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ShareA Game Recap From a Different Perspective
The way I see it, a not-so-typical game calls for a not-so-typical game recap. Last night the Philadelphia 76ers played Winterthur FC Barcelona in an exhibition game at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain, and I believe that counts as a not-so-typical game.
We left our hotel at 6:45 to head to the arena for a 9:00 game. Since there was a postgame reception for the players after the contest, we were all required to either wear a suit or a sport coat. My outfit of choice consisted of a brown pair of slacks, a maroon collared shirt, a white sport coat, and sunglasses hanging from my collar. Thus, for good reason, Billy King (the President and General Manager of the 76ers) called me Miami Vice for the rest of the evening.
The busses arrived at the stadium at approximately 7:15, and the pandemonium began. The doors hadn’t even opened to the public yet, but the place already seemed crowded just from press and security. The players went to the locker room to get ready for the game, and I stood by the court putting out the vibe in my white coat.
The doors were opened at 8pm, and the masses waiting outside rushed in to get their first look at the Philadelphia 76ers. A few of the younger, and less internationally known, players came out first. They high-fived the crowd, signed a few autographs, and gave everybody a glimpse of the special uniforms that the Sixers would be wearing during the game. They wore the Sixers traditional black jerseys, but stripes consisting of red and yellow (the colors of the Spanish flag) were added to the tops of both shoulders. (I thought that this was the first time anybody had seen these jerseys, but during the game I saw a fan wearing one of them. I was confused.)
And then it happened. It was still 45 minutes before game time and the crowd let out a roar that could only signify one thing.
“Here comes Elvis,” I was told by the 76ers Equipment Manager Scotty Rego.
Allen Iverson was making his way to the court from the locker room, and proved once again that he is one of the most famous athletes in the world. About half of the announced 16,236 fans that attended the game were already there, and the cheer that they gave Iverson was the loudest noise I have ever heard at a basketball game.
Shortly before the game began, I made my way over to my seat at the press table. Now, the only time I had ever sat courtside at a professional basketball game was when I went to see the St. Paul Slam of the International Basketball Association play in the capital city of the great state of Minnesota, so even though I was working, I was still pretty excited to see the game from the front row.
I was sorting through some notes when the crowd started to cheer again, and I looked up to realize that the Sixers were putting on a dunk contest while in their layup lines. I was starting to realize that even though the two teams were going to play a competitive, and important, exhibition game, that the main goal of the evening was to entertain the crowd and help spread the love of basketball throughout the world.
Before the game started the Mayor of Las Vegas and two showgirls came out to center court. I think they were there to promote the 2007 NBA All-Star game in Las Vegas, but I’m not sure (you’ll find that there were quite a few things about the evening that I wasn’t quite sure about).
The PA announcer introduced the visiting 76ers first, but you would have never guessed that we were the road team by listening to the crowd. They applauded for the bench players. They screamed for Kyle Korver. They roared for Andre Iguodala and Chris Webber. And then Allen Iverson was announced, and the sound let out by the capacity crowd was the loudest noise I have ever heard at a basketball game.
They were loud when the Barcelona players were announced, but the decibel level didn’t come anywhere near the peak it reached when Iverson was introduced.
Hip-Hop, the Sixers mascot, was on hand at the game and entertained the crowd until the opening tip, and the game was ready to begin.
It was a fast paced start, with the Sixers scoring on 11 out of their first 14 possessions, and Barcelona playing well enough to keep it close. Out of the Sixers three failed trips down the court, only one was caused by a missed shot, as they were able to gather offensive rebounds on all their other misses.
During the first timeout the crowd was entertained by dancers and cheerleaders (I quickly learned that dancers are much more entertaining from the front row). The next timeout saw two fans escorted to the floor for a shooting contest (the winner celebrated by holding his left hand in the air with his pointer finger and pinky finger extended. I thought that this was the international symbol for rock ‘n’ roll, but I have a feeling he meant something else).
I learned early in the game that the “FC” in Winterthur FC Barcelona stood foor “football club.” I should have known this, seeing as how the team is owned by the local soccer (or football) team, which is also named FC Barcelona. This helped explain the actions of the crowd.
You know when you’re watching an international soccer game during an event such as the World Cup, and they show the crowd, and there are giant flags waving everywhere, people are blowing horns, entire sections of fans are singing songs, and everybody is on the edge of their seat? Well that’s exactly what the crowd was like at the basketball game.
Barcelona took their first lead of the game at 26-25 with 1:12 remaining in the first quarter. The went up 29-27 on their last possession before the break, and the Iverson was fouled taking a three-pointer.
That’s when I learned that the Barcelona crowd doesn’t boo. Oh no, they don’t boo. They having a different way of letting the referees know that they are displeased. They whistle. But this isn’t just a normal whistle. This is 16,000 people putting two fingers in their mouths and letting out a high-pitched blast at the same time. I definitely wasn’t prepared for this, because it was the loudest noise I have ever heard at a basketball game.
Iverson made all three free-throws to end the first quarter with the Sixers holding a 30-29 lead.
The second quarter was just as eventful as the first. With 7:36 remaining in the quarter Rodney Carney collided knees with a defender and proceeded to scare everybody into thinking that the Sixers first round draft pick had a knee injury. Luckily for the team, he returned from the locker room with 5:53 left in the half and even was back in the game at the 3:02 mark.
Bobby Jones entered the game for the first time about half-way through the quarter. I think it was at the 5:45 mark, but Hip-Hop was distracting me at the moment so that may not be exact.
Willie Green tried to inbounds the ball off of a defender’s back at one point, but it took a bad bounce and rolled back out of bounds.
The Winterthur Dancers came out for the first time during one timeout, and performed a routine to “Zuit Suit Riot” by The Cherry Poppin’ Daddies. My memory may be a bit off, but I believe that this song was released in the United States during the early 90’s, so I think that the Barcelona music scene is a little behind when it comes to American music.
Barcelona was on the short end of four straight calls from the referees, and the crowd was not pleased. The whistling started again, and I was not pleased. Then one of the NBA referees gave the Barcelona coach a technical for arguing calls, and the place went nuts.
The whistling was joined by an ensemble of horns that fans had brought to the game, and THIS the loudest noise I have ever heard at a basketball game.
The half ended with the score tied at 51, and halftime came to give the crowd a chance to relax. A team of extreme dunkers performed during the break, and were accompanied by songs by 50 Cent and the Black Eyed Peas. The winner of an NBA Live 07 tournament that had been conducted earlier was then presented with a trophy.
The third quarter began with Barcelona jumping to a 64-56 lead. Carney got his first point of his career when he made a free-throw with 6:25 left in the quarter, and connected on his first field-goal with 3:01 left.
Hip-Hop and the Winterthur Dancers came out during a timeout, and he put on a dunk show of his own. The crowd loved his high-flying moves, but was most entertained when he lined up three of the dancers on their hands and knees on the court and proceeded to do a running front flip over all three of them.
The third quarter went smoothly until the calls started going against the Barcelona team again. They were called for a series of fouls that concluded with Samuel Dalembert being fouled on a lay-up attempt. The Barcelona center argued the call and was given a technical. The whistles, boos, and horns from the previous technical were joined by the crowd stomping their feet so hard that it sounded like 5000 bass drums being pounded. So now we had whistles, horns, and drums. I’m pretty sure that if one more technical had been called a string quartet would have entered the stadium and we would have had a full orchestra arguing with the refs calls. As you can probably guess by now, this culmination of noises was the loudest noise I have ever heard at a basketball game.
They began chanting “BARCA!” and were almost deafening when Dalembert stepped to the line to take his two free-throws, but he calmly made both and the game proceeded. It was 74-73 Barcelona at the end of the third.
The score went back and forth throughout much of the fourth quarter until Barcelona made a run to go up 87-81 with 5:04 remaining in the contest. The crowd started their “BARCA!” chant again. The PA announcer then announced that the San Antonio Spurs had defeated Lyon 115-90, and the crowd chanted louder.
Barcelona was able to hold their lead, but Samuel Dalembert kept the Sixers close. Winterthur didn’t have anybody that could match-up with his athleticism in the paint, and he started collecting every rebound and blocking every inside shot.
It’s too bad for the Sixers that Barcelona didn’t have to take inside shots. With the Sixers within two, Juan Carlos Navarro hit a three pointer and then a player named Basile was fouled on a three and completed the four-point play. The lead had jumped to 100-91 with only 1:19 left, and there wasn’t enough time for the Sixers to make a run.
When the final horn sounded with Barcelona leading 104-99, it wasn’t quite the loudest noise I had ever heard at a basketball game, but it was close.
The players shook hands at center court, Bobby Jones thanked the crowd and the city of Barcelona for being absolutely terrific during our stay in Spain, and the crowd still clamored to touch Allen Iverson on his way out.
The Sixers obviously wanted to win the game. They wanted to show that their defense has improved. But when they left the stadium, they understood that this game was about more than the “W”.
The crowd was able to see an NBA team play, they were able to see their home team win, and if the Barcelona papers this morning were any indication, the city had been infused with a new excitement about the game of basketball. And I believe that was the outcome that Commissioner David J. Stern, who was on hand to watch the game, was hoping for.
We left our hotel at 6:45 to head to the arena for a 9:00 game. Since there was a postgame reception for the players after the contest, we were all required to either wear a suit or a sport coat. My outfit of choice consisted of a brown pair of slacks, a maroon collared shirt, a white sport coat, and sunglasses hanging from my collar. Thus, for good reason, Billy King (the President and General Manager of the 76ers) called me Miami Vice for the rest of the evening.
The busses arrived at the stadium at approximately 7:15, and the pandemonium began. The doors hadn’t even opened to the public yet, but the place already seemed crowded just from press and security. The players went to the locker room to get ready for the game, and I stood by the court putting out the vibe in my white coat.
The doors were opened at 8pm, and the masses waiting outside rushed in to get their first look at the Philadelphia 76ers. A few of the younger, and less internationally known, players came out first. They high-fived the crowd, signed a few autographs, and gave everybody a glimpse of the special uniforms that the Sixers would be wearing during the game. They wore the Sixers traditional black jerseys, but stripes consisting of red and yellow (the colors of the Spanish flag) were added to the tops of both shoulders. (I thought that this was the first time anybody had seen these jerseys, but during the game I saw a fan wearing one of them. I was confused.)
And then it happened. It was still 45 minutes before game time and the crowd let out a roar that could only signify one thing.
“Here comes Elvis,” I was told by the 76ers Equipment Manager Scotty Rego.
Allen Iverson was making his way to the court from the locker room, and proved once again that he is one of the most famous athletes in the world. About half of the announced 16,236 fans that attended the game were already there, and the cheer that they gave Iverson was the loudest noise I have ever heard at a basketball game.
Shortly before the game began, I made my way over to my seat at the press table. Now, the only time I had ever sat courtside at a professional basketball game was when I went to see the St. Paul Slam of the International Basketball Association play in the capital city of the great state of Minnesota, so even though I was working, I was still pretty excited to see the game from the front row.
I was sorting through some notes when the crowd started to cheer again, and I looked up to realize that the Sixers were putting on a dunk contest while in their layup lines. I was starting to realize that even though the two teams were going to play a competitive, and important, exhibition game, that the main goal of the evening was to entertain the crowd and help spread the love of basketball throughout the world.
Before the game started the Mayor of Las Vegas and two showgirls came out to center court. I think they were there to promote the 2007 NBA All-Star game in Las Vegas, but I’m not sure (you’ll find that there were quite a few things about the evening that I wasn’t quite sure about).
 |
Giulio Ciamillo/NBAE/Getty Images |
They were loud when the Barcelona players were announced, but the decibel level didn’t come anywhere near the peak it reached when Iverson was introduced.
Hip-Hop, the Sixers mascot, was on hand at the game and entertained the crowd until the opening tip, and the game was ready to begin.
It was a fast paced start, with the Sixers scoring on 11 out of their first 14 possessions, and Barcelona playing well enough to keep it close. Out of the Sixers three failed trips down the court, only one was caused by a missed shot, as they were able to gather offensive rebounds on all their other misses.
During the first timeout the crowd was entertained by dancers and cheerleaders (I quickly learned that dancers are much more entertaining from the front row). The next timeout saw two fans escorted to the floor for a shooting contest (the winner celebrated by holding his left hand in the air with his pointer finger and pinky finger extended. I thought that this was the international symbol for rock ‘n’ roll, but I have a feeling he meant something else).
I learned early in the game that the “FC” in Winterthur FC Barcelona stood foor “football club.” I should have known this, seeing as how the team is owned by the local soccer (or football) team, which is also named FC Barcelona. This helped explain the actions of the crowd.
You know when you’re watching an international soccer game during an event such as the World Cup, and they show the crowd, and there are giant flags waving everywhere, people are blowing horns, entire sections of fans are singing songs, and everybody is on the edge of their seat? Well that’s exactly what the crowd was like at the basketball game.
Barcelona took their first lead of the game at 26-25 with 1:12 remaining in the first quarter. The went up 29-27 on their last possession before the break, and the Iverson was fouled taking a three-pointer.
That’s when I learned that the Barcelona crowd doesn’t boo. Oh no, they don’t boo. They having a different way of letting the referees know that they are displeased. They whistle. But this isn’t just a normal whistle. This is 16,000 people putting two fingers in their mouths and letting out a high-pitched blast at the same time. I definitely wasn’t prepared for this, because it was the loudest noise I have ever heard at a basketball game.
Iverson made all three free-throws to end the first quarter with the Sixers holding a 30-29 lead.
 |
Giulio Ciamillo/NBAE/Getty Images |
Bobby Jones entered the game for the first time about half-way through the quarter. I think it was at the 5:45 mark, but Hip-Hop was distracting me at the moment so that may not be exact.
Willie Green tried to inbounds the ball off of a defender’s back at one point, but it took a bad bounce and rolled back out of bounds.
The Winterthur Dancers came out for the first time during one timeout, and performed a routine to “Zuit Suit Riot” by The Cherry Poppin’ Daddies. My memory may be a bit off, but I believe that this song was released in the United States during the early 90’s, so I think that the Barcelona music scene is a little behind when it comes to American music.
Barcelona was on the short end of four straight calls from the referees, and the crowd was not pleased. The whistling started again, and I was not pleased. Then one of the NBA referees gave the Barcelona coach a technical for arguing calls, and the place went nuts.
The whistling was joined by an ensemble of horns that fans had brought to the game, and THIS the loudest noise I have ever heard at a basketball game.
The half ended with the score tied at 51, and halftime came to give the crowd a chance to relax. A team of extreme dunkers performed during the break, and were accompanied by songs by 50 Cent and the Black Eyed Peas. The winner of an NBA Live 07 tournament that had been conducted earlier was then presented with a trophy.
The third quarter began with Barcelona jumping to a 64-56 lead. Carney got his first point of his career when he made a free-throw with 6:25 left in the quarter, and connected on his first field-goal with 3:01 left.
Hip-Hop and the Winterthur Dancers came out during a timeout, and he put on a dunk show of his own. The crowd loved his high-flying moves, but was most entertained when he lined up three of the dancers on their hands and knees on the court and proceeded to do a running front flip over all three of them.
The third quarter went smoothly until the calls started going against the Barcelona team again. They were called for a series of fouls that concluded with Samuel Dalembert being fouled on a lay-up attempt. The Barcelona center argued the call and was given a technical. The whistles, boos, and horns from the previous technical were joined by the crowd stomping their feet so hard that it sounded like 5000 bass drums being pounded. So now we had whistles, horns, and drums. I’m pretty sure that if one more technical had been called a string quartet would have entered the stadium and we would have had a full orchestra arguing with the refs calls. As you can probably guess by now, this culmination of noises was the loudest noise I have ever heard at a basketball game.
They began chanting “BARCA!” and were almost deafening when Dalembert stepped to the line to take his two free-throws, but he calmly made both and the game proceeded. It was 74-73 Barcelona at the end of the third.
The score went back and forth throughout much of the fourth quarter until Barcelona made a run to go up 87-81 with 5:04 remaining in the contest. The crowd started their “BARCA!” chant again. The PA announcer then announced that the San Antonio Spurs had defeated Lyon 115-90, and the crowd chanted louder.
 |
Sixers Photos |
It’s too bad for the Sixers that Barcelona didn’t have to take inside shots. With the Sixers within two, Juan Carlos Navarro hit a three pointer and then a player named Basile was fouled on a three and completed the four-point play. The lead had jumped to 100-91 with only 1:19 left, and there wasn’t enough time for the Sixers to make a run.
When the final horn sounded with Barcelona leading 104-99, it wasn’t quite the loudest noise I had ever heard at a basketball game, but it was close.
The players shook hands at center court, Bobby Jones thanked the crowd and the city of Barcelona for being absolutely terrific during our stay in Spain, and the crowd still clamored to touch Allen Iverson on his way out.
The Sixers obviously wanted to win the game. They wanted to show that their defense has improved. But when they left the stadium, they understood that this game was about more than the “W”.
The crowd was able to see an NBA team play, they were able to see their home team win, and if the Barcelona papers this morning were any indication, the city had been infused with a new excitement about the game of basketball. And I believe that was the outcome that Commissioner David J. Stern, who was on hand to watch the game, was hoping for.
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