76ers minus Embiid & Simmons –It was not long ago, maybe a couple of years, around March 15th when the Sixers started out their 16 game winning streak. They were the talk of the NBA and it was with the likes of folks like Dario Saric, Robert Covington, T.J. McConnell, J.J. Redick, and Markelle Fultz, as components to the Embiid and Simmons show. The dogs were Dario Saric and T.J. McConnell. The way these Sixers played just was going to be a surprise to everyone. They even had beaten the Cav’s late that year when Lebron was on the team, and Embiid was not available for the game. You know the rest; they took on Miami with Dwayne Wade, beat them, and then went to Boston where they were staggering to get one win. There was the 1st game that they played during the Boston Series that they had a pretty good lead, but Boston start nipping at the lead, and Brett Brown never called a time-out to settle the team down. As you would know the Celtics took that series 4-1. The hope for the Sixers to advance next year was in abundance, as folks were thinking that they could eventually get to the conference finals. Starting the 2018 season out and losing to the Celtics badly wasn’t something that fans expected. Then there were teams like the Nets that were giving the Sixers a hard time, not to mention the change in General Managers over the summer and the drama behind the burner accounts with previous manager Bryan Colangelo’s misgivings on Embiid. So could you look back and say that the 76ers didn’t have a great start that year, as they were in between GM’s. Elton Brand enters the picture and makes a bold move, that some think back to and say hmm! Dario Saric was a beast, and was a shooter, and Covington could shoot the 3 easily. These were the main stay of what was happening the prior year, the solid shooting support. Let us not forget Marco Belinelli, and Ersan Ilyasova who were shooters. 76ers minus Embiid & Simmons- Shop here
For some reason or another, the 76ers thought they had to have another big star to make it a trio of stars to get to the next level. So they get Jimmy Butler, mind you he is no slouch, and had the dog in him to play the game. The year goes on and the Sixers end up back in the semi conference final, and still loose. They also loose Jimmy Butler, and get some great guys, but nothing what they had before during that 16 game winning streak. Sure the Sixers could win some games, but the are now having problems winning on the road. This particular nasty habit has put them in the lower half of the bracket; thus meaning they would not see any home court advantage at all. The ugly complaints that they need a new coach, or they need to trade Embiid, and or Simmons to get right. (sometimes you need to let well enough alone)