When ball is life: Joel Embiid diligently working on his game in the Bahamas

The elite work on their game whenever and wherever they can….even when they’re on vacation in the Bahamas and the only people available to strap up against are six old, goofy white guys.

BEHOLD. Joel Embiid is out here trusting the process and absolutely dominating the courts against international competition.

The bad boy club indeed. He’s basically playing against the Canadian international roster, minus Steve Nash of course.

Let’s take a minute to analyze Embiid’s game during this intense offseason workout:

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Don’t be like Anthony Gargano, Flyers fans. You’re better than that

(photo credit: @Eagles_Phantom on twitter)

If you’ve ever needed more evidence as to why Philadelphia sports talk radio is likely the worst medium ever to grace civilized society,  this “opinion” vomited forth from walking stereotype Anthony “Cuz” Gargano certainly cemented it as so.

(I’d like to thank the Fanatic twitter team for posting these moments from each show so I can stay abreast of everything going on with sports talk radio without having to waste a moment of my precious time actually listening to any of the shows)

What is this? What a whiny, cry-babyish opinion to have on a historic, and incredibly fun, run by an expansion team. Only in Philadelphia sports journalism would someone declare it “nonsense” that a team win a championship because they’re not as “real” as Philadelphia.

Haven’t we gotten past this point as a collective fanbase? We won the Super Bowl, we should be better than this.

Forget for just a moment that if this were a PHILADELPHIA expansion team making this historic run, Cuz Gargano would be busting out of his husky JNCO jeans and ordering XL jerseys to commemorate the season.

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Las Vegas Knights four wins away from ironically destroying Las Vegas

Has any city ever rooted harder against its own NHL team to LOSE in a Stanley Cup final than Las Vegas is right now with the Las Vegas Knights?

The plucky expansion team, filled with rejects and has beens who pulled themselves up from their skate straps to appear in the Stanley Cup finals during its inaugural season, is set to TOPPLE everything Las Vegas was built on if it captures the cup in the coming weeks.

Why? Because sport books had  the Knights at 500/1 prior to the start of the season to win the NHL championship.

Well, okay, fine….those are insane odds, but who would have actually bet on them prior to the start of the year? Did Pierre-Édouard Bellemare really instill that much confidence in bettors? That roster sucked, and it sucked hard at first glance.

Well, one betting expert told Forbes it could be the biggest futures sports betting loss in the history of Las Vegas:

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Ladies and gentlemen of New Jersey, start your sports gambling!

Oh hell yes. I knew there was a reason I decided to live in this stink state for all these years. On the same morning I had to waste an hour of my life at a municipal court for a clerical error that said I had an outstanding parking ticket dating back to 2013, those delightful bastards in the SCOTUS ruled in favor of New Jersey and declared the prohibition of sports betting in states is unconstitutional.

You know what this means? IT’S TIME TO LOSE MONEY BETTING ON SPORTS I THINK I KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT BUT REALLY KNOW NEXT TO NOTHING!

And it does not look like you’ll have to wait a long time to dig deep into your gambling addictions, New Jersey residents. Monmouth Park racetrack already spent $1 million in building a sportsbook and the Borgata started construction on their own $7 million sportsbook this past November in preparation of a positive ruling.

Fuck and yes. Finally, I don’t have to fly out to Las Vegas in March to lose hundreds of dollars betting on March Madness when I can do so in the comfort of my own state and the luxurious confines of Atlantic City.

Just call me Atlantic City Al, because I’ll be throwing down $10 parlays left and right. Really racking in the big bucks.

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Refs miss three key calls against Celtics in last minute of game 5? COLOR ME SHOCKED

Dario Saric? FOULED. Joel Embiid? FOULED. Marcus Smart? TRAVELED. Refs’ whistles? SILENT.

Reminiscent of Roger Murtaugh being beaten with a rubber hose and having salt rubbed into his oozing wounds at the end of Lethal Weapon, the NBA released its final 2-minute report for game 5 and rubbed salt into the eyes of 76ers fans everywhere when the league admitted its refs missed three key calls in the last minute of the series.

NBC Sports Boston has the rundown of officiating ineptitude:

With the score tied at 109 and 41.8 seconds to play, the two-minute report indicated that Marcus Smart “initiates contact with (Dario) Saric and impedes him in the post” which according to the report, was an INC (incorrect non-call).

With Boston ahead 111-109 with 14.6 seconds to play, the report indicates that Aron Baynes “makes contact to Philadelphia’s (Joel) Embiid’s arm that affects his shot attempt near the rim.” The report deemed that an INC (incorrect non-call).

The article did not include the third missed call in the report, which was the missed travel by Marcus Smart after he intercepted Ben Simmons’ final heave down the court with 2.4 seconds.

UPDATE: Eagle-eyed reader @TheAmishTerp tweeted this to us of Al Horford potentially double dribbling after he picked up the Saric turnover. Is this a double dribble? Did he have possession? I don’t know…you be the judge.

Sour grapes? OH MY YES. Frustrating non-calls? Well…yeah. The only call 76ers fans should seriously be annoyed with is Baynes MAULING Embiid in the final 76ers possession, but is that ever called in the last 10 seconds of a game? Not really. And is there any assurance that Embiid would have actually made the two free-throws to tie the game? Nope. Or that Boston wouldn’t have made a shot on their next possession to rip the 76ers still beating hearts out of their chest?  Nope.

It probably wouldn’t have made too much of a difference in the grand scheme of things. You at least have a few bullets in the chamber now that you can wildly shoot at Boston sports fans as they crawl out of their dumpsters to celebrate the victory.

Like this loser.

https://twitter.com/stoolpresidente/status/994571555974844416

Sweet hair plugs.

Oh well. I guess it’s on to ::shudder:: the Phillies season.

Speaking of the Phillies……

Father’s Day is coming up, is it not? (checks calendar) Look at that, it is. Does your Dad enjoy the grand old boring game of baseball? Get in on free shipping and buy some SWEET Phillies merchandise for dear old Dad.

Click the Phillies banners to check out the Fanatics Phillies merchandise.

Shop Philadelphia Phillies gear at Fanatics.com!

Shop Philadelphia Phillies gear at Fanatics.com!

The mere fact that Michael Wilbon is rallying against the 76ers gives me hope for the series

Michael Wilbon (who is still a thing at ESPN apparently) took a few minutes out of his busy schedule of telling people he knows Michael Jordan to express his UTMOST DISPLEASURE at T.J. “Billy Hoyle” McConnell’s OUTRAGEOUSLY DISRESPECTFUL game 4 moment when he dared to stare at his hand after torching Terry “I look like I should be fat” Rozier.

Philly.com has the transcript of the moment from yesterday’s PTI:

“I believe the Sixers are going to become hateable for the rest of the nation very soon,” Wilbon told co-host Tony Kornheiser. “Some little dude named T.J. is looking at his hand like he’s Shaq. Here’s what’s going to happen to T.J. in the next game: Terry Rozier is going to run over him like a truck, and he’s not going to do anything.”

Just bad point after bad point streaming out of Wilbon’s gaping maw. One, everyone already hates the 76ers. Two, Shaq is so cross-eyed there’s no way he could have ever stared at his hand that closely. Three, Terry Rozier is going to be far too busy jumping up at Joel Embiid like Little Mac with a star punch to do anything about McConnell’s antics.

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T.J. McConnell is Billy Hoyle

Before the Celtics could count their money and head over to the Sizzler for some surf and turf, the slow, white, geeky chump T.J. McConnell hustled the shit out of the Celtics and sent them packing back up to Boston for a series that suddenly feels just a TAD bit different than it did Saturday night.

T.J. McConnell is the biggest hustler since Billy Hoyle terrorized the Venice Beach courts in White Men Can’t Jump.

Someone check the off-shore betting sites or the sports books in Vegas. Were any massive bets made on the 76ers to win the series after they fell down 3-0 after Saturday night? If there were you can bet they were made by McConnell.

He suckered them in like Billy Hoyle hustling Sidney Deane.

Billy Hoyle: “See, the thing is you guys look at me me, you see the backwards hat, the gray socks, the funky outfit and you say, now, this guy’s a chump, am I right? A fucking geek, exactly. But what you don’t realize is it ain’t easy…it is hard goddamn work making something this pretty look like a chump, or a geek, so I must be doing it for a reason….”

Does he need money to pay off a gambling debt from his college days? Does he have a gorgeous Latino girlfriend with the world’s most annoying voice? That remains to be seen…but you know he can definitely hear Jimi.

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Just give me one win, 76ers

Like a terminally ill person on his deathbed who just wants to see the ocean one last time, all I’m asking for is one 76ers win before my plug is pulled and all I have left is the unending darkness and empty void of a summer filled with nothing but the Phillies.

Get me that win and then you can roll me into the deep end of the pool. I swear I’ll go happy with a minimum amount of fuss.

This season can’t end, because then all we’ll have left is the Phillies. A summer with the Phillies is like being stuck in limbo, but worse. At least in limbo you know you may have a chance at ascending to heaven after your sins are washed away. After this weekend with the Phillies, I don’t think any of us believe we have a chance to get to the playoffs with this squad.

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Is Meek Mill bad luck for the 76ers?

Unlike Christine Flowers, we’re a very pro-Meek Mill blog here at the Toboggan. Huge fans of that one song of his, “Dreams and Nightmares,” and his other hits…uhh…hmmm…okay so we’re not HUGE fans but the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles loved him so he’s A-OK in our book.

HOWEVER, we hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we’ve noticed a disturbing trend since his release from prison after a possibly ill-willed judge sentenced him to an extraordinarily harsh prison term after probation offense.

To be clear about this, we’re very happy Meek Mill is a free man. He was imprisoned on a bullshit parole violation by a judge who may or may not have had an axe to grind, and we’re happy he’s out.

Facts are facts though. The 76ers are only playing .500 basketball since his release. While he was incarcerated? The 76ers were winning 75% of their postseason games, posting a sterling 3-1 record.

I will say, however, that the 76ers are 1-0 when Meek Mill attends a game and he’s going tonight up in Boston. Will this tip the scales in his favor?

Coincidence? Definitely. Should we all overreact? OH MY YES.

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If you’re jumping ship now, you’re WEAK

Are you guys kidding me? Are we really doing this after ONE game? The 76ers have one of their best seasons in years, a core of young stars and grizzled veterans cobble together a 52 win season when most of us had them going .500 and we’re ready to jump ship after ONE loss?

If you’re nervous, you’re weak. Get over it.

Here’s what I’ve heard within 12 hours of the 76ers loss.

  • The 76ers need to hire Erik Spoelstra/Tom Thibodeau/Gregg Popovich as their head coach next season. How are they going to do this, exactly, when they’re all under contract? Put a burlap sack over their head and shanghai them to Philadelphia?
  • Trade next year’s first round pick, Fultz, Covington, and Saric for Kawhi Leonard. Great idea! Let’s give up a king’s ransom for the one player in the history of the NBA that hated playing for Gregg Popovich and faked an injury all year to get off the team. Sounds like the perfect fit for this roster.
  • Complete outrage at the fact that Markelle Fultz didn’t get garbage time minutes in the loss last night. THIS PROVES BRETT BROWN THINKS HE’S MENTALLY WEAK. This is a lost year for Fultz, people, if he’s still mentally blocked next year we can push the panic button.

If you thought any of these three things last night, I weep for you. Have you people learned NOTHING from the past several months? It’s a new era in Philadelphia, we shouldn’t only derive joy from the negative anymore. This is a goddamn city of champions now, so why are wailing and gnashing our teeth after one bad loss to a Celtics team that shot the goddamn lights out?

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