reCAP: Washington Capitals vs. Philadelphia Flyers

2/28/13

Welcome back Simon Gagne. Last night he made his Flyers debut and boy was it a dandy. On Tuesday the Flyers acquired Gagne from the Los Angeles Kings for a conditional fourth round pick in this year’s draft. Gagne was originally drafted by the Flyers in 1999 and stayed with the team until 2010. This trade was nostalgic for Flyers fans and the start of a honeymoon. I’m hoping Gagne plays well for the Flyers. I say this because in 2009, Allen Iverson did a comeback tour with the 76ers. That honeymoon ended sadly. The Flyers and Capitals were both coming into this game as mediocre teams. The Flyers were 9-11-1 in the standings and the Capitals were 7-10-1. Mike Knuble was a healthy scratch for the Flyers as they had to make room to put Gagne on the active roster. The Flyers have also been hit with the injury bug as they were without Matt Read, Andrej Mezaros, and Tye McGinn. Read has a torn hip. Mezaros has a left shoulder injury and McGinn hurt his face in a fight recently against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Capitals were without their backup goalie, Michael Neuvirth. He was scratched because he has the flu.

The Flyers got off to a fast start as they scored the first goal 23 seconds into the game. Claude Giroux scored the goal on a nice backhanded pass by Scott Hartnell. Hartnell forced the Captials to turn over the puck in their own zone, which is how the goal was set up. Four minutes later, the Flyers scored another goal, but this time it was on the power play. Hartnell shot the puck and Wayne Simmonds got the rebound and put the puck in the net as he fell on his rear end. The Flyers led 2-0 after the first period. In the second period, the Flyers started out quick too. The Flyers scored another power play goal four minutes into the period. This time it was the new/old guy as Gagne got the puck on a sweet backhanded pass by Brayden Schenn, and scored. With five minutes left to go in the second period, Max Talbot blasted a slap shot into the net that made it 4-0 and ended Capitals starting goalie Braden Holtby’s night. Holtby got replaced by Philipp Grubauer, who was playing in his first NHL game. The Capitals got one late goal in the third period by Joel Ward so they can say that they were not shutout by the Flyers. The Flyers won this game 4-1 and are now the eighth playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.

I thought the Flyers played a dominant game. The way they started out the game was the best the team has played all year. They started fast, played energetic, and played with a sense of urgency. The Flyers outshot and outhit the Capitals. Both teams were disciplined as there were very few penalties called. There could be a cause for concern for the Flyers since Eric Gustafson left the game in the second period with what is known as a lower body injury. He was playing well on defense for the Flyers. Hopefully Kurtis Foster can step up for Gustafsson if he has to miss any games. Ilya Bryzgalov didn’t have to work that hard to get his saves because the Flyers’ defense was playing very well in front of him. Bryzgalov has also been the most consistent Flyer this year.

Could this be the start of a turnaround for the Flyers season now that their schedule is more spread out? Sound off and stay tuned until next time…

Phillies Preview 2013 Part One: The Offseason In Review

2/22/13

Ahh…do you feel the breeze? The sun beaming down on you? The sound of bats hitting a ball? Yep; that’s the sound of baseball being back in full swing.

The Phillies had a disappointing season in 2012. They went 81-81 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2006. The excuses for last year’s failures were injuries and a terrible bullpen. Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Carlos Ruiz, Vance Worley, Placido Polanco, Jose Contreras, and Freddy Galvis all were on the DL at some point during the season. Most of them were on the DL at the same time. The Phillies traded away fan favorite Shane Victorino to the Dodgers for Josh Lindblom and Ethan Martin. They also traded their only productive hitter Hunter Pence to the Giants for Nate Schierholtz, Tommy Joseph, and another prospect. Pence won a World Series ring last year with the Giants. At the end of the season we saw younger players produce for the Phillies. These injuries and trades gave players such as Erik Kratz, Philippe Aumont, Jeremy Horst, Kevin Frandsen a chance to shine with the big club. After the season was over, the coaching staff had a major shakeup. Out were first base coach Sam Perlozzo, hitting coach Greg Gross, and bench coach Pete MacKanin. In were new hitting coach Steve Henderson, bullpen coach Rod Nichols, assistant hitting coach Wally Joyner, and new third base coach Ryne Sandberg. Rich Dubee was retained as pitching coach. Juan Samuel was also retained, but switched from coaching third base to coaching first base. Mick Billmeyer, also retained, went from bullpen coach to catching coach. The Phillies will have no bench coach this year, but if Charlie Manuel were ever ejected from a game, Sandberg would be the guy that takes over for Manuel. The Phillies offseason positions they needed to address were the bullpen, third base, and the outfield. Did they solidify their needs this offseason?

Here are the additions and subtractions the Phillies made this offseason:

Additions: Michael Young, Ben Revere, Delmon Young, John Laanan, Mike Adams, Chad Durbin

Subtractions: Juan Pierre, Placido Polanco, Ty Wigginton, Nate Schierholtz, Brian Schneider, Jose Contreras, Vance Worley, Josh Lindblom

The Phillies traded Lindblom and a prospect to the Texas Rangers to obtain Michael Young. They also traded Worley and once highly touted prospect Trevor May to the Minnesota Twins to acquire Revere. Michael Young will be the new starting third baseman as he will replace Polanco. Revere will fill the void that was in centerfield. I have compared Revere to Michael Bourn and a younger Juan Pierre. Michael Young has always been a tremendous hitter who puts the ball in play. The Phillies need hitters like that in order to generate offense. Last year may have been an off year for Michael Young, but we’ll find out if last year was a fluke or a bad sign of things to come. Delmon Young has filled the void in right field and will be the starter. The thing that’s being talked about a lot is the weight clause he has in his contract. He gets incentives for meeting an ideal weight number. The Phillies had to sign Laanan because they traded away Worley and needed another starting pitcher. Adams brings the Phillies a veteran presence and a guy that can pitch the eighth inning at ease. Durbin is another veteran body that can pitch the sixth or seventh inning to form a solid back end of the bullpen.

Pierre and Polanco both ended up on the Miami Marlins. Wigginton signed with the St. Louis Cardinals. Schierholtz joined the Cubs and Schneider retired.

The intriguing part about spring training is the position battles. The position battles for the Phillies will be in left field, fifth starter, and three players for the bullpen. Who will start in left field? Will it be Darrin Ruf, John Mayberry Jr., or Domonic Brown? Whoever loses the battle in left field could be the starter in right field because Delmon Young is still recovering from microfracture surgery in his knee, and will miss the beginning of the season. Who will be the fifth starter? Will it be John Laanan, Rodrigo Lopez, or Aaron Cook? Who will round up the bullpen besides Jonathan Papelbon, Adams, Durbin, and Antonio Bastardo? Will it be Jeremy Horst, Justin De Fratus, Raul Valdes, Michael Stutes, B.J. Rosenberg, or Jake Diekman?

One final question I have is how the Phillies will handle the first month of the season without starting catcher Carlos Ruiz? Ruiz has been suspended for 25 games for using adderall, which is a banned substance in the MLB unless given approval by MLB officials. Right now Erik Kratz is penciled in as the starting catcher, but who will be his backup for the first 25 games of the season? Will it be Sebastian Valle or Humberto Quintero?

Stick around until March 31 when I reCAP the Phillies Spring Training season.

reCAP: Philadelphia 76ers vs. Milwaukee Bucks

2/14/13

Huzzuh! The 76ers are finally at the All-Star break. That last sentence will describe to you how exasperated I feel about the 76ers season so far. This game against the Bucks made you want to feel like the season is almost over. This was a critical game for the 76ers to win against the Bucks with their playoff hopes on the line. The last game the 76ers had against the Clippers, they were in blowout city. Would the 76ers mentally check out of this game against the Bucks or would they play hard and put all of their effort on the line? The Bucks were missing their best defender in Larry Sanders due to a back injury. Could the 76ers take advantage of that injury and attack the basket more than they’ve attacked all season?

The first half started out strong for the 76ers. They were doing everything that I have been preaching for them to do all year. They were attacking the basket and getting to the free throw line. The 76ers also played solid defense on the Bucks star players Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis. Having any team shoot 35% in a half is a recipe for success. The 76ers shot 56% so you would think that’s a good start to this game right? I was surprised that the 76ers got 10 trips to the free throw line in the half. That’s a rare time you see that happen with this team. The one issue that made this a close game was because the Bucks had nine offensive rebounds compared to the 76ers’ two. Those offensive rebounds were critical because that’s how the Bucks were in this game along with the turnovers the 76ers committed. The seven turnovers were bad because most of them were live-ball turnovers, which contribute to getting easy fast break points by the other team. The 76ers largest lead in this game was 13 points, but they led at halftime 50-43. Nick Young led the 76ers with 14 first half points. 12 of those 14 points were scored in the first quarter. Jennings led the Bucks with nine points.

For anyone who follows the 76ers like I do, did you expect the 76ers to implode and blow this lead? I was thinking they would, but the question wasn’t how they would implode the lead, but when? The 76ers hot shooting in the first half disappeared. The fourth quarter was when the wheels really started to fall off. The two superstars for the Bucks took over in the second half. Great players know how to rally their team when down by any deficit. Jennings started the comeback in the third quarter and Ellis finished the comeback in the fourth. The 76ers were close to getting this game into overtime, but they failed to do so. The Bucks won 94-92, but Royal Ivey made a mistake for the 76ers and didn’t call a timeout when he recovered the jump ball that they forced with five seconds left to go in the game. Instead, Ivey threw an errant pass and it got intercepted. I honestly don’t know why Ivey was playing at the end of the game, but he’s not a guy you would put out there for the last shot of a game. Evan Turner led the 76ers with 20 points. Spencer Hawes finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. Jrue Holiday had a double-double. He collected 16 points and 12 assists. For the Bucks, Ellis finished with 27 points. Jennings had 21 points and four steals. Samuel Dalembert collected a double-double. He scored 17 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Mike Dunleavy Jr. contributed 11 points coming off the bench. Luc Mbah a Moute ended with 10 points and eight rebounds.

Overall, I felt the 76ers played a solid game for three quarters. The Bucks simply stepped up when the game mattered most. The 76ers had 24 free throws in a game. That’s a lot to ask for by this team who barely goes to the free throw line. Now the 76ers can go relax and enjoy the All-Star break except for Holiday. He will partake in NBA All-Star Weekend as he will compete in the Skills Challenge event. This event tests point guards’ abilities to pass the ball, weave around defenders, and shoot the ball. Also Holiday is a reserve in the All-Star game.

When the 76ers come back after the All-Star break, is it worth talking playoffs with them? Sound off, enjoy All-Star weekend, and stay tuned on February 20 when the 76ers travel to Minnesota to take on the Timberwolves.

reCAP: Los Angeles Clippers vs. Philadelphia 76ers

2/12/13

The circus was in town and it featured an act called Lob City. Lob city is what the Clippers are nicknamed for their highlight reel alley oops and spectacular dunks. The 76ers were coming off in what they called a “workman-like” win against the Charlotte Bobcats. It was an ugly win, but could that mean that this game was set up to be a disastrous game? The Clippers are one of the best teams in the Western Conference and are, for the most part, fully healthy. Blake Griffin and Chris Paul are the face of the franchise right now and they love putting on a show. They love to play fast and are an athletic bunch. Caron Butler and Chauncey Billups both sat out for the Clippers due to back injuries. Matt Barnes and former 76er Willie Green took their places in the starting lineup.

Let’s just say that this game in general was pathetic to watch. Turnovers were a factor in the first half, especially for the 76ers who committed nine turnovers. Most of their turnovers were the dreaded live-ball turnovers. That caused the Clippers to have 11 fast break points. The Clippers easily attacked the basket, and it worked because they got to the free throw line 15 times. That’s the amount of free throws the 76ers get on an average per game. The Clippers were also giving the 76ers fits because the Clippers played a wide defensive trap. Whenever the ball was in the corner of the court, two players would trap that 76ers player and make it difficult to pass the ball to a 76er player who was standing around doing nothing to help his team. The Clippers led 56-33 at halftime. Paul led the Clippers with 12 points at halftime while Nick Young led the 76ers with nine points.

The Clippers made the second half look like I was playing a game of NBA Jam. They showed why they are called Lob City. Blake Griffin did an incredible posterizing dunk on Spencer Hawes that made ESPN’s top ten plays of the night. Also, DeAndre Jordan had a dunk that was on ESPN’s top ten plays of the night with a putback dunk. He ran from halfcourt and simply dunked the ball on a missed shot. It seemed like the 76ers were mentally checked out once the Clippers were displaying their lob city act. After Griffin posterized Hawes, you could see Evan Turner on the bench hiding a smirk. Either he was impressed with Griffin’s dunk or he was disrespecting Hawes. The 76ers may have had a nice fourth quarter, but all of the starters for the Clippers were on the bench except for Green. I call that fourth quarter a mirage. The Clippers won by a final score of 107-90. Paul had a double-double. He scored 21 points and dished 11 assists. Griffin finished with 20 points and nine rebounds. Jamal Crawford collected 20 points off the bench. Matt Barnes ended with 11 points. Eric Bledsoe had 10 points in the game. For the 76ers, Nick Young finished with 29 points. Turner, Jrue Holiday, and Jeremy Pargo all scored 10 points in the game. Holiday also collected nine assists.

Overall, the 76ers are having trouble scoring points without Thaddeus Young in the lineup due to his injury. They can’t seem to find any offensive game without jacking up a hundred jump shots in a game, especially those “long two point shots.” The bright spots for the 76ers were Nick Young, Arnett Moultrie, and Pargo. Young played like his alter ego Swaggy P and put on a scoring display in the second half. Moultrie is starting to prove why he should be a part of Doug Collins’ bench rotation. He comes into the game and gets rebounds and scores easy baskets. Pargo, a guy who signed a 10 day contract late this past week, is showing the 76ers that he’s capable of being a backup point guard. The Clippers have a deep team. Most of their bench players use to be starters in guys like Grant Hill, Lamar Odom, and Crawford. Bledsoe, the backup point guard for the Clippers, has the potential to become a starter for any team.

How do the 76ers turn the page after this horrific display of basketball? Sound off and stay tuned on Wednesday when the 76ers fly to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks. This will be their last game before the all-star break.  

reCAP: Indiana Pacers vs. Philadelphia 76ers

2/7/13

The three words that can sum up this game are sloppy, physical, and ugly. The Pacers were playing their third game in three nights. It is very rare that an 82 game NBA schedule has any team play three games in three nights. This situation occurred because the Pacers were snowed out of a game a few months ago when they were suppose to face the Chicago Bulls. I expected the Pacers to not display their best effort on the court. The Pacers preach defense as they allow the second fewest points in the NBA. They also have the same offensive output as the 76ers. Both teams have difficulties scoring. The 76ers were coming off an ugly, but bittersweet win against the Orlando Magic as they lost Thaddeus Young for the next three weeks. The 76ers also announced last night that Jason Richardson will be shut down for the rest of the season as he will undergo surgery on his left knee. He has had left knee synovitis for the past few weeks.

The first half was really dreadful to watch. Nobody could shoot. Nobody wanted to score. The 76ers looked like they outplayed the Pacers in this half, but their shots were not falling. They missed a lot of wide open shots. They also forced a few shots that looked like undisciplined basketball. They were attacking the basket and rebounding the ball better than the Pacers. It didn’t help that the refs were swallowing their whistles for the entire half and let the players play. There were seven free throws combined by both teams. That is something you don’t see too much in a half. The Pacers led 37-34 at halftime. That’s a score you see in the middle of the second quarter, not at halftime. The 76ers bench played a vital part because they scored 21 of the team’s 34 points. Lavoy Allen led the 76ers with eight points at the half while Roy Hibbert led the Pacers with 10 points.

The second half was terrible to watch, but better than the first half. The scoring picked up for one side, which is what decided this game. The 76ers were terrible with their ball movement on offense. They seemed stationary and let one player run the offense by himself. Could it be that the 76ers showed their soft side and let the Pacers bully them in the physical game? I think so, especially with Hibbert and Tyler Hansbrough controlling the paint. Those two players are too much for the 76ers to handle. The 76ers still continued to miss most of their shots while the Pacers were starting to make their shots. It also helped that the Pacers went to the free throw line 21 times in the second half compared to the four free throws they shot in the previous half. The Pacers won this game easily by a final score of 88-69. The 69 points the 76ers scored were the fewest they have scored in a game this year. Holiday finished with 19 points, six rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Allen and rookie forward Arnett Moultrie both had 12 points in the game. Allen also collected six rebounds. For the Pacers, Hibbert collected a double-double. He scored 18 points and collected 14 rebounds and blocked five shots. Paul George, David West, and George Hill all finished with 15 points.

Overall, the 76ers look like they are turning back the basketball clock to how the game was played 50 years ago. They scored 78 points in a win against the Magic and 69 last night. That’s not winning basketball. As frustrating as it seems that the 76ers offense is stagnant, you have to applaud how physical they played for the first three quarters of the game. They kept fighting with the Pacers, but unfortunately the Pacers wore out the 76ers with their physicality. I have to give a shoutout to Arnett Moultrie. This guy was not playing at all for the 76ers, had to be sent down to the D-League to get him some playing time, and now is having a role with the 76ers with the injury of Thaddeus Young. I feel that the 76ers were taking a game off and didn’t care about this game.

Can the 76ers turn the page and play better against a woeful Charlotte Bobcats team? Sound off and stay tuned until next time...