First PAL Member on ESPN

[jdwanchalk]

I believe I am the first PAL member to be featured on the home page of ESPN. The side story was Iverson, the main attraction was in Section 108, Row 9, Seat 6.

[Jeremy]

Nice dude! although can we agree that Philly is a 2nd tier NBA team........... (runs and hides) . GP is the resident Celtics fan here, so as a Bulls fan I have to have someone here to fu** with that watches basketball.

[jdwanchalk]

I don't think any person can sympathize with me. The other night they lost to OKC after being up by 10+ with a few minutes left. A few days before that they come back with a three by Andre with a few seconds left to lose to a buzzer beater. In that same game the Sixers had a game winning shot attempt by Andre as time expired, but Dalembert goaltended his own team's shot AFTER THE BUZZER WENT OFF. A few days prior to that they came back to tie the Wizards after being down by 14 or so in the 4th. They ended up losing that one too. I can go on and on about similar games. Only good thing that came out of it was that I traded season tickets for $20 lower level seats to every game. No one comes to the games (until tonight).

AI (Iverson, not Iguodala) got burnt by Ty Lawson a few times, and was blocked by him once too. People walking out of the game were like "Oh he did good" but they are idiots if they truly thought that. Samuel Dalembert is so bad, I have hated him for a few years now. In fact for the next game I am having a custom shirt made that says "DALEMBERT IS A BUM" The other shirt I am making will say "ELTON IS A BUM" If they lose another game on Wednesday I might have a shirt made that says "We are trying to break the most consecutive losses record"

The first two shirts are being made for sure, the last one is pending. I bet a bunch of people will ask me where they can buy one too.

Anyway, I went to the playoff games last year (where they should have beat the Magic in 5 or 6 games), and there was probably 25% less people at those games compared to tonight. I mean the Sixers fans in Philly seem nonexistent. Phillies, Eagles, and Flyers tickets are like at the tops of each of their leagues, but the Sixers, hell I can find good seats for $10 on some days. They need to stop getting hurt, stop sucking, and start learning how to play a four quarter game. Eddie Jordan needs to learn how to rotate a lineup much better than he does. When do they fire him anyway?


Well this was way too long of a reply but I had to post my frustrations somewhere.

[Jeremy]

Think on the bright side, at least you don't root for all Chicago teams.

[jdwanchalk]

Think on the bright side, at least you don't root for all Chicago teams.

You just have to know when to get out, I was a huge Jordan/Bulls fan, until he left the Bulls.

I hope you like the White Sox and not the Cubs though.

[pokerprop]

I grew up a Celtics fan. It was one loyalty I had strong to a home team. For NFL I probably was damaged because early childhood memories involve and ass whooping by a Chicago team. Also you guys had a bunch of NBA championships too so really it hasn't been all that bad.

We had some slump years in Massachusetts too for a while, b4 winning a bunch of super bowls a couple World Series and an NBA championship..

So there could be a lot of places worst to be from for sports than Chicago.

[Greg]

I watched the Sixers/Nuggets game last night and had a few thoughts. Now that JD opened this up I'll try to go into full Bill Simmons mode with my take on the situation. (Before that, it's safe to say Celtics vs Lakers finals again).

There are 2 major problems with the 76ers right now: 2 Players collect 40% of the payroll and not one of them would even start on a winning team.

Elton Brand is making $14,858,471 this season (Worse News, he's guaranteed $18,160,354 in 2012-2013). This means that in 2012 you'll have a 35 year old forward who at very, very best averages 8 points/4 rebounds per night. $18 Million for this...

Samuel Dalembert is making $11,360,000 this season and averaging 6 points/game. Good news is his contract is gone after next season making him easier to trade. Still, next season he eats up a ton a salary cap needed to go bidding on the best free agent class of all time.

Allen Iverson to me is a win/win for everyone involved. Why? He gives a little buffer room for Jrue Holiday to mature and only costs you $1m for the season. Tell me who else can provide as much offense as AI for that price right now? Next season, he'll play here for the league minimum and retire as a Sixer.

Since I am not a fan of the team here is my take watching them 2-3 times this season. They have some really good young players (and a franchise player in Andre Iguodala). I'd re-sign Young, Holiday, Speights, Jason Smith and let the rest go. You're going to get a Top 5 draft pick next season. You're not over the salary cap yet. I'd say they end up winning 20 games this year and try desperately to make some trades before the break.

JD, I know you have some feedback

[actyper]

Us Canadian ball fans were in uproar when Leo Rautins kicked Dalembert off our National team in the middle of a tournament. I think we all understand why now. He's a bum but thinks he's hakeem.

I've always been a fan of Brand's game, i think he's just in the wrong system. Put him on a 1/2 court team and he'll bring back his 20/10 game.

[jdwanchalk]

I watched the Sixers/Nuggets game last night and had a few thoughts. Now that JD opened this up I'll try to go into full Bill Simmons mode with my take on the situation. (Before that, it's safe to say Celtics vs Lakers finals again).

There are 2 major problems with the 76ers right now: 2 Players collect 40% of the payroll and not one of them would even start on a winning team.

Elton Brand is making $14,858,471 this season (Worse News, he's guaranteed $18,160,354 in 2012-2013). This means that in 2012 you'll have a 35 year old forward who at very, very best averages 8 points/4 rebounds per night. $18 Million for this...

Samuel Dalembert is making $11,360,000 this season and averaging 6 points/game. Good news is his contract is gone after next season making him easier to trade. Still, next season he eats up a ton a salary cap needed to go bidding on the best free agent class of all time.

Allen Iverson to me is a win/win for everyone involved. Why? He gives a little buffer room for Jrue Holiday to mature and only costs you $1m for the season. Tell me who else can provide as much offense as AI for that price right now? Next season, he'll play here for the league minimum and retire as a Sixer.

Since I am not a fan of the team here is my take watching them 2-3 times this season. They have some really good young players (and a franchise player in Andre Iguodala). I'd re-sign Young, Holiday, Speights, Jason Smith and let the rest go. You're going to get a Top 5 draft pick next season. You're not over the salary cap yet. I'd say they end up winning 20 games this year and try desperately to make some trades before the break.

JD, I know you have some feedback

Right, the two players you picked out are so useless it's incredible. Yesterday Elton must have gotten stuck with the ball at least a few times, just didn't get rid of it and couldn't navigate the court. He looked like an overweight clown who had never played basketball before. He has no real shot. He whines about small injuries..."Oh my leg is SORE." As much as I used to dislike Jason Smith, I would rather see him play than Brand. Or Rodney Carney even. Doesn't fit the bill at all for the position but he is still better than Brand.

I haven't liked Dalembert for three years now. I first started to despise him when I went to a game and he was trying alley oops when they were down by four with like a minute left. Needless to say the other player didn't have a clear lane nor did he make a good toss. He can't hold onto a basketball, certainly can't shoot, and is way less productive with rebounds than he should be. Sure, some nights he does OK, but he is the definition of inconsistent.

The team that I would like to see next year would be as follows...

Jrue Holiday
Lou Williams
Allen Iverson
Thaddeus Young
Andre Iguodala
Jason Smith
Rodney Carney
Willie Green
Marreese Speights


Now there would need to be another big man of some sort in there for sure. Even letting Primoz Brezec play instead of Dalembert wouldn't bother me right now.



As ridiculous as it sounds, if they all start playing well (and injuries stop) they could still make the playoffs. I am pretty sure a record under .500 will get them there.

[jdwanchalk]

Us Canadian ball fans were in uproar when Leo Rautins kicked Dalembert off our National team in the middle of a tournament. I think we all understand why now. He's a bum but thinks he's hakeem.

I've always been a fan of Brand's game, i think he's just in the wrong system. Put him on a 1/2 court team and he'll bring back his 20/10 game.

I think you mean put him on a 1998 or 1999 team.