Sixers fans love this current team like crazy. There has not been a Sixers squad people are this excited about since the 2001 Finals team.
But fans and basketball analysts can still be nit picky with different aspects of Philly. Whether it is as simple as they do not think Philly has what it takes to get past Brooklyn or Milwaukee, or if they dive deeper into things like Embiid’s injury, Simmons’ lack of shooting or missing bench production.
I understand why some may feel this way. I can at times, too. But for those who do, I have one message: Stop and smell the roses.
We dealt with The Process and all the sacrifices that came with it. We were the laughingstock of the NBA for years. We did not know if we could ever form a team good enough to make the playoffs, let alone the 1 seed. And once we did become a formidable team, Kawhi happened, and we did not know if we would ever have a chance at a conference finals appearance again.
Now – barring any major setbacks – the Sixers will get some redemption and should make the conference finals for the first time in 20 years. And who knows what will happen from there!
The Sixers are doing this with talent that is very rare to experience in Philly sports.
Just think about it. Joel Embiid is a seven-foot, 280-pound man with a partially torn meniscus, and he is STILL playing like arguably the best player in the league! In the Hawks series, he is averaging 35.3 PPG, 10.3 RPG, 4.7 APG, 2.3 BPG, and he is +43 in three games. All while on one good knee AND being guarding by Clint Capela, an excellent interior defender who some casuals thought could shutdown Embiid.
He even appeared to have issues with his one good knee in game three and was still able to do this!
That's a baaaaaad man. pic.twitter.com/KvOmobnIEa
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) June 12, 2021
I hope he is okay physically for now and the long term, but who knows the next time Sixers fans will be able to watch one of their own players do something like this.
In addition, it is also important for fans to appreciate the help from other players.
Harris and Curry are having career seasons. Green’s veteran presence has been beneficial for the whole team. Milton, Korkmaz, Thybulle, and Maxey have stepped up in the playoffs when needed. Howard is the Frosty Freeze-Out King Philly has always needed!
No one loves the Frosty Freeze Out more than Dwight Howard…
(via @DwightHoward) pic.twitter.com/0VXUCosuzo
— Barstool Philly (@BarstoolPhilly) June 9, 2021
And what may need to be respected most this series is Ben Simmons’ defensive ability. Since game 1, look how much worse Atlanta’s offense has looked. The biggest reason for that has been Simmons’ defense on Trae Young.
Young sets up Atlanta’s half-court offense. He either breaks down his defender or gets a screen to create space. Then one of three things happens: He takes the open shot, he kicks out to find the open man or he forces contact and gets fouled. But now with the best perimeter defender in basketball guarding Young, he cannot create space and the Hawks have no where to go to start that sequence. Also give props to Doc for occasionally putting Thybulle on Trae and throwing strong double teams after on-ball screens.
This is the best Sixers team in a generation. The city has not had a basketball team this exciting in years. Fans used to beg to have talent like this. We will see how far they can go, but for now, please appreciate the team and enjoy the ride.
