Philly Sports Today

After 60 games in an eight day span, the 2009 NCAA Tournament has trimmed its field from 65 all the way down to the Final Four. North Carolina, Connecticut, Michigan State, and Villanova will all take the Ford Field floor on Saturday night in Detroit, Michigan for their National Semifinal games with hopes of cutting down the nets. However, come Monday night, only one team will be able to have their one shining moment. So far, my picks haven’t exactly been what one would call “good,” but that’s not going to stop me from predicting the final three games of the NCAA Tournament. Without further ado, here are my Final Four picks.

Final Four
National Semifinals
1. Connecticut over 2. Michigan State
Rationale: I didn’t think that either team would make it this far, but UConn seems to be peaking right now. The past two times that the Huskies were put in the West Region (1999 and 2004), they went on to win it all. Unlike Louisville, UConn will not be out-toughed by Michigan State as they win in front of a very hostile and pro-Spartans crowd.

1. North Carolina over 3. Villanova
Rationale: This is where Villanova’s Cinderella run comes to a screeching halt. Three of the past four years that the Wildcats have been eliminated from the tournament has been at the hands of the eventual national champion (North Carolina in 2005, Florida in 2006, Kansas in 2008). That trend will continue this year as the Tar Heels’ experience, size, and depth of talent will be too much for Nova. UNC will not be humiliated in the Final Four for a second straight year.

National Championship
1. North Carolina over 1. Connecticut
Rationale: The Tar Heels have been my pick since the beginning, so it’s not worth changing it now. UNC seems to be playing like the best team in the country right now. No team has as much depth as the Tar Heels and no team in the entire country can match their talent. UNC would probably have a decent chance at beating a bad NBA team like the Sacramento Kings. That’s how good they are. Ty Lawson and Tyler Hansbrough will not be denied from their ultimate goal in their final game as Tar Heels. North Carolina will cuts down the nets for the second time in five seasons.

It was not a good Sunday for Philly sports teams. In a game that went back-and-forth for the first three quarters, the Sixers seemingly took control of the game in the fourth quarter, but let their lead slip away as they fell 101-97 to the Detroit Pistons. On the other hand, the Flyers dug themselves a deep hole during the first period, but were unable to completely climb out of it as the Boston Bruins held on for a 4-3 win. Both losses were pretty disappointing.

Let’s start with the Sixers, who led 89-83 with less than 10 minutes left in the game. However, the insertion of Amir Johnson helped spark Detroit’s 10-0 run that gave the Pistons the lead for good. Philly tried to claw its way back, but Richard Hamilton’s 15-footer with 14 seconds remaining sealed the 101-97 win. The Sixers argued that Hamilton had stepped out of bounds, but replays were inconclusive, so this is at least the second time this year (the first being Devin Harris’s half-court buzzer-beater) that inconclusive replays have cost Philly a win.

Andre Iguodala led the way for the Sixers with a game-high 27 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and two steals. Thaddeus Young continued to shine by pouring in 22 points with eight rebounds, three assists, and a steal. Andre Miller added 13 points, six assists, four rebounds, and a steal. Off the bench, Louis Williams chipped in 10 points, while Theo Ratliff (nine points and five rebounds) and Reggie Evans (five points and five rebounds) each provided valuable contributions in relief of Samuel Dalembert, who left in the first quarter with a leg injury.

Tayshaun Prince paced the Pistons with 21 points and three rebounds, while Rodney Stuckey added 16 points, five assists, and three rebounds. Hamilton chipped in 14 points, seven assists, and four rebounds, and Kwame Brown took advantage of the Dalembert-less Sixers for 13 points and five rebounds. Will Bynum led the charge off the bench with 12 points, five rebounds, and four assists. After missing the past 16 games with a back injury, Allen Iverson returned to the line-up with a pedestrian eight points, two assists, and two rebounds in 21 minutes. A.I. is one of my favorite players of all-time and is a sure-fire Hall of Famer, but the soon-to-be 34-year-old’s best days are clearly behind him. He’s currently in the midst of the worst season of his career, and with the beating that his small frame has taken during the past 13 seasons, it makes me wonder how many more years he’s actually got left in him.

With the loss, the Sixers remained in sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Philly currently trails Miami by 1.5 games for fifth place in the East. However, the Sixers have played one less game, so it is very important that they pick up a win in that game. Detroit is right behind Philly in the standings, and the Pistons trail the Sixers by 1.5 games.

The Sixers return home tomorrow night to take on the fourth-seeded Atlanta Hawks. In their last meeting back in early January, Philly crushed Atlanta 109-94.

Go Sixers!

Now, onto the Flyers, who are barely hanging onto the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference after they were defeated 4-3 by the Eastern Conference-leading Boston Bruins. This is definitely a tough loss. Besides the playoff implications, Philly had played so well in their previous two games against Boston that it is kind of a letdown that the Flyers couldn’t pick up their third win of the year over the Bruins.

Claude Giroux opened the scoring early in the first period by cleaning up a rebound to put Philly ahead 1-0. However, for the remainder of the period, it was all downhill for the Flyers. About six minutes later, Milan Lucic teamed with Michael Ryder on a 2-on-1 rush to tie it at 1-1. With the Bruins on a 5-on-3 power play, Dennis Wideman scored with a slap shot through a screen, and then Lucic added his second goal late in the period with a shot from the left circle that gave Boston a 3-1 lead heading into the first intermission.

Late in the second period, the Flyers cut their deficit to 3-2 when Mike Richards deflected Ryan Parent’s slap shot past Boston goalie Tim Thomas. However, the Bruins regained their two-goal advantage when former Flyer Mark Recchi poked in a rebound early in the third period to push Boston’s advantage to 4-2. Philly tried to rally late in the third when Simon Gagne scored during a scramble in front of Thomas, but the Flyers were unable to get the equalizer as they fell 4-3.

Thomas played a fantastic game in net for Boston, stopping 45 of the 48 shots that the Flyers fired in his direction. Antero Niittymaki, who had been very effective in his previous two games against Boston (i.e. 2-0 with 2 goals allowed in 103 minutes), struggled in his first start since March 15th and only stopped 27 of 31 shots. Niitty has now allowed four goals in three straight starts and four of his last five starts.

Despite the loss, the Flyers remain in fourth place in the East with 92 points. The surging Carolina Hurricanes (91 points), the red-hot Pittsburgh Penguins (90 points), and the always-dangerous New York Rangers 987 points) are right behind them and could easily overtake Philly if they happen to slip up. Luckily, the Flyers still have two games in hand over Carolina and one game in hand over both Pittsburgh and New York.

The Flyers return to the ice on Wednesday night when they travel to Toronto to battle the mediocre Maple Leafs. This is a must-win for Philly since they cannot afford to drop a game against an inferior opponent with the standings this tight. The Flyers handled the Leafs 4-1 during their last meeting back in January. It would be nice to see a repeat performance.

Let’s Go Flyers!

With their backs against the wall and a loss to the lowly New York Islanders appearing imminent, the Center City Line came to the Flyers’ rescue as Philly escaped Long Island with a 4-3 shootout victory. Despite being badly outplayed for much of the night, the Flyers somehow found a way to win and were able to keep pace in the Eastern Conference standings. The win was Philly’s fourth in five games, and the Flyers maintained their hold on fourth place in the East with 92 points over both the Carolina Hurricanes (91 points) and the Pittsburgh Penguins (90 points). However, Philly has three games in hand over the Canes and two games in hand over the Pens, so they will hopefully be able to get themselves some more separation.

The Islanders jumped out to an early lead late in the first period when Radek Martinek’s slap shot found its way past a screened Martin Biron to put New York up 1-0. The Isles almost added another first period tally, but Franz Nielsen’s apparent power-play goal was scored just after the horn sounded to end the first period. However, New York struck again early in the second period when Jeff Tambellini batted a waist-high into the net to make it 2-0 Islanders. It was a pretty impressive display of hand-eye coordination.

After showing absolutely nothing for the first two periods, the Flyers took control early in the third period and scored three goals in a 3:55 span. Joffrey Lupul opened the scoring for Philly with a hard wrist shot from the right side that went in off Yann Danis’s pad. A little over two minutes later, Scott Hartnell tied the game at 2-2 when he knocked in a rebound. Less than two minutes after Hartnell’s goal, Lupul lit the lamp again with a backhander to put the Flyers ahead 3-2. Philly’s lead was shortlived as Mark Streit scored just 32 seconds later to tie the game at 3-3.

Neither team scored in overtime, so the game moved to a shootout. Danny Briere and Mike Richards each scored shootout goals and Biron stopped two of the three shots that he faced to seal the win. For the game, Biron made 30 saves and picked up his 11th consecutive win over the Islanders. Danis stopped 33 of the 36 shots that he faced.

The Flyers won’t have any time to celebrate their win as they return home tonight to host the Boston Bruins. Philly has won two out of three against Beantown this year, including a 4-2 win on March 3rd. Hopefully, they’ll be able to pick up two more points against the Eastern Conference leaders.

Let’s Go Flyers!

Looking to remain ahead of the Miami Heat for fifth place in the Eastern Conference, the Sixers got off to an extremely slow start and were not able to finish off a late rally as they fell to the Charlotte Bobcats 100-95. The Bobcats raced out to a 50-33 halftime lead on the heels of 51.4% shooting, while the Sixers shot a mere 36% from the field. Charlotte also dominated Philly on the glass during the first two quarters, out-rebounding the Sixers 27-12. Philly made a late charge and pulled to within three with less than a minute left to play in the game courtesy of an Andre Iguodala three-pointer. However, Raymond Felton countered for Charlotte and scored on a driving lay-up with 7.9 seconds left to seal the 100-95 win.

Iguodala led the way for the Sixers with a game-high 25 points, three rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Thaddeus Young continued his outstanding stretch of play with 21 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals. In the month of March, Thad is averaging 21.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.2 steals per game. Over the past six games, he’s gotten a little bit better, averaging 23.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1.3 steals. On the season, Young is only averaging 15.2 points, 1.1 assists, and 1.3 steals, so he has definitely elevated his game down the stretch. Off the bench, Louis Williams poured in 14 points, while Reggie “2.9 points per game” Evans added 10 points. No other Sixer reached double figures in scoring.

Boris Diaw paced the Bobcats with 24 points, six assists, and a board. Felton poured in 20 points with five assists, two rebounds, and three steals, while Gerald Wallace picked up his 16th double-double of the year with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Former Sixer Raja Bell did a little bit of everything with 13 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and four steals. D.J. Augustin chipped in 13 points in 16 minutes off the bench.

The loss drops the Sixers into sixth place in the East. Philly is now a half game behind the fifth-place Heat, but has played one less game. The win moved the Bobcats to within 2.5 games of the Detroit Pistons for eighth place in the East.

The Sixers return to the court tomorrow night when they travel to Detroit to take on the Pistons. These two teams have only met once this year and Philly won the lone meeting 96-91. The Pistons have lost three in a row and seven of their last ten, so hopefully the Sixers will be able to take advantage of a slumping team.

Go Sixers!

The Flyers can’t seem to figure out how to beat the Florida Panthers. In their past two games against Florida, Philly has out-shot them 77-55, but has been outscored 7-4. In addition, the Flyers are 0-for-7 on the power play during those two contests, while the Panthers are 3-for-8. Despite the loss, the Flyers remain in fourth place in the Eastern Conference with 90 points, but the Carolina Hurricanes (89 points), Pittsburgh Penguins (88 points), and New York Rangers (87 points) are not far behind. However, the Flyers have three games in hand over Carolina and two games in hand over both Pittsburgh and New York, so hopefully they’ll be able to take advantage of those extra remaining games.

The Panthers took a 1-0 lead in the first period when Cory Stillman deflected Jay Bouwmeester’s shot from the point over Martin Biron’s shoulder for a power play goal. Philly evened the score in the second period when Jeff Carter fired a wrist shot past Florida’s back-up netminder Craig Anderson, who stopped 40 shots. The goal was Carter’s team-leading 41st of the season. The game didn’t remain tied for long as only 23 seconds later, Keith Ballard’s shot ricocheted off Biron’s pad and Radek Dvorak fired in the rebound for a 2-1 Panthers advantage. The Flyers answered with just 3.8 seconds left in the second period when Scott Hartnell received Carter’s pass from behind the net and lit the lamp on Scott Hartnell Wig Night as the teams entered the intermission tied 2-2.

Early in the third period, Brett McLean scored the go-ahead goal when Flyers defenseman Andrew Alberts turned the puck over in his zone, and McLean took took advantage of a wide-open rebound in front of Biron, who made 24 saves. Despite the fact that Philly fired 15 shots during the final period, they couldn’t find the back of the net. David Booth sealed Florida’s 4-2 win with an empty-net, power-play goal with 32.5 seconds remaining.

The Flyers return to the ice tomorrow night when they hit the road to take on the New York Islanders. The last time that these two teams met, it was a Valentine’s Day massacre for the Isles as the Flyers rolled to a 5-1 win. Philly cannot afford another loss to a non-playoff team.

Let’s Go Flyers!