I Bleed Blue and White

While the NBA season doesn’t start for another couple of months, Ed Pinckney is already teaming up with Philadelphia 76ers play-by-play broadcaster Marc Zumoff.  Recently hired as the new color analyst for the 76ers, Pinckney sat down for a minutes with Zumoff on CSN Philly to discuss what he’s been up to recently, what he will bring to the broadcast booth, and his thoughts on the upcoming season for the 76ers.   

The above link will take you to the video page for Comcast SportsNet.  Click on the Sixers Tab and the interview is from “9/1-Marc Zumoff talks with new color analyst Ed Pinckney.”

Villanova legend Ed Pinckney has been announced as the new color man for the Philadelphia 76ers by CSNPhilly. Pinckney will work in tandem alongside Mark Zumoff for all 76ers broadcasts on the Comcast network.

“I am extremely excited to be back in Philadelphia and to be a part of the Comcast SportsNet family,” said Pinckney. “I am honored to work alongside Marc Zumoff, and to share the passion and excitement that we both have for the Sixers with the fans of Philadelphia.”

After retiring from basketball, Pinckney spent 6 years as part of the Miami Heat’s broadcast team before becoming an assistant coach at Villanova. He spent the last 4 seasons as an assistant for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

…Congrats Ed…not a Sixers fan in the least but it’s good to see you back on the airwaves and enlightening the fans with your knowledge…

Today, Jay Wright dished out some information on the process he went through with the Philadelphia 76ers for their head coaching position, which was recently filled by Eddie Jordan. Surprisingly, he may have been closer to accepting this job than some really thought. Wright wouldn’t interview with anyone else except the 76ers and the process certainly made him consider taking the job. In the end, though,

I didn’t need anything from Villanova. I just needed to say to (Nicastro), if I did this, my next concern would be our program. The program’s in good shape. At some time you’re going to have to leave Villanova. With everything in place, coming off a Final Four, it’s not the time. We have so much we want to do here and we hope to be here a long, long time.

A big factor of Wright’s success in his years at Villanova has been Scottie Reynolds.  He’s had the opportunity to coach Reynolds for 3 years, but will he have the chance to coach him as a senior?  Jay says Scottie is, 

…leaning toward coming back.  I think his decision is, ‘Do I want to go into the NBA this year maybe as a second-round pick with the confidence I’ll make it, or do I want to wait and get my college degree and try and be a first-round pick next year?’

One cannot underestimate how much Wright has done for this program.  I’m not going to run through all of the accolades, but there is excitement year round with this program, which is hard to accomplish in college basketball.  At some point, I do see Jay going to the NBA, but hopefully, not in the near future. 

There’s a write-up in the Philadelphia Inquirer today about Scottie Reynolds entering his name in the NBA Draft.  There’s not much new stuff from what we already know in this article, but there is some.  He spoke to current Philadelphia 76ers’ players Lou Williams and Thaddeus Young, regarding what the NBA is like.  Here’s what they told Scottie:

“They said it’s a different world,” Reynolds said. “It’s not like college. Know what you’re getting yourself into. They were letting me know so I wouldn’t get caught by surprise.”

Also, Scottie says entering his name in the draft but not hiring an agent is a win-win situation.  I completely agree.

“If it goes my way, great,” Reynolds said. “If I come back, I’ll be happy as well. I’m putting everything into it. There’s times when you have to think about yourself, know what’s best. That’s how I approached it.”

There’s also a short clip of Scottie talking to the media yesterday after a workout at the Davis Center, provided by Comcast SportsNet.  The above link will take you to the video page for Comcast SportsNet, then click on the SPORTSNITE tab, and Scottie’s video is from 4/21 – Scottie on declaring for the NBA Draft.