Colin Cowherd’s Surprising Pick For Most Disappointing NBA Bubble Team
With the NBA regular season officially coming to a close, Colin Cowherd took the opportunity to hand out some NBA Bubble awards.
Most disappointing team according to the Fox Sports radio host? The Philadelphia 76ers.
“(The chemistry) wasn’t great,” Cowherd observed.
Philly ultimately went 4-4 in its eight NBA Bubble games and finished sixth in the Eastern Conference. For their troubles, the Sixers will face off against the No. 3 ranked Boston Celtics in the first round.
Beyond going .500, Philadelphia also suffered injuries to its two best players: Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid.
However, in Cowherd’s estimation, the injuries weren’t even Philly’s biggest problem – it was the lack of chemistry displayed by Simmons and Embiid when they were on the floor together.
“They still can’t play together,” he remarked.
“Blow this thing up, let the two stars (Embiid and Simmons) go their separate ways.”
Most disappointing team: Sixers
Best non-basketball story: Wings@ColinCowherd & @JoyTaylorTalks hand out NBA Bubble Awards: pic.twitter.com/NVf5QQn4Mr
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) August 13, 2020
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Colin Cowherd’s Pick Is Interesting
While the Sixers are a fair selection for the most disappointing NBA Bubble team, the New Orleans Pelicans seem just as worthy of the distinction – if not moreso.
Coming into the resumed season, the NBA was very clearly hoping for New Orleans to unseat the Memphis Grizzlies as the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference – setting up a Zion Williamson vs. Los Angeles Lakers battle in the first round.
Instead, the Pelicans completely flopped. Williamson seemed to get progressively more fat and out of shape as the NBA Bubble games went on; Lonzo Ball totally regressed; and Alvin Gentry was so inept at guiding his team that he was fired as soon as the season ended.
Philly looked bad, sure – but at least the squad is still in the playoffs. And at least the Sixers can point to injuries for their woes.
New Orleans just straight up crumbled under the pressure.
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Can Philly Beat Boston?
The Sixers and Celtics will begin their first round series on Monday.
Last year, the Sixers came within a single memorable Kawhi Leonard buzzer-beater of the Eastern Conference Finals. Expectations were high this season, but the team struggled to match them.
Factor in the fact that Simmons will be out for the foreseeable future, and it is easy to see why Boston is a -480 favorite to win the series.
Essentially, Philly has two ideas to lean into right now. One, with no Simmons, the offense can run entirely through Embiid. Historically, that hasn’t been the worst thing in the world. Two, the Sixers hold a 3-1 regular season series advantage over the Celtics – so they may be able to draw confidence from that.
All in all, though, it is tough to see a scenario where the Sixers emerge from the first round with a victory.
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A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
