All games are created equal, but some are more equal than others.

The Sixers' 97-85 win over the Chicago Bulls Monday night only counts as a single victory in the standings, but the impact that it will have on a young team over the rest of the season is immeasurable.

"When we got together at 9:30 this morning, we won the game," said a beaming Collins after the victory. "We talked about what we believe in, how we do things and how we wouldn't waver from them... I could not be more proud of this team."

It's been an eventful week for Doug Collins and his charges, to say the least. Last Friday, they took their talents to South Beach and battled the Miami Heat in a possible playoff preview. Despite a 16-point second quarter lead, the Sixers couldn't stop Dwyane Wade (39 points) down the stretch and lost to the Heat 111-99.

Against Sacramento on Sunday, not only did the team come out flat, but they wasted several chances to put the Kings away early, and wound up on the wrong end of a 114-111 overtime defeat. After the game, 76ers guard Lou Williams alluded to the fact that he and several teammates attended a Lil' Wayne concert the night before, possibly contributing to the loss.


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Could Philly have a rising superstar in Jodie Meeks?


Early in his postgame press conference on Friday night, Sixers' coach Doug Collins smiled and offered the following:

"Jodie... welcome back."

Those three words pretty much captured the sentiment of every Sixers' fan who watched Friday as Jodie Meeks scored 24 points to lead the 76ers to a 105-99 victory over the Chicago Bulls at the Wells Fargo Center.

Meeks, who had scored a total of 14 points in his last four games prior to last night, was aggressive early, attacking the rim and scoring 10 points in the first quarter. His teammates had some extra bounce in their step as well, eager to avenge the embarrassing 121-76 loss that the Bulls handed to them back on December 21.

However, the Bulls were just as hot at the start, shooting nearly 62 percent in the first quarter and leading the Sixers 30-28 after 12 minutes. Most of the Bulls' damage came from inside as they scored 24 points in the paint in the first quarter alone.

Despite trailing by as many as nine points in the second quarter, the Sixers hung with the Bulls in the first half, finding themselves only behind by two - 56-54 - as the teams headed into the locker room at halftime.

After intermission, the Sixers made their move - they connected on their first nine shots in the third quarter, outscoring the Bulls 32-18 in the period, bolstered by a 12-0 run. As a team, they shot 14-for-18 in the 3rd, with Meeks leading the way with 9 points.

"We've been getting off to a slow start in the third quarter sometimes," said Meeks after the game. "So we tried to get a good warmup [at halftime], and tried to make a statement in the first four minutes of the third quarter. I think we did that."

Recently, there's been some consternation among Sixers' fans regarding the team's starting two-guard spot. Evan Turner appears to be the most logical candidate, but he doesn't shoot nearly well enough. And even when healthy, Andre Iguodala - who is dealing with a nagging injury to his right Achilles' - is more comfortable operating at the 3 position.

Which is why Meeks, a second-year guard out of the University of Kentucky, is currently in the Sixers' starting lineup. And despite the fact that Meeks is the very definition of a "streaky shooter", he will occasionally give you performances such as the one that was on display Friday.

Early on last night, it appeared as though the Sixers' lineup woes were only going to get worse. Small forward Andres Nocioni fractured and dislocated his right middle finger midway through the first quarter. After going back to the locker room and having it taped/reset, he later returned to start the second half.

But despite the broken finger, Nocioni single-handedly - no pun intended - closed the door on the Bulls in the game's final moments. After Lou Williams missed a jumper with 17.9 seconds left and the Sixers leading 102-99, Nocioni grabbed the rebound, was fouled, and knocked down two free throws to effectively put the game away.

Perhaps the most impressive part of the win is that it came despite the fact that the Bulls' stars played remarkably well. All-everything point guard Derrick Rose dazzled the 15,303 in attendance on his way to 27 points and 9 assists.

Carlos Boozer had his way inside, scoring 31 points on 14-for-19 shooting, and chipping in 13 rebounds for good measure. And Luol Deng was extremely active, finishing with 22 points and 5 rebounds.

But despite their scoring prowess, the Bulls had no answer for the Sixers' guards, especially when it came to defending the pick-and-roll. Meeks, Jrue Holiday and Lou Williams combined for 63 points, and routinely had their way with the Bulls' backcourt on the offensive end.

As they head out to Detroit to face the Pistons on Saturday, the Sixers, whose record now stands at 15-21, are now 10-6 this season at the Wells Fargo Center.

To borrow a phrase from Animal Farm, for the Sixers, every win is equal, but some are more equal than others. Especially a win against a team that had run them out of the gym less than three weeks earlier.

"When you get beat by a team by 45 and you come back and are able to win that game, it's a hell of a win," said Collins.
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The Sixers went from 3-13 to 13-21; good for 9th place.


Who says you can't go home?

After two-and-a-half grueling weeks, the Sixers have finally returned to Philadelphia after concluding their longest road trip of the season. While their 3-5 record on the journey isn't all that remarkable, the trip could be considered moderately successful, given the circumstances.

Andre Iguodala missed the last four games of the trip due to a sore right Achilles' tendon. Lou Williams didn't play in two games due to the birth of his daughter, and Spencer Hawes was out against the New Orleans Hornets on Monday night because of back spasms.

A 4-4 record under any conditions would be a great road trip. But to pull out three wins when 3 of the top 6 guys in your rotation miss time is a pretty decent effort.

On and off of the court, the past eight games have been an adventure, if nothing else. It all began in Orlando on December 18, with the Sixers pulling out a victory against a Magic team that had traded away nearly half of its team earlier that day.

Three nights later, the Sixers were blown out by the Chicago Bulls 121-76. But much to everyone's surprise, they fought the Boston Celtics tooth-and-nail the following night, and only lost by four points, 84-80.

They alternated wins and losses for the next four games until they arrived in the Staples Center on New Year's Eve. Without Andre Iguodala, and with Kobe looking to improve on his 9-point effort in the teams' first meeting earlier this year, it didn't bode well for Doug Collins's squad.

So, of course, they found themselves tied with the Los Angeles Lakers with 90 seconds to go before Bryant iced the game with a 12-footer - the game-winning basket in a 102-98 Lakers' win.

On Monday night, the Sixers looked every bit of a team that was just playing out the string. "Lifeless" would be the best word to describe their performance during the final three quarters against the Hornets, finishing the game 19-for-66 from the field.

Despite all of that, the Sixers return to the Wells Fargo Center 13-21, solidly in the 9th spot in the Eastern Conference - pretty much where they were when the trip started. But even after these past 17 days, we haven't learned much about the team that we didn't already know.

34 games into the season, Evan Turner remains an enigma. In Phoenix on December 29, he had his best game of the year, scoring 23 points in the Sixers' 123-110 victory. However, in the other seven games of the road trip, he shot a combined 16-for-62 (25.8 percent) and even racked up a DNP-CD (Did Not Play - Coach's Decision) against the Boston Celtics on December 22.

Simply put, Evan Turner doesn't do anything exceptionally well. He's a solid defender who gives you 100% effort, and he rebounds well for his size. However, he isn't a very good shooter (38.8 percent on the season) whose jump shot is somewhat of a liability.

With Iguodala out for at least another three games, Turner should get some additional experience that will prove invaluable down the road. But there are and will be some growing pains - a side effect that many fans didn't expect with a player selected #2 overall in this year's draft.

On the flip side, Thaddeus Young appears to be developing rather nicely under the tutelage of Doug Collins. Despite his decreased scoring output (11.7 PPG vs. 13.8 last season), Young is a more effective player than ever, shooting a career-high 54.2 percent from the field.

Unfortunately, he's stuck in a logjam at small forward with Iguodala, Turner and Andres Nocioni. So that, along with the fact that the Sixers decided not to extend his deal earlier this season, means that Young might take his emerging game elsewhere next season.

One young star who won't be leaving any time soon is Jrue Holiday. One of the benefits of hiring a former point guard as a head coach (Collins) is the fact that he can impart his wisdom on a player such as Holiday, who is fast become one of the better PGs in the East.

He's second on the team in scoring at 14.3 points per game, and his assist-to-turnover ratio is an impressive 2.4 to 1. Holiday is clearly part of the team's foundation, and as he grows, so will the Sixers.

The 76ers will have plenty of chances to grow over the next few weeks. With a travel-heavy schedule early in the season (20 of 34 games have been on the road), comes a reward. 27 of the Sixers' final 48 games are at the Wells Fargo Center, where they've played pretty well this year (8-6).

Even though the roster is the same, this is a different team than the one that started the season 3-13. So with the help of a little home cooking, Doug Collins and his young squad could finally start to put it all together.
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Looks like the Sixers are who we thought they were.


Not even Michael Vick could have engineered a comeback for the Sixers Tuesday night.

There have been plenty of bad losses for Doug Collins's young team this season, but none come close to the 121-76 massacre they suffered at the hands of the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday at the United Center.

While Andre Iguodala led the Sixers with 17 points, he had little help from his teammates as the Bulls pretty much did whatever they wanted to on both ends of the court.

Derrick Rose and Luol Deng each scored 22 for the Bulls, who were hitting on all cylinders Tuesday night. As a team, Chicago shot 64.5 percent from the field, scored 31 points off of turnovers and also added 28 fastbreak points for good measure.

On the flip side, the Sixers shot an embarrassingly low 35 percent from the floor, and made only two of their 15 3-point attempts. Aside from Iguodala, the rest of the team shot 20-for-66 from the field.

In his first game in Chicago as a pro, Evan Turner saw his most extensive action in quite some time. He finished the game with 6 points (on 2-for-11 shooting) and 3 assists in nearly 30 minutes of action.

Of course, he was able to get so much run because he and the rest of his teammates were figuratively run off of the court fairly early on.

It was clear that the Sixers were lacking energy shortly after the opening tip. The Bulls shot 62% from the field in the 1st quarter, en route to a 33-19 lead after 12 minutes. Despite missing Joakim Noah (who recently underwent thumb surgery), Chicago dominated on the glass in the first period, out-rebounding the Sixers 12-5.

While the second quarter played out to a relative draw, things got out of hand after intermission. The Sixers were outscored 31-11 in the third period, turning the ball over 7 times in the quarter and looking completely out of sync.

The Bulls pushed the lead to as high as 51 in the 4th quarter as both teams emptied their respective benches. Collins knew early on that his team wasn't going to mark this one down in the win column.

"I knew the first three minutes of the game - we had no juice," said Collins. "I looked at our coaches and said 'Our guys, they're just not there tonight.'"

The 121 points were the most the Sixers have allowed in a road game all year. In addition, the 45-point spread is the largest margin of victory in the NBA so far this season.

Three days after beating the Orlando Magic to kick off their road trip, it looked as if the Sixers might have a shot to catch the Bulls off-guard, especially with Chicago missing its leading rebounder in Noah. But, to put it politely, that clearly wasn't the case Tuesday night.

The good news is that the Sixers have less than 24 hours to dwell on Tuesday night's loss with another game on tap tonight. The bad news is that Wednesday's game is against the Boston Celtics, winners of 13 straight.

Including the Chicago debacle, the Sixers are 8-4 in their last 12 contests. So based on that sample size, this game seems like more of an outlier than anything else.

The true test is seeing how fast they can regain the form they've shown over the past three weeks. That test begins tomorrow in Boston.

"This is not indicative of the way we've been playing or our effort or anything like that," said Collins. "So I would expect our guys to bounce back."
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