Author: Tebow

Sixers vs. Celtics: Instant Reaction

FINALLY! Sixers finally beat the Celtics which seemed like it wasn’t possible, and even during this game felt like the same game we’ve seen on replay 100 times. Celtics hitting every 3, Sixers missing bunnies, Embiid not getting foul calls. But once they got down 15 in the 2nd quarter, Embiid for the first time in the last 3 years started getting calls that he gets against EVERY OTHER TEAM in the NBA. I think that’s the hardest thing for the Green Teamers to understand when us fans complain about not getting calls. If you watch Embiid during a whole season, he gets to the line a lot. He gets every big in foul trouble. For whatever reason, the games are officiated differently when playing against Horford and Baynes. Tonight he got calls, as did the Sixers who shot a billion FT’s to 0 for the Celtics.

At the end of the day, this was just another game. Sixers most likely locked up the 3 seed, but the one big takeaway I have from this game is seeing Embiid have success against this team. That’s the only thing I cared about going in. This team goes as Embiid goes, and he just hasn’t been good against the Celtics. He was incredible tonight, getting to the line at will and played pretty good defense (except for when he couldn’t breathe in the 4th). I also have to give the Celts a lot of credit because being in a game where your’e outscored by 26, yes you read that right TWENTY-SIX at the free throw line is insane. But that’s how the Celtics play, shoot 3’s and take mid range jumpers. Can’t get to the line doing that.

Oh, and fake tough guy Marcus Smart was at it again. I get it. Embiid threw a little elbow into him when he was chasing his man through the lane but that shit happens all the time. To come and two hand shove him in the back is the least tough thing you could do, but hey, that’s Marcus Smart for you. Hope he enjoyed watching the loss from the locker room and the nice fine he’ll get. Boys, drop the Confetti LET’S GOOOOOO!!!! TTP

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Sixers vs. Hornets: Instant Reaction

That. Was. Ugly. Joel Embiid was resting because the Sixers are trying to beat the Celtics for the first time in 32 years tomorrow night, but you would think having everyone else healthy would be enough to get a pretty easy win in Charlotte. Well, you would think wrong. This team never makes anything easy. I sometimes view it as a blessing in disguise because it’s always good to gain experience playing together in close games instead of blowouts, but boy would it be nice to win a game here easily.

Simmons was ridiculous offensively in this game, scoring a pretty quiet 28 points. Butler came up huge again in the 4th quarter, which has been his specialty since joining the Sixers. He clearly plays at two different speeds every game, which is somewhat concerning. But hey, if they get it done in the playoffs who cares what it looks like. Oh, and J.J. seems to have finally come out of his funk, almost getting a triple double with 27-10-8. I didn’t think it was physically possible for him to get 10 rebounds. That might have been the biggest takeaway from the game. Hornets, how the hell do you let the least athletic human in the NBA get 10 boards. SHEESH.

A win is a win, especially in March and tomorrow is a chance to go up 4 games on the Celtics, essentially clinching the 3 seed which would be gigantic. I’m not excited that the Sixers are coming off a back to back with travel, but at least the big fella got an extra day of rest and hopefully he can figure out how to not look completely terrible vs Al Horford tomorrow night. Trust the Process baby!

How to win your March Madness bracket

It’s that time of year again, where college basketball will consume your life from 12pm Thursday afternoon until the National Championship game. The bracket was released last night, and, like most of you, cannot wait to watch an hour long Obama bracket release special. He actually probably has less time to look into his bracket now that he’s not in the White House though, so we can’t expect too much. That was sarcasm. Aside from that, I am going to tell you exactly what you need to do in order to take down your friend or office March Madness pool.

  1. Do ZERO research- This is a crucial part when trying to determine who will advance in every game. You could spend hours reading articles and watching bracket specials, but I am going to let you in on a secret. Ready? Nobody has any idea what is going to happen. They call it March Madness for a reason. There’s a billion teams, and these kids are 18-22 years old. Last year we had our first 16 seed over a 1 seed. Anything can happen, so in reality, less is more.
  2. Pick whichever team you are a fan of to win the Championship- If you went to any of the schools, or are just a fan of any of the schools that are in the tourney, make sure you pick them to win the whole thing. If they won and you missed out on the opportunity to cash in on that, you’d hate yourself for the rest of eternity. I mean, I guess you’d be excited that your team won, but the odds of you actually picking who’s going to win are slim anyways so you might as well go with a team you like.
  3. Don’t look at the seeds- Seeding is the biggest scam that the tournament has going for it. “Oh, they are the 3 seed, no way they can lose to the 14”. It happens every year. Upsets happen, and honestly there’s usually a good amount of higher seeds that are actually Vegas favorites over the lower seeds. If you’re sitting there at the end and ready to hit submit on a bracket that has 4 number 1 seeds and 4 number 2 seeds in the Elite 8, then I’d probably hit close and start all over.
  4.  Disregard 1, 2 and 3- Don’t listen to anything I say. If you actually took any of this into account you’d be breaking rule number 1 of no research. I don’t know shit, just like everyone else. Put a blindfold on, pick teams out of a hat, I don’t care. The only way you win a bracket is to pick the champion and hope not many other people had that team also. Pretty simple. Just hope that your bracket isn’t completely busted on the first day so you can at least enjoy yelling at the TV for 96 straight hours this weekend.

Is it time to put Tommy Heinsohn down?

Now, before you all get upset at the headline, let me explain myself. As a huge NBA fan, I watch a ton of games every year and listen to a lot of broadcasts. The NBA Players Only broadcasts are a disgrace to basketball, and I really don’t expect that to be a thing going forward in the near future considering all of the horrible things people say about it every game. But of all the broadcasters, in all the broadcast villages, in all the broadcast towns, Tommy Heinsohn is by far the worst and it’s not even close or debatable. Yes, he is a Hall of Famer, yes he was good at his job at one point, yes he is a Boston legend but lord have mercy the guy cannot call basketball games anymore.

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Sure, I’ve heard fans love him like they love a grandparent, and I’m not saying I believe in euthanasia, but I’m also not saying that I don’t believe in euthanasia. There comes a point where it’s not funny anymore and it’s just actually sad. As a fan, there is no way you can enjoy watching your team play every night and having the guy on the broadcast clamoring for every foul call, every non foul call, and screaming nonsense every 2 minutes. Jack Edwards catches a lot of heat in Boston for being a homer and a fanboy, and he isn’t anywhere close to as bad as Tommy, so I just don’t understand how they let him keep his job. Obviously they’ve dialed him back a bit as his health has gone downhill, which the health part sucks, but they need to just let Scal take over. The fans don’t need to hear how Greg Stiemsma reminds him of Bill Russell and what Aron Baynes looks like in the shower room. I think deep down everyone in Boston knows it’s time to bring him behind the shed, but they don’t want to say it. He had a great career as a player, coach and broadcaster, but it’s time to let him spread his wings and watch Celtics games from his bedroom in his footie pajamas.