A 76ers Throwback Moment

Looking for a highlight featuring the dynamic duo of Andre Turner and Armen Gilliam? (Well, who isn't?)

If that sounds like you... look no further!

A Brief History of Canadian 76ers

Curiousity got the best of me today. Fortunately, the ever-helpful Mr. Google was there to satisfy my itch to find out about Canadians that have played for the Philadelphia 76ers. Why did I need to find this bit of useless information out? I don't know, same reason that your shoes stick to stadium walkways... it's simply a mysterious facet of life that you have to deal with.

Anyway, I searched "Canadian basketball players" and got this page from Wikipedia, which lists anybody who was/is relatively famous in the basketball circles in Canada. I zipped through list of 86 Canadain basketball players, clicking on each link to skim through each bio, and found that I'd never heard of most of the guys on there. The first name that jumped out at me, however, was the one and only Sixers' starting center for 2007, Mr. Samuel Dalembert. The trick with him is that he was born in Haiti, but apparently played basketball at high school in Montreal, Canada. So, does that count? I'll let you be the judge.

Of course I came across Todd MacCullough, a Sixers center from 1999-2003. His playing career was unfortunately cut short, but one of his claims to fame was having been born and raised in Winnipeg, Canada. He had a nice touch on his shot, but otherwise kind of slid under the radar during his brief career.

A few other Canadian gents played for the Sixers at one time or another. Here's the list of players I found:

-Rowan Barrett: Rowan was on the Sixers' squad in 1999. (Sorry, I couldn't even find any other information on what he did on the Sixers... must not have made much of an impact)

-Olu Famutimi: Well the information on Olu is pretty much as thin as it gets. Apparently Famutini, from Toronto, played in Sixers' training camp in 2005. So, umm, yeah, that's about all I got on him.

-Leo Rautins: Rautins (pictured) was drafted by the Sixers in 1983 out of Syracuse University with the 17th pick. In 28 appearances during his only season with the Sixers, Leo popped in 48 points, roped 29 assists, and pulled in 33 rebounds as a 6'8" forward. In 1985 he played for the Atlanta Hawks in four games. He then skipped off to Europe. He is now the coach of the Canadian national basketball team and can be heard as an analyst for the Toronto Raptors. Of note, Rautins has undergone 14 knee operations at the time of his retirement. That's one knee surgery for every two NBA games he played. Ouch. Also of note: his son Andy now also plays at Syracuse. Hopefully his knees fare better than his pop's set.

Well, that's a brief history of Canadian 76ers. Six Sixers (that I could find, at least) hailed from Canada. Don't you feel a bit more wordly?

The NBA: Ball + Basket = Billions

This past Wednesday, I went to see the Sixers play (and defeat) the Phoenix Suns at the Wachovia Center, the first game I've gone to in well over a year. The game was pretty good, save for the fact that Steve Nash was visibly not 100% and Shawn Marion was out for the game, thus rendering the Suns less potent than usual, but all in all it was a fun time.

While at the game I did some thinking. I saw Ed Snider-- the Sixers' President who represents Comcast, the team's owner-- walking around his establishment that holds around 20,000 fans on a full night. He watched his investments, errr, players who are collectively paid about $40-50 million run up and down the court. He undoubtedly smiled as he watched ticket-purchasing customers spend more hard-earned money by devouring overpriced food and beverages. And perhaps he thought about the income he would get from people who paid for parking, team gear, and other in-stadium purchases. And I'm sure he didn't forget the hundreds of ads that are plastered on the walls and other marketing messages announced throughout the game. He's got a lot to smile about... There's a lot of money floating around this building in just this one evening.

And all for putting a ball through a rim.

Think about it for a moment. A handful of guys in shorts, sleeveless jerseys, and sneakers run back and forth on a wood court trying to get a ball through a metal hoop. And people will pay tremendous amounts of money to witness it.

In fact, I did a quick estimate based on last year's Forbes Franchise Values and found that the NBA's teams are collectively worth well over $7 billion. All for getting that bouncy leather ball into a circular basket.

Is that unballievable or what?

Philly Sports Quest Profile: Ron Anderson

Ok, you just read the name "Ron Anderson" and I can GUARANTEE I already know what you're thinking.

Answer: Baseline jumper!

Ronald Gene Anderson was a Sixer from 1989 to 1993 and I think somewhere around 92.6% of his points came from hitting that baseline jumper from 10-15 feet out. Am I right?

In thinking about all of the players that I've ever seen play, I can't think of another player who made his living from that baseline jumper shot like Anderson did. Some players make their living in 3-point territory, some from planting themselves in the post, others from a jumper from the elbow, or something of that ilk. But Ron found that hole on the baseline and exploited it. And I'll tell you what, for a guy that put up 18 points per game over his career, he did pretty well for himself there. Shoot, the Sixers today I'm sure would love to have a guy like Anderson... a guy who can shoot reliably well (47% from the field during his career), hit his free throws (81%), get about 3-4 boards a game, not turn the ball over, and generally just fill in where needed. Nice kind of role player to have around.

But anyway, here are some little known facts that I just learned about our buddy (and that's what he seemed like... a buddy, average Joe kind of guy who just did his job with little fanfare)...
(Note, for some reason my prized bullet feature disappeared so I'm winging it with the bullets and also the hyperlinks)

-Ron went to Fresno State and joined the NBA in 1984 after just 2 years of college ball
-He played from '84 to '94 on 4 teams: Pacers, 76ers, Nets, Bullets, and scored over 7,000 points
-After the NBA he ventured off to play in France and later to Israel... nice gigs there for him I reckon
-He played on the '89/90 team with "Thump and Bump" (Charles Barkley and Rick Mahorn... Man, that must have been a fun locker room!), and yes, Chris Welp
-If you go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyZilWOTi8U and here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFsrb-M3CJg

You can see a glimpse of Ron in action (#20)... Okay, so they were the best I could find. Sorry! (At least you got to see Manute Bol dunk-- twice!)

Well that about wraps it up for Ron Annnnnnndersonnnnnn, as he was affectionately called from the Sixers's PA announcer whenever he scored. Ahh, memories.

Till next time, keep the Philly Sports Quest alive!

That Mr. Smith is an Ice Guy

According to this recent news item, the Sixers' Joe Smith had over $100,000 in jewelry nabbed from his hotel in Philadelphia.

Um, simply, wow.

First, I don't think I'll ever see $100,000 worth of jewelry belonging to one person in my lifetime.

Second, on the off chance that I do see $100k+ of jewelry belonging to one person, I would hope that this person would not leave said jewelry in a hotel room, unsecured.

Last, I will never feel bad for an NBA player who is traded because he's a throw-in as part of a salary-maneuvering trade.

Doug Moe: Coach of the "Run & Gun" 76ers

Coach Doug Moe led the 1992-3 76ers to a 19-37 record, after trading superstar Charles Barkley for Jeff Hornacek, Andrew Lang, and Tim Perry. Moe was replaced by Fred Carter after Moe's heralded "Run & Gun" offense lost a game by 56 points.

This quote pretty much sums up his tenure:

"Somebody said to me, 'It's Friday the 13th, are you going to be jinxed?' I said, 'Bleep, you can't jinx us.'"
--Doug Moe, on his 1992-93 Philadelphia 76ers, who were 1-7 in the preseason and 0-3 at the start of the regular season

It's actually kind of comical to look back and read these article snippets about the hype surrounding this team...

Philly Inquirer

Philly Daily News

Boston Globe

Associated Press

And one last Inqy article

Whoops... guess that wholed "Run & Gun" plan didn't quite pan out.

Bring Back the Thunder!; Honoring Darryl Dawkins

Over the years the 76ers have had their fair share of great and exciting players. Coming to mind are Allen Iverson, Dr. J, Charles Barkley, and, what the hell, we'll throw in Manute Bol. But one of my favorite players to watch on highlight reels is Darryl "Chocolate Thunder" Dawkins, who ran ball in Philly from 1976, when he was drafted out of high school, until he was traded to NJ in 1982.

This 6' 11", 251 lb. hulk of a man played a vintage power game, with crushing dunks, authoritative blocked shots, and hard fouls to anybody who came into the lane. (In fact he has the record for the most personal fouls in a season with 386 in 81 games, or 4.76 per game.) But he also had a flair for fun, gamesmanship, and marketing by giving his dunks humorous names like the "In Your Face Disgrace" dunk, the "Earthquaker Shaker", and my personal favorite, "The Chocolate-Thunder-Flying, Robizine-Crying, Teeth-Shaking, Glass-Breaking, Rump Roasting, Bun-Toasting, Wham-Bam-Glass-Breaker-I-Am-Jam". This last dunk name was initiated upon his breaking two backboards within 23 days, the first in Kansas City, the second at the Spectrum. His glass shattering ability actually resulted in a backboard-design change featuring a collapsible rim so that long delays after a broken backboard were a thing of the past.

To honor Mr. Dawkins, I scoured around the internet for some highlights for your enjoyment. Grab some popcorn, settle in, and enjoy the Thunder...

• Video from YouTube: Two and half minutes of dunks, blocked shots, and racy rap music
• Quick, humorous anecdote about a sponsorship decision
  
• Hilarious and honest interview from SI

Take THAT to the hole, dear reader.