Five years ago Tom and I were debating about whether “the Process” worked.
My argument was: “It got us Ben and Joel! Getting ‘generational’ players was the goal. It worked.“
Tom’s argument was: “They haven’t won anything! If Ben and Joel are gone in five years and we haven’t won anything, how can you call this a success?”
After going back and forth, we made a bet – I bet $1,000 that the Sixers would make the Eastern Conference Finals within the next five years. Tom agreed.
We are currently in YEAR FIVE of the bet. This is my last chance.
Had you asked me two months ago, I would say “The Nets looks really good, the Bucks are legit, and I don’t know who I’d rather be right now, but probably Tom.“
But if you ask me today, I think you’d have to say I’m the favorite to win! Strictly because we’re locking up the #1 seed.
All they have to do is beat the 8 seed (possibly the Celtics!), then beat either the Knicks or the Hawks in round two. The Vegas odds on them winning both those series would have be above 50%, right??
And on top of that, can someone explain to me the Vegas odds on winning the finals?? Right now from the East it’s:
- Nets +210
- Bucks +800
- Sixers +800
How are we tied with the Bucks! They have the beat the Nets AND the Sixers! And as of a week ago the Sixers were as high as +1200! And the Nets look like trash!
The next few months will be fun to follow because I feel like we actually can win it all this year.
I feel bad for Tom. He’ll be torn between rooting for his team versus losing the bet. And you can’t even properly hedge!
TTP.
I think you lucked out a little with the Sixers getting the 1 seed, but if there was ever a time for them to win it all, this would probably be the year. They can definitely beat the Bucks, but obviously the Nets are the main concern. A full strength Nets would be quite the challenge, mostly because of Durant and Harden in my opinion. However, injuries are a real possibility and the Nets could fall apart in different ways.
The Sixers can beat anyone out of the West (not that any team winning that conference would be easy), unless Lebron and AD get the Lakers back to the form they were in playing in the bubble.
I am really excited for these playoffs because I think there will be some great competition early on and there are a number of teams who probably believe they have a legitimate shot.