Philadelphia 76ers Blog – Page 102 – NBA Blog

Sixers home opener time change

The Philadelphia 76ers today officially moved the start time of their home opener against the Toronto Raptors at the Wachovia Center on Wednesday, October 29 to 6:00 p.m. ET (from the scheduled 7:00 p.m. ET time) in anticipation of a World Series game being played at the South Philadelphia Sports Complex on Wednesday, October 29.

“We moved the start time of our home opener to 6:00 p.m. to allow our fans an opportunity to attend our game and to be able to see the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series,” said Lara Price, Senior Vice President of Business Operations.

The AT&T Pavilion at the Wachovia Center will remain open after the Sixers game late into the evening for fans to watch the baseball game with half-price domestic beer specials and delicious food, including Chickie’s & Pete’s world famous Crab Fries and chicken tenders. After the Sixers game, access to the AT&T Pavilion will be free and open to the public.

NBA opening night rosters

The NBA’s opening day rosters are official, and now posted on InsideHoops.com.

This evening was the deadline for NBA teams to trim their rosters down to 15 players or less.

The 2008-09 regular season starts Tuesday, October 28. InsideHoops is your online basketball home. We’re pumping out more content this season than ever.

Enjoy the season!

Big expectations for Sixers youth

The Philadelphia Daily News (Phil Jasner) reports: Lou Williams, the fourth-year guard, began building a reputation last season as an off-the-bench energy jolt, capable of not only scoring but changing the pace of a game. Thaddeus Young was the rookie who blossomed in the latter stages, starting 22 of the last 38 games, a seemingly natural small forward who had to find the bulk of his minutes as an undersized power forward… Williams came to the Sixers as a raw talent directly out of South Gwinnett (Ga.) High midway through the second round of the 2005 NBA draft, the first high school player selected by them since Darryl Dawkins in 1975. Young was the No. 12 overall pick from Georgia Tech in 2007, with just one season of college experience. “They drafted us off our potential,” said Young, who expected to be fully back practicing today after suffering a midback strain last Friday. “They don’t know [yet] what we really can do. They see bits and pieces and flashes of it, but we haven’t been that consistent, All-Star types.”

Sixers waive Jared Reiner

Philadelphia 76ers President and General Manager Ed Stefanski announced today that the team has waived Jared Reiner. He appeared in one preseason game for the Sixers, scoring 6 points in five minutes of play. The roster, entering opening night against the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday, Oct. 29 at Wachovia Center, now stands at 14.

Reiner (6-11, 245) attended the University of Iowa and was not selected in the 2004 NBA Draft but signed as a rookie free-agent with the Chicago Bulls for the 2004-05 season. In two seasons with the Bulls and Milwaukee Bucks, Reiner has played a total of 46 games with four starts, averaging 1.2 points and 2.4 rebounds in 8.2 minutes per game. This past summer, Reiner participated in the Sixers entry in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, averaging 1.4 points and 2.2 rebounds. Last season, Reiner played abroad in both Spain and Germany.

Oct 22: Sixers 118, Nets 100

The AP reports: Lou Williams scored 18 points and hit five of the 76ers’ 14 3-pointers in a 118-100 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Wednesday night… The Nets were no match for the 76ers, who also got 18 points from rookie Marreese Speights and 16 from Thaddeus Young… Yi Jianlian and rookie Brook Lopez had 16 points apiece for the Nets, who lost their fourth straight after opening the exhibition season with two wins over Miami in Europe… Devin Harris had 13 points and Vince Carter and Maurice Ager added 12 apiece for New Jersey, which trailed by double digits almost the entire second half. Bobby Simmons and rookie Ryan Anderson had 11 points apiece.

Oct 21: Cavs 91, Sixers 83

The AP reports: LeBron James scored 20 points and had eight rebounds, four assists and four steals before sitting out the fourth quarter of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 91-83 win over the Philadelphia 76ers in a preseason game Tuesday night… Andre Iguodala had 19 points and Elton Brand 12 points and 13 rebounds for Philadelphia. The 76ers played without starting center Samuel Dalembert, who was sidelined with a sore right knee.

Sixers waive Antywane Robinson

Philadelphia 76ers President and General Manager Ed Stefanski announced today that the team has waived Antywane Robinson. He appeared in three preseason games for the Sixers, playing a total of 15 minutes. The roster now stands at 15.

Robinson (6-8, 220) played all four seasons at Temple University, earning Atlantic-10 All-Conference Second Team honors his senior season. In 116 career games played for the Owls, he had 85 steals to 54 turnovers. He has yet to appear in a regular season game since going undrafted in 2006, but played preseason games for the Atlanta Hawks in 2007. After being waived by the Hawks, Robinson joined the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the D-League before playing overseas for Elan Bearnais Pau-Orthez of the French League.

InsideHoops.com editor says: The guy’s first name is Antywane?!?

Oct 18: Cavs 100, Sixers 93

The AP reports: Delonte West scored six of his team-high 17 points down the stretch as the Cavaliers, trailing 91-80 with 4:14 left, finished the game on a 20-2 run. Daniel Gibson made the go-ahead basket with 1:22 left… Andre Iguodala scored 17 points for Philadelphia and Donyell Marshall added 15 on 5-of-6 3-pointers. Lou Williams also scored 15. LeBron James scored 16 points in 26 minutes… Cleveland center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who had 17 points, was given a technical in the third quarter.

Oct 14: Sixers 116, Knicks 109

The AP reports: Andre Miller scored 22 points, and the 76ers spoiled D’Antoni’s first preseason home game at Madison Square Garden with a 116-109 victory over the Knicks on Tuesday night… Andre Iguodala added 18 points and Thaddeus Young had 16 for the 76ers (3-1) in the second meeting between the Atlantic Division rivals in five nights. The Knicks won 110-104 last Friday night in Philadelphia. Reserves Nate Robinson scored 21 points and Wilson Chandler 20 for the Knicks, who were 15-of-32 (47 percent) from 3-point range. Elton Brand, Philadelphia’s key offseason addition, was only 3-of-12 but finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Zach Randolph and David Lee each finished with 17 points for New York (1-2), but Lee was only 5-of-11 after making 17 of 23 shots (74 percent) in the first two games.

76ers pick up J.Smith, T.Young options

Philadelphia 76ers President and General Manager Ed Stefanski announced today that the team has exercised the third-year options on the contracts of Jason Smith and Thaddeus Young.

Young (6-8, 220) was selected with the 12th overall pick by Philadelphia in the 2007 NBA Draft. In 74 games with 22 starts last season, he averaged 8.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 0.99 steals in 21.0 minutes per game. He had the highest field goal percentage (53.9%) of any rookie qualifier and was named to the NBA T-Mobile All-Rookie Second Team.

Smith (7-0, 240) was originally selected by Miami with the 20th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft before the Sixers acquired him in exchange for the rights to Daequan Cook (21st overall pick), a future second round pick and cash considerations. In 76 games with one start last season, Smith averaged 4.5 points and 3.0 rebounds in 14.6 minutes per game.