Eagles, Celtics, Miller vs Kidd, Braves, etc

Random Thoughts:

The biggest play of yesterday's Eagles' win, and of David Akers' career, may have been on the opening play when Akers pushed kick returner Ahmad Bradshaw out of bounds to prevent a touchdown. Actually "push" may be too strong a word.

Including Friday night's pasting in Cleveland, the Celtics have lost 7 of 10. If Jim Stefanksi were calling the shots in Beantown, he would probably seek a "new direction" and fire Doc Rivers.

So far in the off-season, the Atlanta Braves failed to sign Rafael Furcal and lost John Schmoltz to the Red Sox. Coming off a horrible season, the Braves need to make some moves to challenge the Phils, Mets and Marlins but so far they're coming up empty.

Who's the better point guard, Jason Kidd or Andre Miller? Kidd certainly has the higher profile but Miller is the choice here.

The popularity of Dick Vitale is one of the great mysteries of western civilization ranking right up there with the Bermuda Triangle and the mysterious UFO crash near Roswell, New Mexico.

Before North Carolina lost their conference opener to Boston College, they were virtually conceded the number 1 ranking and given an outside shot to be the first team in 33 years to run the table. On Sunday, NC lost again, this time to Wake Forest. The ACC is looking very strong and it's not inconceivable that Carolina could end up no better than third, or even fourth in their own conference behind Duke, Wake Forest and Clemson. The Tar Heels are a very good, and very deep team, but probably not as good as their hype. Hansbrough and Lawson, in particular, have been oversold.

Duke handily beat Davidson last week. Davidson's star Stephen Curry scored scored 29 points but 21 came in the second half when the game was all but decided. What was curious was that Curry took only one shot in the first 10 minutes of the game, even though he was not double-teamed. He insisted on repeatedly forcing passes to teammates which often resulted in turnovers. He didn't shoot much more in the remainder of the first half as Duke built up a commanding lead. It was a very odd performance from presumably the most potent offensive weapon in the college ranks.

Sixers Offer Little Resistance to Celtics

The Sixers played the best team in the world last night and the results were entirely predictable. In the Tony DiLeo era, the team has beaten two bad teams, lost to a bad team, and lost to a great team. It was certainly hard to find any silver linings in Boston. Curiously, the Sixers got off to a fast start, as they have repeatedly this season. In the first quarter, Andres Miller and Iguodala were white hot, finishing off fast breaks, Iguodala above the rim and Miller with his clever below-the-rim maneuvers. But like a comet burning itself out, it was downhill from there. From then on, it was the Celtics on the run and the Sixers in slow motion. It hardly seemed to matter whether the coach was Cheeks or DiLeo, or whether Brand or Green were in the lineup or not.

Aside from the first quarter last night, the Philly offense continues to struggle for its identity. Look no further than Reggie Evans outscoring Thaddeus Young 12 to 7 and Evans accomplishing this in half as many minutes as Young. Thaddeus, who started the season well, has been floundering for weeks, reduced to a long-range shooter which he decidedly is not. Until this Sixer team figures out how to get Young involved in the offense to the tune of at least 15 points a night, they are not going to succeed.

The three-point line continues to be a nemesis for the Sixers, at both ends of the court. They shot 0-11 last night, their second consecutive shutout. Perhaps even more damaging, they allowed 7-14 shooting from the Celtics. Admittedly, Boston creates many matchup problems, but this has been a problem against other teams as well.

But make no mistake, these Celtics are at the top of their game as they make history. It's hard to see what could derail them aside from major injury.

Brand Injury Lets Stefanski Off the Hook

One of the ironies of the Elton Brand injury is that it muddies any attempt to compare the DiLeo era with the Cheeks era. Or is it the DiLeo/Stefanski era? If the Sixers should struggle for the next month or so, it can be excused because of Brand's absence. If they should find their groove, would it confirm they are a better team without Brand, or that they run more effectively without brand, or that DiLeo's "attention to detail" is paying off? Or would it show that minus Elton, Mo Cheeks could have built on the success that earned him two contract extensions last season? Etc, etc, etc. In any case, it probably gives Stefanski some cover for the Cheeks firing since it's so hard to make any straight-up comparison.

Quick Takes:

The Boston Celtics are looking scary good right now and are on track to be on a 19 game winning streak going into the their Christmas day matchup with the Lakers. The emergence of Rajon Rondo as a scorer as well as a defender, playmaker and yes rebounder has provided Doc Rivers with offensive and defensive balance coaches dream about.

The NBA and the NFL each have seven teams with winning percentages under .300. This makes for a lot of uncompetitive games. Clearly both leagues have too many teams and not enough quality players. If parity is truly a goal of the leagues, they have a funny way of showing it. The NBA in particular should do some soul-searching. Last year, two perennial doormats - Memphis and Minnesota - provided key players (Gasol and Garnett) to the eventual championship finalists, the Celtics and Lakers, while receiving virtually nothing in return. It may be a truism that the rich tend to get richer but this was ridiculous.