Draft Report: Sixers get their guy

For the past week leading up to the draft, mock drafts had the Philadelphia 76ers selecting small forward Rodney Carney of Memphis with the 13th pick. When it was all over, they had their guy, but not the conventional way.

When their name was called, the Sixers passed on Carney in favor of Thabo Sefolosha from Switzerland. After the Bulls selected Carney with the 16th pick, the Sixers traded the rights to Sefolosha to Chicago for Carney and cash.

Later in the evening, Philly traded for another small forward, Bobby Jones of Washington. Jones had been selected by the Timberwolves with the 37th pick.

To round out their night, the Sixers traded cash to the Raptors for the rights to the No. 56 Edin Bavcic. The Bosnian center who has shooting range will likely stay in Europe for a couple of seasons.

All in all, not a bad night. Though, between now and the tip-off of the 2006-2007 NBA season, expect some fireworks out of Philadelphia.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Phillies Pitching

This is the initial offering of a new series I'm going to feature, "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly." Seeing that it's baseball season, what a better way to start than by examining the Philadelphia Phillies' cache of arms.

The Good: The Phillies have the third best bullpen in baseball, and just added another veteran arm in Cincinnati castaway Rick White. Closer Tom Gordon is tied for fifth in the majors with 20 saves, and sporting a nifty 1.47 ERA. He also has 40 Ks in only 30.2 innings. Another offseason addition, Arthur Rhodes, is tied for second in the big leagues with 15 holds, an important stat for setup men.

The Bad: For as good as the relief pitching is, the starting pitching is equally bad if not worse. In fact, the starting rotation (if eight pitchers is still considered a rotation and not a platoon) is the worst in the league. In May, every eye in the city turned to Cole Hamels as the savior. Here we are in June and he's sporting a record of 1-3 (three straight losses). Not exactly the answer we were hoping for. The rotation has a combined record of 24-27, with a gaudy 6.05 ERA. That'd be fine if Philly had the lineup of the Yankees...but they don't.

The Ugly: As if being the "Ace" of a woeful pitching staff wasn't embarrassing enough, the Phillies Brett Myers proved this week that he is a despicable person. On Friday, Boston police arrested Myers, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 240 pounds, for beating his wife on a local street. Reports of the incident said that Myers pulled his wife by the hair and struck her in the face. The Phillies, who are a reflection of their manager Charlie Manuel, hopeless, need to take action and suspend Myers after today's start.

Technorati Tags:Phillies,Brett Myers,Tom Gordon

Second at best

After witnessing my third (live) Phillies game this season, I'm sad to say that the team will finish no better than second. With the division leading Mets (and about 15,000 of their fans) in town through tomorrow, the fight-less Phils are reeling. After another embarrassing loss, they sit 8.5 games back at 33-32.

The reasons for this season's demise are obvious. The starters can't pitch. There's only so much a fielder can do. Brett Myers (4-3) is promising and Cole Hamels (1-1) looked brilliant in his first three starts, though horrid in his last one.

Through today, seven different pitchers have started for the Phillies, going a combined 22-22. That's not exactly playoff material. They also boast a 5.91 ERA. Will it get better? We'll have to wait until Saturday to see if an eighth pitcher, Scott Mathieson of Double-A Reading, can help move this rotation to respectability.

But the problem for the Phillies goes deeper than the players. Charlie Manuel has lost the respect of the fans and seemingly the players. Just the other day, while discussing a certain pitch, he and Hamels had an "in-the-press" disagreement. The energy level of the players, with the exception of a few, has been lackluster. That's a sign of an unmotivated ballclub; one without respect for their mentor.

Case in point: Bobby Abreu is playing like the Phillies are sitting 30 games up in first place. To get the attention of fans and players, he should be traded for a talented arm (maybe Scott Kazmir of Tampa Bay). For the money Abreu's making, he should be lighting the place up every night.

Maybe it's me and maybe I'm sour over the taste of another loss to the Mets, but the Phillies have got to make a real change. Manuel and Abreu must go.

Technorati Tags:Phillies,Charlie Manuel,Bobby Abreu

Draft can't cure Sixers ills

On the eve of the NBA Finals, the 76ers are preparing to watch it at home for the 22nd time in 23 years. But later this month, comes the draft, a day when all of the lovable losers of the NBA pick up their newest saviors and goats.

Although a part of me wants to keep hope alive for a great pick, the Sixers really have no shot of fixing their problems. GM Billy King's picks since 2000 have been lackluster role players at best, with only one flashing signs worthy of a first-round draft pick (Andre Iguodala).

What the team needs is a trade. Allen Iverson and Chris Webber are obvious choices. Some fans I've talked to have said that trading AI will lead to years of cellar dwelling. If you don't make the playoffs with him, who cares if they're in third or last?

Iverson is still a great player and one of the best draws around the league. Even so, with the money that he brought in, the 76ers have never been able to find a running mate that can coexist with him (see Jerry Stackhouse, Keith Van Horn, Larry Hughes...even Chris Webber). Speaking with a former Sixer a few years ago, I was told, flat out, that "Philadelphia will never win a title with AI in town."

It was blunt, but I'm beginning to believe it, with sadness. Since he's arrived in town, AI has played the game harder than anyone I can remember. He gives a total effort on every play, which makes his on-court life admirable. Off the court, Iverson's had his media troubles, but nothing truly serious.

Although Webber can still score, he's a shadow of his former self. For as long as I can remember, he's been a player long on talent, but short on game presence. The Webber experiment in Philadelphia should be put out of its misery.

Speaking of needing to be put out of its misery, maybe it's the Billy King era. He was even outdone this season by Clippers GM Elgin Baylor. When that happens, it's time to go. Some people might ask, well who could replace him? I'm sure there are some assistant GMs somewhere looking to move on, or maybe Larry Brown would want to come back and finish the job. But two less obvious choices could be Julius Erving and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Both are part of the 50 greatest players of all time, and have front office and scouting experience.

With King making the choice on June 28, and a shower-deep draft pool, another mediocre player is surely on his way. Cheers to standing pat...in the middle of the pack.

Technorati Tags:Allen Iverson,Chris Webber,76ers