Tag Archives: Chris Murray

Young Sixers Hope to Prove Themselves to Fans against NBA Heavyweights

26 Jan

Thaddeus Young and Sixers teammates will get tested against the NBA's elite. Photo by Webster Riddick.

By Chris Murray

For The Chris Murray Report and The Sunday Sun

The Philadelphia 76ers are in first place in the NBA’s Atlantic Division and are the only team in that division with a record above .500

But for all of the newfound success that this young team has had, I get the feeling that the city isn’t completely behind them yet. Don’t get me wrong. The fans that come out to Wells Fargo Center are loud and boisterous. But they’ve only had one sellout since the home opener.

That might be because the teams they’ve beaten for the most part are also-rans. This weekend, the Sixers take on the Charlotte Bobcats and the Detroit Pistons, teams that are hardly world beaters.

But the team’s big tests come later this week in the form of the Miami Heat, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Chicago Bulls and the Orlando Magic, teams that are laden with superstars. While it’s been easy to have at least five guys routinely score in double figures, teams with actual defenses will determine whether or not this is a fluke.

Between Jan. 30 and Feb. 10 the Sixers will face the Magic, the Bulls, the Atlanta Hawks (on the road), the Lakers, San Antonio Spurs and an improved Los Angeles Clippers squad. If they can win at least half of these games, it might attract fans to the Wells Fargo Center.

But even if they don’t, this team still deserves some love from the Philly faithful.

While they may be in first place in their division, I still think the Sixers are a work in progress. As a part of that growth, they’re probably going to lose some of the games. But they’re not going to stink up the joint like they would have in years past…mostly because head coach Doug Collins won’t allow them to.

At this point, the Sixers are not expected to get to the NBA Finals or even the Eastern Conference Finals, but you have to like the unselfish way they’re playing this season. Almost every night a different player seems to lead the team in scoring or makes a big play down the stretch. One night it’s Andre Iguodala or Lou Williams.

“For one thing, we can score,” said Sixers point guard Jrue Holiday earlier this month after a win over the Indiana Pacers. “We know each other really well as a team and that’s really it. It’s our chemistry. We don’t really have a go-to guy. The way we win is by playing as a team and everybody scoring and playing defense collectively.”

With their record, the Sixers are beating up on the bad teams, something that good teams should do on a consistent basis. When they met the Miami Heat on the road last Saturday, they hung in the game until late in third quarter when the Heat went on a 23-8 scoring-spurt to put the Sixers in a deep hole.

This group of young Sixers is probably the best this city has seen in quite some time, at least to this point. That’s the fun part about this team is that they are at the beginning stages of becoming a perennial contender in the NBA.

To be sure, the Sixers are going to take their knocks against some of the league’s tougher teams, but I believe that this team will get better, whether it’s with young veteran players like Williams and Thaddeus Young, or via the trade or free agency route.

I can understand the cynics and skeptics in this city who want the Sixers to get to the point where they’re a contender for an NBA title. All I can say to them is be patient and enjoy the ride.

In a Tough Loss, Joe Flacco Comes Up Big For Baltimore in AFC Title Game

23 Jan

Ravens Joe Flacco outplayed Tom Brady in the AFC Championship Game.

By Chris Murray

For the Chris Murray Report

This was supposed to be a crowning moment for Joe Flacco.

With 15 seconds  left in the game, Flacco had methodically marched the Baltimore Ravens deep into New England Patriots territory in range of what is normally chip-shot field goal to send the game into overtime. Two plays earlier, he was a dropped pass by Lee Evans away  from what should have been the winning touchdown.

Instead, Flacco had to see his outstanding performance go by the wayside as Billy Cundiff’s 32-yard field goal went wide left allowing the Patriots walk away with a 23-20 victory to win the AFC Championship and a trip to Super Bowl 46 in Indianapolis.

After a week of being criticized by fans, media and his teammate Ed Reed for a lackluster performance in the Ravens divisional playoff win over the Houston Texans, Flacco not only played well enough to win the game, he outplayed Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (22-of-36, 239 yards and two interceptions). He was 22-of-36 for 306 yards, two touchdowns with one interception. He had a 95.4 passer rating.

Flacco, even with Patriots defensive lineman Vince Woolfork in his face throughout the game, was a decisive, efficient quarterback against the Patriots. He used his feet to maneuver his way out of the rush and found open receivers. If it wasn’t there, he ran it or threw it away. Flacco didn’t hold the ball too long to allow the pass rush to sack him. More importantly, he helped the Ravens to keep chains moving. Baltimore was 9-of-17 on third down conversions.

Joe Flacco congratulates Tom Brady after AFC title game

“I thought Joe played a great game, obviously he played well enough to win this game,” said Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. “I’ve said it all along to run down the qualities that make Joe Flacco a great player, great quarterback, a great person, I’ve said it many times his best football is in front of him. He only gets better, he’s our kind of guy. He’s a tough guy, he’s a competitive guy and he’s a leader. I can’t wait to see where this thing goes with him and we’re proud to have him as our quarterback.”
If someone were to say to you hat the Ravens were going to out-gain the Patriots potent offense in total yardage and that Flacco was going to have a better passing rating than Brady, who threw two interceptions with no touchdown passes, you would probably say it was the recipe for victory for the Ravens.

It should have been.

On both sides of the football, the Ravens played the Patriots tough and didn’t allow them to just push them around the field. When the Patriots offense scored, the Ravens offense, thanks to Flacco, kept up with the Pats.

On defense, the Ravens had their moments when they allowed the Patriots, especially in the running game, to move the ball up the field, but when they got into the redzone, they more often than naught held the Patriots to field goals.

After Flacco threw his first interception of the game, the defense got the ball right back when Brady tried to go deep down the middle to Matthew Slater, but the ball was tipped by safety Bernard Pollard into the hands of cornerback Jimmy Smith for the interception.

The Ravens defense got the ball back for the offense late in the game with 1:44 left thanks to Ed Reed batting away a Brady pass intended for tight end Aaron Hernandez on third down and four.

Flacco drove the Ravens from their own 21 down to the Patriots 14 and put the Ravens into the position to win the game, but the dropped pass by Evans and the field goal miss by Cundiff was the final dagger in the heart of the Ravens.

If the Ravens win this game, all the sports media types would be celebrating Flacco as a clutch quarterback who came through in a big game.

But in a painful loss, Flacco displayed his “clutch gene” an emphatic way in the AFC Championship and proved to his critics that he has the ability to lead the Ravens to a Super Bowl.

 

 

 

 

Ravens and Giants Prove that Defense Still Matters in the NFL Playoffs

16 Jan

By Chris Murray

Giants Defensive End Osi Umenyiora Strips Aaron Rogers, causing one of four Packers turnovers in Sunday's NFC Divisional Playoffs.

For the Chris Murray Report

The Sunday games of this weekend’s NFL playoffs was a reminder that no matter how explosive your offense is during the regular season, the strength of your defense will ultimately determine how far you advance in the postseason.

Yes it’s that old cliché about defense winning championships, but in today’s games it was the defense that helped both the Baltimore Ravens and the New York Giants to clinch spots in next week’s conference championship games.

In Green Bay, the Packers (15-2) came into their NFC Divisional Playoff game with New York Giants (11-7) with the league’s highest scoring offense at 35 points per game. With quarterback Aaron Rogers, the league’s highest rated passer, under center this game was supposedly a mere formality on the road to defending their Super Bowl title.

But the Packers also have the league’s worst defense and Giants quarterback Eli Manning exploited it to the tune of 330 yards and three touchdowns on 21-of-33 passing. Perhaps the big back breaker came seconds before halftime when Manning hit Hakeem Nicks on a 37-yard touchdown pass to give the Giants a 20-10. Green Bay would come no closer than 10 points for the rest of the game. Nicks ran roughshod through the Packers secondary catching seven passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns.

On the defensive end, the Giants roughed up the Packers explosive offense by sacking Rogers four times and forcing four turnovers. It didn’t help that Green Bay receivers dropped numerous and if the Giants defense didn’t make the sack they forced Rogers to overthrow and under-throw his receivers.

“We just boosted it up a notch. We just came out here and played even harder and we just rose to another level,” said defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul. “Our cornerbacks and safeties did well and our defensive line did a great job. That’s all that really counts. Everybody played as one.”

Throughout the 2011 season, the Packers simply outscored their opponents while ranking at the bottom of the league statistics in total defense and passing defense. The saving grace for the defense was that it had the best league’s best takeaway/giveaway percentage.

However, it was the Giants defense that came up big against the Packers high-powered offense. They held Rogers to under 50 percent passing. They were the ones forcing the turnovers and they slowed down the Packers offense.

If there was an MVP in this game, it was the physical Giants defense that dictated the outcome as well as the Packers 32nd ranked defense’s inability to stop Manning and the New York offense.

(from left to right) cornerback Jimmy Smith, safety Ed Reed and middle linebacker Ray Lewis celebrate stopping the Houston Texas offense late in the game.

Meanwhile in Baltimore, the defense coming up big is a familiar story.

The Ravens jumped out to a 17-3 thanks to a pair of turnovers that gave the offense a short field to score touchdowns in the first quarter.

After the first quarter, the Ravens offense scored just three points for the rest of the game and managed just 227 yards of total offense. The Texans offense, thanks to the running of Arian Foster who gained 95 of his 132 yards in the first half, cut the Ravens lead to 17-13 and seemed to be on the verge of taking control of the game.

But in the second half, the Ravens held the Texans scoreless, forced two turnovers including a drive-killing interception by Ed Reed. Foster was held to just 37 yards on the ground in the second half.

“Defensively for us to come out and pretty much pitch a shutout that’s our standard of football,” Lewis said after the game. “You really have to take your hat off to our team.”

For all the talk of high-powered offenses like the Saints and the Packers dominating the 2011 season, you still need a solid defense to ultimately win a Super Bowl. For all the points and yardage those two teams racked up during the regular season, they are out of the playoffs because their defense failed to stop the other team’s offense.

Baltimore proved today that even when your offense is in a deep freeze, a good defense will not only keep in the game, it can also help you win it.

Young Sixers Learning How to Put Teams Away

10 Jan

By Chris Murray

For the CM Report

Sixers guard Lou Williams is among the major weapons in an offense without a main go-to guy

Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doug Collins has not so fond memories about his young team losing leads in the fourth quarter when teams made their run at the them.

For right now, at least, those bad recollections for Collins are becoming distant in a 2012 season in which the Sixers have won six of their first eight games. Once this year’s Sixers squad gets a lead they have the ability to put the game away.

A good case in point was the Sixers 96-86 win over the Indiana Pacers Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center. The Sixers not only won the game, but managed to maintain their composure when the Pacers made their run to get back into the game in the fourth quarter.

With two minutes left in the game, the Pacers pulled to within six points of the Sixers on a hook shot from Pacers center Roy Hibbert. But the Sixers didn’t panic and kept their cool on both ends of the floor. On their next possession, a short jumper by center Spencer Hawes sparked 8-4 scoring spurt that enabled the Sixers to put the game away for good.

“I don’t think we make those plays last year, I don’t think we do,” Collins said. “That’s what you have to do. You have to grow up in this league and learn how to make those plays. They came down and scored two or three times in a row and we didn’t get tight. We came down and we trumped them. We scored as well and that’s what you have to do late in games. You’ve got to be able to get those scores.”

Last year’s late season run to the postseason and being in the spotlight of taking on LeBron James and the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs has definitely made an impression on this team and made them mentally tougher this year.

“The team has really matured, grown up and we feel confident,” said Sixers power forward Elton Brand. “I don’t know if it was the playoff run or just winning more games late in the season, but he have a feel about ourselves that we can win the game late in the game.”

At the end of last season, there was a lot of speculation last season that the Sixers would make a trade for that one go-to guy that would come through for them with the big basket late in the game.

Maybe the Sixers will make that move at some point, but so far this season they’ve had a habit of having at least five or six players in double figures. The 76ers have had six guys score in double figures three times in the eight games they’ve played so far this year.

“For one thing, we can score,” said Sixers point guard Jrue Holiday. “We know each other really well as a team and that’s really it. It’s our chemistry, we don’t really have a go-to guy. The way we win is buy playing as a team and everybody scoring and playing defense collectively.”

Holiday said the team’s new found ability to put teams away starts with the defense. Against the Pacers, the Sixers held them to 36 percent shooting for the game. Three of the Sixers wins this season have been by more than 20 points.

“This time last season there were a lot of games that were close that we dropped and that’s been a learning process for us,” said Sixers guard Louis Williams. “In order for us to be successful, once we have guys down, we have to keep them down and start developing that killer instinct.”

 

Four Games That Kept the Eagles Out of The Playoffs

5 Jan

By Chris Murray

For the Sunday Sun

In every season, there’s always that one or two games that separates your favorite team from the playoffs.

In the bizarre case of your Philadelphia Eagles, there were four games cost them a trip to the postseason. Had the Birds won even one of them, they would be practicing for Wild Card weekend. What makes matters worse is that in three of these games, the Eagles had a lead going into the fourth quarter.

Niners running back Frank Gore scores the winning touchdown as the 49ers rallied from a 20-point deficit to beat the Eagles.

 

Oct. 2, 2011- San Francisco 49ers 24, Eagles 23. Out of all the games the Philadelphia Eagles lost this season, this game probably epitomized the frustration fans felt with the Eagles defense under defensive coordinator Juan Castillo.

The Eagles had a 23-3 lead in the third quarter and most of us in the pressbox that day thought it was over and in the win column for the Eagles at that point. But then the Niners stormed back on drives of 80, 77 and 77 yards to take a one-point lead. Along the way, kicker Alex Henery missed a pair of field goals that could have put the game away for the Birds.

But the defense wasn’t the only one to blame for this game. After the 49ers had taken the lead, the Eagles drove the ball to the San Francisco 35, but wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, who appeared to be headed for a big gain, fumbled the ball to end the game.

It was a game that elevated Jim Harbaugh and the 49ers to their outstanding season and another loss in the Eagles spiral downward.

 

Michael Vick's hurt ribs affected his performance in loss to the Cardinals.

Nov. 13, 2011-Arizona Cardinals 17, Eagles 14. Really?! The Cardinals?! If you can’t beat a team that was playing its backup quarterback, you don’t deserve to be in the playoffs. It was also the game in which the Eagles suspended DeSean Jackson for missing a special teams meeting, something that didn’t sit too well with Birds fans.

But this was a winnable game even without Jackson. On the Cardinals game-tying drive, the Eagles defense had a chance to get off the field and force a punt, but cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha was called for an offside penalty and prolonged the Arizona drive.

The Eagles took a 17-14 lead with over five minutes to go, but backup quarterback John Skelton led the Cards on an 11-play, 87-yard drive, thanks to a 37-yard pass to Larry Fitzgerald to the Birds one. Three plays later, Skelton hit Early Doucet tor what turned out to be the winning score.

Meanwhile, Michael Vick, who had suffered a rib injury, had an off day, throwing a pair of interceptions including one on the final drive. The big question in this game was that LeSean McCoy ran the ball just 14 times and gained 81 yards. You wonder if the ball could have been in his hands a bit more.

Eagles Running Back LeSean "Shady" McCoy scored two touchdowns in loss to Atlanta. Photo by Jake McDonald.

Sept. 18, 2011-Atlanta Falcons 35, Eagles 31. In a game filled with ups and downs, the Falcons scored the game’s final 14 points after the Eagles had taken a 31-21 into the fourth quarter. Vick was out of the game by the fourth quarter with a concussion. Still, the Eagles had a shot to win the game and moved deep into Falcons territory at the 22. But on fourth down and four, backup Mike Kafa’s pass to Jeremy Maclin was dropped.

 

 

Oct. 9, 2011.-Buffalo Bills 31, Eagles 24. The Eagles gave this game away on both sides of the football. Vick had a career-high four interceptions including a 31-yard interception return for a touchdown by linebacker Nick Barnett. With the Eagles mounting a furious rally, the game turned on a pair of plays late. A Vick pass to Jason Avant in Bills territory was ripped away by Barnett for a fumble recovery. The Birds had another chance to get the ball back late in the game. On their last possession of

Juqua Parker Jumps offsides sealed the Eagles defeat to Buffalo. The Eagles offense committed five turnovers.

the game, the Bills had a fourth and one. Everybody who knows anything about football knew the Bills were not going to snap the football. Everyone except for Eagles defensive end Juqua Parker, who was flagged for encroachment.

 

Buffalo runs out the clock, game over. The Birds shoot themselves in the foot again and that was the story of their 2011 season.

 

Lurie Angry About 2011 Season, But Still Believes Andy Reid Can Turn it Around in 2012

5 Jan

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie addresses the media about the 2011 season.

By Chris Murray

For the Chris Murray Report

In a season of coulda, woulda, shoulda with a few ifs and buts sprinkled in for good measure, watching his Philadelphia Eagles falter to a mediocre 8-8 was something that didn’t sit too well with team owner Jeffrey Lurie.

“This season was without question the most disappointing since I’ve owned the team,” Lurie said during his press conference with the media on Tuesday.

. “The primary emotion is anger and frustration….You’re not thinking that if you’re aggressive in free agency, you make a trade for a Pro Bowl cornerback and you continue to improve the team with good, young players and Michael Vick coming off a year where he was second to Tom Brady as MVP of the league, there’s no way that anyone could have imagined that we could be sitting here with the season already ended.”.

All that said, Lurie said he was sticking with head coach Andy Reid, who did not give his regular Monday press conference. He said he believes the team has the talent to make a run for the title in 2012 and that Reid is the man to lead that talent.

“There is no doubt in my mind that if our focus is to win a championship next year, the best coach for that is Andy,” Lurie said. “Andy Reid not only has the love of the players and their respect, but he also the fire in his belly to be the best.”

Lurie said the future of defensive coordinator Juan Castillo is something that Reid has to decide. Meanwhile, rumors are already circulating that recently fired St. Louis Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo, a former Eagles assistant coach, could be the Birds next defensive coordinator.

Before announcing that Reid, who has two years left on his contract, would be his guy, Lurie said that there were no legitimate excuses for the team’s demise in the first half of the year.

Blowing fourth quarter leads, the lack of minicamps and organized team activities because of the lockout, and rationalizations about the defense’s inability to gel and learn Castillo’s system during the first half of the season were things the Birds owner wasn’t trying to hear.

“I thought the first half of the season for us – the only word I could use is maybe dismal,,” Lurie said. “Just unfathomable that we could have the record we have the first half of the season.”

And even though Lurie thought that the last four wins of the season against non-playoff teams were fool’s gold, he was apparently excited enough about them to bring Reid back.

“It’s a talented group and it’s a group where we brought in a lot of good, talented players,” Lurie said. “The pay off wasn’t this year, but the pay off has a chance to come soon and be really great.”

Eagles players attribute the failure of the 2011 season to not having offseason mini-camps and organized team activities (OTAs) because of the lockout.

That sentiment came mostly from the Birds much-maligned defense, which got pushed around to the point where it couldn’t hold leads late in games. Apparently, it wasn’t until the last four games of the season that the Eagles finally figured out Castillo’s defense given the influx of different players that came to the team via trades or free agency.

“Coming into camp, we got thrown into the fire early and so you have to learn as you go, said Eagles linebacker Brian Rolle.”

Learning on the fly was something that Castillo, last season’s offensive line coach, had to do. He definitely underwent some very severe growing paints this season as he watched his defense blow fourth quarter leads in a four-game losing streak after the Eagles beat the Rams on opening day.

For the record though, Castillo’s defense did finish the 2011 season ranked eighth in the NFL in total defense (10th against the pass, 16th against the run). They tied the last-place Minnesota Vikings for the team title in sacks with 50—18 from defensive end Jason Babin.

Rolle said the defense was eventually able to find themselves as a unit because some of the veteran players like cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha started making suggestions to Castillo and that he became more aggressive as a play caller.

Asomugha, who had a disappointing season after coming to Philly as a highly touted free agent, said Castillo got better at utilizing players individual abilities to help the defense.

“When I first got here, he didn’t really know me and he’ll tell you himself, he didn’t know what to take and what not to take,” Asomugha said. “But as the season went on, he figured out what helped us the most as a defense. The one thing about him is that he does listen and wants to get better. He started to show that.”

Like Rolle, Asomugha said having the full schedule of offseason workouts will help the Birds defense get better if Castillo is back as the defensive coordinator.

“Anytime you have more time to work on something, it’s going to help,” said Asomugha, who finished the year with three interceptions. “We didn’t have that time we will have now. We can be even better than we are right now.”

 

Chris Murray Talks About the End of the NBA Lockout on Comcast Network

5 Dec

Chris Murray was recently a guest on TCN’s Art Fennell Reports

Chris Murray on Art Fennell Reports

Chris Murray on Art Fennell Reports

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Hitting Woes Derail Phillies World Series Dreams Again

8 Oct

Ryan Howard was hitless in his last 15 at-bats in NLDS loss to St. Louis Photo by Webster Riddick.

By Chris Murray

For the Sunday Sun and the Chris Murray Report

The lack of consistent hitting has been the Achilles Heel of the Philadelphia Phillies dating back to their loss to the Giants in the 2010 National League Championship Series. It was something that haunted them throughout the regular season even as the Phils, thanks to their highly-touted pitching staff, piled up enough wins to have the best record in baseball.

The Phillies inability to hit, despite having baseball’s best pitching staff, brought another premature ending to what was the best record in club history. It will be  another long  winter of discontent for the Phillies as they try to recover from another postseason loss that probably shouldn’t have happened.

“This is the most pitching that I’ve ever had depth-wise in our starting rotation and our pitching definitely did a good job this year,” said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel. “Once we got Hunter Pence, I felt like our offense definitely picked up and this is a good ball club and we’re definitely capable of winning. Right now, I’ve got some anger, I’ve got some—I don’t know and I just feel very empty.”

The St. Louis Cardinals advanced to the National League Championship Series with a 1-0 shutout of the Phillies in front of a disappointed crowd of 46, 530 fans at Citizen’s Bank Park. The Phils lose the NLDS three games to two.

“It sucks being in this situation and having to come and making the last out and having it the way it happened, it just sucks,” said Howard, who injured his left leg on the final play of the game when he grounded out to first . “You don’t want to be a part of that. Obviously we want to be on the other side of that and we came up short. The only thing we can do is focus in on next year.”

The Cardinals, who won the wildcard berth on the last game of the regular season, will move on to take on the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLCS.

In a battle of Cy Young Award winners that truly lived up to its billing as an intense pitchers’ duel, St. Louis Chris Carpenter out-dueled Roy Halladay by the narrowest of margins. Carpenter allowed just three hits while pitching the full nine innings.

“I saw Carpenter throw breaking balls and change ups and fastballs,” Manuel said. “I saw him move the ball around and he pitched a real good game.”

Halladay was stellar in a losing effort for the Phillies and allowed just one run on six hits while striking out seven and pitching his way out of some tough jams.

If he could start the game over, Halladay would gladly take back the first inning or the two hits he allowed that gave the Cardinals their only run of the game. St Louis got what turned out to be the winning run on an RBI double by Skip Schumaker that scored Rafael Furcal, who tripled to open the game.

Perhaps the most telling stat of this series was the poor hitting performances of Howard (.105) , Raul Ibanez (.200), Placido Polanco (.105)and Carlos Ruiz (.059). After driving in six runs in the first two games of the series, Howard’s bat went silent as he was hitless in last 15 at-bats.

“The mentality was to get guys on base and try to make something and we weren’t able to do that,” Ibanez said. “It’s very frustrating offensively because we’re capable of doing more.”

In Friday’s game, Howard, Ibanez and Chase Utley hit some balls hard, but just could not get  that big hit that would have turned the tide of the game in their favor.

“It felt like one of those nights where we going to break through,” Howard said. “We have (Carpenter) on the ropes a couple times and guys just missed pitches. I missed a couple pitches, Raul missed a pitch. We felt like we were on the verge and for some reason, it didn’t happen.”

After the first inning, Halladay did everything to keep the Phils in the game. In the eighth, the Cardinals loaded the bases with just one out, Halladay struck out Lance Berkmann and got Matt Holliday to hit a harmless flyball to Ibanez in left.

“Obviously that’s very frustrating because (Halladay) had pitch his heart out there, but Carpenter did, too,” Ibanez said. “It’s hard to go home early because everybody in here thought we were going to be playing. We were expected to be out there still competing.”

Halladay and Phillies Ready to Take on Cards in Game 5

6 Oct

Roy Halladay hopes to close out the Cardinals in Game 5 of the NLDS. Photo by Webster Riddick.

By Chris Murray

For the Sunday and the Chris Murray Report

PHILADELPHIA—There will be two types of emotions that fans in this city will exhibit after Game 5 of the National League Division Series- a sense of relief that goes with making it into the next round of the postseason or another year of monumental disappointment where Phils hopes for a World Series title will be a dream deferred.

The good news for  Phillies fans is that their ace, 2010 Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay on the mound for the Phillies against a scrappy St. Louis Cardinals team that forced Friday’s Game 5 at Citizen’s Bank Park with a 5-3 win in Game 4 on Wednesday. Halladay beat the Cardinals in Game 1 despite allowing three runs in the first inning.

In that game, Halladay allowed just three hits and retired the last 21 batters he faced in an 11-6 victory. Though his start was shaky in his last outing, Halladay said he’s not going to change anything, but go out and stick to his normal game of making good pitches.

“You can’t go out and try to guard against something,” Halladay said. “You know, you have to go out and be aggressive. I’m not going to try and do anything more early in the game than I would do later.”

The Phillies will be going up against Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter, who will be facing the Phillies on four days rest. In their game 2 loss, the Phillies got to Carpenter early, jumping out to a 4-0 in the first two innings only to have the Cardinals bullpen shut them down the rest of the way.

Game 5 of the 2011 NLDS is an ideal scenario for both teams with their aces on the mound. Both Carpenter and Halladay were teammates in Toronto and are good friends to this day.

“It’s going to be competitive. Once you get to this point, you’re going out trying to help your team win,” Halladay said. “We have talked back and forth throughout the series, but I think we both — we get to this point, and it’s down to business. The friendships kind of go by the wayside, I think, after this point.”

Carpenter, who is looking to pitch better than he did in Game 2, said he has enough postseason experience to manage his emotions.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s obviously a huge game, but you control your emotions, you can control distractions,” he said.

With the exception of their Game 1 victory, the Phillies have not hit the ball consistently, especially from four to eight in the Phillies batting order. Ryan Howard is batting .133 (2-for-15), Raul Ibanez is 3-for-12, Placido Polanco .125 (2-for-16) and Carlos Ruiz (1-for-14). John Mayberry, who played left field in Game 3 was 0-for-4.

Patience hasn’t been a virtue for the Phillies, who seem to have a penchant for not working the count and swinging at too many first pitches. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said he expects his hitters to be more relaxed in Game 5.

“They definitely work on throwing strike one if you look at it and they kind of –from there, then they stretch the strike zone on us, ” Manuel said. “I think, at times, and especially (in Game 4) once we got behind, we got a little anxious, and that’s kind of natural. We started chasing some balls out of the strike zone.

“I think what we’ve got to just be ourselves and play like we can and I think the results will be there.”

Of course, Manuel’s big concern has to be with Howard, who has driven in six runs in the, but hasn’t had a hit since Game 2.

“Yeah, well, the last couple days he’s having trouble tracking the ball, staying on the ball. When he does that, usually he struggles,” Manuel said. “He got to stay on the ball, let the ball get a little deeper on him and stay in the middle of the field, just try to make good contact. That’s how comes out of it.”

Phillies right fielder Hunter Pence said he and his teammates aren’t going to do anything dramatic with their approach at the plate, but follow their instincts.

“I think if you go up there trying to do something, you’re going to end up working against yourself,” Pence said. “You have to let the game play out. There’s going to different situations, different circumstances. You can’t predict what’s going to happen in this game. You have to allow your instincts to take over, just your process, your approach and let it be at that.”

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