PhillyArena

With a little bit of luck, luck the Sixers were wise enough to capitalize on, the Sixers got tremendous value with selecting UCLA point guard (playing out of position last year at shooting guard) Jrue Holiday with the 17th pick in the draft.

In a draft deep with point guards, but limited in overall talent, the Sixers got one of the top 10 players in the draft class.

Despite being a near-universal top 10 pick on most draft boards, Holiday was the last Green Room invitee to be selected. Even Brandon Jennings, who removed himself from the Green Room because of how unsure he was on his draft position, was selected before Holiday. Once New York passed on him at 8 we got the feeling there was a possibility he could slip, and once he made it past 14 I began to get legitimately excited.

Why did he fall? Hard to say. Chad Ford mentioned something about an injury, but I haven't found anyone to confirm that. Sure, playing out of position (and for a half court team) limited his stats, and he struggled down the stretch. But this has been known for months and didn't prevent him from soaring up most peoples draft boards beforehand.

Regardless of why, Holiday was about as good of a combination of value, potential, sure-thing and need as you can find at 17. Another in the continuing trend the Sixers have established of getting good value at their draft slots.

Read below for a detailed analysis.

Blogging live at the NBA Draft. Will provide updates, generally which relates to the Sixers, but also some general news around the league.

Click below for running updates.

Just got back from the NBA Draft Media day. While I'm not going to be posting any of the quotes or photos from the day (those go to DraftExpress, who I was there representing), I figured I'd post just a general feeling I got from some of the draftees, particularly those of interest to the Sixers.

- Jennings is confident in himself. Cocky? Possibly. Immature? Probably. But he doesn't seem like a bad kid, and he's a hard worker. Word floating around is he's falling out of the lottery. If he's there for the Sixers? I wouldn't be overly concerned with his "character". At least not enough to pass on his talent. I'll post more on my thoughts on who the Sixers should draft later, but listening to a very long chunk of his q/a session and seeing how he handled himself before/after has eased some of my fears.

- For the most part, the questions were the tried and true you would expect, and the answers even moreso. Everybody was 'very excited', and "have been waiting for this their whole life". Most "hadn't yet had enough time to think about it".

- Jrue Holiday was very composed and a really good interviewee. You can tell why his character and maturity are held in so high regard. He was very adamant that he was a PG and playing out of position last year, and we haven't seen the whole Jrue Holiday package yet.

- Stephen Curry says he thinks of himself as a point. He seemed a little guarded in his comments, trying to step gingerly and not say anything bulletin board material. When asked who the best person he worked out against was, he said "all 6 players in his last workout".

- Jonny Flynn was a great interview. There's just a lot to like about this kid, from his work ethic, to his maturity, leadership, charisma, to his basketball IQ. By far the best interview at the draft. He just seemed like he enjoyed the whole process. Not in the "I like media attention" way, but in the "I enjoy talking basketball to people" way. After tape recorders were shut off, cameras turned off, and note pads put away, he stuck around and talked to everyone available, both about basketball and not.

- Blake Girffin is one physically imposing dude. Didn't seem all that interested in the interviews though. Can you blame him? This whole process has to be flat out boring at this point. The drama was taken out of his draft process from the beginning.

- In contrast to Flynn, Tyler Hansbrough doesn't seem all that comfortable in front of cameras conducting an interview.

- Funny tidbit. Rubio spent a little time talking some soccer smack. oops

Overall, you're not going to learn a whole lot during Media Day. They've been doing this process for months, and at this point are accustomed to answering the question without really saying anything. Still, it's nice to get their one final perspective before the draft. Especially with the PG's, the recent trades and movement in the draft seems to have some of them on edge and unsure. Outside of Griffin, I don't think any player is confident on how tomorrow is going to go down.

Raul Ibanez has been placed on the 15 day disabled list with a strained left groin. Ruben Amaro Jr. said that the groin has been bothering him since April, and that while they hope he's only out for 15 days, at this point it's up in the air.

"I don't know," Amaro said. "It could be longer. But it's to the point where we need to shut him down and make sure we get him healthy. .... We'll find out as he goes through his rehab and does the things that he needs to do to get it calmed down. We'll monitor him every day. We'll see how he feels. Hopefully he'll heal properly and he'll be ready in 15 days. That's the plan. That'd be great, but I don't know if that's going to happen.

Outfielder John Mayberry Jr has been called up from AAA to take his place. He's hitting .257 with 8 home run's and an OPS of .808 in 183 at bats so far on the year. He's struggled in June, hitting only .196 in 46 at bats.

While Mayberry Jr. is the most major-league ready in the Phillies farm system, Michael Taylor (.333 average, 10 HR, 10 SB, .962 OPS in 219 at bats in AA) and Dominic Brown (.299 average, 9 HR, 14 SB, .919 OPS in 187 at bats in A+ Clearwater) may be the Phillies long term future as outfield prospects, assuming they aren't traded as part of a deadline deal.

Brad Lidge has been placed on the 15 day dl, retroactive to June 7th.

The Phillies have called up Paul Bako, a 36 year old catcher from reading, to take his place on the roster.

During the time on the DL, setup man Ryan Madson will take over the closers roll. Hopefully this will give Lidge not only the time to recover from whatever lingering issues he has, and give him a chance to right himself down in the minors during rehab starts to regain confidence and be ready for the stretch run.

Rumors are circulating that there could be an announcement coming from the Sixers shortly, presumably announcing a Reggie Evans for Jason Kapono straight up swap. Both have 2 years left on their deals, with Kapono making slightly more per year.

Kapono would give the Sixers an outside shooting threat they've been lacking.

More on this once it becomes official.

Much as Ed Stefanski has done in the past, new Sixers head coach Eddie Jordan conducted an interview with members of the Sixers blogging circle. I'll start off by thanking Eddie Jordan, and do have to admit he's a very well spoken and affable individual who obviously knows a lot about the game of basketball. That being said, unlike when I interviewd Ed Stefanski individually immediately after he took the position, or when I took part in a conference call with Stefanski late last summer after signing Elton Brand, Eddie Jordan doesn't have the same kind of grace period Stefanski got. This is a restless Sixers fan base, coming off a disappointing season, with a lot of question marks, and Jordan wasn't necessarily the fans (or media's) top choice in the first place. He's going to have his work cut out for him.

The call included Brian from DepressedFan, Dannie from ReclinerGM, Anthony from Heard in the Cheap Seats, Jeff from Philadunkia, and Ricky from Sixers4Guidos. Everyone came prepared and had excellent questions ready.

I'll try to get a transcript of the call up today, in the meantime here are my quick thoughts:

• Jordan didn't rule out Andre Iguodala at the 2, and made it a point to say that if he felt his best players were forwards, that Iguodala could be successful at the 2, and referenced his playing Jared Jeffries at SG a few years back. However, he did say he felt that Iguodala was best suited for the SF position, that he wanted to try him at his natural position first, and mentioned Thad in a similar vein to Antawn Jamison. If I had to come up with a guess I would believe we're going to be seeing quite a bit of Young at the 4 and Brand at the 5 this year.
  
• He mentioned about competing for starting positions in training camp this year. The only ones he seemed to commit to on being starters were Iguodala and Brand, which leads me to believe that every other spot is up for grabs. Obviously PG is undetermined, but this can't bode well for Dalembert. I tend to believe we'll see Dalembert's role greatly diminished (if he even has one), and I'm not sure he's going to react all that well.
  
• Speaking of Dalembert, the general vibe I got from the call was that Eddie Jordan wasn't a huge Dalembert fan. He did mention Sammy's shotblocking and rebounding, but when asked about Sammy's role in the offense made a point about how Sammy needs to buy into it, and said Dalembert can run the floor "when he puts his mind to it". At one point he even mentioned that Sammy needs to not be selfish. As I said, above, I'm not expecting Sammy's role on the team to increase this coming year, and would expect they'll shop him (but not find many takers).
  
• He mentioned Jason Smith numerous times during the call ("he was real athletic before his injury", "I'm excited to get two guys back from injury", "if our big man depth with Jason Smith coming back improves it could for Iguodala to the 2 more"), but didn't mention Speights at all. I don't want to read too much into that, but it's something I noticed as the call went on.
  
• When asked if he sees Louis Williams as a point guard, he says in his offense you don't necessarily need a traditional point, and he wants two combo guards. Does this hurt Andre Miller's chances? Does this help Iguodala's chances at the 2? Is this philosophy a recipe for success?
  
• Believes the Sixers will be a fast paced team, but different then Washington, as the Sixers don't have the guys who can pull up and hit a spot-up jumpshot that Washington does.
  
• Wants to force a lot of turnovers to ignite the break.
  
• Wants to bring in a full-time shooting coach.
  
• Thinks the improvement in shooting is going to come from both inside and outside, mentioning Iguodala, Williams, Young and Green as guys he thinks can improve from deep.
  
• Mentioned how strong Iguodala and Young's work ethic are. When talking about whether or not the team was too young, he specifically singled out these two players work ethic.
  

I'll have more thoughts to follow.

The Sixers have scheduled workouts with 5 prospects this Friday, most notably UNC point guard Ty Lawson.
List:

• Ty Lawson - PG - UNC
  
• Toney Douglas - PG - Florida State
  
• Stefon Jackson - SG - UTEP
  
• Jodie Meeks - SG - Kentucky
  
• Terrence Williams - SG - Louisville
  

You can view the full list of upcoming workouts at our draft workouts page.

According to Comcast SportsNet, the Sixers have hired former Wizards coach Eddie Jordan.

As I said before, Eddie Jordan was not my top choice, and I have many questions:

• How much stock do you put in his career 230-288 coaching record?
  
• How much do you attribute Washington's turnaround into a playoff team on Jordan, and how much on the complete overhaul of the Wizards roster and influx in talent?
  
• Can this team execute the Princeton Offense? What does this mean for Samuel Dalembert and Reggie Evans? Does this change the likelihood Andre Miller will return?
  
• Was Eddie Jordan Stefanski's pick all along?
  
• How much did money and the fact they're still paying Maurice Cheeks' contract factor into Ed Stefanski's decision?
  

I'll give my thoughts on these questions in a bit.

You can add Chris Ford and Jay Wright to the list of names interviewed for the Sixers vacant head coaching position.

Ford has been the head coach of the Celtics, Bucks, Clippers and Sixers, and has a career record of 323-376 as a head coach.

Wright, head coach at Villanova, asked for his name to be taken out of consideration. He released the following statement:

“Last week, Ed reached out to me to see if I would be willing to speak to him about the Sixers’ coaching position. He is a longtime friend of mine whom I have great respect for and is someone I talk to often. We had a lively conversation about the vision Ed has for the Sixers organization. As a lifelong Sixers fan, I was honored to be part of the process.

“Following our meeting, I called Ed to thank him and requested that he remove me from consideration. I love Villanova and it is where I want to be. I am grateful to the Sixers for including me in the process. There is a lot to look forward to for Sixer fans like me with the young talent they have put together and the leadership of Ed Stefanski.”

Just received word that the Sixers have interviewed Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau. No word on the details of the interview or how it went.

More potential coaching candidates:

• Kurt Rambis. Rambis spent a part of one season as an interim coach with the Lakers, going 24-13 after taking over for Del Harris. Rambis has been with the Lakers since, both as an Assistant General Manager and as Assistant Coach.
  
• Dwane Casey. Casey was the Minnesota Timberwolves head coach for about a season and a half, taking the reigns from Kevin McHale to start the 2005-2006 season, and being let go halfway through the 2006-2007 season with a 20-20 record. He is currently an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks, and was previously a long time assistant with the Seattle Supersonics, under both George Carl and Nate McMillan.
  
• Tom Thibodeau. One of the names previously mentioned, the Sixers have confirmed they will bring in Celtics assistant coach Tom Thibodeau in for an interview, although a date has not yet been set.

The Phillies officially announced yesterday that J.A. Happ will be making the Phillies start Saturday against the Yankees. With the move Chan Ho Park will be moving to long relief in the bullpen.

With the exception of a small number of starts last year, Park has been largely ineffective as a starter since 2001. Despite that, he was given a chance to compete for the starting spot during spring training, and was the most effective of the 4 candidates (with the others being Happ, Carrasco, and Kendrick) down in Clearwater.

I think that was, in the end, a mistake. Regardless of how well one pitches in spring training, it should not be the only, or even main, criteria for winning a spot. 20 good innings in February should not overrule what has been a decade of not getting the job done as a starter. If we're going only by spring training results, Happ should have been in the rotation ahead of Hamels. Clearly spring training was not going to override actual game results there, and it shouldn't have in Park's situation either.

I previously said that Park should get the spot only if Happ and Carrasco don't get the job done. Happ did get the job done, and should have been starting from the beginning. Regardless, I think this is the right move. Park's previous two starts prior to the Washington debacle were the exceptions.

With the announcement earlier this week that Tony DiLeo does not with to return as head coach, the search for a new head coach is officially underway.

The frontrunner, seemingly from the time Maurice Cheeks was let go, appears to be former Wizards head coach (and Nets assistant coach) Eddie Jordan. Stefanski has a familiarity with Jordan from their days together in the Nets organization. Jordan is scheduled to interview today.

Jordan likes to run a Princeton style offense, predicated on ball movement and cuts. It questionable whether that offense could be run with the current personnel, as it often requires a ballhandling pivot man who can open up the lane, something that current center Samuel Dalembert would seemingly struggle with. It also typically has more shooting from the wings to space the floor.

Another name commonly thrown around is Avery Johnson, the tough nosed defensive oriented coach, who was recently on with 950ESPN. His comments that he does not see Andre Iguodala as being capable ofplaying SG (and thus bringing into question Thaddeus Young's future role) makes me a little leery of his direction. It would also be a huge shift in personalities, going from players coaches in Cheeks and DiLeo to a very strict, stern coach in Avery Johnson.

One name thrown around that the Sixers have yet to expressly show interest in is former Sixers star and current TNT analyst Doug Collins. In Collins' first year with teams, his teams win totals have improved 10, 18 and 18 games over their previous years win total. Outside of a brief 2 year stint to return to coaching at the request of Michael Jordan with the Wizards, Collins has been largely on the media side of the aisle since he left Detroit in 1998. He has a career .536 winning percentage (332-287).

Another dark horse name is current Celtics assistance coach Tom Thibodeau. After leaving the Sixers (along with John Lucas) in 1996, he has made quite a name for himself as a defensive mind, helping the Knicks, Rockets and now Celtics become top defensive teams. Although he is under contract, Celtics GM Danny Ainge has reportedly promised Thibodeau he would allow him to go on any interviews for a top job.

My Wishlist (in order):
Thibodeau
Collins
Jordan
Johnson

My odds that they'll be hired:
Jordan (50%)
Johnson (30%)
Collins (10%)
Thibodeau (10%)

Heading into the draft, I really wanted Knowshon Moreno or Brandon Pettigrew. I'm not in love with any of the RB's or TE's after them, and the Eagles really, really needed to come away with depth at bot of those positions.

My first reaction to the drafting of Maclin was that, despite his talent, he's another smallish receiver who may not fit the Eagles need, doesn't address the lack of depth at the previously mentioned positions, and isn't the type of receiver to help the Eagles in their disastrous red zone attack.

After some reflection, I'm nearly giddy.

Maclin isn't necessarily the prototypical wide receiver to start next to DeSean Jackson, but he is a world class talent who very well could develop into a #1 option. And while I mentioned his size earlier, he's certainly not undersized at 6', 200 lbs.

What impresses me more than his phyiscal gifts, and he's as fast and as quick as any wideout available, is the head on his shoulders. By all accounts, he is said to be a hard worker. Any route running concerns he may have heading into the draft should be long forgotten in short time.

With Jackson and Maclin stretching defenses, it should open up the middle for Celek, Westbrook, and any other tight end the Eagles add, including 5th round draft pick Cornelius Ingram.

In fact, I would be absolutely stunned if Maclin isn't in the Eagles top 3 wideout rotation by midway through the season. With Maclin, and the trading for Peters and Ellis Hobbs, the Eagles walked out of the draft with 3 sure-fire contributors, including a former pro-bowler (Peters), and a potential future pro-bowler in Maclin.

That's a very good day.

I'm not as in love with LaSean McCoy as others, as I don't think he has the top speed to turn the corner in the pro's, but he should at the least be a competent backup. I'm extremely happy with the selection of Ingram in the 5th, as if he can stay healthy, he has the tools to be a player with a few years of seasoning.

In all, they addressed the offensive line, adding a potential stud at wide receiver, got depth at tight end, and improved their cornerback depth, which is a need regardless of the Sheldon Brown situation. In all, a solid A- draft.