Sixers Training Camp: The Legend of Jrue Holiday

Tanner's en route to Maryland as we speak, so I'm taking over the linking duties for today. Normally the paragraph before the jump is dedicated to hip-hop and LOST, but I retired from hip-hop after high school and I only watch TV shows that start with Jersey and end with Shore. So that's what I'll hit you with today – my quick take on last night's Jersey Shore and the two, yes two, movies I saw in theaters last night.

Jersey Shore: Congrats on The Situation on finally hooking up with a hot chick. "I love Canada!"

The Town: Good movie, but a little over-hyped. Not in the same league as The Departed.

Catfish: One of the weirdest movies I've ever seen. I encourage you to check it out. Here's the trailer.

Sixers links after the J, including Craig "Bubba" Brackins doin' impressive things.

Fagan on Turner, Lou and Jrue: Deep Sixer

On Lou and Evan playing together:

"When Lou had the ball and Evan was off, they struggled, because Evan wasn't sure and Lou didn't do a good job of getting us into our stuff," Collins explained. "Then we moved Evan to the ball and Lou off and they both were good. So you can see where they're most comfortable now."

On Lou being a scorer, not a point guard:

"At the end of the day, Lou is a scorer. That's what we're going to have to do, put him in those positions, because when we put him out there to run the team it really takes away from what he does best."

On Turner's improvement since Summer League:

"He's light years," Collins said. "He's in better shape. He has more confidence. He feels better about himself and he's earning the players' trust. He's becoming a good teammate. And that's what I've talked to him about, is throw yourself in the mix and be a good teammate."

More Jrue Holiday hype and the play of the day:

"Jrue looks bigger and stronger ... It's quite likely that when everyone gets to see Holiday play on Tuesday against the Nets, they're going to be similarly excited about watching Holiday this year. During the scrimmage, Holiday drove right into the lane, spun back to his left hand in the heart of the lane, and went up to finish against one of the opposing big men (maybe Speights). He just hung in the air, shifted his body away from the defender, and finished with his off hand. It was a play that perhaps no one else on the team could have made.

SLAM previews the Sixers: SLAM

The Legend of Jrue Holiday continues to grow.

Biggest strength: Three words - Jrue Randall Holiday ... Doug Collins recently said Jrue Holiday could become one of the top five point guards in the NBA, and I wholly agree.

Prediction: Any record over .500 would be a great step, but that's probably the most Philadelphia can expect from this year. 39-43 seems about right and, considering last year, should be enough to keep Collins in favor with the city.

Sprights poised for breakout? And releasing the Crackin: Delco Times

"I'm feeling really good. Probably the best I've felt since I came in the league," Speights said. "I'm going to keep working to get better everyday.

"It's a whole different buzz than last year. We have a great coach in Coach Collins. We all listen to him and respect him a lot. He wants me to go do what I can do - give a good effort on defense and be a good athlete."

Craig Brackins played "surprisingly" well during scrimmage:

The Sixers held just a night practice and scrimmage Thursday, and one of the real surprises of camp is rookie Craig Brackins.

The 6-10 forward from Iowa State could certainly use more muscle, but during the scrimmage he showed a smooth shot, surprising range and a great deal of confidence in it.

The Crackin kindly disagrees:

"If you think I looked like that, I appreciate it," said Brackins, who came in the deal that also brought Darius Songaila from New Orleans last week. "Because I feel like I'm running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

Brackins ran with the starters during last night's scrimmage: Sixers Twitter

#Sixers scrimmage underway: williams, turner, speights, kapono, hawes v. jrue, iguodala, young, brand, brackins to start things off...

Observations from Training Camp: Sixerville

Kapono, Hawes and Brackins possess wet jumpers:

Jason Kapono was on fire during a scrimmage again last night, and center Spencer Hawes is pretty deadly, too. Rookie Craig Brackins got himself open around the three-point line and nailed three jumpers. After practice, he stayed late and was really impressive with his outside shooting.

Jrue continues to make observers drool (Jrool?):

On another note, it is really eye-opening how good Jrue Holiday appears to be. He plays at a pace that just keeps defenders confused, with a great combination of quickness and speed. When he drives to the hole, he is strong enough to finish in traffic and after contact and when he does pass, he usually makes the right decision. He is really, really good.

Doug Collins likes Jason Kapono and wants to rebound by committee: Daily News

"He's been really good," Collins said. "He's making shots. He's one of our best communicators out on the floor. I've been very happy with him."

"We're not going to be a great rebounding team, obviously, because we don't have a big, strong rebounder," Collins said. "But we've got to rebound by committee.

Collins gushes about assistant coaches: Philly.com

I'm noticing a pattern here.

Complete Training Camp coverage: Sixers.com

Highly reccomended. They update daily.

NBA 2K11 is the "greatest basketball game ever made": IGN

IGN gave 2K a 9.5 out of 10 grade. That's crazy-high for a basketball game. It comes out on Tuesday, October 5.