Gordie Jones, Sportswriter
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No, College Hoops is not Superior to the NBA game, but at this Time of Year, at least, it is Far More Compelling

by gordie | Apr 1, 2023 | College Basketball, NBA

With the college basketball season nearing its culmination, I sat down earlier this week and churned out 1,318 words about how much better the NBA game is than the college game … in months other than March. Mentioned how much more talented pro players are (duh). Threw...

What Will Survive Basketball’s Cruelest Month — And What Will Survive Forever (as Hempfield’s Players Will Learn)

by gordie | Mar 16, 2023 | High School Sports

The yellow school bus, No. 40, departed from the rear of Reading’s Geigle Complex at 9:35 Wednesday night, destination Landisville. It carried members of the Hempfield boys’ basketball team, their season having ended a little while earlier in an alley fight of a PIAA...

Manheim Central, Bedraggled No More, Continues to Go Knock, Knock, Knocking on Respectability’s Door

by gordie | Mar 4, 2023 | High School Sports

The odd postscript to Manheim Central’s loss to Exeter in Thursday’s District Three 5A boys’ basketball championship game was that the Barons’ locker room became an escape room. And head coach Charlie Fisher and his staff were having a hard time, ya know, escaping. No...
Joel Embiid Has a Sore Foot, But Surely Everything Will Be Fine, Right? Right?

Joel Embiid Has a Sore Foot, But Surely Everything Will Be Fine, Right? Right?

by gordie | Feb 17, 2023 | NBA, Philadelphia 76ers

The banner, supported by two poles, was still on display Wednesday afternoon, across Pattison Avenue from the Eagles’ practice facility in South Philadelphia. It was green with white lettering, of course. “William Penn. Ben Franklin. Jalen Hurts,” it said on one side....

A Modest Proposal: Sixers, Pressed for Depth in the Middle, Gotta Go to Mo (Bamba)

by gordie | Feb 3, 2023 | NBA, Philadelphia 76ers

Having long before completed his night’s work, Joel Embiid stood before a clot of media types at his cubicle in the Sixers’ locker room late Wednesday. This was highly irregular. Normally the NBA scoring leader, like his teammates, confines his postgame remarks to the...

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Co. Exploit Sixers’ Achilles Heel at Season’s Midpoint; Tinkering Likely Lies Ahead

by gordie | Jan 14, 2023 | NBA, Philadelphia 76ers

In an era when everybody fires from deep, the old-school elegance of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s fifth-year guard, stands as a refreshing anomaly. He hoists fewer than three 3-point attempts a game, a miniscule number for a starting NBA guard,...

The Lesson of The Late Mark McNamara: Enjoy Every Sandwich (as Warren Zevon Once Said)

by gordie | Dec 4, 2022 | NBA, Philadelphia 76ers

On April 27, 2020, Mark McNamara’s heart gave out as he stood outside a museum in Ely, Nevada. The long-retired NBA center, who began his eight-year career in 1982 as a first-round draft pick of the 76ers, died later that day at age 60. Before his time, as the phrase...

Sixers Fans Play Their Part in Latest Ben Simmons Drama; Sequels Expected

by gordie | Nov 24, 2022 | NBA, Philadelphia 76ers

The fan standing along the railing in the Wells Fargo Center’s lower stands was a guy in his 20s. No more than that. As Ben Simmons exited the court late Tuesday night, his Brooklyn Nets a 115-106 loser to the Sixers’ JVs, the fan’s eyes were bulging. His voice was...

To Tom Herr and Gene Garber — and Many Others — Bruce Sutter (RIP) Remains a Timeless Figure

by gordie | Oct 28, 2022 | MLB

Baseball’s timelessness was once the game’s blessing, the subject of sonnets. Now it is the game’s curse, the target of regulation. (Hello, pitch clock!) But what it also is, is something of a myth. Because while the sport has always been timeless, it has never been...

Jrue Holiday, the Ghost of Sixers Past, Haunts His Old Team at a Critical Moment

by gordie | Oct 22, 2022 | NBA

Game point, Sixers down one. Final seconds melting away. James Harden with the ball in his hands, Jrue Holiday in a defensive stance. Such a delicious matchup, on so many levels. Harden is an elite scorer, Holiday an elite defender – “the head of our snake on...
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