America's Showplace was a venue known for it's ability to entertain. In one last gesture to honor its history, the Sixers and Bulls left fans feeling like they got their money's worth Friday evening. Sure, there was plenty of ugly play and poor officiating (We're looking at you Joey!) but the excitement of a game coming down to the wire spiced up by a few high flying slams by the likes of Speights and Iguodala and the venue was feeling electric, like it hadn't missed a beat.
At times, like when walking through the extremely jam packed hallways, the venue felt totally dated. But when the action on the floor was going on, the intimate building had that amazing Philadelphia sports vibe that runs through the pipes of all the venues and the veins of all the fans. It was a great evening to pay some last respects and create one last memory.
Many of the Sixers all timers were introduced prior to tip off such as the Docter, Bobby, and Moses among others. Mo Cheeks, Andrew Toney, and Billy Cunningham were the guys absent that came to mind.
The pageantry of the evening was kept to a minimum mostly due to the aging building's lack of a legitimate scoreboard where video highlights could be played. There was a lovely national anthem played by a saxophonist to honor the late great Grover Washington Jr. and much of the PA work was done by what I guessed to be Joe Conklin doing a stellar over emphasized Dave Zinkoff impression. Think twenty 'r's instead of ten.
As for the hoops, the Sixers looked solid at times but certainly struggled defensively much of the night. That Bulls team should not be able to match up with the Sixers yet Sammy allowed Joakim Noah to get way too many easy shots. Seeing Derrick Rose for the first time left me thinking he is the real deal. The quickness was astonishing. I like to say Louis Williams leaves me in awe of his flash but Rose was simply unstoppable at times. Not only does he have the speed but he can muscle his way through the lane and hit the tough shots.
For the Sixers Thaddeus Young continued his transformation into one of the teams best scoring threats. He once again set a career high, finishing with 31 and very easily could have gone for a lot more if they called his number a few more times in the fourth.
Sammy put in a very Sammy type of performance, infuriating at times with his lackadaisical defense but then getting the crowd rockin' after a few slams. To his credit, he came up huge in the final seconds, swatting the Bulls last legit attempt to win it. Iguodala had a equally important and filthy swat on Ben Gordon only moments earlier. GET IT OUT!
It was a family affair for me as I took in the game with my dad, uncle, and Pop. They were the same crew I attended Dr. J's final game in the same building some decades earlier.
A good win and a great evening.
image via Yahoo!
Original Story:
http://www.the700level.com/2009/03/si...
