Philadelphia 76ers at New York Knicks 11/4/12 Afterthoughts

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The 76ers biggest move of the offseason is not helping two games into the season and it won’t be for at least a third either.

Star Center Andrew Bynum has not played a game yet for Philadelphia and Shooting Guard Jason Richardson left today’s game in the first quarter with a left-ankle sprain. X-Rays were negative, but he’ll be out for tomorrow’s game against New York.

All things considered, Philadelphia still put on a pretty horrid performance in all aspects of the game, losing to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden 100-84 in the first game of a home-and-home.

Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks with 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting and New York made 11 3-pointers a game after hitting 16. They kept Philadelphia at arm’s length the entire game before pulling away in the 4^th quarter.

Jrue Holiday seemed to be the Sixers lone source of offense, also scoring 27 points, but he turned the ball over six times; the four Sixers who scored in double digits turned the ball over a combined 15 times for Philly. Evan Turner may have finished with a double-double, 11 points and 11 rebounds, but his play today was not worthy of that accomplishment. He shot 2-of-9 from the floor. Nick Young shot 2-of-10, posting a +/- of -29. Who was the next worse? Undrafted rookie Maalik Wayns, who was 0-of-5 from the field with a -13.

It was a sloppy game on all accounts and it was clear this team was missing Richardson. Spencer Hawes, who had the team’s best performance in the opener against Denver, only played 15 minutes as he got into foul trouble early. The team was not outmatched, but they were clearly outplayed today.  

It’s only the second game of the season and this Sixers team is still good without Bynum and Richardson, they just need to make better decisions passing and shooting the ball. They took too many ill-advised shots today, shooting contested jumpers early in the shot clock, and they got too aggressive passing the ball leading to careless turnovers. Their defense was nothing to write home about either, giving up too many open looks from the perimeter against a team that proved on Friday that their perimeter game is a strength.

Tomorrow is a new day and the Sixers head home to face New York again. It’s tough for any team to win both games of a home-and-home, and the Sixers hope to keep that trend going. They need a serviceable stopgap while Richardson is out the next week or so, and so far Nick Young hasn’t shown he can be that guy. He’s looked horrible these first two games, shooting the ball whenever he can get his hands on it, and Maalik Wayns is still unproven, although he did not look good today either. Holiday needs to cut down on the turnovers and the team as a whole needs to play smarter.

I’m not going to judge their entire season on this afternoon’s performance, but even without Bynum and Richardson, this isn’t the type of performance fans should expect. They’re better than this, but they have to prove it. If they come back with a vengeance tomorrow, it’ll be a positive sign. If not? Well, there’s still a lot of basketball to play.

Eagles at a crossroads after unnecessary QB "controversy"

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Don’t be fooled, Eagles fans.

Andy Reid and Michael Vick made the possibility of a quarterback change seem very possible after being dominated by the 7-0 Atlanta Falcons last Sunday. Nick Foles may be an unproven rookie with nothing but an impressive preseason on his NFL résumé, but after the way Vick’s played the first half of the season, it’s tough to do much worse.

Whether you felt excitement or disappointment in the announcement, it was tough to feel anything but led on yesterday when Coach Reid announced that Vick “was, is and will continue to be [the Eagles] quarterback.”

Granted, this team is still in position to make a playoff run, but the Eagles haven’t won in over a month. They’ve lost three straight games and looked anything but dominant in any of their three wins. Vick leads the league in turnovers with eight interceptions and nine fumbles.

Reid tried to shake things up, firing defensive coordinator Juan Castillo and replacing him with Todd Bowles, but that decision seemingly cost them the game against Atlanta, as the Falcons scored on six of their first seven possessions. He made Castillo the scapegoat when he was anything but the problem. Reid’s been head coach of the Eagles since 1999, and before last week, he was 13-0 coming off bye weeks.

This loss seemed to be a tipping point, but it’s more of the same from the Eagles we’ve come to know the past three years. Sure, people may call it foolish to replace Vick with a rookie during a primetime game against Drew Brees and the Saints, but why bring up the topic? Why now? Do fans want Foles to come in? Probably not. But the point is, this isn’t a topic you bring up right now unless you insist on making a change.

Even though he’s the longest tenured coach in the NFL, this is Andy Reid’ most crucial year; he’s been on the hot seat for years in the eyes of fans, but now he’s actually at risk of losing his job. His play-calling’s been mediocre at best, he’s stayed with his pass-first mentality even though he has a top-3 running back in the league in LeSean McCoy and he put the blame of the Eagles struggles on the one aspect of the game the team was having some success in: the defense.

Now, Vick says that he’s been holding back and he “needs to get [his] swag back.” It’s hard to be optimistic right now because of the way the team’s performed recently, but this means one of two things. It’s either a turning point of a season that is at a crossroads in Week 9, or even more of a reason to make a change, whether it be at Quarterback, Head Coach, or both.

Eagles fans came into this season excited for a potential Super Bowl run with a team filled with talent that didn’t have enough time to gel the season before, but as the months go by, it’s quickly becoming the same old disappointment. Justin Babin took to Twitter yesterday to voice his displeasure with Eagles fans who have given up. Most of us haven’t given up, but it’s hard to watch this team week in and week out stay stagnant.

If Vick really does show off his old self this week, it’ll be a saving grace for Andy, but there shouldn’t have been a controversy this week. Not when Foles is the potential replacement. Not when they’re about to face New Orleans in the Superdome on Primetime Television. Not when Vick’s coming off his best statistical game in the last month.

If they were going to replace Vick, it should’ve been earlier in the season to light a fire under him. But now it seems the fire’s been lit. In week 9. After starting 3-4. You’d think getting blown out by the Cardinals would do it, or being a liability to the offense the first six weeks.

But to be fair, the blame isn’t all on him. Most of it’s on the man in charge. Not for keeping Vick in, but for being stubborn about the way he runs the offense and making countless decisions this season that have cost them opportunities to win games. I started watching football the year Andy Reid became head coach. I defended a lot of his decisions throughout the years, but I can’t anymore.

I hope that this will be the start of a five or six game win streak, but with the way the team’s played combined with the off-field storylines building, it’s hard to be optimistic.