At The ReclinerGM Sports Blog you get basketball, baseball and football insights, predictions, wild speculation and idle conjecture from two guys who know less than you.
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Sixers vs. Lakers: Here Is All I Am Asking for Tonight
Here is what I hope will happen when I am at the game tonight...
The Sixers play their first complete game of the season and the Lakers playing a good game as well. That's all I am asking for. I am not even asking for a win tonight - that is probably asking to much. I simply want our team to put together 48 minutes of good, solid, hard fought basketball. Minimal turnovers. A decent field goal percentage, 3pt percentage and free throw percentage. Solid defense. Solid overall offense. And good coaching decisions and rotations. That's it. Is that too much to ask?
Will that be enough to beat the Lakers? I don't know. But the only way we can realistically determine the ceiling for this basketball team as currently assembled is actually watch them put together 4 quarters of basketball playing to the best of their ability against an elite team. If they do that and still get trounced, we know changes are mandatory because they aren't good enough. If they do that and win, we know this team can be better than what we've seen so far. If they do that and only lose by a little bit, we know they are good and only need tweaks to either the roster and style of play. Is that fair?
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We got a win, happy day(remember we play the Lakers tomorrow night). Enjoy it while it lasts.
This game was pretty much like the previous game. The Sixers built up a 16 point lead in the second quarter only to go into halftime up 3. The second half was ugly but winning ugly is exactly what I said this team needed to do until they start clicking on a consistent basis.
Sixers vs. Chicago Game Notes
Speights has taken Dalembert's spot on the floor in critical moments. 11 points, 8 boards, 5-9 shooting and 0 turnovers in 26 BIG minutes. Next step, starting line up? Good coaching - for once.
Why do you not take out Andre Miller on that last play and put in Kareem Rush for a much better kick out option. Another in-game coaching miscue. Bad coaching.
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Sixers Rematch With Chicago - DO IT RIGHT THIS TIME!
Let's just hope this doesn't happen again!
I really don't want to get so much enjoyment at the expense of the Sixers. I still can't stop laughing at that. I'm sorry it was nasty. Looked like Miller broke his ankle literally.
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With the Phillies giving me absolutely nothing to write about (Mike Koplove? C'mon!), I figured I'd get some discussion going about our future prospects. The World Championship squad was built primarily from players that came up through our system and the Phillies have no reason to change that strategy now.
The farm system that Pat Gillick and co. inherited was one of the worst in baseball. All of the impact players were already up in the big show and the decent prospects left behind were few and far between. Since then, they have made a concerted effort to hang on to their top prospects and invest more money in the draft. They have only traded away 2 top prospects in Gillick's tenure (Gio Gonzalez and Adrian Cardenas) and one of them, Gonzalez, was acquired by Gillick in the Jim Thome trade. Last year, they had a huge draft, with several high round picks, and also did something very out of character, giving large bonuses to some lower round draft picks to convince them not to go to college.
At this point, the Phillies farm system is middle of the pack, they have a bunch of decent prospects (think Shane Victorino), but no high end, can't miss guys (think Chase Utley). However, it is far better than a couple years ago, and many of their good prospects still have room to develop into that "can't miss" type of prospect. Below you will find my top-10 prospects in the Phillies system. I have combined together their stats from all levels this year, as well as Fall or Winter ball, if they participated. Their level is where they ended 2008, not necessarily where they will start 2009. Feel free to chime in with who you think should be higher, or who I've left out all together.
1. Carlos Carrasco, RHP
Age: 21, AAA, 6'3'' 215 lbs
Estimated Phillies Debut: Mid-2009 or 2010
Even though he is only 21, Carrasco has been atop the Phillies prospect board for a couple years now. Because of this, I feel he is getting a reputation that he doesn't quite deserve. He's not a #1 caliber starter, and he's not ready for the major leagues. That being said, he is still the top pitching prospect in the organization and a potential #2. Carrasco has a 90-91mph fastball, but the pitch that makes him effective is his change-up. He was average in AA-Reading, but was dominant once promoted to AAA-Lehigh, where he went 2-2 with a 1.76 ERA, 46 K's and 36.2 IP in 6 starts. If he can keep that up next year, I might change my opinion about whether or not he can be a #1. I do believe that the Phillies should absolutely start him in the minors next year, as I think bringing him up too early might have a "Gavin Floyd effect."
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Why the Phils Didn’t Offer Arbitration to Burrell or Moyer
I was as surprised as anyone that the Phillies declined to offer arbitration to Pat Burrell and Jamie Moyer. If they had, and the players had signed with another team, the Phillies would have received 2 high draft picks, as they did with Aaron Rowand last year. I’m of the opinion that the Phillies should read more..
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MLB.com is reporting that Phillies are interested in bringing on Mark Loretta as a utility infielder to help share the load if Chase Utley or Pedro Feliz take longer than expected to recover from surgery. YAWN…
Loretta, 37, hit .280 with 38 RBI in a limited role for the Astros last year. He shows good plate read more..
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Jay Wright and Villanova: The Start of Something Big
Villanova is off to a 6-0 start to their season. They are ranked 20th in the country. They are one of six teams, along with UNC, UCLA, West Virginia, Louisville and Memphis, to make the Sweet Sixteen in 3 of the last 4 years. Things are good on the Main Line, but there is a good chance they will get a lot better. In fact, probably better than people in the area realize.
The team Jay Wright has right now, combined with the players he has committed to him for 2009 and 2010, has more talent than any other team in the Big East, and arguably any other team in the nation aside from North Carolina and Duke. Better than big east powerhouses UConn, Louisville, Georgetown and Syracuse, better than national powerhouses Kansas, UCLA and Michigan St. and right on par with recent Final Four participants Florida, Texas and Memphis.
Of course, I can't just come out and say this an expect people to take it seriously. So, let's look at the team Jay Wright has assembled, and the players he has coming in and compare them to the rest of the Big East and the nation.
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No hardcore analysis of the game from me tonight because I only got to watch a small portion of it. I listened to about half of the first and third quarter on the radio. And watched the entire fourth quarter when I got home from my basketball game. So I will leave the analysis to you guys in the comments.
As far as I can tell looked like a typical Sixers game this season. Got a big lead, lost it, turned the ball over and fell to a team many people thought they should beat. This team is the definition of inconsistent and that inconsistency makes the Sixers a very mediocre team as a whole.
Sixers vs. Bulls: Just Win a Freakin’ Game - Period
The Sixers are not a good team and just need to win a game to stop the bleeding. They are on their 2nd three game losing streak in the first 16 games of the season.
Keys to the game? Just one: play hard and act like you love playing the game of basketball. It's a privilege to be playing basketball and playing in the NBA. If you suck, you suck. Fine I can live with that. But there is no excuse for the inconsistent of effort and sluggish play we've seen so far this season.
I have no reason to believe the Sixers will win this game today and frankly they don't deserve my optimism.
That's all I got.
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This will be the shortest after game post because the Sixers don't deserve my effort right now after what I just watched and the effort they gave.
Sixers vs. Boston Game Notes
Elton Brand played very well with 18 points, 8 boards and no turnovers in 31 minutes.
The Sixers (unofficially) gave up 15 uncontested shots through three quarters. I stopped counting because I was only half paying attention to the game in the 4th quarter.
Starting backcourt had 9 total turnovers (5 for Miller and 4 for Iguodala)
Louis Williams made a couple jumpers and had 6 assists - granted much of this came in garbage time against the second/third unit of Boston.
12-21 from the line, terrible. Iguodala was 1-4 I have no clue what is up with his free throw shooting this season.
Andre Miller can't defend anyone. Rondo cut his ass up all night and I expect Derrick Rose to do the same in the next TWO games.
The Sixers forgot Ray Allen is one of the greatest shooter in NBA history.
Marreese Speight look good again. Then he tried to single handedly start the rivalry back up by blatantly pushing Brian Scalabrine in the back. He got ejected but at least he showed some nastiness in him.
Here is what I hope will happen when I am at the game tonight...
The Sixers play their first complete game of the season and the Lakers playing a good game as well. That's all I am asking for. I am not even asking for a win tonight - that is probably asking to much. I simply want our team to put together 48 minutes of good, solid, hard fought basketball. Minimal turnovers. A decent field goal percentage, 3pt percentage and free throw percentage. Solid defense. Solid overall offense. And good coaching decisions and rotations. That's it. Is that too much to ask?
Will that be enough to beat the Lakers? I don't know. But the only way we can realistically determine the ceiling for this basketball team as currently assembled is actually watch them put together 4 quarters of basketball playing to the best of their ability against an elite team. If they do that and still get trounced, we know changes are mandatory because they aren't good enough. If they do that and win, we know this team can be better than what we've seen so far. If they do that and only lose by a little bit, we know they are good and only need tweaks to either the roster and style of play. Is that fair?
Related posts:
We got a win, happy 
