by Jamie Cooperstein
posted Monday, May 5, 2003

Coleman called Wallace the anchor to the Pistons defense. Jesse D Garrabrant NBAE/Getty Images

After a light work out on Sunday, the Philadelphia 76ers practiced at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine on Monday, finally aware of their opponent for the 2003 Eastern Conference Semifinals, an opponent they haven't faced in the postseason since 1955, and who is the No. 1 seed in the East.

The Sixers will face the Detroit Pistons Tuesday night at the Palace of Auburn Hills at 8 p.m. to start the best-of-seven series. This will be the fourth time in the last five years that the Sixers have appeared in the Semifinal round.

The Sixers enjoyed Saturday off after their Game 6 win at New Orleans on Friday to close out the First Round series 4-2. The Pistons, on the other hand, needed a Game 7 against Orlando on Sunday to move on to the next round.

"It feels good. We just want to play," said Eric Snow. "Now that we have our opponent, we can just focus on the things that we need to do to win."

The No. 1 thing will be for the Sixers to find a way to stop Ben Wallace, who led the league in rebounds (15.4) and was second in blocked shots (3.15) just behind Atlanta’s Theo Ratliff.

The Sixers finished their regular-season series tied 2-2 with the Pistons. However, Wallace was out with an injury when the Sixers last beat the Pistons on April 8. In their previous game on March 20, Wallace helped Detroit mount a 38-point margin of victory and finished the game with 22 rebounds and nine blocked shots.

"He does everything for them," said Derrick Coleman, who will go up against Wallace tomorrow night. "I think he is the key, the anchor for their whole defense. He is such a key to the Pistons Organization."

So it wasn't surprising that after the Sixers practice on Monday, many had an opinion of how to contain Wallace.

"We are going to have to find some ways that when he doesn't come and play people, we have to do something to take advantage of that before we even drive him and try to attack the basket," said Sixers Assistant Coach Bob Bender. "When you do go to the basket, be aware of the fact that sometimes a missed shot is as good as a made shot if he comes to challenge it because maybe you can clean it up with an offensive rebound."

"I don't think you need to go in and challenge him - I think we need to make him play, maybe take him away from the basket," said Snow. "If he tries to block shots, then our guards really need to protect their opponent off the offensive glass. He tries to block every shot so maybe we need to find the open man. We need to be aggressive."

The Sixers will not have long – they will get to test out their strategies in person Tuesday night.