A Fab Five for Philly?

Basketball Digest, May, 2001 by John Jr. Smallwood

The Sixers' acquisition of Dikembe Mutombo left conference rivals with mouths agape and put the pedal to the metal in the 76ers' race to the city's fifth NBA title

THERE'S NO GETTING AROUND it. The general perception is that the Eastern Conference simply isn't as strong as the West. Whichever team comes out of the East is going to be an underdog--as in dog meat--in the NBA Finals.

Still, there are eight teams on the Right Coast that are willing to take their chances, and there's one--the Philadelphia 76ers--that actually might be able to pull off a June surprise. From the moment the Sixers brass decided to risk the chemistry of a team with the best record in the league by making a blockbuster trade deadline deal fir center Dikembe Mutombo, they made it clear they had loftier goals than just winning the East.

"I think people speculated that we did this to compete with the West," Sixers general manager Billy King says of the trade that sent All-Star forward/center Theo Ratliff, key reserve Toni Kukoc, reserve center Nazr Mohammed, and guard Pepe Sanchez to the Atlanta Hawks for Mutombo and forward Roshown McCleod. "We did this to win games and win championships."

Preferably the Sixers would start winning the first of those "championships" now. First, however, Philadelphia will have to get through the Eastern Conference, and while the Sixers have established themselves as the team to beat, this is still a wide-open race for a Finals berth.

With 7'2", 265-pound Mutombo anchoring the middle, Philly has something no other Eastern Conference team has--a legitimate All-Star center who can control the paint and alter a game defensively. As always, the Sixers are offensively-challenged as a whole, but when MVP candidate and resident scoring machine Allen Iverson has it flowing, he generally provides enough offense for the defensive-minded Sixers to win.

Philly is making its third straight playoff appearance under coach Larry Brown. In contrast to the past two seasons, this time a second-round exit will not be acceptable.

During the offseason, the Miami Heat made all the moves necessary to finally get over the hump and win the East. It all fell apart when All-Star center Alonzo Mourning was lost for most of the year with a kidney ailment.

By trading mainstay Patrick Ewing to Seattle, no team altered its look more than the New York Knicks. So how come they're still the same team? On paper. Latrell Sprewell, Allan Houston, Marcus Camby, and Glen Rice look like a high-octane, fast-paced attacking offense. In reality, the Knicks are the same plodding, defense-first, offense-third team--except Ewing is gone. Still, the Knicks know how to take it tip a level in the playoffs.

The Milwaukee Bucks will try to defy the established belief that strong defense is needed to win the East. With no defensive stopper and no post player of note, the Bucks will try to jump shoot their way out of the East.

Losing guard Eddie Jones and forward Anthony Mason to Miami seemed as if it would be a devastating blow to Charlotte, but lost in the hoopla of the sign-and-trade deal was the tact that the Hornets got two pretty good players in Jamal Mashburn and P.J. Brown. The Hornets have quietly established themselves as a darkhorse in the East.

Once the Orlando Magic finally got over the shock that newly-acquired but injured All-Star Grant Hill wasn't going to play this year, they started dealing with the season at hand. After leaving Toronto and stepping out of the shadow of Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady has lived up to his billing as one of the top young stars in the game. The Magic probably can't win the Fast, but nobody will want to match up against them. The same can be said for the Toronto Raptors--the high-scoring Vince Carter makes them a team to want to avoid.

THE FAVORITE

PHILADELPHIA 76ers

WHY THEY ARE THE TEAM TO BEAT: Allen Iverson has matured into the unstoppable force everyone dreamed he would be when he was drafted first overall out of Georgetown in 1996. The Answer always had the ability, but this season, Iverson has accepted the responsibilities that go along with being one of the most talented players in the NBA. And all it took was nearly being traded to the Detroit Pistons to bring that point home. Regardless of what triggered AI's evolution from team liability to team leader, the Sixers have benefited from his commitment to become all that he can be.

With Iverson finally on board, know-their-role players like point guard Eric Snow, forwards Tyrone Hill and George Lynch, and super sixth man Aaron McKie have shown that they are more than just a bunch of also-rans. Iverson finally showed confidence in his teammates and started sharing the ball. They rewarded him by elevating their play.

Player for player the Sixers may not be the best team in the NBA, but as a collective unit, no team has performed more consistently. Considering the Sixers were a league-best 41-14 at the time, coach Larry Brown and GM Billy King showed a lot of guts by making the trade for Dikembe Mutombo. But the opportunity to add a legitimate center who also happened to be the NBA's best rebounder was too good to pass up.