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"How Everything Is Falling Into Place for the 76ers to Shock the World"

The NBA season will resume soon and when it does the 76ers might be the team that benefits most after the hiatus

The NBA is coming back. The league and the players union are working tirelessly on medical protocols that address the still raging COVID-19 pandemic (no small thing) while spitballing ideas on how to ensure the social justice movement doesn’t get lost in the shuffle (ditto). But come July, 22 teams will report to Orlando, and a new, er, resumed season will begin.

And when it does, I’m all in on Philadelphia.

That’s right, Philadelphia. The delightfully dysfunctional Sixers. The 39-win club that stumbled into the pandemic in a virtual tie with Miami for the fifth seed in the East. The NBA champions of home games and NBA chumps of the road. Physically imposing Philly, with strength in the paint matched only by weakness outside it.

Philadelphia: Your 2019-20 Eastern Conference champs

Most predictions on the outcome of a resumed season are meaningless. Backing 53-win Milwaukee? Giannis Antetokounmpo hasn’t played so much as a pick up game in three months and what happens if Eric Bledsoe is 2020’s Shawn Kemp? The Lakers will be a trendy pick but let’s see what an extended layoff does to a 35-year old LeBron James’s body.

There is simply too much we don’t know.

But what about things we can assume? Let’s assume that these games are going to be a little sloppy. Players are just trickling into practice facilities and full scrimmages are still weeks away. It’s a safe bet to say that the three-point shooting numbers will be awful early on, and they may not improve much over a three-month playoff.

You know which team doesn’t rely on the three-point shot? Philadelphia.

Let’s assume there’s an advantage to having a dominant low post player. Someone you can play through and grind a game out. Joel Embiid surged out of the All-Star break. He averaged 27.6 points in Philadelphia’s first five games back. He pulled down 11 rebounds, knocked in 53.2% of his shots and made got in 11.4 free throw attempts per game—making 86% of them. In an interview with NBA.com, Embiid says he has been working out six times a week during the pandemic. “I have something to prove,” Embiid told the website. “Whenever the opportunity comes, it’s going to be my time.”

Let’s assume there will be plenty of defensive struggles. If the three’s aren’t falling, scores will. Games will be grinded out. A team with a top-six defense and lockdown defenders at several key positions should have an advantage.

A team like—wait for it—Philadelphia.

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Indeed. It’s redemption time for Philadelphia. They won’t make three’s, but no one will. They can play bully ball with Embiid, who Brown would like to run out for 38 minutes a night. They can suffocate you defensively with Embiid, Simmons and Josh Richardson. Al Horford—a disappointment in his first season in Philadelphia—has been terrific in recent years in the playoffs. Games with scores in the mid-90’s? The Sixers were built for that.

Quote (Crunkt @ Jun 19 2020 01:24am)

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Quote (Sixers @ 19 Jun 2020 01:39)

THE FIRE IS REAL

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Let’s assume there will be plenty ofdefensive struggles. If the three’s aren’t falling, scores will. Games will be grinded out. A team with a top-six defense and lockdown defenders at several key positions should have an advantage.

Quote (Crunkt @ Jun 19 2020 01:41am)

Ya I mean when a guy says "As long as no one is playing defense and no one can shoot threes then Philadelphia if they are able to play good defense might maybe possibly have an advantage" .Fuck.. Sign me up.

Quote (Sixers @ 19 Jun 2020 02:10)

Entire convo for NBA in general is "what if" lol

Nobody really knows wtf to expect after all of this time off.

Quote (DICK_SHlTTER @ Jun 19 2020 01:05am)

For fucks sake , no one gives a fucking shit about the sixers. do you want me posting threads daily about the wolves? of course NOT.

just stop DM.

Quote (DICK_SHlTTER @ Jun 19 2020 02:05am)

For fucks sake , no one gives a fucking shit about the sixers. do you want me posting threads daily about the wolves? of course NOT.

just stop DM.