Hawks' 11th loss in succession and left them at an NBA-worst 10-48, O'Brien didn't mind that, either.
"Considering that it was our fourth game in five nights, and that we'll be playing six in eight, we'll take every win we can get, however we get it," he said.
Make no mistake, the Sixers won their 29th game the hard way, coming within an eyelash or two of the ignominy of becoming the first team to lose twice to the Hawks this season. The hard way? On the Sixers' final possession, down 97-96, the ball went to Allen Iverson, who stumbled - replays showed him taking about three steps backward and hitting the floor - got up and passed to Marc Jackson, who drew a foul with 1.2 seconds remaining.
Jackson calmly knocked down two free throws, making him 7-for-7 in the fourth quarter. But it still wasn't over, because the Hawks had one more opportunity, inbounding from sidecourt after a timeout. It was left for Iverson to deflect Boris Diaw's pass, intended for Al Harrington, as the buzzer sounded.
Hawks coach Mike Woodson questioned why Iverson had not been called for traveling before making the pass to Jackson.
"[The referee] said it was a loose ball, so [Iverson] could advance the ball," Woodson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I thought he traveled. But you can't complain about it now. I've been on the flip side; when you've got a good team and you're playing well, good teams get calls. But what can you do about it?"
Harrington was more succinct, telling the newspaper, "They're playing for the playoffs and we're playing for nothing - I don't know how anyone can say that's not on your mind. I'm not saying the referees cheated us, but if there's a call at the end that could go either way, we're not getting it. That's just a fact."
But getting back to doing things the hard way...
O'Brien held Webber out for a stretch of 11:55 of the second half and went without starting center Samuel Dalembert for the entire fourth quarter, choosing to stay with Jackson and Rodney Rogers. Webber did not return until just 3:43 remained in the game.
O'Brien said he had fully intended all along to go back to Webber for about the final 4 minutes.
"We had been down seven, and the team we had in there really defended at a high level, brought us back and got us the lead," O'Brien said. "To me, to penalize [Jackson] after being one of the main reasons we had come back, would not have been the best move."
As for Webber, the centerpiece acquisition in the Sixers' two dramatic deals at the trade deadline...
"I've never sat that long in my life," he told Calkins Newspapers. "I don't know what to think."
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/basketball/11070513.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Posted on Mon, Mar. 07, 2005
For Sixers, Sunday is a day of rest
[size=-1]By PHIL JASNER[/size]
[size=-1][/size]
MIAMI - Reality said the 76ers, even with just 23 precious chances remaining to establish themselves as a playoff team, needed a day off yesterday more than they needed practice.
Even though they have a revamped roster? Even though they've been desperately trying to incorporate Chris Webber into their offensive and defensive schemes? Even though the immense shadow of Shaquille O'Neal and the Miami Heat - tonight's opponent - was already looming over them?
Not a difficult decision at all, said Sixers coach Jim O'Brien, fresh from Saturday night's 98-97 victory in Atlanta.
"There's a fine line between execution and having the legs and energy to execute," said O'Brien, who cancelled a workout at La Salle High, less than 4 miles from AmericanAirlines Arena. "The reality is, we just needed to get away from basketball for a day. And with the minutes everyone [in the regular rotation] has been playing, it would have been foolish to practice with any of our top eight. Sometimes you need a chance to rejuvenate."
And if the players wanted to celebrate their Saturday victory, even though it was the Hawks' 11th loss in succession and left them at an NBA-worst 10-48, O'Brien didn't mind that, either.
"Considering that it was our fourth game in five nights, and that we'll be playing six in eight, we'll take every win we can get, however we get it," he said.
Make no mistake, the Sixers won their 29th game the hard way, coming within an eyelash or two of the ignominy of becoming the first team to lose twice to the Hawks this season. The hard way? On the Sixers' final possession, down 97-96, the ball went to Allen Iverson, who stumbled - replays showed him taking about three steps backward and hitting the floor - got up and passed to Marc Jackson, who drew a foul with 1.2 seconds remaining.
Jackson calmly knocked down two free throws, making him 7-for-7 in the fourth quarter. But it still wasn't over, because the Hawks had one more opportunity, inbounding from sidecourt after a timeout. It was left for Iverson to deflect Boris Diaw's pass, intended for Al Harrington, as the buzzer sounded.
Hawks coach Mike Woodson questioned why Iverson had not been called for traveling before making the pass to Jackson.
"[The referee] said it was a loose ball, so [Iverson] could advance the ball," Woodson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I thought he traveled. But you can't complain about it now. I've been on the flip side; when you've got a good team and you're playing well, good teams get calls. But what can you do about it?"
Harrington was more succinct, telling the newspaper, "They're playing for the playoffs and we're playing for nothing - I don't know how anyone can say that's not on your mind. I'm not saying the referees cheated us, but if there's a call at the end that could go either way, we're not getting it. That's just a fact."
But getting back to doing things the hard way...
O'Brien held Webber out for a stretch of 11:55 of the second half and went without starting center Samuel Dalembert for the entire fourth quarter, choosing to stay with Jackson and Rodney Rogers. Webber did not return until just 3:43 remained in the game.
O'Brien said he had fully intended all along to go back to Webber for about the final 4 minutes.
"We had been down seven, and the team we had in there really defended at a high level, brought us back and got us the lead," O'Brien said. "To me, to penalize [Jackson] after being one of the main reasons we had come back, would not have been the best move."
As for Webber, the centerpiece acquisition in the Sixers' two dramatic deals at the trade deadline...
"I've never sat that long in my life," he told Calkins Newspapers. "I don't know what to think."
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/sports/basketball/11070513.htm
