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A Bold Prediction by CHUCK BETSON During the Sixers Playoffs 2003, Sixers.com will offer fans a weekly column rotating local sportswriter Chuck Betson and local radio personality Anthony Gargano. Visit Sixers.com during the Playoffs for a fresh and engaging look at your Philadelphia 76ers. Archives posted May 15, 2003
Why does there appear to be curse on all Philadelphia sports teams, which demands that whatever we do, it isn't enough? Why is there always a Chucky Atkins' prayer shot, a Joe Jurevicous catch and run or two missed foul shots clouding up our morning coffee? Somebody please tell me. Maybe Anthony "The Cuz'' Gargano has the answer because I don't. It hurts so bad today, the morning after the Sixers almost overcame demons like Allen Iverson's poor shooting and Keith Van Horn's poor presence to lose Game 5 to the Detroit Pistons 78-77. Now the Sixers are faced with the daunting task of winning Game 6 Friday night at the First Union Center to force a Game 7 on Sunday. "I don't know how we stayed in the game with Keith (Van Horn) going 2-10 and Allen 5-25,'' Sixers coach Larry Brown said. "I thought we defended, kept fighting back. I know it was really a difficult Game 2, but this one really stinks.'' This was a game that the Pistons tried to give away in the fourth quarter when they couldn't make a shot; wouldn't take control. And the Sixers almost accepted the gift when Eric Snow hit a three-pointer with 16 seconds left to give the Sixers a one-point lead. The play exemplified the Sixers season; Iverson drives and gets the inevitable double team and dishes off to Derrick Coleman. Play the right way, coach. Coleman, perhaps the most remarkable rejuvenation project in Larry Brown's catalogue, finds Snow wide open. Pass the right way coach. Shoot the right way coach. And then Snow, playing with pride and pain, hit the shot that sent the Delaware Valley into a premature celebration. And the gritty, gutsy, love-to-love-ya-baby Sixers are up by a point. A foul to give was given perfectly. But it all ended with Atkins somehow getting the ball over Coleman and D.C. knocking it out of the basket. Atkins throws up a teardrop and the Sixers are left with Motown's Smokey Robinson and the tracks of our tears. "We denied pretty good,'' Brown said of the last play. "And I thought Allen did a tremendous job of pressuring the inbounds. He just got it in full stride and there's not much we could do. And he made a tough shot. I thought Derrick (Coleman) was coming. You've got to give them credit...they made two big shots.'' One of which was made by Tayshaun Prince over a contorted Aaron McKie.
Prince; the artist formerly known as a bust in Kentucky until he made a late run in his senior season. I witnessed Game 4 of this series in the stands with the fans, and I just cannot picture how the Sixers could lose Game 5. They just don't scare me; these Pistons. To use the words of former Sixers coach Jimmy Lynam, they cannot score the ball. No offense Detroit, but there's no offense out there for the majority of the time. That's why this series has turned into a bump and grind affair more suited for an old burlesque hall than the First Union Center or the Palace at Auburn Hills. But as much as it hurts today it still isn't over. The Sixers will win Game 6 and then there is Game 7. The odds have to be in the Sixers favor. Somewhere down the line Atkins isn't going to roll in a prayer shot, and Iverson is not going to miss two foul shots with the game on the line. The Sixers have played much better in the Palace than the Pistons have played at the First Union. The Sixers will save the best for last. Out, out damn spot. No more Philadelphia curse. Gulp down that coffee; the Sixers in seven. |
It's hard to believe that the Sixers were able to stay in Game 5 with Van Horn going 2-10 from the floor.