The Top-6 teams in the East currently are Raptors, Bucks, Sixers, Pistons, Pacers, Celtics.
The Sixers have played all those teams (except Pacers) and are a combined 1-4 against them. They are down 68-56 to the Pistons right now at halftime as well.
Boston meanwhile has played down to their competition but against those teams, are a combined 5-2.
Interesting...
It’s crazy. I really enjoy watching embiid play and I think Simmons is a really unique talent. But the way the 76ers have been overhyped on this board going back to Noel and okafor has really made it hard for me to enjoy them as an exciting young team. I thought it would die down a bit when we had a gentlemen’s sweep against them last year without Irving or Hayward, but I was sadly mistaken. It’s probbaly the thing I find most frustrating on this board (and in general I love larbrd in case anyone was curious )
People, like LB, just enjoy being contrarian. He overhyped Okafor and Noel under the “future superstar” label he loosely throws around to young (cough McLemore), inexperienced (cough Bismack), prospects (cough Bennett), but these predictions consistently fall flat.
Just take a look at Butler. For years he called him premium brand Ricky Davis simply because he thought we would get him and wanted to be ahead on that. So now the Sixers get him and he thinks they’re the team to beat. Funny how that works. Speaking of funny, Saric is another guy he labeled with “superstar potential”, but I guess that potential was only if he remained in Philly.
I wish I could dig into my memory well to take random things ya'll have said in the past out of context and post them here, but I literally can't think of a single memorable thing ever said by a non-LarBrd33 user on this forum. Drawing a blank. I'm sure there's something though. Admittedly, I don't pay any attention to what goes on here anymore, but I doubt folks like the dude above has had much of value to add to this forum since he stopped being able to quote me on a daily basis.
Anyways...
Most of the examples above would have looked differently had they been developed in Boston. Our system seems to get the most out of people. Okafor and Noel's careers would have looked a heck of a lot different had they ended up in Boston. All the other guys were already considered busts by the time I suggested taking a flier on them. Likewise, they probably would have developed into better players in this system. Boston has an elite coaching staff and developmental system. Philly's been a pretty massive joke in how they have mishandled their young prospects - especially in the Colangelo era.
If time has warped anyone's memory of my Philly stance - it was never about a love for a scrub coach like Brett Brown or their ability to develop talent... I was specifically a fan of their ownership group having the balls to let Sam Hinkie take a video-game approach to building a team. Stripping it entirely, shamelessly tanking for picks, playing the odds that they'd eventually end up with a superstar. My argument all along was that "losing culture" didn't matter and as adding competent role players was the least difficult part of the process - they could easily sign talent once they had the core pieces in place. By far, the most important thing was getting a superstar to build around - they had been irrelevant for decades.
Reminder:
- Nerlens Noel was the cause - not the effect. Trading their all-star for an injured Noel and a future pick (that became Dario Saric) was what allowed them to bottom out. If you're bringing up Noel as an example of Philly failing, you don't get it.
- They tanked 3 years in a row and it net them Embiid, Okafor and Simmons. The whole point of tanking multiple years was to get a crack at a superstar - Philly ended up with 2. That's a success.
- As expected, they were able to sign the Amir Johnsons of the world as soon as they were ready to add role players. As expected, guys like JJ Redick were more than willing to take their money.
- Gutting their team and filling it with G-League talent paid off. Covington ended up being an asset. The strategy worked.
- The whole point of acquiring lots of young assets is to be able to use them for star trades - it took two regime changes, but moving Covington and Saric for Premium Brand Ricky Davis proves the process worked.
Now they are one of the East's favorites. Probably their conference to lose. They are set up well to target another star in free agency this Summer as they can easily free up max cap space to add a 4th star next to Simmons, Embiid and Butler.
At this point, the discussion is over. Philly had their first 50+ win season in like 30 years. They are one of the best teams in the East. Everything I admired about what Philly ownership had the balls to allow Hinkie to do ended up working. It is what it is. They are one of our key rivals now.
It worked. That's the bottom line. It's a 3-star team. Embiid is transcendent. The debate ended last season.
Topic: All Things Philadelphia 76ers (merged Sixers threads) (Read 370331 times)