Philadelphia's Finest

Many felt the Eagles would be on their bye week waiting to see who they would play in the playoffs. The "Dream Team" of football was a flop. The Phillies never made it to the World Series. For the purposes of research I am told the Flyers are in 4th in NHL's Eastern Conference. The team on top of their Division and the best team in Philadelphia with no Allen Iverson required is the Philadelphia 76ers. Perhaps they are not that. However it is true that Sixers lead the Atlantic Division thanks in part to slow starts from the Knicks and Celtics. But Doug Collins after a very rough start in Philly last season has not looked back since.

Sixers started the season with a very long road trip that covered a lot of miles. They managed to survive it and come out of it with a 3-2 record. They just had their home opener last night if you can believe that and took care of business whacking the Pistons 96-73. The recipe for wins is one of a team philosophy. The Sixers have 6 players averaging 10 points or more through 6 games played. A major reason for there success has been the development of Jrue Holiday. He had a rough night scoring last night vs the Pistons with just 5 points but he dropped 9 dimes to keep the offence humming along.

So here are 3 points to consider for tonight's game vs Sixers.

Rebound, Rebound, Rebound: The Raptors would have had an easy win over the Nets last night if they just did their job on the glass. Any defence even the schemes used by Dwane Casey can be exposed if you fail to finish off defensive possessions with rebounds. Nets got on the offensive glass and did a solid job. Sixers have the people on the roster to do the same.

Work on Holiday: Deron Williams did damage last night to the Raptors defensive effort. He made Jose Calderon a weak link in the chain. Jrue Holiday is capable of doing the same. The Raptors must do a better job of stopping him at the point of attack. If they do not it will be a race to recover the rest of the possession.

Bounce Back For Raptors Duo: Demar DeRozan was MIA last night. Andrea Bargnani looked a lot like the Andrea Bargnani from the last 6 years and not the 6 games of this season. Bottom line is the Raptors need to have both of these guys to perform if they are going to have a chance to beat anyone. There is a drop off once you get past these two in terms of scoring. Both need to step up and do their share on offence while doing there part of the other end of the floor.

This will be a big game not in terms of if the Raptors win or loss but how they respond after what was by all accounts their worst effort of the season last night.