04-03-2009, 12:07 AM
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#1 (permalink)
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BACK TO BACK! YEAH!
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Parts Unknown
Age: 24
Posts: 44,173
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With Young Injured, Speights Might Have Chance To Step Up For Sixers
Quote:
FOR THOSE SEARCHING for signs on how the 76ers intend to fill the yawning gap in their starting lineup created by the loss of injured power forward Thaddeus Young, consider the end of yesterday's practice session at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Young, who suffered a badly sprained right ankle and bone bruise in the first quarter of Tuesday's victory over the Atlanta Hawks at the Wachovia Center, was placed in a removable air cast and is on crutches. Dr. Jack McPhilemy, the team orthopedist and medical director, indicated that, based on the result of an MRI Young underwent yesterday morning, the second-year player out of Georgia Tech likely would be unavailable to play for 2 to 3 weeks. That could sideline him through the rest of the regular season, which concludes for the Sixers with an April 15 game at Cleveland, and possibly for part of the first round of the NBA Eastern Conference playoffs.
Following practice, all the players left the court and hit the showers except 6-10 rookie Marreese Speights, who worked an additional 15 minutes under the supervision of assistant coaches John Loyer and Jeff Ruland. Speights concentrated mostly on low-post moves, including jump-hooks with each hand, before stepping outside to hone his stroke from 15 feet.
"Lock in! Lock in!" Loyer shouted as Speights drained five consecutive jumpers from the right side of the free throw circle.
It remains to be seen whether Speights is coach Tony DiLeo's choice to open tonight's game against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Wachovia Center, but his impressive performance against the Hawks - in 25 minutes, he finished with 16 points, his best since his season-high 24 against the Phoenix Suns on Feb. 9 - might have given him the inside track over veterans Reggie Evans, Theo Ratliff and possibly Donyell Marshall.
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http://www.philly.com/dailynews/spor...or_Sixers.html
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With Young Injured, Speights Might Have Chance To Step Up For Sixers
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