The Sixers continued with their ridiculously busy off season Monday by signing fifteen year veteran shooter Donyell Marshall.
Marshall, a Reading, PA native, has averaged 11.4 points per game and 6.8 rebounds in his career. He has played for eight teams, including the Toronto Rapters, with whom he set an NBA record with 12 three-pointers against the Sixers in 2005.
Marshall is a proficient shooter with a power forward’s body. He is 6′9, 230-pounds. He averaged 42% from beyond the arc in 2004-2005 and is part of GM Ed Stefanski’s plan to make the Sixers a better three-point shooting team after they were last in the league in 2007-2008.
So far this off-season the Sixers have signed Elton Brand, Kareem Rush, Royal Ivey, Theo Ratliff and re-signed Andre Iguodala and Lou Williams.
The Phillies continue to toil with our delicate emotions, first getting swept in an embarrassing fashion and then turning around and winning their next three series. After playing like a Single-A winterball team against the Dodgers in LA, the Phillies managed to take two out of three against both the Padres and Nationals. (In reality they should have swept both those last place teams but we’ll take series wins however they come at this point.) Then the Dodgers came to town for another four game set and so far the Phillies have shut them down, winning the first three games. Sunday night’s game was won in dramatic fashion off the recently mended bat of Pedro Feliz, who tied the game up in the 9th inning and then hit a walk-off home run in the 11th.
The Phillies continue to receive spectacular pitching from their starting rotation, including Jamie Moyer’s league leading 14th game in a row without allowing more than three runs in a …
Sixers’ General Manager Ed Stefansky continues to show a bold and aggressive nature not often seen in Philadelphia outside of the Flyers with the announcement that they have signed veteran center Theo Ratliff to a one-year deal at the veteran’s minimum of $1.4 million.
Ratliff, who played for the Sixers from 1997 to 2001, was reportedly offered more money to play elsewhere but preferred to return to Philadelphia. Even though he was not on the Sixers’ roster when they made it to the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers in 2001, Ratliff was a key component of the Larry Brown renaissance.
Since leaving the Sixers, Ratliff has played for Atlanta, Portland, Boston, Minnesota, and Detroit last season. He has career averages of 7.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.6 blocks.
Signing an additional big man was made a major priority two weeks ago when back up center Jason Smith tore his ACL.
Ratliff brings veteran experience to one of the youngest teams in the league, as well as …
The Philadelphia 76ers and star forward Andre Iguodala are reportedly close to a 6 year deal worth $80 million. While it is largely assumed that the deal will be completed either Wednesday or Thursday, there has been no official comment.
Sixers’ GM Ed Stefanski has repeatedly stated that negotiations were progressing, but that there is nothing to report. On vacation in California, Stefanski attended Tuesday’s Phillies Dodgers game, and when asked by Phillies’ broadcaster Tom McCarthy on whether a deal had been finalized as had been reported, he replied that
“Right now we’re still negotiating. I hope it comes to fruition, but there’s no deal yet.”
The Iguodala signing would cap off a very busy off-season for Stefanski, who has so far lured free agent Elton Brand from the Los Angeles Clippers, re-signed restricted free agent guard Lou Williams, and signed free-agent guard Royal Ivey and Kareem Rush.
Getting a deal done with Iguodala, who was …
Despite a sputtering offense, the Phillies remained in first place this week, two games up on New York Mets. The Phils’ offense continues to look lost, and at one point this week went 23 innings without scoring a run, despite facing less than stellar opposing pitching.
The Phillies lost two games to the Florida Marlins, who are just a half a game back of the Mets in the National League East standings, despite facing three pitchers with less than 20 starts between them this season. The Phillies’ offense got starting pitcher Jamie Moyer his first career loss to the Marlins, despite allowing only two runs on Tuesday. On Thursday they were shutout by Chris Volstad, who was making his fifth career start. Volstad didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning, when opposing pitcher Cole Hamels lined a single to center with two outs.
The Phillies’ incomprehensible woes continued on Friday against the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates and Paul Maholm. Maholm went seven shutout innings and struck out a career high 10 batters, including five in …
The Philadelphia 76ers 08-09 season schedule was announced and it could be considered news worthy for a couple of reasons. One reason being The 76ers will play one final game at The Spectrum before it is brought to the ground. On Friday, March 13 at 7:00pm, the Sixers will take on the Chicago Bulls in the building that holds a rich history for Philadelphia. It is in that building the 76ers won games 1 and 2 on the way to winning their last NBA championship in 1983. I’m personally glad to see the 76ers team and staff pay their respects in this their 60th anniversary season.
Another notable tidbit about The Sixers schedule is that this year 7 games will be on national television. I think that is slightly more national exposure than last year and after sneaking into the playoffs they deserve it. The games shown on national tv will be played against: Orlando (twice) , Cleveland , A.I. and the Denver Nuggets , Chicago …
Philadelphia 76ers’ back up center Jason Smith tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during a Las Vegas NBA camp. The injury will require surgery and Smith could miss the entire 2008-2009 season, according to his agent, Marc Bartelstein.
“It’s unfortunate that this happened, but Jason is resilient and he’ll receive the best treatment available,” said Sixers general manager Ed Stefanski. “I was there, along with coach Cheeks and Tony DiLeo, when the injury occurred, which was during a routine, five-on-five drill at an NBA-approved camp held in Las Vegas. There was no contact made with Jason when he suffered the injury.”
Stefanski added that the Sixers would begin exploring their options to add an additional big man to the roster.
Smith, from Colorado State, was the first-round draft pick of the Miami Heat (20th overall) in the 2007 NBA Draft. The 76ers immediately traded for Smith, sending their pick, Daequan Cook, a 2009 second-round pick, and cash to Miami.
In his rookie season with the Sixers, Smith …
It was finally a good week for the Phillies, who start this week in first place in the National League East standings, two and a half games up on the second place Florida Marlins and three games up on the third place New York Mets.
The Phillies won five out of six games this week, including a three game sweep of the last place Washington Nationals. The Phillies have succeeded in large part due to an effective balance of timely hitting and efficient pitching. In the past week alone, formerly dormant Chase Utley has three home runs with six RBIs, batting .364 during that time. Likewise, outfielders Pat Burrell and Shane Victorino have six RBIs each, as well as a number of clutch hits, including the go ahead four runs in Sunday’s victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Slugger Ryan Howard is batting .333 over the past week, as is struggling outfielder Geoff Jenkins.
Brett Myers had two starts this week, and finally looks like he …
The Philadelphia 76ers have signed restricted-free agent guard Lou Williams to a five-year contract. Williams, 21, was the Sixers six-man last season and contributed in a big way off the bench posting career highs in points (11.5), assists (3.2), rebounds (2.1), and steals (1.0). He was also a main contributor in the playoffs, averaging 12 points in 22 minutes.
“We are very excited that we have reached an agreement with Lou Williams,” said Sixers general manager Ed Stefanski. “He is not only a very talented player who exemplifies our up-tempo style of play, but he is also a young man who exhibits great character and qualities off the court as well. We look forward to having him in a Sixers uniform for many years to come.”
Williams joined the Sixers fresh out of high school when they nabbed him with their second round pick (45th overall), in 2005.
With “Sweet Lou” under contract, the only remaining Sixer not signed is guard Andre Iguodala. Iguodala, who started …
This past week started very poorly for the Phillies but ended on a high note.
Coming off a tough series with the Florida Marlins in which the Fightin Phils lost the final two games, including a gem thrown by ace Cole Hamels, the Phillies rolled into Flushing hoping to put some distance between them and the Mets. Mission accomplished, sort of. After one of the most amazing comebacks in recent history, the Phillies failed to capitalize on the momentum built from winning the series opener and looked flat the following two games. The Phils won one inning, while the Mets won 26 innings. The Phils simply lucked out and won the right inning, avoiding a sweep.
On top of their struggles on the field, the Phils have had to deal with some off the field issues as well. Reigning MVP Jimmy Rollins was late to Saturday’s game and was summarily benched by manager Charlie Manuel for breaking team rules.
After the debacle in New York, the Phillies came home to face the Atlanta Braves a game …
Comcast SportsNet is reporting that the Sixers have agreed to terms with guard Kareem Rush. The announcement is expected for Tuesday.
In 71 games last season with Indiana, Rush averaged 8.3 points in 21.2 minutes per game and shot 38.9 percent from three.
Rush was drafted by Toronto in 2002 out of Missouri. He has averaged 6.8 points per game and shot 36 percent from three in five seasons with the Lakers, Bobcats and Pacers.
According to the Philadelphia Daily News, the Sixers have agreed to a two year deal with free agent guard Royal Ivey, although the deal will not be official until Monday.
Ivey spent last season with the Milwaukee Bucks. In 75 games, Ivey averaged 5.6 points and 2.1 assists in just over 19 minutes per game.
He has spent four years in the NBA since being drafted out of Texas in 2004. He spent his first three seasons with the Atlanta Hawks.
Ivey finished his college career as the Longhorns’ all-time leader in starts with 126 in 133 games. During his time in Texas, the Longhorns reached the NCAA Tournament four times and the Sweet Sixteen three times.
