Flyers Make It a Series

The Flyers won last night 4-0 in Boston to actually make this 2nd round series competitive. The Flyers still are up against the wall, and still need to take 2 more in a row, starting tomorrow night in Philadelphia.

The Flyers really outplayed the Bruins in Game 4 in Boston from start the finish. The Scott Hartnell-Ville Leino-Danny Briere line did most of the damage, as Ville Leino was flying all over the ice. Take a look back, and you can see that we reported during the first round series against the Devils that Ville Leino should be playing, and possibly taking Scott Hartnell's spot in the lineup. Leino got the Flyers on the board in the first, and did most of the damage on the next 2 goals, getting an assist on 1, and skating circles around the Bruins to keep the puck in the offensive zone for a Hartnell goal the other time. Beisdes Leino, and Hartnell, Simon Gagne had 2 goals to close out the game.

Speaking of Scott Hartnell, he finally showed up for a game. He scored for the first time in 22 games, and did have a good game overall, skating better, and being more aggressive. This line will need to continue the strong play if the Flyers want to win the series.

The game was somewhat strange in that you had the Flyers really dominating, the Bruins taking dumb penalties, and then giving up in the 3rd period taking cheap shots at the Flyers the entire period. The Flyers, being the most hated team by officials in sports, would have gotten suspensions thrown their way if they had done some of the things the Bruins were doing in the 3rd. Claude Giroux was boarded late in the 2nd period, continued to play for the rest of the 2nd, but then sat out the 3rd period. It looks like this was more precautionary and that Giroux will be good to go Game 6.

Brian Boucher, however, will not be good to go for Game 6, and will probably miss the rest of the playoffs with a strained MCL. Boucher has been very good in these playoffs, and will definitely be missed, but I'm not so sure Michael Leighton is much of a downgrade from Boucher, even though Leighton does not have the playoff experience that Boucher does. Leighton saved all 14 shots he faced after he entered the game last night, but the Flyers did a very good job defensively, really for the first time all series.

Game 6 will be important, and the home crowd will need to get the Flyers into the game. Kotite's Corner will be present in the crowd cheering on the orange and black. Game 6 will start at 8 o'clock.

Sixers Can't Find Any Magic

The 76ers were eliminated last night in an embarrassing loss to the Magic, losing their first round series 4 games to 2. The Sixers suffered a 25 point loss to the Magic who were without Dwight Howard and Courtney Lee.

The Sixers have yet to win a playoff series since 2003, and this is the 2nd straight season that the Sixers went up 2 games to 1 in their first round series, and then proceeded to lose in six games. The game was ugly, and pathetic. The absence of Dwight Howard did not mean a thing. The Sixers continued to struggle on offense, and once again could not even get to 90 points. The Magic were doing anything they wanted offensively. Rashard Lewis had a big game, and so did Rafer Alston. Even backup center Marcin Gortat put up bigger numbers than his counterpart, Samuel Dalembert. Thaddeus Young never got anything going this series, and really played poorly. The only two Sixers who were consistent in this series were Iguodala and Miller.

There really is no reason to rehash the game, as it was pathetic. The Magic didn’t even really play an impressive series, and still won easily. I won’t go into the fact that the Magic have a bunch of punks on their team, mostly in Howard and Turkoglu, and led by their coach, Stan Van Gundy, who the players will soon quit on.

The Sixers face a lot of off-season questions this summer. Tony DiLeo did a respectable job getting this team to the playoffs, but he really is not a head coach in this league, nor should he be the head coach of the Sixers next season. As for the team, there are many issues, and I’m not sure how many can actually be addressed. The Sixers start two players who flat out are not good enough to be starters in Willie Green and Samuel Dalembert. We also rely on Andre Iguodala to be our #1 option, which he should not be. Iguodala should be a #2 or 3 option, and a facilitator. Iguodala has also stated that he can’t play the SG position effectively, which unfortunately has meant that Thaddeus Young has had to play the PF position. Thaddeus Young is not a PF, and should be the small forward. The Sixers are locked into so much money with contracts to Elton Brand, Iguodala, and Dalembert, so they can’t do much in free agency anytime soon. Andre Miller is most likely gone, which will hurt the team in the near future, as Miller carried the Sixers offensively at times, which you always need from your point guard.

With the 17th pick in the draft, the Sixers should address one of two positions: Point Guard or Center. This year’s draft is heavy on point guards with Ricky Rubio, Brandon Jennings, Jonny Flynn, Stephen Curry, Eric Maynor, Tyreke Evans, Jeff Teague, Ty Lawson, Patrick Mills, and Jrue Holiday all expected to be taken in the first round. Someone like Eric Maynor should easily fall to 17. Even if the Sixers are able to resign Andre Miller, it will only be to a 3 year deal. The Sixers need to address the future of their point guard with a draft that is stacked at that position. Watching this season, Thaddeus Young has an unbelievable upside and will be the best player on the team in a few years. However, he does need to put the work in to improve, especially on the defensive end. Part of the reason Young has struggled on defense is because he is playing out of position at Power Forward.

With the Elton Brand experiment coming back next season, can Iguodala play the 2, so Thad does not have to be the 6th man? When Brand was in the lineup and Iggy played the 2, he looked awful. Andre needs to learn to play the 2 this off-season. He is athletic enough to handle guarding 2 guards around the league, and for the most part, should be able to physically dominate them on offense. If he starts at 2, we can get rid of Willie Green. Willie Green is alright and we rip him often. He has overcome a lot in this world to get where he is. He is just not a starter in the NBA. He is a very serviceable 6th or 7th man on a roster. Along with Green, Dalembert needs to leave this team. He is a freak of nature. He could easily be a 12 and 12 guy consistently in the NBA. The problem, he thinks he is better than he is and does not always try. He is a cancer and needs to be removed. Hopefully, the Sixers can resign Miller, but Miller has always made it known that he prefers playing on the West Coast. Miller is one of the most underrated players in the NBA, and because he is a veteran, he may sign with a team like the Lakers where he can win now. Marreese Speights has shown promise all season, and may be the starter in place of Sammy next year. This small line-up will be an athletic tough match-up for other teams. No matter what, the Sixers have a lot of tough decisions coming up this offseason.

Sixers Try to Force Game 7

The Sixers play the a depleted Magic squad tonight in Game 6 of their first round series. The Magic will be without starters Dwight Howard, and Courtney Lee.

The Dwight Howard loss to the Magic will be seen as the most important factor in this game, but if the Sixers don't get their offense going, they will lose this game, even with Howard on the bench. The Andre's have been the two best players for the Sixers in this series, but should not be counted on to carry a team in a series. Both are good players, the problem is, Iguodala is not good enough to be a #1 option on a good team. He is a very good player, and has played well in this series, but has been inconsistent.

The Sixers have not been getting much in this series from Thaddeus Young, and Lou Williams. Both of them have such good offensive skill, and the Sixers need scoring from them. Williams has looked hesitant to do anything in this series, as if he doesn't want to shoot too much. Young is doing the opposite, and is doing too little. Young has struggled trying to create for himself, and has not hit the open looks that he has gotten. The Sixers need to get offense out of those two guys, so they can actually get out of the low 80's in points.

Back to the absence of Howard. Besides Howard, the Magic are also a very good three point shooting team. They take a lot, and they make a lot. Without Howard in the game, look for the Magic to take ever more, because that may be the best chance they have to win this game. The Sixers should be able to defend this however. Without Howard in the lineup, the Sixers do not need to double down when the ball goes into the post, and instead, can stay out high and cover the Magic players at the three point line. I will give Gortat or Battie any low post shots they want if it means keeping the Magic three point shooting at bay.

The Sixers should not look at this game, and feel like they have the edge without Howard playing, and with the game being at home. The Sixers need to come out with an edge, and execute, and hopefully force a Game 7 back in Orlando.

Howard Suspended for Game 6

Dwight Howard has been suspended for Game 6 on the 1st round series for his elbow that caught the head of Samuel Dalembert. This really was an easy decision, but you never know. Howard is the biggest star in this series, and one of the biggest in the league, and the league obviously doesn't want their stars sitting on the bench.

It goes without saying that Howard being suspended helps the Sixers out a great deal. Howard had 24 and 24 in Game 5 in the Magic victory. He really should have been ejected early in the game when he threw his elbow. Without Howard, the Magic's starting center is Marcin Gortat... if you don't know who he is, neither does anybody else. He did score six points in Game 5 though, which equaled the amount that the Sixers bench scored. Without Howard however, the Sixers will not need to double down on him in the low post, which usually allows the Magic to get good, open three point looks. With the game at home in Philly, and the Magic not having their big man, the Sixers have a big advantage in Game 6. They still need to come out and play their game, and not act like this game will be easy to win, because it won't.

Courtney Lee is also out for the Magic, who also caught an elbow in the head from Dwight Howard, this one inadvertent however.

Flyers Season Comes to a Disappointing End

The Flyers lost Game 6 to the Penguins in the 1st round of the playoffs, eliminating them from the playoffs.  This is the 2nd straight season that the Penguins have eliminated the Flyers from postseason play.

This was an extremely frustrating loss as the Flyers held a 3-0 lead in the 2nd period of this game.  You cannot lose a game in which you have a 3-0 lead at any point in the game, I don't care what the circumstances.  From that point on, the Penguins dominated the game and the Flyers could not get any offensive zone pressure at all.  The ice was slanted towards the Flyers end the entire 2nd and 3rd periods, and as the Penguins were able to tie up the game at 3 apiece by the end of the 2nd period.  As the 3rd period started, and the Penguins continued to put pressure on the Flyers, you knew, unfortunately, that it was only a matter of time before the Pens took the lead.  They did just that, and went up 4-3.  The Flyers did have some chances at the end of the game, including Giroux hitting the post.  The Penguins added an empty netter to win the game 5-3.

It is a very disappointing end to the season, that at times during the season looked very promising.  The Flyers struggled down the stretch, and ended up without home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.  The Penguins were also a very tough team to draw in the 1st round, as they might have more skill than any other team in the Eastern Conference.  There are no excuses however, as the Flyers had plenty of opportunities in this game, and in this series to win.