SPORTS  |  LIFESTYLE  |  ATTITUDE  |  AUTHENTIC
YDKJ
  • HOME
  • About
  • Contact
  • Photos

NBA Playoffs  |  Ho-hum, Sixers blow 26-point lead against Hawks

6/17/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Sixers center Joel Embiid had 37 points and 13 rebounds on Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Center, but he ran out of gas down the stretch and missed a pair of free throws with 10 seconds remaining in a 109-106, Game 5 loss to Atlanta.
by  Jack Kerwin  |  ydkjack1@gmail.com
​

Either getting older or getting more numb.

Fast. Very fast.

That’s the only conclusion I can reach about my ever-devolving state as the “more at risk” minutes tick along in lock step, apparently, with the 2021 NBA playoffs shelf life for the 76ers.

Gotta be honest, Wednesday night’s 109-106 Game 5 loss to Atlanta didn’t faze me or surprise me.

Or, gasp, even bother me.

A 26-point lead … blown.

An overrated player disappeared. A star struggled. Role players were hit-or-miss. The coach mismanaged the whole deal.
Sorry, but, I mean, who didn’t see this coming?

It’s a storyline that has played out either completely or partially the same throughout this second-round series … with the Hawks, in a plot twist, cast in the role of the Sixers in the opener.

I’ve seen this act for so long now, ever since Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons became the core of Philly’s pro franchise, that it just ceases to get a rise outta me.

Whether I’m listening to my father get all fired up about what happened in the Wells Fargo Center at THE most crucial juncture of this best-of-seven series, if not the entire Embiid-Simmons tenure, or the callers to, and hosts of, sports talk radio scream for the heads of Doc Rivers and Simmons, it hits at all once:

What’s up with me?

Why am I not feeling, acting the same way?

The repetitiveness of it all wears on me, I know that. We’re not hearing any new complaints, any new suggestions, any new anything. It’s all been said and done – or not done – before.

Oh, we get some revisionist history thrown in there, like the gripes coming in how the Sixers tried to force the ball inside to Embiid late, putting him in 1-on-3 situations.

Huh? Every situation Embiid found himself in with the clock winding down in the fourth quarter was his own doing. Trip after trip down the floor, he’d get the ball at the top of the key, even behind the arc, and he’d drive to the basket regardless of how wide open he was when he first received the ball. This wasn’t one or two times. This was repeatedly, and, frankly, his lack of success to generate any offense that way was the key factor in a double-digit lead just evaporating.

Well, that and a lot of Swiss cheese defense. Trae Young is great and all, but, c'mon ...

It gets old. The sliding scale of excuses has now shifted from covering Simmons’ lack of aggression and shooting flaws to Embiid’s gas tank. Meanwhile, the bitching about Ben grows after an outing which, clearly, he was a lesser evil than Tobias Harris.
 
It gets annoying. Say the Sixers rebound and win the series – keep in mind, Philly fans, that this “worst loss in your life” did NOT end the team’s season – and what do you think will happen then?

The same stuff. Knock the opponent. Boast on the Sixers. Praise Joel. Rip Ben. Sweat out the series.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Now if a championship somehow emerged from one of the cycles, OK.

Otherwise, ho-hum. They’re just boring me or numbing me to death.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    NFL
    MLB
    NBA
    NHL
    NCAAFB
    ​NCAABB
    Eagles
    Phillies
    76ers
    Flyers
    Temple
    Villanova
    La Salle
    ​Saint Joe's
    ​Penn State

    Archives

    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    January 2020
    December 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015

    Best of 2018

    Picture

    Best of 2017

    Picture

    Best of 2016

    Picture

    Best of 2015

    Picture

    RSS Feed

Picture
Your source for insight ... or insanity

GET TO KNOW YDKJ

ABOUT    |    CONTACT   |    BLOG    |    PRIVACY POLICY

​© COPYRIGHT 2018   YDKJ   |   Terms & Conditions
Picture