<div align="center">http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d36/RocketsPreview/backcourtver1.jpg"> [b]Cavaliers http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d36/RocketsPreview/frontcourtver1.jpg"> [b]Cavaliers Lebron James, Drew Gooden, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas King James, the heir of Jordan, the Chosen One. Call him whatever you want, but Lebron James is arguably the best premier guard forward in the league. Last season has showed us he can carry the team (although the got beat out of the playoffs) with an amazing statline- where he can score inside, outside, rebound, pass, and steal the ball. Although this season his numbers have dropped off a bit, its undeniable that the reason for this isn't because he's any less of a player, but rather he has better teammates around him. Oh, and we have Drew Gooden and Zydrunas here as well. Gooden has been a nice powerforward for them- grabbing boards and scoring when needed, but he's probably the weakest of the frontline. Meanwhile, Zydrunas is and always has been that inside presence with his height. He has the height to block shots and create a jam in the paint- making it harder for guards to drive in and just lay it in. Plus, Zydrunas can rebound the ball fairly effectively in the minutes he's given and has given Cleveland an advantage on most nights at the center position. 76ers' Frontcourt Kyle Korver, Chris Webber, and Steven Hunter Since Dalembert is out, the Philadelphia front court has been weakened. Still, don't count this part of the squad out just yet. Webber after rehabilitating and resting from his knee injury, has exploded into this new season. Practically playing like he did during his Kings days, Webber has been on the boards, scoring, and dishing out assists at the high post. With Iverson drawing many double teams, Webber has benefited with open jumpers and knocking them down. Meanwhile, Korver has been quite the opposite. He has been terribly inconsistent- dropping a ton of points on the other team while other nights he would log horrible shooting. Still, even if he isn't scoring, he's doing the little things on the court such as hustling and rebounding. As a free agent acquisition over the summer, Steven Hunter has done everything expected of him and a bit more. As literally the team's only center, he has blocked shots and done his part on the defensive end while putting up a couple points on the offensive end. Simply said, he's a quality role player for Philadephia that does his job. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Its hard to judge this since Korver has on and off nights, but simply said, Cleveland has two legit players in the front court while Philadelphia just has one. On top of that, Drew Gooden has been doing great job so far in this season and has done everything Hunter has done and more. King James, Zydrunas is definitely greater than Korver (too inconsistent) and Webber. Cleveland Advantage. Well, lets see what we have here. The Philadelphia 76ers have John Salmons, Lee Nailon, and Kevin Ollie as the main contributors off the bench. Meanwhile, Damon Jones, Donyell Marshall, and Ira Newble fill out the Cavaliers bench. Hard to say actually who has the advantage here. Salmons has been doing a great job offensively and has really been the spark plug coming off the bench for Philadelphia. Meanwhile, both Marshall and Jones have been doing just that for Cleveland. On the other hand, Nailon has lit up fans with his twenty one point game the other night against the Clippers but has consistently put up small numbers in the range of eight points. And Kevin Ollie, is Kevin Ollie. He's just sort of there, with hustling, occasional points, and assists. Cleveland Advantage After a loss breaking their six game winning streak, Philadelphia looses a bit of momentum coming into this game, but are looking to bounce back from the double digit loss to the Heat. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers have been hot all season long- usually beating their opposition by a double digit difference. Things definitely don't look good for Philadelphia in this game, but of course, where there's a will, there's a way. For a Philadelphia win, Iverson is going to have to drop a bunch of points as always, but the role players like Iguodala, Korver, and Salmons are going to have to step it up. Cavaliers win, 98-91.</div>
First off nice preview, I am really feeling the buttons and such very nice touch to the thread. The 76es are going to need the supporting cast to play their roles if they want to win this game. A different supporting cast shows up every so often, sometimes they are effective and sometimes they are quite the opposite. Hopefully tonight the supporting cast can be sharp tonight because you know the Cavs are going to be coming to play, as they usually have consistent role players. I'm actually optimistic about this game, I'm confident this team can rebound after yesterdays loss. The 76ers ususally play the Cavs very well, and with that being said I think they should be able to beat them at home. The Sixers have to do the small thing to win this, they can''t give up offensive rebounds, and they have got to play team defense, especially around the perimeter. Call me crazy, I'm rolling with the Sixers in this one.
The 76ers hand the game to the Cavaliers on a silver platter we lose 123-120. We missed two wide open lay-ups, and one dunk this came. Those where what cost us the game. We would have won 126-123 if we had it those. Iguodala finished the game with 17, and Lebron had a triple double. Iverson missed a three that ended the game. However, the possession before Chris Webber took a deep three for no reason although we got the rebound, and Salmons slammed it in we wasted precious time. This after we had a 17 point lead in the first half. Yet another collapse.Dre has really struggled in isolation defense these last two games. He has gotten taken to school by Lebron, and Wade on several occasions. Lebron called him out by telling his coach he did not even want a play he wanted Dre one on one, and Dre could not guard him.
Wow, I guess this team is never going to learn how to keep a lead. This is sad, they had this game won, all of you said they would loose and they had it won but again a lapse at the end and they loose! This is so frustrating. The 76ers can't get stops and thats how they are loosing these games. If Kobe would have got the ball and drove everytime he would have scored 30 something like LeBron and Wade, all of these stars are doing near all of their damage inisde.
Frustrating loss, we had throughout the game but he had another of those breakdowns. We just can`t handle a good lead. Iverson had the good look at the end for the 3, but it didn`t go our way.
am I the only one that thinks LBJ felt upstage by Wade's near triple-double agains the sixers so he came out and got the triple-double?
How many traveling calls did LeBron get away with? Both of his layups near the end were travels..... It's amazing what these stars can get away with. The Sixers need to keep a lead. They are the opposite of the Eagles. Sixers start strong, but choke in the end, as well the Eagles and start out slow and well choke in the end... ok bad example.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Diesel:</div><div class="quote_post">How many traveling calls did LeBron get away with? Both of his layups near the end were travels..... It's amazing what these stars can get away with. The Sixers need to keep a lead. They are the opposite of the Eagles. Sixers start strong, but choke in the end, as well the Eagles and start out slow and well choke in the end... ok bad example.</div> if your talking about that last layup it wasn't a travel, i saw the replay from a few angles he just slowed down and hopped.
The reason Andre couldn't containe DWade and LeBron was because the rest of the guys didn't help him out. If you remember the Lakers game, everybody helped Andre guard Kobe. If Kobe got by Andre you'd see two or three Sixers defenders right there to cut him off from the rim, and against DWade and LeBron that didn't happen. The reason we lost this game is rebounding. Plain and simple. They outrebounded us by 15 boards, and we gave up 15 offensive rebounds. Hunter sucks at rebounding. Webber is getting his rebounds, and Andre is our second best rebounder at the moment, which is pathetic. You can see where this team misses Dalembert. It's all good though. I'd rather go through these things early in the year rather than down the stretch of the season.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting BigMo763:</div><div class="quote_post">The reason Andre couldn't containe DWade and LeBron was because the rest of the guys didn't help him out. If you remember the Lakers game, everybody helped Andre guard Kobe. If Kobe got by Andre you'd see two or three Sixers defenders right there to cut him off from the rim, and against DWade and LeBron that didn't happen. The reason we lost this game is rebounding. Plain and simple. They outrebounded us by 15 boards, and we gave up 15 offensive rebounds. Hunter sucks at rebounding. Webber is getting his rebounds, and Andre is our second best rebounder at the moment, which is pathetic. You can see where this team misses Dalembert. It's all good though. I'd rather go through these things early in the year rather than down the stretch of the season.</div> I agree totally with this. Also for a lot of the game it was Webber against Zydrunas Illigauskas. Our team lacks size. I also only got to see the 2nd half of this game, but on almost every defensive play there was Drew Gooden or somone left alone right under the basket. Pathetic Well hey the Flyers won Edit: Johnybrasco: That was a traveling he turned while holding the ball while drving it, Hmmm. Btw why do the refs hate Korver so much?
Hey, did anybody else notice that LeBron took 9 or 10 seconds to get the ball across half-court on that play where he traveled with 20 seconds left? I'm trying to see if the referee's blew the call, or if the Cavs broadcast just had the wrong time on the shot clock on that possession, because he clearly crossed midcourt with 14 seconds left on the shot clock.
Well that was terribly disappointing. Two straight losses in a row already and we could've won both games. Our defense really, really sucks big time. We need Dalembert back as soon as possible, we can't rebound or make any stops.
