Categories for NBA

Sam Hinkie Shakes Up the Sixers, Again

February 20, 2015 Randy Neil

Yesterday, Sam Hinkie traded away considerable pieces to what was thought to be cornerstones in a long term rebuilding plan for the 76ers franchise.  The biggest piece was Michael Carter-Williams, 2013-14 NBA Rookie of the Year, which has left some people questioning the decision.

Hinkie addressed the media this morning and elaborated on the mindset behind some of these decisions.  He noted that while trading Carter-Williams was difficult, in put them in a place where they were more hopeful for the future.  Hinkie gushed about the flexibility these additional assets gave them, noting that there is no timetable or certainty to the culmination of these moves.

As a Sixers fan, I can’t make up my mind about these trades.  More importantly, neither can you.  Neither can Sam Hinkie.  He understands that a lot of these moves are calculated risks which can pay off big, but also can work out to be nothing.

It’s hard to explain to a 2015 fan that these moves put the franchise in a ‘better’ position.  Not only is long-term projection a difficult thing for an emotionally invested fan, but more so when everyone in the Philadelphia area has witnessed considerable progress in this season alone.

I can honestly say I’ve watched more games this season attentively than any other season.  It was interesting to see the player development that Sam Hinkie iterates constantly, in spite of their wins and losses.  You could see a progression in this team’s chemistry and resolve.

That might be the biggest factor in my hesitance to embrace these moves.  Metaphorically, we are playing 5-card stud and trying to have unlimited re-draws.  Right now, we are hoping for something better and a lot of us thought the hand we had  could play into something big already.  Who knows what cards we are going to pick up, and that’s the scary part.

More importantly, what kind of morale does this have on the players whom Hinkie does consider long-term pieces to this rebuilding process?  How much does that factor into his decision making?

When Joel-Hans Embiid is tweeting this —

— you have to wonder what kind of mindset this will put him in regarding his future in Philadelphia.  He has since Tweeted much more optimistic things, but again, these are intangibles.

When you look at a championship caliber player like Lebron James, it’s pretty clear that the faith in his franchise weighs on his decision making.  When we speculate in a high draft pick like Joel-Hans Embiid to be that type of player, those things should be considered.

I guess, in a Brett Brown New-England accent, I will just need to, “Trust the Prawcess.”

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Diving back into things

June 13, 2014 Adam Thomas

Heyo!  Welcome back to theheadrush everyone! It has been too long since we posted and what better time than now, after one of the best days in sports?

World Cup

For starters, I love how people get so pumped up for the World Cup and then the first game has a controversial call and everybody is like “See, THIS is why I hate soccer!” and they just lose interest. Every article I’ve read about the Brazil/Croatia game has had a comment like this at the bottom: “This is why I can’t get into soccer. You wouldn’t see flopping like this in the NBA, MLB, NFL or NHL.” Oh really?

Dwyane Wade was just fined $10,000 for FLOPPING in the NBA finals. His sole role at this point in his career is to get on the court and feign getting elbowed in the throat by Manu Ginobli. Lynn Swann flopped all over the field whenever George Atkinson breathed on him back in the 70’s. And surely in baseball, a batter has never had a pitch hit the bottom of their bat and pretended that it hit them just so they could get a free walk up to first.

There is diving in every sport (I was going to make a Sidney Crosby joke, but then I remembered I don’t watch hockey enough to comment on it with authority, but that dude looks like he flops all the time).

The only difference is that in soccer, diving has dire consequences.

It’d be like if the NBA gave Wade 50 points for flopping instead of fining him afterwards. That is how much the Brazil decision swung the game yesterday. Make no mistake about it, Croatia was hanging with Brazil big time up until that goal.

However, let’s also be real about this for a second: Brazil was playing the opening game of the World Cup which–if you haven’t heard–is being played in Brazil. The chances of there NOT being a controversial call that went in favor of Brazil and against Croatia had to be 100,000 to 1. At some point during that game, Croatia was going to get boned. If you didn’t know that going in, well…I don’t know what to tell you. That’s just the way it is. And on a side note, not to get all Alexi Lalas on you all, but the keeper probably should’ve saved that PK. Not that it’s an easy thing to do (understatement, it’s probably one of the hardest things to do in sports) but he guessed right and got his hands on it.

Now, with all that being said, if that was America playing against Ghana and one of the Americans flopped like a fish and were awarded a penalty kick, how awesome would that be? It’s gotta feel nice to watch your team get rewarded a PK for having a player do absolutely nothing other than act as if they just shot off a gun like Owen Wilson on a quail hunt.

For the record, I would like to congratulate myself for correctly predicting Brazil 3-1 over Croatia in the Yahoo Sports soccer pick em. Way to go, self.

My picks for today?

Mexico 1–Cameroon 1

Spain 0–Netherlands 0

Chile 4–Australia 1 (poor Australia)

On to the NBA…

How great is it to watch the Heat get rolled up on by the Spurs? Man, they are getting destroyed.

And the cramp game was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. Lebron is just so freaking WEIRD! He is fantastic and a great player (one of the best ever) but he’s a weirdo.

I also loved how quick everyone either A.) Came to his defense with jabs at the twitterverse like “I didn’t realize how many people on Twitter knew what it was like to play in the NBA finals with cramps” SNARK! or B.) proclaimed Lebron to be a sissy.

I just think he is a head case and a weirdo, and that’s why he is hard to cheer for. I was seriously almost on the Lebandwagon, but after the cramp game, forget it. He is just lame.

The Spurs better win game 5 though, otherwise this thing is going 7.

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Charles Barkley and Sam Hinkie Got Beef

July 20, 2013 Randy Neil

In a recent interview, Charles Barkley was questioned about his former team, the 76ers’ coaching search.  He was pretty forthcoming about his opinion, calling it a “joke.”

I’m not sure how Hinkie feels about this, but I have to imagine he’s going to have some sort of diss track on his next mixtape.

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Can We Just Name Michael Curry The Coach Already?

July 8, 2013 Randy Neil

With the news of Adam Aron stepping down as CEO of the 76ers, Scott O’Neil has been named the current CEO of the franchise.  Along with a new general manager, the Sixers have revamped almost their entire front office and yet there is still one prominent vacancy that stands out this off-season.

We don’t have a head coach.

That fact has been lingering around ever since Doug Collins departed in April (March if we’re being honest.)  The Sixers haven’t been very vocal in their search for a new coach, either.  There really hasn’t been much press regarding who we are interviewing, who are the candidates, or likely favorites, which leads me to believe that Michael Curry is going to fill that role.

Which, I’m fine with.  If you aren’t familiar, Curry has been the 76ers Assistant Coach to Doug Collins for the past few years and acted as the Head Coach for the Pistons during the 2008-09 season.  His record was 39-43 with Detroit.

From my very diligent reporting and observation, Curry seems to be a player favorite in the locker room.  During Collin’s somewhat ugly final months with the Sixers, there was even talk of the player’s preferring Curry’s leadership over Collins.  Doug has always endorsed Curry’s ability to coach and praised him during their tenure together.

With a lot of the high-profile coaching vacancies filled, I’m preparing for the announcement of Michael Curry to become our head coach pretty soon.  Curry is currently coaching the 76ers’ Summer League team in Las Vegas as we speak.

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An NBA Finals Prediction and Kanye/Lebron

June 17, 2013 Adam Thomas

If we could all just calm down for one second, I must rain on this parade: The Heat are still going to beat the Spurs in 7.

The narrative: Lebron, pushed to the brink of elimination, forges his team through the fires of Mt. Doom and attains his second ring. Is he as good as Michael? Is he the Kanye West (or should I say, the Steve Jobs) of the NBA? Can the Heat be beat in a 7 game series?

Two things are clear to me as I watch this series unfold: 1.) The Spurs go on ridiculous hot and cold streaks. 2.) When Lebron, Wade and Bosh are on, they can’t be stopped.

Playing these last two games at home, I fully expect Lebron and Co. to come out and dominate. They will win game 6 by 7, and win game 7 by 6. Confused? Me too. Mark it 8 dude.

Also, I hate Lebron. I cannot stand him. I don’t care if everyone tells me I should appreciate the guy for how amazing he is at basketball, he seems like a punk. So does Wade, and Bosh is just ridiculously laughable.

Perhaps Lebron is like Kanye. Great at what he does, but utterly un-likeable and therefore, very hard for me to appreciate or take seriously.

(Quick tangent: In one of his new songs, “Black Skinhead,” Kanye says that he “keep it 300, like the Romans.” Do you think he even watched the movie? Gah. That’s annoying. If you’re going to reference something, at least get the reference right.)

Anyway, I’m rambling, but take it to the bank: The Heat are winning this series in 7.

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Back On The Magic Johnson Hate Train

June 12, 2013 Randy Neil

A few nights a week, I actually have some time to myself to sit and enjoy the Phillies game, read some sports blogs, and read some Tweets. If you don’t already know, I loathe Magic Johnson. I hate how everyone sucks up to him. I hate his analysis of basketball. I really hate his Tweets.

It’s usually just some all-too-obvious critiques, so you can imagine the onslaught from last night’s blowout by the Spurs.

For example:

Really? Ya don’t say. Usually when a team wins by 36 points they tend to have both sides of the ball locked up. Thanks for pointing this out a full day after the game.

Not so surprising, if you read EVERY response to that particular Tweet, they are filled with about the same hate and animosity that I feel.

The real question is: If I hate this man so much… why do I follow him on Twitter?

I don’t know Head Rush fans…. I truly don’t know…

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