Last night's
robbery loss eliminated the Sixers from contention for the #6 seed, and sealed their fate. They will face the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the playoffs. They cannot finish the regular season above .500. They won't go into the playoffs on the roll we'd hoped for.
These are all the negatives to take away from the game. The best we can hope for is a meaningless win over a lowly Bobcats team. That's the glass half-empty outlook right now for Sixers fans, and while sometimes the Philly faithful can be morose in their assessment of their teams, it's called for under the circumstances.
I'm starting to think this game is going to take on a different meaning altogether for the players on the court. After the jump, we'll dive into it.
When the Sixers had an 18-30 record on February 4th every writer, player, coach, fan etc. wrote this team off. You really couldn't blame any of them, the Sixers looked like a lost franchise. From that point on, they've won a remarkable 22 out of 33 games, and locked down a playoff berth. No small accomplishment, all things considered.
They started on their winning ways by beating the teams they were supposed to beat. No one took notice. It was a minor hot streak against bad teams. Then they beat a couple of playoff teams. Still, no one took notice. The explanations ranged from injuries (Dallas) to trades (@ Phoenix) to you name it. Everyone still had excuses. Then they started winning games no one expected them to win in a million years (@ Detroit, vs. San Antonio). Now people started to take notice.
Suddenly NBA writers were saying how much they loved the Sixers young talent and running style. Now the Sixers were dubbed "the team no one wants to face in the first round." Did they buy into their own hype? Tough to say for sure, but if I had to bet, I think this played at least a minor role in the losses to Indiana and Washington. Did other teams realize they have to bring their A game if they wanted to beat Philly? Again, this is certainly a possibility.
One thing is for sure, though. Climbing out of that giant hole they dug for themselves galvanized this team and brought them closer together. The cohesion showed on the court night after night. You didn't see anyone ever yelling at another teammate. All you saw was 5 guys on the floor pulling for each other. They were a group of players united to prove everyone else wrong. That gave them their edge. The lack of respect fueled them. They knew that every time they took the floor they could and would impose their will on the other team, no matter who that other team was.
For some reason they lost that for two games and three quarters. Last night, against the Cavs, that fire was back. Yes, the outcome was disturbing, horrifying, disgusting, disgraceful and deflating for us, the fans, but it's going to be something altogether different for this team. The very thing that gave them that edge, the thing that made them develop their foxhole mentality was given back to them. Going into the playoffs every player on that team knows he was cheated. They know no one is giving them a chance now. That enormous chip is right back on their shoulder where it needs to be.
I wouldn't want to be the Bobcats tomorrow night, and I definitely wouldn't want to be the Detroit Pistons right now because they're going to be facing a focused, determined team who now has something to prove again. Playing for seeding isn't about pride. It isn't about us against them. Playing for survival is. Playing for respect is. Playing for EACH OTHER is. That's what we can expect to see from the Sixers from here on out.
i was thinking that same thing last night actually after a few minutes of cussing i turned to my dad and said this is the best thing that can happen. It was so obivous that they lost the chip on their shoulder the past couple games and your exactly right this is just the thing to get it back. Iguodala specifically though i really think he took it as disrespect from listening to him aafter the game. Can't wait for the playoffs when we shock the world.
We need Iguodala to show up an lead this team when the playoffs start. I think he's up to it. I think our ace in the hole is Sammy. He was awesome in his one playoff appearance, against the Pistons, and he's really been great in just about every big game we've had this year.
Sammy probably got that huge contract based on that series alone (courtesy of Billy King and his high standards). He dominated the boards against Ben Wallace and I expect him to do the same against a lesser Pistons Front-court without Big Ben. Rasheed isn't the banger, neither his Mcdyess. Theo Ratliff is slow and won't be able to keep up with Sam. The only guy I'm worried about is Jason Maxiell who is a beast.
Just like all of commentators on NBA TV and ESPN, I like the Pistons match-up the more I think about it. We played well against them all year and Dwight Howard would have just dominated Sam every possesion had we pulled the 6th spot. Then double-teams would lead to open threes by great shooters (Hedo and Rashard).
We are pretty evenly matched with Detroit, except we have the front-court advantage on the boards and they have a SG edge. There's a chance this goes 7 games.
I hope this happens; there are two ways to respond to a loss like that. I hope they pick the one you described. It'll make for a fun series.
I don't think this is the type of team that's going to crumble from something like this. It's going to light a fire under them, and I can only hope that fire stays lit right through Detroit.
There's nothing I would enjoy more than seeing the Sixers send Tayshaun and Wallace home for the Summer. I hate those guys.
Hopefully they can harness a bit of my anger as well. It's 19 hours or so since that calamity went down and I'm still as pissed as I was last night.
I've been wondering when a national media outlet is going to say something about the game being fixed, or at least hint at it. Nothing yet. All I've heard is "There was contact, you have to call the foul." Nothing about "LeBron took 4 steps you have to call the travel," or "Ilgauskus pushed Dalembert into him, you have to call the foul on Ilgauskus." It's the end of the game you let the players decide it. You don't call the travel on LeBron, you don't call the push on Ilgauskus and you don't call the incidental contact on Dalembert. The game ends. Period.
Man, I am still pissed about this. I wish they were playing tonight.
Yea it really is just a continuing disrespect of this team. I kept an eye out all day, only to hear that there was "controversy" at the end of them game. Well thanks for that. I hope the Sixers take this real serious and they go for their revenge.