BillyV's Blog

It’s been five years—half a decade—since the Sixers and Flyers both made the playoffs.  Now, if the Sixers are fortunate, they’ll follow the Flyers lead by winning some crucial games and setting themselves up for a match against one of the best players in the game. 

Yes, it would be a good thing to face one of the best players, because winning is a team thing, even though many folks in the media still seem to think it’s all about individual stars. 

In the Flyers case, they did themselves a favor by winning their final game to set up a series against Washington.  The Capitals' Alex Ovechkin is, according to the Flyers themselves, the best player in the NHL.  He led the league in goals scored and in overall points; those two things may seem like they go hand in hand, but only 6 players in the last 37 years have done it.  Ovechkin is sure to win the MVP award.  But other than him, the Caps don’t have that much; they’re not as good as Pittsburgh, whom the Flyers would have faced if they hadn’t won that final regular season game.

In the same way, the Sixers would like to move up and face Cleveland, because even though LeBron James is a great player, the team overall is not as good as Orlando or Detroit, the Sixers other possible playoff opponents.  The Sixers players may not say it publicly, but privately they feel that if they can contain LeBron, the other Cavs won’t pick up the slack.  (It is true, though, that the last time they played Cleveland, former St. Joe’s star Delonte West had a big game for the Cavs with 17 points.)

At any rate, I picked the Sixers to make the playoffs before the season started when everyone else said they wouldn’t, because as I pointed out in a blog at that time, that they had a winning record after Andre Miller joined the team in December of ’06.  Then they added Reggie Evans in the off-season, and he’s been a big contributor, too.  He only averages 5 and half points a game, but his rebounding, defense, energy, work ethic and leadership have been valuable to this team.  Both guys prove that there is so much more to basketball than scoring points.

Still, I keep hearing the same talk show hosts who said the Sixers wouldn’t make the playoffs now saying they won’t go far because they don’t have a “star player to take the big shot at the end of the game.”  When will they learn?  This team keeps proving that it’s not about stats or stars; it’s about playing as a team.  As former coach Larry Brown used to say, “Play hard every day, play the right way.”