LarrySeinfeld wrote:jamaalstar21 wrote:sixers4real wrote:I did.
I wonder what are the results outside of Philly/Toronto voters. I know everybody wants Toronto to win, people hate Philly.
But I wonder what people really think
I believe the betting odds basically say that Philly has a 60% chance of winning this series.
I assume the larger NBA fan base sees Phili with the higher seed, the best player, and more famous people.
I think basketball nerds see it as an interesting matchup where Phili has way more fire power, but Toronto is a weird and difficult team to play, and they'll have all kinds of ways to mess with Phili. The Raps have the coaching advantage and the superior defense. Phili gets to start all their action with a mega mismatch of Joel Embiid going up against a bunch of 6'8" dudes. The Harden/Embiid pick & roll is the biggest single playtype weapon in this series. Phili is very predictable and Toronto is wildly unpredictable.
Remember the Toronto fan base is the biggest one on realgm. Don't take a general board thread as the overall discourse. But unbiased die hard hoops fans... probably expect Phili to win but see it as closer to a coin flip overall. There's a healthy respect for Nurse, an unhealthy disrespect for Doc, and Phili has enough holes that this should be a very competitive series.
Yup pretty much, one of the best takes I've seen so far on how this series might play out. Except I'm a homer and I will take the raps to win. Nonetheless it will be a very interesting series to watch
I have Raps in 7. I do think that Phili starts with the advantage (best player, homecourt) but I'm not giving Harden and Doc the benefit of the doubt. They have to prove me wrong before I get on either of their empty bandwagons. I think the Raps need a lot to go right, especially just shooting the ball (Precious gotta prove that shooting improvement is playoff ready), but I'd rather throw in my lot with Nick Nurse in a playoff series if it ends up close. Embiid will be an unstoppable monster that the Raps have to keep tied down on a nightly basis. But while I trust Joel's unstoppable fire power, I'm not sold on his decision making ability (though it's a good series for him to prove doubters wrong). He's going to live at the line and take 1000 shots, but to me that's the full extent of Embiid's offensive ability. He's not going to find the holes in the defense and pick them apart, he's going to force the issue for better or worse (usually better in Embiid's case).
Siakam has been such a problem for the Sixers, and their only answer has been putting Embiid on him full time. The problem with that is that it breaks the Sixers defense to drag Joel up to the top of the key and opens up a ton of stuff in the corners and wings. That's going to be the first playoff adjustment to watch for. We know how the Raps will guard Joel, send swarms and tricky doubles at weird times, try to confuse him and get him second guessing his passes and drives. Joel is going to want this so bad, and is going to do everything he can to prepare, he has a healthy respect for how the Raptors try to mess him up. But what we don't know is what the Sixers might try to do to turn off Siakam without helping the Raps offense overall. I bet Doc Rivers is going to work his ass off for this. He clearly hears the jabs that fans and media have been increasingly taking at him, and know that a loss to a popular coach like Nurse is not a good option for him. There's a ton of pressure on the Sixers in general. Doc and Harden's reps are in the mud right now, band might be buried by a first-round loss. Embiid's haters are going to have some more substantial ammo if his playoff resume gets another disappointing loss on it. The Sixers are going to fight for their lives so the Raps better be ready for that.
I think some nights, Joel going off is going to be too much for the Raps, especially if his good games coincide with poor Raptors shooting nights. But I think over a 7 games series the Sixers have more to exploit, and the Raps are better built to be the exploiters. Can't wait for this series!
We the Champs...
