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Superman suspension, now what?

Earlier today the inevitable was announced. Dwight Howard was officially suspended for game six. Easy win right? Wrong. 

The Magic can, and will win tomorrow if the Sixers take them for granted. The Sixers are a young and inexperienced team. This season alone they've already been embarrassed by the Thunder without Kevin Durant, and needed overtime to beat the Cavs without LeBron. There is no reason the Magic cannot do the same without Howard.

The Magic still have Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis. In fact, the Magic have already won two road games without Dwight this season -- at Utah and at Golden State. Game six is still a playoff game and the Sixers need to act accordingly. It's obvious that the Magic are going to play the "Let's win this one for Dwight!" card, so the Sixers better match their intensity, otherwise they'll get blown out of the gym. 

Seated next to Superman on the bench will be Super-rookie Courtney Lee. Ironically Lee is also sitting out because of Dwight's famous elbow. Howard's 'bow inadvertently caught Lee in the face subsequently fractured his sinus. Ouch.

Orlando is likely to roll out a starting lineup of:

PG - Alston

SG - Pietrus

SF- Hedo

PF- Lewis

C- Gortat

If the Sixers play like they have for the first five games of this series, they will beat the Lee and Howard-less Magic. That said, the fact that the game -- and the season -- depends on a young Sixers team to come out and play with the same intensity they would have had Dwight been playing, has me extremely frightened. It's human nature to let up when your opponent is weakened. Only the great ones overcome it.

Tony Kornheiser brought up an interesting point on PTI. He said the Sixers should be upset that Howard was not tossed from game five. Him and Wilbon both agree, if Howard was tossed in game five, the Magic would have lost and headed back to Philadelphia down 3-2. A home game up 3-2 is obviously much easier to win than game seven on the road, which will be the scenario if the Sixers win game six. My response: I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear that we were robbed. I don't want to hear excuses. Should Dwight have been tossed at the time of the incident? Yes. Would it have been more beneficial for the Sixers? Yes. However; that's not the way the cookie crumbled. The NBA did their best to rectify the situation by suspending Howard. They did the right thing and I'm not going to blame them for it. I hate "coulda, shoulda woulda" statements. Everyone got what they wanted -- a Howard suspension -- now it's time to man up and win two games.

Let's go!

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Everyone needs to step up.

Plain and simple. TOs are killing us. It is unbelievable how when the Magic don’t play a good game, we play an even worse game. Maybe next game, or if we win the game after, there will be a point where we will play a great game, but the Magic will play an even better game. Let’s not let that happen!

by soman319 on Apr 29, 2009 3:11 PM PDT reply actions  

If you are going to suspend a guy ...

I’d sort of rather have Howard gone for an entire game, but then again great point that up 3-2 and playing at home (against Howard) would be much nicer than having to play a Game 7 if the Sixers can force it with a win in Game 6.

Best of luck …

Pickaxe & Roll.com: 5,280 reasons to be a Nuggets fan

by Nate Timmons on Apr 29, 2009 3:17 PM PDT reply actions  

Prediction/Prayer

We get to the line 40 times. Take a page out of Trick Daddy’s book and take it to the house. Every possession.

by Michael Levin on Apr 29, 2009 3:29 PM PDT reply actions  

Sixers need to spread the ball...

In Game 5, everyone else sucked so AI and Miller had to take all the shots and create all the offense. Thad, Lou, Green and someone else need to take and make some shots. Their offensive play in the second half was CBA quality.

by phillynyc on Apr 29, 2009 4:10 PM PDT reply actions  

We've been given a gift

a game 6 without Lee and Howard. If we don’t take advantage, we aren’t cut out for the playoffs. We should be able to control the tempo, and may even be able to rest our guys some late in the game, if we can build a lead. Come game 7, especially if Lee is still out, we have a major chance and need almost everyone to play well or at the least not poorly, and we could be playing Chicago/Boston come next week.

by chillicothe20 on Apr 29, 2009 4:32 PM PDT reply actions  

So basically with Lee and Howard out the magic went from a team that can shoot the three very well to....

a team that can shoot the three very well.

Someone on the magic will step up strong for the team tomorrow and the sixers have to be prepared for that.
Rashard and Hedo look like they are back to full strength. The sixers need to stick to their strategy of guarding the perimeter.
Gortat is a mediocre center at best, so Sam should be playing him decently. However, this entire series he has been called for cheap fouls. If he earned a dollar for every cheap foul called on him, the country of Haiti would be about 20 dollars richer.

by jefu on Apr 29, 2009 6:14 PM PDT reply actions  

idk i don’t see us taking this one either.. it just seems inevitable that we get pretty far and take a team that we were supposed to get swept by to 6 games (deja vu).. i think this is just building on next year. but this really excites me for next year when we get at least 2 vital players (jason smith and elton brand) back and a draft choice who will hopefully be a young point guard learning from andre miller. because seeing louis will’s indecision on fast breaks kind of cements the thought of him being a (sorry lou) less talented version of A.I.

http://www.libertyballers.com/

by Remis on Apr 29, 2009 6:45 PM PDT reply actions  

+1. i thought you were gona trash me for saying that lol

http://www.libertyballers.com/

by Remis on Apr 30, 2009 5:18 PM PDT up reply actions  

Lou

will step up tonight and win this game for the sixers. Mark my word, midnight, I predict it. (Lou W, you bett come thru for me)

by DeanH on Apr 29, 2009 8:58 PM PDT reply actions  

Lou stinks

i’m beyond done with him.. we need to get whatever we can for him while we still can (i feel like the same thing happened with Aaron McKie after the 2001 season.. his value was through the roof, Philly knew better than anyone else in the league how overrated he had become, and we still held on to him until he was basically useless).. anyway, as for Lou — he takes horrible shots, plays bad d, and most importantly can’t run the halfcourt offense.. he plays like a street baller and has not shown any signs of being able to pick up the NBA game

starting next season we have to build around Iggy, Thad, Willie, and M16.. i seriously think Iggy’s prime will be these next 3 seasons.. hopefully Thad will continue to develop into the stud he looks like at times, and M16 learns how to play d

.. and i’m absolutely kidding about building around Willie.. unless we’re talkin about a 12 foot high brick enclosure

WFC

by stillhotish on Apr 29, 2009 9:51 PM PDT reply actions  

Iggy, Thad and Speights is plenty to build around.

It’s essential that Stefanski hits with pick number 17 and finds a way to get some shooters.

by Jordan Sams on Apr 29, 2009 9:57 PM PDT up reply actions  

i saw according to a mock draft (i forget where) that we’re supposed to draft a home-town kid by the name of tyreke evans… this guy was moved to pg when he was in memphis in the middle of the season and i’m pretty sure they never lost a game with him playing the position (other than in the trournament) he’s 6’6 and i would love to have this guy as our future pg…(sorry for my excessive use of paranthesees btw…)

http://www.libertyballers.com/

by Remis on Apr 30, 2009 5:20 PM PDT up reply actions  

he sucks believe me

the guy can’t shoot for s**t and he makes terrible decisions… i would be furious at stefanski if he drafts him

by Tanner Steidel on Apr 30, 2009 11:23 PM PDT up reply actions  

oh… lol

http://www.libertyballers.com/

by Remis on May 1, 2009 1:32 PM PDT up reply actions  

I think Iggy will develop nicely into his early thirties

He doesnt look like much of a jump shooter now, but he works hard and in due time it’ll come through. He can’t focus on monster jams his whole career or he won’t last.

by jefu on Apr 30, 2009 4:38 AM PDT reply actions  

Draft

We definitely need to go PG.. who do you take (if available with 17) Lawson, Maynor, Flynn, or other?

i LOVE Lawson especially with the way we play.. but i don’t think i could pass on Maynor’s size and grit if they were both still there.. it’s a tough call

WFC

by stillhotish on Apr 30, 2009 9:40 AM PDT reply actions  

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