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So now that we're all fully or at least semi recovered from the humongous (but expected) late game meltdown in Game One, we've got to suck it up and power through. There's basketball to be played and threads to be blogged and people that need to be talked down to.
And we're just the dudes to do it. Celtics. Sixers. Game Two. TD Garden. Booker T.
Whether you feel like the first game was Doug's fault, Lou's fault, or my fault, it was pretty painful to watch. Going good, going okay, then it stopped going entirely. With a Rajon Rondo skittish flee, the Bostonians stole the game we were supposed to steal and went up 1-0.
Jordan went hard after cooler heads in our collective groupthink on Spencer Hawes:
Here it is: he's not as good as his stats suggest, because he has more "negative plays" during the game than any other Sixer – plays that don't manifest in the stat sheet. I'm talking failed box outs, failure to go up strong at the basket, inability to grab rebounds in traffic, etc. However; he's not as bad as those plays suggest. He's still a good passing big man, who can step out and hit an 18-footer and stand near the basket with his hands up to block a few shots. He had a few good moments tonight – crafty post moves, shot blocks and alterations – but most of us choose to ignore the good with players we "hate" and magnify their bad moments. Same goes for players we "love", only opposite.
I couldn't help but point the Twister spinner thing at Doug Collins' throat.
Doug says things like "I don't know what else I could have done" but that's ridiculous. Doug, you stop giving the ball to Lou Williams and letting him do whatever he wants with it. You don't play Hawes 34 minutes when he's a liability in 2 of the 3 major areas on the court. You don't play Thad when he's been terrible for weeks and he's nursing a sprained ankle. But he did them, and the Sixers lost. I like Collins as a person and as a motivator, but his in-game coaching is seriously lacking.
Donning his Manute Bol swag, Dave fended off jealous Celtics fans with his weiner.
Was I heckled?
Yes, on multiple occasions. The most notable taunting occurred while I was at the urinal. I don't mind the heckling, but could you at least wait until I'm done peeing? I'm already battling stage fright here. Please don't make it worse.
I also was booed a number of times while leaving. But I like to think Celtics fans weren't actually booing. They were just saying, "'Nuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute."
It's just one game. Win tonight and we're in Splitsville, a good place to be for the road team. How are you feeling going into this one? Confident? Gassy? Literate? Voluptuous? Kinetic? I'm just excited to wash that Game One ending out of my mouth. Wash it out with a fresh orange ball.