BLOG: Big Week For Flyers, Sixers
By: Bill Campbell
This is a big week and an important one for our two major indoor sports teams. While both the Flyers and 76ers have accomplished much during their regular seasons, it would be nice to see both teams roaring into the playoffs with guns blazing. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case.
The Flyers will open a best-of-seven series with the Buffalo Sabres, who are playing their best hockey as the regular season draws to a close. They have compiled a 16-4-4 record of late, winning 8 of their last 10. They have good balance in their scoring with 10 of their players reaching double figures in goals scored and Ryan Miller, one of the best, will be in the net for the Sabres. Miller is both a former Olympic hero and Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL top goalie in the 2009-10 season. He has appeared in 40 playoff games in his career.
The Flyers have already announced they're going with the rookie, Sergi Bobrovsky, at least at the start of the playoffs -- which gives the experience advantage to the Sabres as well. Bobrovsky has had a good rookie season, going 23-18-8 for the Flyers backed up by Brian Boucher. And the Flyers will have the edge on the home ice in this best of 7 series. But the Chris Pronger mystery lingers on: will he or won't he make the playoffs? Having won just 7 of their last 21 games, the Flyers really need Pronger who has been out of action since March 8th with a broken right hand. His status is being described as "day to day". Even if he makes Thursday's first game, his effectiveness will be open to question because of all of his inactivity. He hasn't even been able to practice and his absence from these playoff games lingers over the series. He is a team leader and the Flyers are a different team when Pronger is on the ice.
The last time the Flyers and Sabres met in the playoffs brings back some negative memories. It was in 2006 in the Eastern Conference quarter-finals when the Sabres had home ice and won the series in 6 games. Danny Briere, now a Flyers star but then a Sabre, scored in the second overtime to win the first game. Goaltender Ryan Miller made 30 saves and had a shutout in Game Five. Those were the Flyer days of Peter Forsberg and company. This is a different team. Danny Briere is on our side now and, we hope, leading to a different result.
Which brings us to the 76ers and a somewhat similar story. I attended the 76ers-Toronto Raptors game last Friday night and the difference between the teams was quite apparent during the first half. I kept waiting for the Sixers to blow the Raptors out but it never happened. In fact, the Sixers at one point lost the lead. They did recover and manage to win by 5 points over a team they should have beaten by 20 with more efficient play. Doug Collins has done an almost miraculous coaching job with his team, which was a total disaster last season under Eddie Jordan. But, like the Flyers, the Sixers also have some injury problems. Elton Brand has a fractured bone in his hand, although he hasn't missed any time. And Lou Williams has a hamstring problem. Williams' status for the playoffs is questionable and the Sixers' first series over the weekend will be against the star-studded Miami Heat.
But injuries aren't the Sixers' real problem. Following the Toronto game, they played the Orlando Magic and gave the impression they just weren't in tune. Midway through the fourth period they trailed by 21, finally closed the gap to 10, but at no time did they appear to be a team preparing for the weekend's playoffs. Collins has done such a good coaching job, he is very much in the running for NBA Coach of the Year and it hurts to see his team threatening to fade at this point in the season. But the Sixers need a genuine big man, a bona fide superstar on whom they can lean on occasion. And those guys are hard to find. They need a Dwight Howard-type or reasonable facsimile. Collins could coach his ears off, which he is close to doing, but it wouldn't make much difference without a big man. He has made the 76ers a reasonable presence but not a team worthy of honest competition when it comes to taking the same court as the Miami Heat. This is especially true when it come to playoff games, which are completely different from the regular season.
So the next week will be full of news from the blue line on the ice and the paint on the court. Let's hope some lessons are learned. The Heat has won all three regular season games from the Sixers and, perhaps, passed along a few lessons.
No one could have predicted the outcome of the Masters. Hardly anyone could truthfully say they'd even heard the name of the guy who won it. It was supposed to be a real opportunity for Phil Mickelson, who had won the preceding weekend at the Houston Open and was the Masters defending champion. He finished 13 shots behind at 1 under par. The winner, in case someone should ask, was a 26-year-old unknown from South Africa names Charl Schwartzel. And I remember when he first appeared on my television set thinking, "I hope this guy doesn't win the tournament because no one will ever get his name straight." Well, they might now. He not only won it, he outshot everybody and at one time blew past 5 players who were tied for the lead. He won the tournament by 2 shots and by making birdie on the 4 consecutive closing holes -- winning on the 50th anniversary to the very day when Gary Player, another South African, became the first international player to win the Masters.
