Depressed Fan

If the sixers beat the lakers it will be because they don't use their big size advantage and focus more on Kobe in his home town than getting Bynum the ball. That's a game the lakers should win if they run the offense right.

I should know better than to get all crazy about Lavoy Allen but I can't help myself. I'm impressed. I would like to see Nik starting instead of Battie for the rest of the time that Spencer is out. I realize Battie gives you pretty good minutes and this might costs us some games, but with Hawes's contract expiring, we need to take a long hard look at Nik and really get a feel for what we lose if we let Hawes walk. Lavoy is a better big next to Thad as well. Doug has said that he needed a defender that will go hard after every rebound. Ding dong Speights never got the message but Lavoy seems like that guy. I keep watching and comparing him to other bigs that come off the bench and i think he stacks up pretty well already. Granted, he probably will never average more than 22 minutes and 8 points, but my gut tells me that his production will be consistent and for your 9th man you can't really ask for more.

Lavoy is going to help us win a bunch more games. For years we would get beat up by opposing bigs coming in off the bench because we never had a body to throw out there and keep these guys from abusing Thad. Craig Smith comes to mind for some reason. Guys like that used to kill us. Now it seems like we have an antidote for that.

6-5. Lose 2 of 1st 3 (take your pick), plus 3 of following 8 (take your pick). Slight letdown after big week of accomplishment vs. King Kong & Jordan's heir. 22-11, nice midyear perch.

Brian, I am going to email a short article.

Trivia question, see if you can answer it without it up: what is the highest single-game point total for any Sixer this year?

Would that be a Mr. Jodie Meeks???

This is a really tough stretch of games. But the Sixers were due this kind of a stretch and they've got to keep their focus. I am a little bit worried that Hawes and Vucevic haven't done their comebacks yet, because the team cannot afford rust from their bigs even in a single game but i think they will figure out a way to win a good portion of these games. Here's how i see it:

- vs. Miami - L, bad matchup and i can't see them beating the Bulls and Heat back-to-back with Miami hurting as an added problem.
- @ Atlanta - W, tough choice but i feel like the Hawks are a good matchup for the Sixers and they will figure out a way to win. Not ready for a 2 game losing streak yet.
- vs. Lakers - W, Not a fan of these old Lakers. Betting that the Lakers are actually a bad team on the road (which may not be true still time to get back to the mean). Also Hawes is always huge against the Lakers for some reason.
- vs. Spurs - W, again i think the Sixers matchup well with the Spurs.
- vs. Clippers - L, not that i think the Clippers are necessarily better than some of the previous teams, but last game in the homestand, a lot of Sixer-killers (Paul, Billups, Butler). Griffin and Jordan will be contained and won't have much of an impact but i smell a loss.
- @ Clevelend - W, Clevelend is one of the better rested teams this season (especially in the East) which is why they have performed reasonably well. I don't think they can keep this up for a long time even though i don't think they are that bad either.
- @ Charlotte - W, pushing the Wizards for worst in the league. When you are on the road you gotta win this games.
- @ Orlando - L, assuming Howard is still there and in the midst of enormous trade talk i think the Sixers get too cocky and drop this one. Hopefully i am wrong.
- vs. Dallas - W, A rare home game in the midst of a lot of roadies. An expected sellout vs a very unpredictable team. I say they bounce back from the Magic game.
- @ Minnesota - L, A decent team these days, the Wolves use their home court to beat the allmighty Sixers. Adelman outcoaches Collins and Collins gets even more fired up to prove he should be coach of the year.
- @ Memphis - W, Speights drops a 20/10 on the Sixers but with Marc Gasol thinking about the allstar game, Z-Bo watching from the sideline and T.Allen learning from Iguodala the Sixers enter the allstar break with a win.

All in all i have the Sixers at 7-4, 3-2 at home and a solid 4-2 on the road. I'd say this is a fairly optimistic prediction, but i think they can do it. The Miami and Atlanta back2back might go the other way round but i doubt they go out of it with 2 wins OR 2 losses. Also they might beat the Magic, but they will lose one of those consecutive road games nonetheless.

I think we have a better chance of beating the Heat at home than we do beating the Hawks in Atlanta off a back-to-back

"Kenyon Martin is expected to decide by this weekend which NBA team he’ll join, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. The Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks have expressed interest in signing the veteran forward."