I have always been a huge Philly fan since I grew up less than 30 minutes from Veterans Stadium and the Spectrum. Both of these storied structures have since been replaced with a trio of venues that include Lincoln Financial Field for the Eagles, Citizens Bank Park for the Phillies and the Well Fargo Center for both the Flyers and the 76ers. I have since moved to sunnier and warmer digs on the southeast coast of Virginia, but in my heart and mind I will always been a die-hard Philly fan.
It has been lean times for the Philly faithful with all four teams floundering through their regular seasons for the past few years. Watching any of the four teams in the playoffs has been a pipe dream right across the board. With the MLB regular season approaching its midway point with next week's All-Star break, the Phillies have the dubious honor of owning the worst record in the Majors. The Flyers missed the playoffs this season in a league where almost every team plays in the postseason. The Eagles are coming off back-to-back 7-9 campaigns and do not even get me started on how bad the Sixers have been over the past four years.
The one benefit of being a very bad basketball team is the chance to draft some of the top college players in the land. The 76ers decided to take the long and winding road towards rebuilding this once proud franchise by drafting some of the top college players that needed to take some serious time off to recover from injury. Joel Embiid had to delay his rookie year an entire season before almost winning rookie of the year honors in the mere 31 games he played in 2016/2017. Ben Simmons was last years No. 1 pick and followed in Embiid's footsteps by missing his first season due to injury. Philly used the No. 1 pick in this year's draft to select Markelle Fultz and the most exciting thing about this acquisition is that we will get to see him play in his true rookie year.
I am not suggesting that the 76ers are ready to take on Cleveland or now possibly Boston for the NBA's Eastern Conference, but I am suggesting that the big three in Philly with some help from a rapidly improving supporting cast are ready to take that next step from "Trust the Process" to "Welcome to the Moment" to make its first postseason appearance since 2011.
Below is a link to a recent article I wrote for ScoresandStats.com detailing my reasons for why I am betting on the Sixers making the playoffs next season.
LINK: BETTING ON THE PHILADELPHIA 76ERS MAKING THE NBA PLAYOFFS IN 2018
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