Liberty Ballers

Sixers Be Crazy: The Miracle Run That Almost Was

2012-05-27T04:39:36Z

Listen, it was cool. It didn't look pretty and I hardly derived any tangible enjoyment of it while the games were actually on, but the Sixers winning 7 games this postseason over the Bulls and Celtics was a heckuva run that none of us were expecting. So for that, we can be thankful. A little excitement for fans of a team that hadn't felt any since a ping-pong ball rolled our way in the 2010 Lottery.

The Sixers were simply not a very good team. They beat a Chicago team without Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah and they fought a banged up Boston Celtics team primarily using their characteristic good defense and Boston's outright not-really-good-ness to steal some games. There were some good things (Jrue Holiday, Lavoy Allen) and some bad (Turner's disappointments, Thad mostly) and a whole lot of strange. This team has a ways to go. And the offseason will bring us a lot of changes to the Sixers that may be good, terrible or both.

Hopefully Spencer Hawes will be gone. Hopefully Louis Williams will be elsewhere. Hopefully the inevitable Andre Iguodala trade will be for a decent package rather than a quick fix. Hopefully Evan Turner will develop a jumper. Hopefully Rod Thorn will be nudged into retirement. As I said, a ways. We'll catch a glimpse at what ownership's plan is with this team, and we won't have to deal with a lockout, which is nice. There's a lot of stuff going down.

But we'll be here for it. And we appreciate your contributions and your enthusiasm, even when we don't have it. I really had a ball during the playoff run, even if now that it's over I have reverted back to wishing they fell short of the playoffs entirely. We can debate the merits of that argument another day. But for now, I hope you had a good time navigating these absurd past few weeks of playoff relevance. The Sixers ended the season in the Final Five, if that's a thing.

Sixers Be Crazy.

Celtics Beat Sixers in Game 7 It's All Over Thread

2012-05-27T02:42:27Z

Congrats to the Boston Celtics for being the less horrible team in this atomic bomb of a playoff series.

I have a lot of thoughts about this game, but now's not the time for them. Reflect. React. Get angry. Appreciate what you feel like appreciating.

Sixers Be Crazy. No matter what comes in the days or weeks or months to follow, we'll always have that. I love you all.

It All Ends: Harry Potter and the Sixers vs. Celtics Game 7

2012-05-26T23:35:25Z

Nothing left to say, except:

Sixers Be Crazy. One game.

No bologna. Let's do this thing. Sixers Be Crazy.

2012-05-26T21:57:51Z

No bologna. Let's do this thing.

Sixers Be Crazy.

Game 7 Sixers vs. Celtics Preview with CelticsBlog

2012-05-26T19:26:48Z

Just as we did before the series started (here), Jeff Clark from CelticsBlog and I went back and forth with a little email convo prior to the deciding Game 7. We talk Sixers, Celtics, and Avery Bradley's shoulders below.

But first I wanted to just give a quick head nod to Jeff and the guys at the aptly named CelticsBlog. I'm not a big fan of the Boston players/media/fans who feel the smug sense of entitlement that comes with being a post-SAWX Boston fan. But these aren't those guys. I've read almost everything they've written this series and it's been nothing but fair, honest, and eloquent. Another reminder that -- just as Philly fans aren't all booing vomiting cheesesteaking animals -- no fanbase is singularly douchey as well. Kudos to Jeff and co. for keeping it real.

ML
Hey so you want to do another one of these back-and-forths for our sites pre-Game 7?

JC
Yeah I'm game for one more. Then I don't want to talk to you for another three months. At least we know this series will be done by Saturday. I think.

ML
I'm offended. OFFENDED!

So. How's it going? Still have your eyesight? I'm down to just a torso from how many appendages this series has forced me to cut off. Makes it a bit harder to blog. Although my nickname Torso Boy finally makes sense.

JC
All still in tact but totally willing to donate any of my appendages to a Celtic in need of a transplant.

Other than that, you know me. I've got my Bill Simmons starter kit of oily rags and lighters. Make it stop Michael. Make the bad men stop.

Melodrama aside, this will finally be behind us and we can cut the bottom out of the peach baskets and return the game of basketball to the modern day.

So, I can't not ask this. Lavoy Allen is a restricted free agent and I have an official mancrush on him now. What's the asking price going to be on that kid?

ML
I feel so bad about Avery Bradley. He's my favorite player between both teams and I'd probably lose an appendage of my own just so he feels better. Shoot.

I can promise you that the Sixers and Celtics will play no more games together in the next 6 months. Promise promise promise. I'm not sure this is basketball though. I've adopted shuffleboard lately.

Regarding Lavoy, I have no idea what'll happen with him. I know they opted to sign him on a one-year deal when they brought him in out of the draft, and they're kicking themselves about it now. He's been terrific, but his upside is still that of a backup big on a decent team, so shelling a ton of money at him doesn't seem smart. But since when has intelligence factored into NBA front offices? Whatevs. I'd love giving him a 3 year, 8 million sort of dealie but I bet somebody offers him the max or something because that's how it goes. But Lavoy for Bradley sounds good to me - you wanna?

What's your excitement level for tomorrow? The Sixers have nothing to lose, so I feel like the pressure is all on your boys. Do you concur?

JC
Yes, all the pressure is on the Celtics... which is exactly where they excel the most. When they are up a game in the series, or say, up 18 or so at halftime, I'm terrified. But backs up against the wall, at home, with a couple of days rest, with the end of the Big 3 era on the line and quite possibly the safety of humankind? Yeah, I'm good.

That's the thing when you have a group of heroes. They don't know what to do with the mundane or the normal. In fact, I just googled "hero complex" and found this definition on Wikipedia: "The hero syndrome is a phenomenon affecting people who seek heroism or recognition, usually by creating a desperate situation which they can resolve." Umm, that's the 2012 Boston Celtics in a nutshell. Especially in the postseason.

Prediction: Celtics win by 5, Rondo gets a triple double, KG gets 20 &10, Pierce hits 2 dagger 3's in the 4th quarter, and Ray hits the free throws to ice it. But not before I have to be resuscitated by an EMT at least once.

ML
Oh nuts that sounds convincing. Shoot. Well.

I don't know. Maybe this is one of those cases where the circumstances are so perfect for the Celtics that they'll go the opposite way? Like anti-karma? Or... anti-gravity maybe? This whole thing reeks of iocane powder to me.

If we're getting all predictiony, I'll say Sixers by 3 in spite of another horrible shooting night from Evan Turner. One of Lou Williams/Elton Brand/Thaddeus Young will have at least 23 points. Lavoy Allen's foul trouble is something to watch. The C's keep exploiting his propensity to get whistled, which makes us see more Hawes, which nobody likes. Not even you -- admit it. Anyway, Sixers by 3 in what might be the most insane game of basketball ever played. Final score: 22-19.

Think Boston is already peeking ahead at Miami? Miami/Boston just sounds so DAVIDSTERNish to me. Ugh. Lose just to spite him? Please?

JC
Hmmm. That final score does sound plausible. But only if Rondo gets his triple double with rebounds, blocks, and turnovers.

Believe it or not but there are some fans that think Stern is out to get us. Despite the fact that the C's are ratings gold. I chose to believe that the Celtics don't need any help making life difficult for themselves.

Ok, like this series it is time to wrap this up. For better or worse I hope we do it all again next year. When one of our teams is the defending champs.

Cheers.

ML
If one of our teams in the defending champs, I will cut off my shoulders and mail them to Avery Bradley.

The idea that Stern is out to get the Celtics is maybe the most laughable thing I've ever heard. THEY GET RATINGS. QUICK SOMEBODY LET THE TERRIBLE SIXERS WIN INSTEAD. Internet bitch slap for people who think that way. The players play. The officials official. Sometimes they're not good at it.

Jeffrey, it's been real. Thank you for being you. If you weren't you, I would call you a liar. Sixers Be Crazy. Out.

Sixers vs. Celtics: Game 7 Day Links

2012-05-26T17:00:27Z

It's memorial day weekend, we've got gorgeous weather, and one of the greatest events a sport could ever give us; a Game 7 with the team we've followed for years. So if you're like me and you're insanely nervous/anxious/hungry about the game tonight, doing random activities would be the best way to go. And what better random, time-wasting activity than to read articles about the game we've been waiting for since Wednesday night (last night was the first night I slept since then, by the way - that's how excited I am). Get out your lawn chair, crack open a beer, grill some food, and read some links.

Celtics Hope Experience Defeats Sixers' Youth in Game 7 - Sports Illustrated

The old (see what I did there) experience against youth factor. Doc sounds bitter. "Half of these young guys don't know I played and they definitely don't know Doug played". Lawns and things.

Under Control, Out of Your Minds - Depressed Fan

Brian at Depressed Fan talks about the advantages Boston will have being at home and also uses the phrase "purple nurple".

Fearless Sixers Embracing Challenge of Game 7 - CSN Philly

Doug Collins mentions how beautiful butterflies are. Jrue Holiday calls tonight's game "End of the world two."

More links after the jump, including a piece on a different site from a writer you might be familiar with.

Sixers Have Impressed, but Collins Wants More - CSN Philly

Doug Collins getting his annoying girlfriend impression on, not satisfied but wanting more. I joke, I joke. I want more, too.

Win Or Lose, Boston Celtics' New Big Three Era A Success - SB Nation Boston

Danny Tanner taught me that if you double the C's and double the S's, that's how you spell "success".

Spencer Hawes' Moral Code - Spence's Twitter

Spence is all about lying if it ends in his favor. I'd do the same thing.

FYI, Ray Allen Still Has Two Legs - The Basketball Jones

Hard hitting research from the TBJ I-Team and a gorgeously sarcastic quote from Ray Allen confirms that he does in fact still have as many legs as most people.

NBA Teams as Bands, Obviously: Part One, Da West - Digital Refrain

This writer looks familiar. He's probably a huge dork.

Game 7 is that amount of hours away. I'll see you guys then, when the Sixers are a mere 48 minutes from victory.

Judgment Day

2012-05-26T12:56:02Z

No fancy titles. No pictures. No in-depth analysis. No cuts, no buts, no coconuts.

Just one game between two teams who don't like each other very much. For the Sixers and the Celtics, it's not about what happened during the season or what'll happen against Miami or who stays or goes once the final whistle sounds.

It's one game. 48 minutes of basketball. Absolutely anything can happen. And if you've been watching this series, you know it will.

This isn't about who's the better team. It's about who can be less terrible once this mess gets within five minutes left.

Game 7, for almost every player involved, isn't so much "Win or Go Home" as the cliche goes. There are exactly three players who will play tonight whose 2012-13 job isn't in question. Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, and Thaddeus Young. Everyone else could make themselves into a hero. A goat. A legend. A guaranteed contract. A European player.

One team moves on to face the Miami Heat. The other spends the rest of the playoffs wizzing in a catheter.

One more win puts them in the Final Four. Oklahoma City. San Antonio. Miami. And Philadelphia? Really? We're just one Sixers Be Crazy win away from that reality.

Put on your Sharone Wright shirsey, adjust the neck on your Shawn Bradley bobblehead, make sure you have your Iverson/Hughes Flight Brothers rally towel -- whatever you have to do to be ready for tonight. Superstitions, insecurities, predictions.... give us all you got because there ain't no rollover on playoff insanity minutes for next season.

Judgment Day.

Lavoy Allen responds to being ranked 500th best player

2012-05-25T23:33:23Z

During the offseason, that long, lifeless, soul-crushing offseason, ESPN ranked the players in the NBA from 1 to 500. The guy I recently described as being crucial to the Sixers chances this series was ranked #500.

Doing the math (15 players per team, 30 teams), ESPN was essentially saying Lavoy Allen shouldn't be in the league.

Now, to get this out of the way, they weren't alone. Here at Liberty Ballers, none of us were thrilled with the pick, including me. I knew he had talent, but me being upset at the pick was a combination of not believing he had mentality to take advantage of his talent (which Doug Collins himself questioned in the beginning of the season) and that I thought they could get Allen undrafted if they wanted him (which was still probably true).

That being said, Allen was far and away exceeded my expectations and using the pick on him and guaranteeing he would be on the Sixers roster has clearly been the right move.

We're not the only ones doing a mea culpa.

Henry Abbott caught up with Lavoy to to apologize for the ranking. And Lavoy handled it with the utmost class.

Allen: If I asked you who 482 was, do you know who that was?

ESPN: I have no idea.

Allen: But you know who number 500 was, though, right?

ESPN: I do. I do.

Allen: I should thank you guys.

Read the full transcript here. It's short, but good.

Kudos, Lavoy. Both for your performance that proved us wrong and your class in handling it.