The T.O. Venom Continues To Flow From Eagles Land

The following comment from Peter King's Monday Morning Quarter back show that the Birds' front office is getting past the T.O. split worse than some guys get over an ugly divorce:

"Quick T.O. interlude: On a trip to Philadelphia Eagles headquarters recently, I ducked my head into the offensive team meeting room. My tour guide, an Eagles employee, pointed to a chair near the back of the room and said, 'There's where T.O. slept for two years.' "

I wonder if the "employee" in question was Banner and Lurie's flunky, Dave Spadaro.

If this team is going to get back to their winning ways of the last few years, they really need to get past the whole T.O. situation. Comments like the above show me that they haven't totally cut the chord just yet.

Put Out Of Their Misery

If a local team misses the playoffs, but no one is paying attention, did it really happen?

In a completely unexpected development, the Sixers have been eliminated from the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Ok, I’m being sarcastic. I know this team held down the 8th spot in the East for most of the season, but did anyone really expect them to make any noise in the playoffs? Most people with a modicum of basketball knowledge could tell that this roster of players, put together by mastermind G.M. Billy King, was fatally flawed. I’m just surprised they totally fell apart over the last month of the season. I guess these millionaires were in a rush to get to the offseason so they can put spinning “dubs” on their “whips”.

I’m with Stephen A., A.I. clearly deserves better than this. I still don’t understand how the personnel departments during A.I.’s tenure could not identify players to complement his style of play. It has been proven over the years that a team needs two legit superstars or one mega star and two other All Star caliber players to contend for a title. A.I. has never had his complimentary superstar or two All-Star players. It is true that Larry Hughes, Stackhouse, Harpring, Kukoc and even Van Horne played better when they left town, but after he was unable to mesh with Stack, it was apparent that AI could not play with another perimeter player that drives to the hoop to create offense.

A title team could have been built around AI had they added the following pieces:

1. An unselfish low post presence that could rebound and get 15-20 points a night from the blocks (think C-Webb from five years ago);
2. An unselfish 3 that could defend, run the floor and knock down threes (ok, guys like that don’t grow on trees, but Detroit found Tayshaun Prince late in the first round); and
3. A point that is taller than 6’3”, can defend the other team’s two guard, and knock down open jumpers (as my buddy Big Daddy pointed out, I’ve just explained Jalen Rose)

Larry was on the right path by surrounding AI with a bunch of guys whose only concern was defense and rebounding, but we would have won a title with guys described above.

Nonetheless, it is now clear that we’ve squandered A.I.’s prime. It hurts to admit this, but I’m in the minority of people who think AI should be traded for young players and picks. This team needs to hit rock bottom before it can itself out of the NBA’s lower middle class. My plan is to make the team so bad next season that we win the Greg Oden 2007 draft lottery. (If you don’t know who Greg Oden is, do a Google search and you’ll see why Ohio St is projected as a Final Four team next year.) However, Billy King would probably screw that up also.

Right now, I’m fed up with this franchise. Ed Snider is a smart man. He can see that Dalembert was a waste of money and that Korver, as a role playing 3 point specialist, was not worth the money they paid him either. I’m not fully investing myself in this team again until King is dethroned as the GM.

Congrats to the Sixers's front office, you've now joined the Phillies on my boycott list.

Flyers Lay An Egg

Happy Easter Flyers Fans!

Once again, a team from Philly drops a big game when positioned perfectly to make a title run. Hopefully, this loss won't be totally debilitating, but the season has played out with eerie similarities to many of those in the Orange and Black's recent past. Is it me or does anyone else realize how many Flyers' seasons since their return to prominence in the mid-90's seem to follow the same script:

1. a fast start;
2. a long winning streak during the Christmas season road trip against the Western Conference and other non-division teams;
3. the inevitable slump which usually starts right before or continues through the Carnival;
4. an injury to an important player (Lindros, Primeau, JR, Desjardins, now Forsberg);
5. an inability to beat the elite teams in the league; and
5. a goalie controversy heading into the playoffs.

I think we've all seen how this story ends. Unless this team gets the Rangers in the first round or one of the goalies (preferably Nitty) get red hot, the Forsberg line clicks like it did in the first quarter of the season, Hatcher, Rathe and Rico turn back the clock five years, and the Carter line continues to provide a legit second line, I see a first round playoff exit for the Flyers.

In a unrelated topic, I think if Joe Banner and Jeffrey Lurie ran an NHL team, it would look like the Devils. Similar to the Birds, the Devils have no big stars other than one (Brodeur is the Devils' McNabb). They let their stars walk instead of paying big money (Niedermayer similar to Trotter, Vincent, Duce) as they have complete faith that they can plug anyone into their system and succeed. Unfortunately, Lou Lamiorello and his band of obstructionists from the swamps of Jersey have found a way to win three championships since 1995 with their beloved system. In Philly, we're still waiting for ours.....