Sixers weigh in on sports' dominant players

TORONTO - It wasn't officially a national holiday here yesterday, but it sure felt like one.

Wayne Gretzky, who grew up only 45 minutes away from Toronto in Brantford, Ontario, turned 50 yesterday and, believe it or not, it was all the talk in this city.

During his 20-year NHL career, "The Great One" posted records for points (2,857), goals (894) and assists (1,963). He won nine league MVP awards and four Stanley Cups, all with the Edmonton Oilers. He holds an amazing 61 NHL records (40 regular season, 15 playoffs and six for the All-Star Game). His point total is 970 more than the man in second place, former teammate Mark Messier. He has 93 goals more than Gordie Howe and 770 more assists than Messier, the closest numbers to Gretzky.

So the question was asked to members of the Sixers yesterday: Who was the most dominating player of his sport of all-time.

Remarkably, the only person to mention Gretzky without being prompted was equipment manager supreme Scotty Rego.

"I got two - Michael Jordan in basketball and Muhammad Ali in boxing," said coach Doug Collins, without hesitation. When reminded of Gretzky, Collins said: "Well, I'm not a hockey guy, but I'll put Wayne Gretzky in the mix. I don't want to short-side him. Michael gets in because he had such great coaching in his career, especially early."

Collins, of course, was Jordan's coach for 3 years in Chicago during the late 1980s.

"Man, that's a tough question," backup center Tony Battie said. "I think Michael [Jordan] was the most dominating. I mean, who else is there in the sport?"

Battie was reminded of how the game had to be changed a bit to make it more fair for those playing against Wilt Chamberlain.

"I really didn't see him play at all, so I have to stick with Michael," he replied.

Center Spencer Hawes had one of the most interesting answers of those polled.

"You know, you have to throw Michael Phelps in there," he said. "That dude just totally owned the sport and brought in so many people to the sport. That's a pretty great achievement. I'd also have to say Wilt, just for his pure domination. If you're talking dominating, it's Wilt. The man scored 100 points in a game."

Assistant coach Aaron McKie and guard Jodie Meeks both put in a vote for Tiger Woods, but Hawes shot them down when he heard their response: "He doesn't even have as many majors as Jack yet. I'd take Nicklaus in golf before I'd take Tiger right now."

It came as no surprise that rookie Evan Turner, a Chicago native, chose Jordan. It also came as no surprise that he also said Ali, the same two people his coach picked.

Rookies can be smart sometimes.

The last time the Sixers played a game at the Air Canada Centre, it was the night before Thanksgiving and the team was in a virtual free fall, having suffered a crushing, overtime loss the night before in Washington. After getting pasted by the Raptors to the tune of 106-90, the Sixers' record fell to 3-12. It was not a good time for Doug Collins and the team.

Though the Sixers entered last night's game with two losses this season to the Raptors, the coach didn't want to recall that with his team.

"I watched the film [of the Nov. 24 loss], and I didn't even recognize our team," Collins said. "We're such a different team now. Our guys know that they are 0-2 against this team. Our guys know how important this is [to beat struggling teams]."

Not only were the Raptors without a win in eight games when they took to the practice court on Tuesday, they were also without a large portion of their roster.

Because of a flu bug making the rounds and various serious and nagging injuries, coach Jay Triano had to conduct a practice on Tuesday without seven players.

Former Sixer Reggie Evans is among the wounded, as he is out for about another month with a broken foot. Most notably missing on Tuesday were starting point guard Jose Calderon and Sixer-killer Andrea Bargnani, both because of the flu. They were recovered enough to be in uniform last night. *