Here’s one scenario that few people would have considered even a week ago – that the 76ers have to guard against overconfidence when they host Minnesota Wednesday at the Wachovia Center.
After losing, 102-88 on Tuesday at Washington, Minnesota is now 3-16. The Wolves haven’t had the services of former Villanova star Randy Foye all year who has been out with a knee injury.
Minnesota is 1-8 on the road, although the one victory came against a New Orleans team that handled the Sixers twice.
Still, the Wolves may be the worst team in the NBA. And in talking to some fans, they feel this one is already in the bag for the Sixers.
The players understand that it isn’t so easy. The Sixers aren’t good enough to just walk in and beat even inferior teams.
And it will be interesting to see if the Sixers can apply the knockout punch early. The best thing to do with a struggling team is not allow it to gain confidence.
Minnesota’s best player is Al Jefferson and he is bound to want to come back after a subpar performance in Tuesday’s loss to Washington, when he was a –23 out on the court.
That said, the fact that the Sixers had Tuesday off, Minnesota is playing consecutive road games and that the Wolves are not exploding with talent, gives the Sixers a major advantage.
The Sixers have proved they can bounce back from adversity. Now they can show how they play with a little prosperity on their side.
So this game offers a little different challenge. The Sixers will try to show that they can win when they are expected to. It’s a situation they haven’t been in much this season but one they would like to get used to doing.
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Wolves Offer Different Challenge For Sixers
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Marc Narducci is in his 23rd year as a sports reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer. The 2007-2008 season will be his first as the 76ers beat writer. For the past two seasons, Marc had been the backup writer for the Eagles. Over the past few years Marc covered the NBA, NHL and Major League baseball as well as writing on sports media. Prior to covering professional sports, Marc was a long-time high school sportswriter for The Inquirer's South Jersey section.
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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on December 11, 2007 10:06 PM.
The previous post in this blog was Miller, Sixers Picking Up Steam.
The next post in this blog is Dalembert Striving For Consistency.
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Comments (11)
Yes! First!
Posted by Kevin | December 12, 2007 3:12 AM
Posted on December 12, 2007 03:12
It would be nice to come out with a strong effort and a "safe" win, let's say with more than 12 points of edge
Sixers showed they can blow out teams (Charlotte, NY twice, Houston etc) and I expect the same kind of game tonight
Minn will be on its second game of a back to back
oh, and go on with a 10 men rotation tonight too !
Will Lou Will be back?
Posted by Ricky - Sixers4guidos | December 12, 2007 4:10 AM
Posted on December 12, 2007 04:10
I think the big key for this game is seeing if the Sixers can play that dominant brand of ball they've played for 8 of the last nine quarters( 4th Q friday, all game saturday, and 3 of 4 monday). They might be turning a corner. Hollinger's playoff predictor has them as an 8th seed... :-)
Posted by Sean | December 12, 2007 5:07 AM
Posted on December 12, 2007 05:07
The 8-13 record looks much better than the 5-19 of last year. Lets say they are 10 14 after 24 games, and they duplicate the 31-27 record they had last year after AI left that would put them at 41-41 nice thought
Posted by terry | December 12, 2007 8:25 AM
Posted on December 12, 2007 08:25
This is the way that I thought they should have been playing all along. Expand the rotation, get everyone some decent minutes so the coach, GM and the rest of the league can see what capabilities these players have. This leaves less room for error and remorse when a trade or a decision is made to sign one of these players to a longer contract.
Moreover, with fresh legs and a blue collar mentality, a team like this could pick up some good wins in the process. Not a bad position to be in for a team that admits that it is in a rebuilding phase.
My prediction is that this team will just miss the playoffs but they will establish themselves this season as a team that should be in the post season next year with good work from the GM and no significant injuries to their core.
Posted by Clif | December 12, 2007 9:03 AM
Posted on December 12, 2007 09:03
I'm looking forward not only to tonite's game, but the rest of December, as well. I think the Sixers can do some damage during the next few weeks.
I believe confidence is a good thing...especially after the mental bashing the Sixers have taken in recent weeks. Yep, a little swagger is fine, but nothing can be taken for granted. All NBA opponents must be highly respected.
The Sixers must continue to work hard.
Posted by Ed Rosenberg | December 12, 2007 9:42 AM
Posted on December 12, 2007 09:42
While this run is nice, do people really think they have a chance against the likes of the celtics spurs, suns, and other dominant teams? Please trade Miller for young talent ASAP...him playing and helping them win will only help us mire in mediocrity for years to come.....let the young stud PG Sweet Lou get some experience starting, lose close games, then get a nice top 3 pick in the draft plus a key FA (Elton Brand if he can come back healthy...) give it 2 years and we can easily be a solid contender..If that junk Cavs team could make the Finlas last year, we should be well on our way in the next few years.
-In Stefanski I trust
Posted by MJ | December 12, 2007 1:49 PM
Posted on December 12, 2007 13:49
Let me get this the 76ers are the next Clevland Caveliers? You miss one component Lebron James. Are you a fool? This team beats the Knicks twice and a Houston team with an unenthusiastic Yau and you think they are doing something! This is why the Philaelphia fan gets heartbroken yr in and yr out. YOU get your hopes up over nothing.
Get a grip.
Truth
Posted by Truth | December 12, 2007 3:03 PM
Posted on December 12, 2007 15:03
The Sixers mauled Yao, Eddy Curry, and Zach Randolph in the post. Skill-wise, the Sixers are sorely lacking, but they have great interior defense (I hope Sammy can teach Jason Smith a little bit about that). They’ve been tenacious all year. What they’re not so good at is making good defensive rotations and keeping defenders in front of them, and that’s what the Rockets weren’t able to take advantage of. One reason I think we’re gonna win tonight against the Wolves is because their biggest weapon is Al Jefferson, and I don’t think he’ll be able to do much against us.
You really can’t call the Cavs a junk team ONLY because of LeBron. As a talent, he’s the best in the league. Way above Kobe. But take LeBron off that team, and they’re the worst team in the NBA.
Posted by SixerzGuy | December 12, 2007 4:47 PM
Posted on December 12, 2007 16:47
Way to go slammin Sammy.If only every game of his can be like tonight.
Posted by Clint | December 12, 2007 9:38 PM
Posted on December 12, 2007 21:38
"...but they have great interior defense (I hope Sammy can teach Jason Smith a little bit about that)."
Good lord... I honestly hope we aren't relying on Sammy to teach anyone anything about basketball. What a sad state of affairs that would be.
Posted by Anonymous | December 13, 2007 9:06 AM
Posted on December 13, 2007 09:06