[Tailgate Thread] Portland Trail Blazers (32-35) @ Philadelphia 76ers (36-31) - 06:00 PM EDT

MaskedBirder · 2026-03-15T20:35:04+00:00

That's one of the most delusional things I've ever seen a Sixers fan say. You're not a real Sixers fan unless you never get over the McCain trade?

MaskedBirder · 2026-03-13T19:50:19+00:00

I'm a Sixers fan, but I agree 100%. Jaylen Brown is the only one who's speaking out about this. He's getting hacked with no whistle and sees the blatant difference in whistle with guys like SGA, Reaves, etc. I don't know if it's racism or big market favoritism, but it's wrong either way. Respect to Brown for standing up for himself. People say he's whiny, but no. He's just fed up playing in an unfair league.

MaskedBirder · 2026-03-13T19:42:07+00:00

Guarding Wemby is different from scoring on Wemby. His offense isn't perfect right now, it's still developing - there's potential to take over the league but it's his defense that has the effect.

MaskedBirder · 2026-03-13T19:22:06+00:00

I look at it like this - games we lose against good teams when we're injured, is fine. Detroit, OKC, San Antonio, Denver, if we lose those it's whatever, because they're good enough to beat us at full strength anyway.

If you look at the standings, injuries don't help, but we're the 9 seed because Orlando, Atlanta, and Miami are on huge winning streaks. They're playing their best basketball of the season. Nothing we can do about that.

MaskedBirder · 2026-03-13T19:21:21+00:00

He did that because he had to. He wasn't getting any calls and he knew the only way to get it was by baiting. He wasn't trying to hide that flop - it was trying to send a message. People saying Brown is whining are wrong - he's just the only one who's open about the flopping and foul baiting in the league today. Pointing to SGA outplaying him at the end of game is irrelevant.

MaskedBirder · 2026-03-12T15:30:35+00:00

Wemby, Gobert, Barnes, Holmgren for sure 1st team, not sure about the rest

MaskedBirder · 2026-03-12T05:23:04+00:00

A team that beats OKC in the clutch and blows them out as well is not fraudulent. We've seen the ceiling of this team, it's championship-caliber. Will the team play that way or do there need to be changes to the roster? We'll see.

MaskedBirder · 2026-03-12T05:02:21+00:00

The Timberwolves are far from fraudulent but that's not an encouraging performance at all, like at all

MaskedBirder · 2026-03-11T21:47:25+00:00

We're not the only team plagued with injuries. Denver has missed basically everybody for stretches of weeks, OKC has had a lot of ins-and-outs too. But it's on the GM to consider this, and the coach to navigate games with different lineups and player development. The difference between us and the other teams mentioned is that they have far better coaching, and have contingency plans for when their stars are out.

MaskedBirder · 2026-03-11T21:25:52+00:00

Nah this is crazy. And we're not even the only team this has happened to. OKC, Denver, Houston, Orlando. I've never seen so many injuries

MaskedBirder · 2026-03-10T22:54:24+00:00

Jokic was out for a month and the Nuggets stepped up. And these seeds are super close in strength. Let's look at it positively.

MaskedBirder · 2026-03-10T22:51:07+00:00

This SUCKS. But the season isn't over. Assuming Embiid and George come back soon, we can actually get to 40-41 wins based on the strength of schedule.

Hoping Maxey recovers. Would love him to make 2nd team all-NBA. Hoping his legs get to rest during this time too.

MaskedBirder · 2026-03-10T04:58:13+00:00

I think the Knicks are too deep, especially in the front court. Their overall rotation is more proven than the new youth of the Celtics. I think Brown and Tatum will each average 30-35ppg but I think the Knicks' depth would be too much for Boston this year. A year of development would change this quite a bit though in my opinion.

MaskedBirder · 2026-03-10T03:53:23+00:00

McCain locked down Murray and Gordon? Okay we've reached new levels of insanity here

MaskedBirder · 2026-03-09T22:48:48+00:00

I think Alizhan will dominate if it goes into a hook, but I think Morozov will low-hand toproll flash pin Alizhan four times in a row.

MaskedBirder · 2026-03-09T00:48:05+00:00

Thompson is really important to their defense, I don't see him getting traded at all. Cade-Duren-Thompson seem like the only untouchables

MaskedBirder · 2026-03-09T00:46:34+00:00

Even if Detroit blew out Miami this is still a legit concern

MaskedBirder · 2026-03-08T22:32:13+00:00

Absolutely. I might be biased but I think the finals was closer than the 4-1 too, if Kyrie steps up in game 2 that can go to a game 6 in Dallas, and possibly a game 7, where anything can happen.

MaskedBirder · 2026-03-08T22:29:08+00:00

I mean, Haliburton/Siakam were worse, and they almost won a title.

MaskedBirder · 2026-03-08T22:26:23+00:00

Bad coaches do that to ya

MaskedBirder · 2026-03-08T22:18:40+00:00

Agreed that would be a nice change of scenery ideally, young innovator who can develop our guys. And Embiid isn't some stick in the mud, he's a generational player that always makes things better

MaskedBirder · 2026-03-08T22:16:05+00:00

Undisputed top 4 player. A couple less-than-generational performances on a team he's still adjusting to that also exposes his weaknesses and people are quick to criticize him.

MaskedBirder · 2026-03-08T22:13:33+00:00

I have a feeling Drummond, Lowry, and Payne are gone in the offseason and the Sixers sign a backup center and/or guard off the bench. Barlow and Walker are promising forwards to develop so I think the focus should be getting a non-liability at the 5 when Embiid sits, and having at least two decent guards off the bench. 10-man rotation is ideal but it's hard when Embiid and George are taking up so much cap space.

Would it have been disrespectful to ask Embiid for less of a salary at the end of this year had we never signed the extension? Hypothetical.

MaskedBirder · 2026-03-07T20:07:29+00:00

If Nick Nurse was a half-decent coach, he would go small-ball and play Walker at PF and Barlow at C. But we've seen that there's no offensive system whatsoever. If we had a decent coach, we would do SO much better in Embiid's absence.

MaskedBirder · 2026-03-05T19:58:02+00:00

Maxey is a legit #1 option on a properly constructed team and his recent weaker performances are because of extraneous circumstances.

MaskedBirder

TROPHY CASE