Congratulations to the Boston Celtics for defeating my Sixers in 5 games to head to ECF, to face a buzz saw in Lebron James. Cavs in 6. I’ve seen several posts from big name Twitter accounts like SportsCenter, Barstool, and Dave Portnoy’s personal account about how the Celtics have destroyed the Sixers. One of them showed a sign that saying “Process of Elimination” and what these cats don’t get is this is part of the process. I’ll let them gloat and rejoice for their team advancing to the next round of the playoffs, but just remember this was the first year that these guys have played together. Most people at the beginning of the season had the sixers winning no more than 43 games – they won 52. No one expected the Sixers to make the playoffs, let alone have home court advantage in the first round. The Sixers were a 3 seed in the East, one full season into the fruits of The Process. What other sports cities don’t understand about the process is that this thing isn’t over until the Larry O’Brien trophy is paraded down Broad, just like the Lombardi was in February.
The process isn’t over, there is still a lot more to play out. Ben is going to be the rookie of the year, Embiid was the starting center for the East in the All-Star game, Fultz still hasn’t been fully acclimated into the starting 5 and Brett Brown after a few games where he may have been out coached by Brad Stevens coached a hell of a game in game 5. A playoff series loss is tough to swallow – but so is losing to Nick Foles in SB52. This young team tasted the highs and lows of the NBA playoffs, and will take this as a learning experience into the future. The Sixers aren’t going anywhere.
Philly is finally a destination spot again for NBA stars in the offseason. Lebron comes to Philly, no shot anyone in the east is beating a starting five of Simmons, Fultz, Lebron, Saric and Embiid. I am also a huge fan of “a chip on the shoulder” and sour tastes. You saw a glimpse of how Embiid plays when he’s got a chip on his shoulder when the assholes up in Bahston were chanting “Embiid sucks” in the beginning of the third. He ended up with 27 points and 12 boards, single handily keeping the Sixers in the game. Simmons will take 4000 jump shots this offseason to improve his shot. Fultz will continue to work his way back to prove himself, and the Sixers will be fine. Lebron will be a Sixer, and Celtics fans enjoy it while you can. Philly, don’t forget what got us here – Trust the Process.
The Tailgate 