Last time Sixers won their division, this was the logo.

So a while back I said that the Sixers could win the Atlantic Division. Even in their current slump, I still think it’s possible. There are many factors that can lead them to pulling off something that they haven’t done in over 10 years. And their schedule will help a lot. Oh the schedule will have tougher opponents than before. But there are two teams that Sixers have barely faced: Celtics and Knicks.

They have only faced the Knicks once on the 3rd game in the 3rd night. There was horrible officiating and the Sixers were on the road. In fact, that game told me that the Sixers would win their division in the first place. Based on how well the Sixers played in that game, I’m pretty much convinced that the Sixers can beat the Knicks when they go against them again.

So the only two teams that face a serious challenge to the Sixers and their division winning chances are the Celtics and Knicks. They haven’t even faced the Celtics yet. And again, the Sixers are more than capable of beating the Knicks. They have 3 meetings vs the Celtics and two vs the Knicks left in the season. Right now, the Sixers are 4.5 games ahead of both of these teams. Let’s say that it’s like this until the Sixers face the Celtics (they’re the first team to face the Sixers out of the two teams). If the Sixers can beat the Celtics all 3 times, they have at least 3 games more ahead. If they beat the Knicks both times, that’s two games ahead.

This means nothing unless the Sixers do well against the other teams. Lucky again for the Sixers, they have 11 more games vs their division. Well…here’s the list of who they face for the rest of the season:

• Grizzlies
• Rockets
• Pistons 2x
• Thunder
• Warriors
• Bulls 2x
• Bucks 2x
• Celtics 3x
• Jazz
• Knicks 2x
• Pacers 3x
• Heat 2x
• Bobcats
• Spurs
• Cavaliers 2x
• Wizards
• Hawks
• Raptors 2x
• Magic 2x
• Nets 3x

That’s 34 games there. So let’s look at who the Sixers can beat. Pistons, Warriors, Bucks, Celtics, Knicks, Bobcats, Cavaliers, Wizards, Raptors, and Nets. That’s 19 right there that the Sixers should win if they play the right way. If they were to lose the other games, they would go 19-15 for the rest of the season. Not bad at all. Plus, they beat the Knicks and Celtics giving them more cushion in the standings. Out of the winnable games, the Knicks and Celtics probably do offer the greatest challenge. Let’s say the Sixers drop one game to both teams. They still go 17-17. Knicks and Celtics would have to go on a tear to catch the Sixers.

But the Sixers will probably drop some of those games. If there’s anything to take from this lockout type schedule is that anything can happen. At the same time, the Sixers will certainly take games against better teams too. So it sort of balances out. They do have one more back-back-back in April. all three teams involved are tough. Overall, Sixers should win at least 15 more games. Anything less and they are at risk at losing the division.

But let’s look at the other two teams. Let’s get real people, Celtics are falling apart. We can talk about how deadly the Celtics will be in the playoffs but they have to get there first. I don’t even know if they can. Schedule might be too much for them. The Knicks are a different creature. It’s obvious Jeremy is the real deal. The main question is can he and Anthony co-exist to help the team. I’m banking on them not pulling it off. I’m banking on Carmelo Iso’s all game, like before. It’s been his whole career really. The only other real big time scorer he’s played with is Allen Iverson. Maybe put Chauncey Billups in there too. Knicks’ coach has some work to do. Egos will have to take a seat for the greater good of the team.

It really comes down to two things. Either the Knicks and maybe Celtics make a serious run, or the Sixers make a serious drop. Could be a combination of both. I don’t see a serious drop coming from the Sixers though so it’ll have to be a big run. Perhaps it’s wishful thinking. I am convinced that the Sixers control their destiny (or maybe the refs do) and winning against their division rivals is a big key to winning that division. In the link at the beginning of the post, I explain what it could mean if the Sixers do manage to win their division. But here’s a simple version: Sixers can finally make it out of the first round.

Ok so what do you think?

This is the image of where you can clearly see Andre Iguodala hand is on the ball the entire time. There is no where close that this should been called a foul, and to actually make a call with the seconds left is even more laughable.

Here is the Video:

Watching the replay there is no clear sign that Dre fouled Kevin Love. In fact why the referee missed the Kevin Love arm block on Thad Young, prior to the actual call, was also questionable.

One hobby I have is the art of playwriting. So, in this post, I will present some of my “gift” to illustrate why the Sixers settle for these long 2′s and 3′s. It’s on the coaching mainly. And as long as coaching is okay with it, no sense in praying that Sixers will change anytime soon.

The Sixers are in the middle of a timeout. Collins stares at his clip board for several moments before putting it down. While we all know Collins is a mastermind of scoring right after timeouts, he decides to give his team more instructions on future plays.

Collins: Lou, we don’t want to waste too much time on each possession. Try and get a 3 in there before the shot clock hits 16.

Lou: Got it.

Turner: Hey coach, I’ve been playing well, can I get a chance?

Collins: That’s some bull s*#t! You’re attacking the rim way too much and then turning the ball over. Take a seat.

Turner sits on the bench close to where Collins would sit.

Collins: No Evan, sit further down.

Turner moves down a few seats.

Collins: (shakes head) You know what? Just go to the locker room.

Turner heads to the locker room.

Collins: (looks at Jrue) You better not screw this up. One mistake and it’s over.

Jrue puts his head down in shame and nods.

The timeout buzzer sounds.

Collins: Alright guys. I’m proud of you. And I’m sweatin like crazy. Now let’s make some long 2′s fall!

You get the idea. I hope. Seems like the last productive game Turner had was against the Nuggets. Turner brought the team back from death by doing the right thing. He attacked the rim, and either made a nice pass, got a good shot, or got fouled and went to the line. Collins rewarded his efforts by benching him for the final play of the 4th quarter and just about all of OT. Why? I don’t know. Everybody else was jacking up jumpers. Meanwhile, I really think Collins has Jrue on a very short leash. It can potentially stunt his growth. I went into great detail about it here.

The fact of the matter is, Collins is ok with the long jumpers. And he encourages them too. If it were a problem, we would have heard about it. We would have seen a quote or nine. I mean, how many times has Lou jacked up some long half court 3 with plenty of time left to not only get a better shot, but a real shot that players would actually take? And has Collins benched him at all? Nah, he loves it. And I don’t like McDonald’s so there is no way Lou can ever win me over.

Collins is kidding himself is he thinks that these jumpers will get them far. Historically, Collins has no shooters on this team. Meeks is the only guy I feel comfortable seeing a 3 fly from. But if Meeks isn’t hitting anything, what’s his purpose? The Meeks shall inherit the bench for sure. These long shots are annoying. It frustrates me how many they take.

The best part about this team is they are a great group of guys that listen to their coach. The worst part about this team is they listen to their coach. Their coach is not punishing them for taking low percentage shots, so the players are going to take them. Either the players truly agree with this philosophy, or they want to attack the rim but don’t want to end up in the dog house, gathering dust at the end of the bench, praying for a blowout just to see some playing time. Look at these bullet points I made from the linked post from above:

• Collins approves jumpers over attacking the rim
• Collins doesn’t want turnovers.
• Turnovers happen more likely while attacking the rim
• Holiday doesn’t want to turn ball over because he knows he’ll be benched.
• Remember, Collins approves jumpers
• So Holiday takes jumpers

Now again, the main focus of the post was on Holiday but you can put it on any of the other perimeter players and it fits nicely doesn’t it? Once Collins decides that attacking the rim is the best option, Sixers will reach a new level of basketball. They are among the bottom in FT attempts and when they get there it’s brick after brick. We’ve seen their problems during crunch time. The Sixers’ ceiling has been reached folks. Don’t look for more improvement until these things change significantly. And, actually, expect things to get worse if the Sixers keep up this type of shooting strategy. We saw against the Mavs; it will get ugly. I also can’t help but feel like this post is a waste of time.

Earlier that day, and throughout, Ilya Bryzgalov was the scapegoat on the air. Even though he hadn’t played in over a week due to his bout with the flu, it was his fault the team is where it is now. Bryzgalov had nothing to do with the Flyers’ latest slide. Not only should the Flyers be worried, but apparently according to these experts, he should be dealt, too. They did make one good point—he is untradeable, but isn’t that the point of his contract?

Something’s wrong with this picture…

What about Sergei Bobrovsky? He’s all fine and dandy according to these guys, even though he continues to be inconsistent as well. He happened to give up five goals to those Rangers too, just like Bryzgalov did a few weeks ago. He’s juuuuust fine, though. He’s our darling that can do no wrongs.

Rob Ellis then continued with this gem: “I think the Flyers should keep Read, Couturier and Schenn. I wouldn’t mind seeing the Zolnierczyks and Rinaldos of the world go.” The Flyers are in desperate need of a serviceable, tough, defensive defenseman. To get value, you must give up value. That kind of value won’t get the Flyers what they need. To think that is ludicrous.

The fact that Ellis could be so blind as to address it like that would make any fan with logic have fits. It made me furious.

There’s a widely-accepted theory behind communication called agenda-setting. In essence, if a certain organization has a viewpoint, it will press that viewpoint with all of its might to get the populace to be on board and spread that value. It’s pretty clear that the media continues to propagate the Bryzgalov hate and any other issue that comes about, simply to get reads, views, listens, and support.

The fact of the matter is this: the Flyers need a defenseman. They have a few to choose from that are simply average-to-above-average, like Nicklas Grossman or Bryan Allen, but neither one of them will put the Flyers over the top. The smarter idea would be to be smart about it now, and perhaps see what they can do with the situation over the summer. After all, there are better options to be had in free agency.

Their goaltending situation this year hasn’t been the greatest in the world. Bryzgalov needed to settle in, and Bobrovsky had to duplicate or improve on a pretty impressive first season. To give up on them so soon, talking about how Bryzgalov’s deal would be the worst in Philadelphia sports history, or how this season’s over, and blah blah blah…and then subsequently see it as a predominant viewpoint…

…that, my friends, is agenda-setting in action.

How would you fix the Flyers? Would you listen to and believe the talk radio hosts?

Credit: Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE / Howard Smith-US PRESSWIRE/US PRESSWIRE

Well, for one thing, they are FREE. I mean, you don’t have to chuck up a fade away with only 2 seconds on the clock. There is no hand in your face. You’re not avoiding a block attempt. It’s just you, and the hoop. And again, they are free points. Make the other team pay for fouling you. At this rate, other teams will just start “Hack-A-Sixer” just because it would be so effective.

Ok, that’s an obvious reason. But in close games, you need to be able to hit those shots. We saw it last season. They had a bunch of close losses, and missed FT’s were a big part of the reason. You just can’t expect to win games like this. You would think that they learned their lesson. Both this season and last saw a lot of losses that came from missed FT’s. Of course, the most recent game was against the Clippers.

If the Sixers think they will make it very far in the playoffs, they’ll need to make it to the line and make their FT’s. It’s so simple. Long 2 pointers are not going to last forever. You can’t fall in love with the jumper. To get an idea of how many points the Sixers have missed out on, let’s do some calculation. Right now, Sixers are shooting 71%. I don’t expect Sixers to shoot 100%. Nobody’s perfect. But what if the Sixers just shot at the league average? The middle % number is about 75. So, let’s say Sixers made 75% of their free throws.

We’d first have to figure out how many the Sixers made and attempted so far. They made 363-508. So, let’s say they made just 75% of their FT attempts. The number would look like this: 381-508. That’s 18 points that they missed out on. Doesn’t seem like a lot right? There are 7 players shooting under 70% on the team. Yes. Seven. I couldn’t believe it either. Vucevic is apparently shooting at 28%. Yeah, I know. Basically half of the team is under 70% shooting at the line. Unacceptable.

We can talk about the rebounding. But, in a close game, the most glaring thing can be FT’s. In the playoffs, the game slows down. Jumpers stop falling. You have to get to the line. And when you do, you have to make them. Sixers don’t understand this, they don’t care for it, or they just don’t have the ability. It could be a combination of all three.

So really the next step for the Sixers is to polish basketball 101: Rebound and Free Throws. Both areas can be improved but FT’s have a better chance at improvement. And until they can make clutch FT’s, the Sixers will continue to have trouble in clutch games. Plain and simple.

Everyone has a friend like Donovan McNabb.

He’s the guy who bathes in Axe body spray before going to the bar, and urges everyone to tell him how good he smells.

He’s the guy who wears white socks with dress shoes, then questions the sexuality of his friends when he’s called out for it.

Delusional.

The unshakeable belief in falsity.

McNabb is the guy who despite being dropped off at the retirement center by two teams in the span of one season, still doesn’t believe his own deterioration.

During an interview last Wednesday on the NFL Network’s Super Bowl Live, Philly’s favorite Rudy issued his latest sound byte.

“I see three teams in the NFL, right now, that I feel like I can add a little bit of flavor to it from what they have,” McNabb said. ”I won’t mention those teams. But, if the phone rings, there will be a lot of decisions to make on that.”

But what tickled everyones gag reflexes in the Delaware Valley is far more distressing.

On Thursday, Howard Eskin tweeted that one of those targets could be the Eagles.

“D McNabb would come back and play as backup QB 4 Eagles. No talk between 2 sides…yet.”

Anyone who is familiar with Eskin knows that while he’s not the most prevailing planet in the Eagles solar system, he is in fact deep enough to know how their world circles.

And frankly, with the moves the Eagles have made in the past year, nothing jolts me less than a WTF.

Of course I could be close minded. But I can’t believe the Eagles are in need of an air guitar specialist that badly.

Because there’s two types of back up quarterbacks in the NFL, and McNabb possesses the character of neither.

One is the younger, up and coming student of the game, who learns with his eyes.

No.

Then there’s the veteran quarterback content with coaching and sourcing his experience as a guidance to the starter. The veteran who has come to terms with his role and position on the squad, and can find peace helping a team win a championship the unconventional way.

No where in McNabb’s interview would you believe he’s taking a back seat for no one.

Whichever of the three teams he has targeted mostly, will most certainly end up with a pass at their feet. And the Eagles need to writ their ship away from the man overboard.

With the fretful likelihood of Michael Vick becoming a casualty to his own stubbornness for any stretch during a season, the Eagles need to think in the direction of their future instead of rekindling the past.

As the draft approaches, beer fueled maniacs will howl for defense. But the Eagles first order of business is acquiring a young and tough, quick learning back up quarterback for Vick. And the draft is the best route to achieve that destination. Defense can be built through free agency, and the Eagles have proved to be aggressive buyers in that market.

The Eagles cannot sustain to take any steps that aren’t forward. There’s no wiggle room for regressing if they haven’t found themselves in the proper position to progress.

Too many stutter steps around the truth of Donovan McNabb will show nothing short of lamentable desperation.

For those of you who could reach in your pocket and still not find a lint ball of a damn to give, let me remind you that the New York Giants are Super Bowl Champions.

Super Bowl wins: NFC East: 12. Eagles: 0

Andy Reid is on the clock. But this isn’t Wing Bowl. The Eagles need more than a fresh McNabb’s Febreze.

Everyone has a friend like Donovan McNabb.

He’s the guy who hides his wedding band in his pocket when he goes to the club.

The only ring he has.

For the record, they happen to be 20-38 in the skills competition known as the shootout since it was conceived as a result of the lockout in 2005. The shootout does not count for much in the standings, as it was removed as a decider of ties in the standings, and of course, there are no shootouts in the playoffs.

It is frankly unfortunate when it decides thrilling defensive-minded games, or games that you swear, if it lasted just another five minutes, a team could give it a fitting end. In a time where points mean so much in the second half of the season, the shootout continues to ruin the feeling of earning two points.

Peter Laviolette has repeatedly spoken to the fact that the Flyers do not practice the shootout. Not only did it seem rather evident through Bryzgalov’s struggles in the first few shootouts, but it was painstakingly evident in last night’s shootout. No shooter had any creativity.

Sure, the Flyers lacked the presence of some sharpshooters in the lineup, such as James van Riemsdyk and Danny Briere. This should be no excuse, as Claude Giroux and Jaromir Jagr were in the lineup, and took shots.

Personally, I like the idea of a ten minute, five-on-five overtime, which would then lead to the shootout if necessary. The NHL needs to realize that five minutes of four-on-four is not enough time to score any goals, especially if teams continue to play conservatively in the overtime session. This is obviously a fever dream, and will not be changed anytime soon.

What many teams should do is watch the film from the latest edition of Chicago vs. Vancouver. Each team took multiple chances in four-on-four, and the goaltenders stood on their heads. It was classic entertainment with plenty of open ice to work with. Daniel Sedin ended up winning the game in overtime due to a splendid pass from his brother.

It seems like teams love to cycle and pass to the point, in which the man-to-man coverage of four-on-four will not break down very easiliy. Five minutes, let alone ten, fifteen or twenty, is not enough to break that if that style of play continues to stay dominant.

What motivates teams to play defensively and arrive at the shootout is the pity point. There has been a proposed way to fix that. Three points in the standings for a regulation victory. Two points in overtime (with perhaps a pity point for the loser), and one point in the shootout, and no points for the loser.

CSN Philly’s Michael Barkann, after last night’s debacle in the shootout, brought up a good point. How much extra effort would it be to have three skaters at the end of practice shoot a couple rounds on the goaltenders for a little bit of breakaway practice? It serves both sides well. If there are CBA factors that contribute to that not happening, that is understandable.

More and more games throughout the league will be going to the shootout. It may be time for Laviolette and company to start practicing, and maybe start perfecting.

True, that injury soaked era from 2009-2011 which produced a mixed bag of results did indeed exist. There’s that one reason I never minded it. The year before that.

In the winter of 2007 when the Phillies traded Michael Bourne, Geoff Geary, and Michael Constanzo for Brad Lidge and Eric Bruntlett, I recall thinking we gave up nothing for something but that was about it. I was plenty comfortable with Brett Myers handling the 9th if need be and when Lidge entered his presser on crutches, I really was prepared for a serious bust. Well nothing turned into something for the Astros. Michael Bourne in fact became a stellar outfielder. Geary didn’t hang around long and I couldn’t tell you whatever became of Constanzo except that I know he ended up playing in the Orioles system in ’08 as I saw him suit up for Norfolk Tide.

Brad Lidge would start his 2008 a few weeks late but once he came on board, there was no looking back. If he took the mound in the 9th, it was game over. It was really one of the more incredible runs I ever saw and having lived through some pretty brutal relief innings in recent Phillies history, it was something I was not used to. His slider was perfect and he was so automatic when it was time to slam the door and end the game. A Cy Young worthy season indeed for the best relief season since Eric Gagne’s 2003 for Los Angeles. Even better, the reward for his perfection was something I hadn’t been able to experience in my developed years (I was only a few months old when the Phils took home the hardware in 1980).

Not one to ever make excuses Lidge handled an increasingly hostile public about his struggles with nothing short of class, Lidge was more of a Phillie during his time with the team than anyone. Many pitchers could and have thrown fits about losing the closer job and when that time finally did come during last season when Ryan Madson stepped up to handle the role, Lidge was nothing short of supportive.

I said weeks ago, I think it was best the Lidge era in Philly ended now but I can’t help but miss it today he moves on to our nation’s capital. I’ve laughed other players out the door over the years, some who were probably better. Yet when you lose Brad Lidge, you lose one of the great guys in the great game of baseball. Easily a future Phillies Wall of Famer. I raise my glass to the champion.

Pineiro is a nice addition and one would imagine he could be very much in the mix. He spent most of his career bouncing from the bullpen and the back of the rotation for the Seattle Mariners. His numbers never really that stellar, leave it to pitching guru Dave Duncan to turn him into an impressive mid-rotation starter during a 2 1/2 year stint in St. Louis. In 2010 he signed on with Anaheim where he’d continue to post half decent numbers. However in 2011 he fell back to Earth posting a 5.13 ERA over 145 innings.

Much like Blanton, when healthy Pineiro is a reputable innings eater. In the event Blanton isn’t healthy one would think Pineiro is the guy for the 4th or 5th spot. I like this move. Starting inventory isn’t exactly as deep as I would have preferred and Pineiro was one of the better names one could find without having to risk too many dollars, which the likes of Roy Oswalt will most certainly want.

Ryan Madson agreed to a deal last night with the Cincinnati Reds, thus bringing an end to his Phillies career. Lots of theories and stories have been brought to light since that fateful evening when the Madson deal fell apart. Was Boras trying to play games with the Phillies? Did the Phillies just decide the money was best spent on Papelbon? We’ll never know. What I do know is that it’s time to move on. Ryan Madson went from being a mediocre long man, a lousy starter, to being a premier late inning reliever. The success the Phillies have known the past five years doesn’t happen without him and this Phillies fan salutes him and wishes him luck in the future, except against the Phillies of course.

With Kerry Wood, whom the Phillies had interest in, likely heading back to Chicago there seems to be a focus in finding a pitcher for the 8th inning. Brad Lidge is among those being discussed. Unlike many, the Lidge hate never really surfaced with me. He bought himself years of injury plagued mediocrity in 2008 and I found that in the second half of 2010, he was quite good and he still shined in late innings briefly this past season. I think he can still be effective. However there is also that part of me that says, he’s guaranteed a stint on the DL and if he fails to produce, I think it would leave a bad taste in a lot of mouths if you had to part ways with your World Series hero mid-season and hand him his walking papers. As much as I love Lidge, I think it’s best to let it end where it’s ended.

I’m ok with blowing a few bucks, ok a lot of bucks, on an elite closer like Papelbon. What I’m not ok with is blowing too much on a bullpen. Wood would have been ok and Lidge could be cheaper as well. Yet why go there unless necessary? One of the bright spots of the empty farm system is relief pitching. Stutes and Bastardo came up big last season. No reason to expect DeFratus, Savory, Schwimmer, etc…to do the same. I wouldn’t rule out Jake Diekman or Austin Hyatt either. If we have enough youth to role with, might as well try them out. Worst case scenario is they all suck and Amaro trades for a set up guy at the deadline.

Oh yes, and John Bowker has been released by the Phillies to join former Phillie Scott Mathieson in Japan on the Yomiuri Giants. The more ex-Phillies that end up on this team, the more tempted I am to call myself a fan and even buy a jersey. Both were obviously never going to make a major impact with the Phils so it’s cool to see them on Japan’s elite squad. If they win it all, I’m fine with calling a parade for Philly. Maybe not down Broad Street, but something!