*** -- PROCESSING Your Philadelphia 76ers -- ***

miss kate fagan:

Winning in AmericanAirlines Arena
Nothing too shocking about what I'm about to say, but nonetheless makes sense to iron out tonight's Game 5 at AmericanAirlines Arena: there will be no problem getting mentally checked into a Game 6 at the Wells Fargo Center or a Game 7 back at AA. But tonight's Game 5? That's a hurdle. Perhaps as difficut, mentally, as Game 4. Perhaps more difficult because there will be no home crowd, there will still be two games in front of the 76ers if they manage to win, and the Miami Heat have officially been forced to face the reality of this series: that they better bring it tonight, because the Sixers have been much closer than pretty much everyone anticipated.

Right now, the Sixers are holding morning shootaround inside AA Arena; the Heat held shootaround just before the Sixers. Tonight's Game 5 tips off at 7 p.m. and, realistically, there's no way to even remotely predict how the Sixers might play tonight. That's been the enjoyable thing about this season's team. They constantly surprise, occasionally disappoint, but usually leave you feeling they did all they could to try to win. We expect the same tonight, although the climb will be the series' most difficult.

Here are a few things to expect:

1.) Evan Turner & Tony Battie getting some love off of the bench. We haven't seen Andres Nocioni since Game 1 of this series, and rightfully so. We've seen some of Marreese Speights, but nothing he's done has been winning basketball. Because of that, Sixers fans, Turner has earned the right to his 18-25 minutes a game tonight. And he's precisely who Sixers fans want to see. He's had a remarkable way of disappearing and reappearing all season, but the hope might be that Sunday's performance finally nudged him over the top. That he can let go of whatever lingering concerns he has and just score the ball and play all out on defense. The Sixers need him to have a Lou-like mentality when he's in the game because the Heat have figured out a way to neutralize Thaddeus Young. Without Young's 15 points a game, the Sixers bench needs that boost from somewhere. And that can be Turner. As for Battie, he's exactly what Doug Collins needs off the bench at the center spot, especially if Collins can rely on the scoring from Lou Williams, Turner, and -- perhaps a little bit tonight -- Young.

2.) Andre Iguodala. OK, well, now I'm stuck because the headline for this is "a few things to expect" and this bullet point isn't so much about what to expect, but about what's necessary. Iguodala has to be mentally present and engaged. 10-10-10 is what the Sixers need from him tonight. 10 points. 10 rebounds. 10 assists. If he has 7 points or fewer, the Sixers will lose.

3.) Look for Collins to manage the Heat's bursts of scoring. It's happened in every game this series. Miami puts together a blistering run to the tune of something like 22-2 or 20-4 or anything in that range. The Sixers were able to weather these runs on Sunday, but only by putting together an improbable 10-0 run to end the game that included back-to-back three pointers. The point? That kind of finish might happen every 50 games for the Sixers. And it's quite unlikely it'll happen again tonight. Because of that, we expect Collins to be meticulous about what lineup he has on the floor. You could sense that in Game 1 and Game 2, he was feeling out which players might give him something (Speights, Nocioni, Turner) and evaluating which guys he could count on. That luxury just doesn't exist anymore. There's no cushion of games left with which Collins can work. He'll manage his lineups, and the flow of the game, as closely as possible. We'll see a lineup with Hawes and Battie -- like we did for the first time during Game 4 -- because Collins knows he can trust Battie. Collins just can't afford to take a flyer tonight. It's going to take some creativity, but we'll argue that no coach is more in tune with what he needs from each lineup.

Tonight's game is the last of the series in which the Sixers will be climbing a mental hill as well as a physical one. If they win tonight, all of the pressure moves onto Miami's shoulders. You think the Sixers will have any problem fighting to the final seconds of a Game 6 at the Wells Fargo Center? No. There will be no motivation and "test of human nature" speeches necessary. That game *if necessary* will be just straight-up competitive fire.

Game 5 first, though. It's going to be interesting

crazypjfan wrote:

The Juggler wrote:

..holiday didn't play his best game but dude makes big shots in clutch situations. i'm telling you guys he's a star in the making.

I agree. This dude has some serious skills. I like Turner as well! As someone mentioned earlier, it is good experience to play the Heat in this series. Things are looking up for the Sixers, that's for sure.

Go get that star player!

did you see holiday's spin move between bosh and wade and then laying it in over lebron? it was a thing of beauty.

good game thus far. defense is stout again. need lou will to start hitting shots...gotta finish on the break...and need to contend the fucking 3. mario chalmers can go f himself......go sixers

so proud of this team...obviously you gotta defend the 3 better and make your foul shots. despite a great 2nd half, i certainly did not want iggy taking that last shot.

oh well. 3 of 4 losses came down to the final minute. could have folded like the knicks but didn't. love the fight.

most enjoyable season, for me, in about a decade. definitely something to build on with all these young bucks...

jamminpearls wrote:

The Juggler wrote:

jamminpearls wrote:

Personal attack??? Seriously that was a joke not even close to a personal attack. And ur reality isn't a place i wanna be as a sports fan. I appreciate a young team taking steps forward while u don't.

jeez. getting upset over saying he'd ruin a wet dream and then dropping the grammar card on you....come on fixer.


i think if all you do is look at the record, and read some box scores, you'd have fixer's opinion. because .500 is the definition of mediocre. duh. but this is the guy who was mad that they were not bad enough to get a top ten pick (as if anything in the nba draft is a sure thing) and then seems super upset that they lost to the miami heat. what else would you expect from someone with those wildly different expectations?

it's all about being realistic, being rational, and being consistent. if you were those three things you're pleased with the growth and progress this team has made. this team performed pretty much how i expected them to all season long. i expected them to win a game or two and keep things competitive against the heat, one of the best teams in the league. so i'm happy. very interested to see what happens next.

go sixers. "YAH!" :roll:

I don't get it either,oh well i could care less any way. Some people have to much hate to see whats really going on right in front of them.

it's all good.

this team reminds me of the phils in the years leading up to '07...eventually the sixers will have all kinds of "new" fans hop on board. and they are more than welcome too.

let's just pray rod thorn and collins have more control over this offseason than stefanski does. package iggy and speights for a big man or something