Other stuff first: Michael Vick. The dude said all the right stuff, kept his life on the straight and narrow, then decided to have an open invite 30th birthday party in the same neighborhood as all his old partners in crime. Someone got shot. Vick wasn’t involved in the shooting, but what the hell? Why was he having a party like that in the first place?
If the Eagles have any sense, they’ll cut him. Who cares about talent. This guy has not and will not learn from his previous mistakes. This was a colossal failure in judgment.
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I’m excited for the Sixers this season because Samuel Dalembert isn’t on the team anymore. It’s funny – he is a defensive stopper and the team is worse for not having him, BUT! he is a headcase. I’m glad he’s gone. I’d rather see the Sixers give up 100 points in the paint every night than to watch him collect a paycheck after every game. So long and good riddance.
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You know what team is hard to root for? The New York Knicks. Unlike their neighbors in the Bronx, the Knicks don’t have a storied history similar to the Lakers or Celtics. They were good in the sixties, and led by Patrick Ewing had some very good seasons but never managed to win a championship.
Worse still, Knicks fans have expectations like Lakers or Celtics fans (completely unwarranted, might I add). So after years of futility, they managed to purge their roster of terrible contracts. However, who wants to play for them? The remaining pieces that the Knicks have left are either castoffs from other teams or aren’t very good players.
The Knicks are one the founding members of the NBA and only one of two teams to be located where they were founded (the other being the Celtics). They have an interesting history, but the reality is that even my lowly Sixers have had a more successful franchise than the Knicks. So that leaves New York: 1587, Philly: 1.
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I’m going to argue the 1983 76ers team was the single greatest lineup of all time. Doctor J, Cheeks, Toney, Malone, Bobby Jones.
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The Sixers now have their man in Evan Turner. They had no second round pick because they traded it for Jodie Meeks. The jury is still out on the guy. He had one monster college season and nothing else.
The Sixers have a mid level exception (MLE) that they can use for a solid role player. My hope is that the losers of the 2010 FA Derby get desperate and try to work some three/four/five way deals to dump some of our other useless players. Willie Green will be an expiring contract so he has some value (as opposed to last season, where he had none). Jason Kapono has his stats and there must be a team out there looking for a shooter. I wouldn’t be sad if Lou Williams went elsewhere. Jason Smith is NBDL level talent.
Much to Lisa’s joy, Kyle Korver is a UFA. He’s not as strong a shooter as Kapono, but could be had for the MLE and could play behind Turner in the SG position.
Here’s a full list of free agents.
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Finally I’d like to clearly state why I dislike Willie Green and Lou Williams. LW first.
LW is a decent basketball player. He can score in chunks. He can be a major catalyst off the bench. I dislike him purely because he has no desire for the game other than a paycheck. That’s it in a nutshell. He doesn’t work out (we know this from his twitter). He doesn’t practice hard, and he doesn’t really do anything other than shoot the ball. It’s not like he’s Kyle Korver where he tries but simply isn’t a good defender; he just doesn’t try.
Willie Green is an interesting and sad case. You see, he used to be exactly what the Sixers needed in a shooting guard. He cut to the rim, got to the line, set up other players, and looked like he had a bright future. They he tore his knee up playing street ball (idiot!) in a contract year (IDIOT!) and after rehabbing, got a long contract from Billy King (he was fired, of course). Now he shoots the ball and doesn’t defend. He’s soft. Given how long ago the injury occurred and how few games he’s missed due to injury since, I’m going to assume (rightly, I think) that it’s a personality thing and not an ability thing. Nuts to him. He got his contract on the premise of how he played before his idiot injury, and he hasn’t played that way since.
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One Comment
I want Kyle Korver back.