Philadelphia Review 12/22/06-1/6/07

Philadelphia Flyers (8-22-4, 20 points)

5^th in the Atlantic

15^th in the Eastern Conference

30^th in the NHL

Past two weeks:

12/9 vs. WSH- L 5-3

12/12 vs. NYR- L 3-1

12/13 @ PIT- L 8-4

12/16 @ WSH L 4-1

12/19 vs. CAR L 2-1

12/21 vs. MON L- 4-2

Next two weeks:

12/23 vs. OTT

12/27 @ FLA

12/28 @ TB

12/31 @ CAR

1/2 @ NYI

1/4 @ NYR

Not much to say about these guys. 8 straight losses, seven of them coming in regulation. They just can’t play competitive hockey right now. They’re 4 points behind the next worst team in the league overall and 12 behind the next worst team in the East. Ouch.

During the week, the team made a couple of trades. They sent Freddy Meyer and a 3^rd round pick to the Islanders for Alexi Zhitnik, and then called the Isles right back a day later and traded Randy Robitaille and a 5^th round pick for Mike York. The first trade I thought was a pretty bad idea. Meyer could easily be a 2^nd pair D-Man for us, and even though he was struggling a little, he’s one of our younger players and we could’ve used him. Zhitnik doesn’t have much left in the tank. The second trade was pretty good. Robitaille is an older player who wasn’t contributing much. York is only 28 and is a pretty good player. We could either trade him down the road at the deadline, or extend his contract and keep a decent forward. Maybe the Flyers just plan on spinning Zhitnik to someone else at the deadline, but that trade just didn’t make sense to me.

Peter Forsberg continues to miss time with a concussion he suffered a week ago. Robert Esche should be returning from his surgery soon to give Niittymaki some relief. Gauthier and especially Rathje have a while to go to come back, and both Mike Richards and Sanderson are missing a few weeks because of sports hernia injuries.

The Flyers are beginning a pretty long road trip. They can either step up their game and play some actual competitive hockey, or they can fall into an even bigger hole. This is almost the same team that won a lot of games last year, so it’s hard to see what’s wrong. These next couple weeks will say a lot about their season.

Philadelphia 76ers (5-19)

5th in the Atlantic

15th in the Eastern Conference

30th in the NBA

Last two weeks:

12/9 @ ORL- L 86-84

12/11 vs. POR L 81-79

12/13 vs. BOS L 101-81

12/15 @ DAL L 93-79

12/16 @ SA L 103-98

12/20 vs. IND L 101-93

Next two weeks:

12/22 @ BOS

12/23 vs. NY

12/26 @ GS

12/27 @ SAC

12/29 @ POR

12/31 @ LAL

1/2 @ DEN

1/3 @ UTA

1/5 @ MIN

Well, the Sixers finally officially screwed up. Iverson was finally traded this week. He’s headed to Denver and coming back are Andre Miller and Joe Smith plus picks. The trade wasn’t bad because it’ll go a long way to help rebuild the team. Whatever. I talked about AI in my article below this, check it out.

The Sixers are going on a west coast swing that they’re sure to struggle on. Nothing to do now but let the young guys get a lot of minutes, let Andre help develop Iggy and Carney and hope for Oden.

The Sixers aren’t as far off the pace as the Flyers are, but they’re still clearly the worst team in the league. I expect Charlotte to gel and play better soon, and Gasol coming back will do a lot for Memphis.

Philadelphia Phillies

- Signed OF Jayson Werth

- Signed C Rod Barajas

I understand the need for a third catcher. It’ll allow Coste to get more at bats as a pinch hitter and play around the field more. I hope the team upgrades the outfield even further besides getting Werth, who I’m not sure about. There’s upside there, but he can’t be relied on.

Big Five + One Basketball

Drexel Dragons (7-2, 0-0)

6^th in Colonial Athletic Association

Last two weeks:

12/9 @ VILL- W 81-76

12/19 @ #21 CUSE- W 84-79

Next two weeks:

12/22 @ TEMP

12/28 vs. GMU

1/3 @ GSU

La Salle Explorers (6-2)

5^th in Atlantic 10

Last two weeks:

12/16 @ CCSU- W 86-73

12/20 vs. MORG ST- W 102-76

Next two weeks:

12/23 vs. VILL

12/28 vs. HC

12/29 vs. DEL

12/30 vs. NIAG

1/3 @ RI

Pennsylvania Quakers (6-4)

3^rd in Ivy League

Last two weeks:

12/9 vs. FORD- L 77-60

12/21 vs. ILL-CHI W 90-78

Next two weeks:

12/23 @ SHU

1/3 @ #2 UNC

St. Joseph’s Hawks (6-4)

8^th in Atlantic 10

Last two weeks:

12/9 @ LOUIS- L 74-64

12/10 @ OHIO- L 79-72

12/19 vs. MARY’S- W 55-51

Next two weeks:

12/28 vs. HOF

1/3 vs. DUQ

Temple Owls (5-3)

7^th in Atlantic 10

Last two weeks:

12/9 vs. CIN- L 80-71

12/16 @ TOW- W 75-70

12/19 @ BALL ST- W 75-70

Next two weeks:

12/22 vs. DREX

12/28 vs. LAF

12/30 @ VILL

½ @ #6 DUKE

Villanova Wildcats (8-2)

7th in Big East

Last two weeks:

12/9 vs. DREX- L 81-76

12/20 vs. RIDER- W 108-61

Next two weeks:

12/23 @ LAS

12/30 vs. TEMP

1/3 @ WVU

In the next couple weeks, there’s a handful of city games. Temple will take on Drexel and Villanova, and in addition to the Owl game, the Wildcats will play La Salle. There are also a couple of top 10 games to be played. Penn will challenge North Carolina and Temple will play Duke. The outlook doesn’t look good for either, but you never know.

Drexel is the talk of the town lately. With a win over Villanova and a top 25 team in Syracuse Bruiser Flint, in addition to having a badass name, is doing a great job with an experienced team. Villanova and Syracuse are both Big East teams that are very likely to be in the tournament, and it’s a good confidence booster heading into the CAA schedule, which is soon to follow. Hopefully the Dragons can use that positive momentum and get past a tough VCU team and other conference opponents. (in the Carrier Dome, no less,) the Dragons look poised to make a run this season.

Solid basketball continues to be played across the board. All six teams continue to be above .500, even though they struggled a bit the past couple weeks.

Look below for my AI article, and expect an Eagles/Boys preview tomorrow.