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Tag: Philadelphia Sixers

  • How Villanova’s Legacy Beat Our Sixers – Philadelphia Sports Nation

    How Villanova’s Legacy Beat Our Sixers – Philadelphia Sports Nation

     Another Sixers Season Ends. This Time Because of Lancaster Ave.

    If you are looking to turn around your NBA franchise after an extended period of subpar play — look no further than one of the best national college basketball programs in the country.

    The Villanova Wildcats, who won National Championships in 2016 and 2018 — as well as a Final Four appearance in 2009.

     Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons.

    For nearly seven years before Tom Thibodeau took over as coach in 2020, the New York Knicks were operating at the bottom of the Atlantic Division.

    Then something happened during their rebuild.

    When Donte DiVincenzo joined the Knicks in 2023 and brought with him two National Championships at Villanova — the New York roster was complete with Josh Hart, Scottie Reynolds, and Ryan Archidiacono. All of which, played under Jay Wright at Villanova.

    Archidiacono and DiVincenzo had been national champions.

    So what factors led to the Sixers loss to the Knicks?

     Photo Courtesy of Philadelphia Sports Nation on X.

    A New Leader — Much to the disappointment of hungry Sixers fans, Philadelphia did not replace embattled Head Coach Doc Rivers in 2023 with the trademark custom suit collection of Jay Wright confidently marching up and down the sideline. Instead, they hired Nick Nurse.

     Photo Courtesy of Philadelphia Sports Nation on X.

    A Winning Tradition — The second half of the Jay Wright Era was the best in Villanova history. Hart, Reynolds, Archiadicono and DiVincenzo were all part of that legacy of excellence.

    They’ve Proven That It’s Possible in Both the NCAA and the NBA — We already know how successful this group has been in college. As a part of the New York, they have made the Knicks into a contender as the #2 seed from the East in the Playoffs. Now they are off to the next round of the NBA Playoffs.

    An Offensive Onslaught — The Knicks scored 650 points in this series compared to the Sixers 649. Jalen Brunson had four straight games scoring at least 39 points. DiVincenzo scored 23 points in Game 6 against the Sixers including 5 for 9 from three-point land. Josh Hart had 20 points in Game 3, 18 points in Game 5, and 16 points in Game 6.

    The Mikal Bridges Debacle — Who could forget this one? (I actually forgot about it.) Bridges was actually drafted by the Sixers in the NBA Draft back in 2018 and was traded to the Suns immediately in return for draft rights to Zhaire Smith as well as a first-round pick in 2021. All because him mom worked for the team?

    This year, it wasn’t Ben Simmons unnecessarily passing on a dunk opportunity, an unfortunate Joel Embiid injury, or a Boston Celtics Game 7 onslaught.

    It was the impressive legacy of Jay Wright and the basketball excellence of Lancaster Ave.

    Michael Thomas Leibrandt

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  • The Sixers’ 2024 Playoff Picture – Philadelphia Sports Nation

    The Sixers’ 2024 Playoff Picture – Philadelphia Sports Nation

    With the regular season over, the Sixers’ road to the Finals starts this Wednesday against the Heat in the play-in tournament.

    Since Embiid’s return, the Sixers have gone 8-0, including two games without Embiid.

    It’s no secret that he brings a boost to this team. As long as he can stay healthy, they have a shot at making a serious run.

    How’s the Knee?

    In a game against the Orlando Magic a few days ago, all Sixers fans had a scare. After driving to the basket and getting his own rebound, Embiid, wincing in pain, asked for a timeout and immediately headed to the locker room. Everyone watching probably had the same thought: here we go again. 

    To everyone’s surprise, Embiid returned to the game in the second half and continued doing his thing. Afterward, when Nick Nurse was asked about the status of Embiid’s knee, he said the knee “responded well.” So take that for what you will, but it was a good sign seeing Embiid return in the second half.

    Two Possible Matchups

    After they take care of business tomorrow against the Heat, they will match up against the Knicks. The Knicks went 3-1 against the Sixers this year, but they are both very different teams now than they were before. 

    Similarly, these two teams lost a star player in the latter half of the season, but the Knicks handled it much better. We all know what happened when Embiid went down, but the Knicks catapulted to the 2-seed in the absence of Julius Randle. Some may say the Knicks have a better chance without him, but not against the Sixers. Julius Randle has a rare combo of weight and speed that has caused trouble for the Sixers in the past. They do have some players more suitable to guard him now than last year, but I like our chances better without him.

    The Boston Celtics

    If the Sixers have Finals aspirations, then the Celtics shouldn’t scare them, but it’s more complicated than that. Lots of people are choosing the Celtics to not only win the East, but win the Finals as well. They are a great team and hold the NBA’s best record this year – by far. Normally, I’d say bring on the Celtics; we have to get them out of the way eventually, but not with the team chemistry we have now. When Embiid went down the team changed a lot, and teams need to be firing on all cylinders to beat the Celtics.

    The Celtics already beat the Sixers in 7 last year, and now they’re better. Now, they have Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday providing extra offensive threats. With two big men that can shoot (Porzingis and Horford), Embiid won’t have the privilege of camping down in the paint, anchoring the defense.

    With their other two stars, Tatum and Brown, the Celtics match up well against every team in the league. Not many teams have the athleticism, length, and interior defense to handle the caliber of players that the Celtics have. I think with the new additions of Oubre, Batum, and Lowry, the Sixers can beat this team in a tough series, but they need a few series to figure things out and build chemistry.

    What’s Different for the Sixers this year?

    First: Nick Nurse and not that scrub Glen Rivers (we already have two “Docs” in Philly. He’s not one of them). Nick Nurse is a great head coach with recent playoff experience that doesn’t involve choking leads. Watching Nurse’s offense for five minutes shows me how much of an upgrade we have at head coach. Rivers was stubborn. He wouldn’t change his defenses up or strategize his offensive scheme to expose weaker players. Nurse adapts. He switches his defense, targets other players, feeds the hot hands, and lets the players play to their strengths. He will help a lot, especially in a playoff series.

    Second: Joel Embiid has fresh(ish) legs. He just had surgery on his meniscus, but he obviously took rehab seriously to work on what he could. His shot is falling; he added a floater for a few games, and his defense hasn’t changed. As long as there are no more freak injuries like a broken face, torn thumb, another knee injury, etc., we’re in good shape and can beat any team in the league.

    Not one player in the NBA can hold Embiid down.
    It’s his time to build his legacy.

    Photo: Yong Kim

    Collin Benjamin

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  • Sixers Flirting with Dangerous Territory – Philadelphia Sports Nation

    Sixers Flirting with Dangerous Territory – Philadelphia Sports Nation


    Don’t get me wrong, the Sixers are having a great season. It has been incredibly fun to watch after the less than optimal start to the season. Nick Nurse has been refreshing, and Embiid has played so well that I almost forgot James Harden was on the team this year; however, they still only sit at the third seed in the east with the Knicks close behind.

    History of NBA Champions’ Seeding

    Teams that finish the regular season with the 1 seed are the obvious favorites to win the NBA Finals. Teams with the 1 seed have made the finals 89 times, the 2 seed – 39 times, 3 seed – 16 times, 4 seed – 5 times, and the 5-8 seeds combined have made it 5 times.

    So, historically, teams that fall out of the top 3 have a very tough time getting to the NBA finals. The Sixers are finding themselves falling into that territory right now. Between the rocky start with new players and a new coach, and Embiid missing his usual lot of games, they could find themselves as the road team in the second round of the playoffs if they aren’t careful.

    What’s Gone Wrong So Far?

    As usual, Joel Embiid has missed a ton of games so far this season. 12 to be exact. If he misses 5 more games, he will be ineligible to receive MVP even though he has dominated the league more than anyone has in years. This isn’t a “bash Embiid” session, but the big man needs to find a way to stay healthy. Home court advantage gives teams major advantages in the playoffs – as seen above.

    Oubre and Melton have also missed 14 and 12 games respectively. These two should contribute heavily to this team, but with them missing so much time it has forced Nick Nurse to give more minutes to Korkmaz, Springer, and Martin, who will most certainly not see much time in the playoffs. These guys need to stay healthy to develop the chemistry needed for the playoffs and to give the team a boost to get better seeding before April 20th comes around.

    A handful of others players have also missed a few games including Maxey, Tobias, Batum, and Beverly. Hopefully the team is getting the injury bug over with earlier so they can dominate down the road.

    What’s Gone Right?

    The Centers

    First off: Paul Reed.

    Out of all the injuries the Sixers have had, Reed has not missed a game. I don’t know why Glen Rivers hated this guy so much, but now that he has firmly taken the backup center position, he has done a great job. He is averaging career highs in points, rebounds, blocks, and assists this year. It is nice to see him get a real chance.

    Also, even though it was a loss, he had a career night against Jokic, scoring 30 points and 13 rebounds with no Embiid, Maxey, Tobias, or Melton. Having games like that against a premier player like Jokic could get him a starting gig somewhere around the league.

    This goes without saying, but Embiid has been the other shining positive this year. He has just been so dominant in every game he’s played. By the way, he still has more points than minutes on the season. He is well on his way to be the first player since Wilt Chamberlain to do so, AND he is averaging more points per minute than Wilt did in 1961. What a phenomenal player.

    We’ll Have to Wait and See

    We can look at the history of the NBA seeding and talk about Embiid’s playoff woes all we want, but none of it means this will not be Embiid’s year. Continuing to play at this level will cause a lot of problems for teams in the playoffs. He will have to stay healthy, but the future looks bright for Embiid and the Sixers this year.



    Collin Benjamin

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