<font color="Red">Philadelphia 76ers (23-24)</font> @ <font color="blue">New Jersey Nets (20-27)</font> Time: 8:30 PM, EST Arena: Continental Airlines Arena TV: CSN, YES, NBALP (Free Preview) ____________________ <u>Last Meeting</u> 76ers 108, Nets 100 ____________________ <u>Starting Five</u> <font color="Red">Philadelphia 76ers</font> C- Samuel Dalembert F- Kenny Thomas F- Kyle Korver G- Andre Iguodala G- Allen Iverson Head Coach- Jim O?Brien <font color="blue">New Jersey Nets</font> C- Nenad Krstic F- Jason Collins F- Vince Carter G- Jacque Vaughn G- Jason Kidd Head Coach- Lawrence Frank ____________________ <u>Key Match-up</u> <font color="Red">Allen Iverson</font> v. <font color="blue">Jason Kidd</font> ____________________ Player(s) To Watch <font color="red">Kyle Korver - Philadelphia 76ers</font> [IMGl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/kyle_korver.jpg[/IMGl]PPG: 11.9 RPG: 4..3 APG: 2.1 FG%: 42.7 % <font color="Red">3P%: 41.3 %</font> Kyle Korver arguably ranks in the Top 5 shooters in the league. Playing in just his second year he has emerged beyond expectations. From a bench player to a bonafied starter he has been a key factor for the 76ers run as of late. Now while his field goal percentages are not very typical for one of thee best shooters in his league, his stats don?t tell the whole story on how great of a shooter he really is. He doesn't get the same amount of shots on a consistent basis thus his field goal percentage goes up and down. But once he gets hot he can easily go for 7-10(4-6 3pt). But aside from his deadly shooting, his overall game has vastly improved. He's no longer just a shooter; he's more of a well-rounded player. He plays excellent defense, does the little things, provides energy, clutch and hustles quite possible more than anyone on the team. With his recent hot streak as of late, look for the 76ers to get him going early to mid way through the game. Not to mention, Korver has scored in double-figures 12 out of the last 13 games. Projected Stats: 18 Points (4-7 3Pt), 3 Assists, 7 Rebounds, 3 Steals, 1 Blocks <div align="center">-AND-</div> <font color="blue">Vince Carter - New Jersey Nets</font> [IMGl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/vince_carter.jpg[/IMGl]PPG: 24.8 (With Nets) RPG: 5.7 (With Nets) APG: 5.2 (With Nets) <font color="Blue">FG%: 46.1 %</font> (With Nets) 3P%: 41.4 % (With Nets) Are we looking at the vintage Vince Carter or a merely a <font color="Red">hot</font> Vince Carter? Well whatever the case may be, he's has literally been unstoppable as of late. Vince Carter aggressiveness and newly found will to get into the paint has made him very dangerous as of late. Coming off a 41 Point effort against one of thee best defensive teams in the NBA says a lot his hot streak. He has shot the ball well, rebounded the ball well and is also looking for his teammates at the same time. Against this lacking perimeter defensive team (76ers), Carter may go for 30+ and have yet another exceptional game. While the 76ers do have a few players that can be matched up with Carter (preferably Andre Iguodala), Carter will take advantage of whatever the 76ers throw at him. If the 76ers were going against a no so hot Vince Carter they would have a good chance at slowing him down, but against this <font color="red">hot</font> Vince Carter all they can do is try doubling him all game long. Projected Stats: 28 Points, 4 Assists, 6 Rebounds, 4 Steals, 3 Blocks ____________________ <u>Keys To The Game</u> <font color="Red">Philadelphia 76ers</font> <ul><font color="Red">Contain Vinsanity</font> If they have any chance of winning, they must slow down Carter. It all stars with him on the offensive end. Coming off a 41 point night, it would only make sense if the Nets went to him early on. So the 76ers must look to play some sort of defense that will take Carter out of his zone and hopefully slow him down. Carter often losses the ball when he's being hampered by overwhelming defense and the 76ers being number one at forcing turnovers, they should look to do what makes sense.[/list] <ul><font color="Red">Don't Underestimate</font> Aside from the obvious Jason Kidd and Vince Carter, the rest of the Nets roster isn't really much to look at. But as Stephen A. Smith would say... HOWEVER...The 76ers cannot by all means underestimate this Nets ball club. Not only has Carter been feeling it, but the whole team has for that matter, especially at home. Jacque Vaughn sometimes causes havoc when driving into the paint, Collins has released his hidden perimeter shot lately and Nenad Krstic never gives up on plays and often gets easy buckets that really hurt your chances at the end of the game. So that said, the 76ers must play these three guys as if they're Brad Millers, Cuttino Mobelys and Chris Webbers of the Sacramento Kings.[/list] <ul><font color="Red">Bench</font> The 76ers bench lead by Corliss Williamson and John Salmons has been great. Against this Nets team, they 76ers have a huge advantage off the bench. So they must make sure they're bench produces at a high level and at the same time keeps the Nets bench to a minimum. Williamson bulkiness and size along with Salmons versatility should cause the Nets some problems.[/list] __________________ Personal Prediction- The 76ers have a huge advantage off the bench and I think that will play a big role in their victory. Also as mentioned above, Korver has been hot, and in the last confrontation between both teams, Korver had an excellent game. So take two and two and I see Korver as well as Iverson lighting the Nets up late in the game to seal a victory. The game will be close throughout but Korver and Iverson will hit some big shots at the end to put the game out of the Nets reach. 76ers 99, Nets 89
This should be a nice game to watch. Philadelphia has a much better bench and depth compared to New Jersey who has a relatively weaker bench. That will definitely be the deciding factor of the game. The basics for Philadelphia to win this game is to not give up perimeter shots to New Jersey and control the paint. With the likes of Dalembert, Jackson, and Thomas all playing in the paint, hopefully they can shutdown the inside game of Carter and the low post players. With Iverson and Korver to mix it up with three pointers on the perimeter, Philadelphia should be able to win this game. Prediction- 76ers win, 100-93.
Just announced that AI will not be playing, out with the flu. I feel un-Philly-like saying this but I think Iverson or no Iverson, NJ will still come out with a win. I have a stong feeling Kidd and Carter are going to put on a show. 98-92...
Yet another 40 point game for VC as well as another double double. Well, you predicted right with the 3 blocks, everything else was off. I'm not going to officially claim he's back to his old self but he's showing good progress right now. If he can continue efforts like this (not nessecairly 40 point games) for an extended period of time, then he's back. Right now, not only is he playing like the VC of old, hes playing BETTER then the VC of old. He's rebounding the ball extremely well, he's driving the lane, he's finding open teammates, he's playing fairly well defense, he's blocking shots, he's doing it well. But one must wonder if this will fatigue him in due time and we'll go back to seeing just a VC who loves to settle for that J. Nonetheless, I'm lovin what I'm seeing.
Wow, it's the same ole things from the Sixers a lot of the time. Didn't they have like a 7 point lead with about two minutes left in the game. To loose a game in this kind of manner is pretty pathetic and in my opinion at this point unacceptable. Do we stop running the offense when the game is in crunch time or something? Next up is Memphis, and that should be a tough game.
This has to be the 3rd game in which we lost due to not having a 4th quarter go-to guy. We went sour on the offense end after displaying a great offensive run. After our offense was not going for us, I think we somewhat panicked and just simply collapsed?especially on the defensive end. But lets take the 4th quarter go to guy factor out of this for a second. The primary reason why we lost is because we didn't make those necessary stops. We played great defense, but we didn't give help on the weak side and we let Carter go one-on-one with whoever was guarding him. That's a big no-no against Vince Carter in crucial minutes. He lives off of moments like this, and we let him have his way. So those minor defensive flaws hurt us and it eventually caused us the game. Corliss Williamson missed FT and Korver missed technical FT also hurt us at well. Next up is the Memphis Grizzlies. Under Mike Fratello this is a completely different team. That said it?s going to be a hard game. If Allen Iverson plays we should make this very competitive and if we play our cards right we could win. But again, this will be a hard game and with the Celtics leading the Atlantic Division plus with a winnable schedule ahead we cant afford to lost many games before the All-Star break.
Oh yeah, and anyone notice how whenever Allen Iverson isn't playing, Willie Green usually scores big points. Remember the Wizards game, this game, and most of the season last year. I guess he needs more minutes to find his flow in the game. I don't know, just an interesting thought.
