and that's not an excuse. that's a function of an injury to dario and the reality of our challenge going forward. if i can compliment the lakers rebuilding for a second, it's pretty encouraging that they have so much young athleticism and scoring coming off the bench. hinkie and colangelo haven't been able to provide us that kind of depth yet.

shouts also to brandon ingram. that dude went to the weight room in the offseason, and it's now obvious his body can handle even more muscle. he's going to be strong enough to play the 4, which will make him a problem. he's never going to be ben, but he's going to make his fair share of all star teams.

it's telling the sixers have lost to two bad but athletic perimeter teams this week. covington is our only perimeter defender i trust right now. simmons is so much better than we thought he'd be early and will be a defensive monster, but he's still prone to rookie mistakes and he'll never be able to guard the quickest perimeter players. we desperately need an avery bradley/pat beverly type.

that said, how about we stop reading our press clippings and play defense in the first half, guys.

and i've never seen jj redick hit a shot for the sixers until we're down double digits in the fourth. jesus christ, he was some shit last night.