The Sixers were once a very storied franchise with the Moses Malone-Charles Barkley-Julius Erving eras. Looking at the present, the city of brotherly love, has a group of guys that were brought together for one sole purpose, to win a championship. With multiple top picks on the roster, the Sixers finally have a winning mind-set. They look like a team destined to win a championship in the next few years, if not this year. Just like the Eagles and Villanova this year. Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz are the two most recent top picks to join the Sixers. Joel Embid was the 3rd pick in 2015. All 3 of them battled injuries during their rookie seasons. Now that they are healthy, there is no slowing Philly down! Now, the Sixers get to rekindle an old rivalry with the Boston Celtics.
I’ll make a prediction. The Eagles won. Villanova won. The 76ers are going to win the championship – Charles Barkley
Ben Simmons, is the front-runner for the rookie of the year Simmons was out for his whole first year, which is why he is still considered a rookie. Simmons was worth the hype. He put together multiple triple doubles. The 76ers head into the second round of the NBA playoffs after smoking the Heat in the first round. Simmons and Joel Embiid are the newest generation of super-stars in the NBA, and it’s great that Philadelphia has built this team primarily through the draft. Players like Embiid, Fultz, and Jerryd Bayless were all former top 10 picks and they went out and got a PA native and winner, TJ McConnell as an undrafted FA out of the UofA. TJ is invaluable to this team. Together these guys play like a group that have been together for many years. TJ has received a few 6th man nominations but doesn’t have the name recognition early on in his career. Another man making a big difference was the pickup of veteran JJ Reddick, who had a good career in LA. This group plays together, they really look like family out there with the way they support one another, the togetherness they display on the court, and they’re legit just having fun out there. The way it should be.
You really respect him… He just plays so hard. He’s a wonderful lesson for so many basketball players for what perseverance and toughness can bring you to.- Head Coach Brett Brown on TJ McConnell
The last time the 76ers were in the playoffs they had Elton Brand and Andrew Iguodala in 2011-2012 and it ended in disappointment. They lost to the Bulls in 6 in the first round. Before that, the 76ers weren’t relevant since they had one of the best little guards of all time, Allen Iverson. Iverson took them to the Championship in 2001, only to lose to the Lakers 4 games to 1. That was the last time Philly has made it to the finals.
Fresh off Philly’s recent ‘high’ of winning a Super Bowl and Villanova winning for the second time in 3 years, the 76ers look to pickup where the Eagles and Wildcats left off. They finished out the regular season on a 16 game winning streak then continued that tear into the post season taking down the heat in 5. To give you an idea of the level Ben Simmons is playing at, in this current 21 game stretch he is averaging a triple double. Philly has all the pieces to compete for the Eastern Conference crown this season, only disadvantage being youth and postseason inexperience, which is all mental anyway! Philly Philly!
BigCatSports 