Tag / tobias harris

by Alex Fischbein

The Jameis Winston Show, Detroit Lions Are Real, The Rams Are Back? | #022

Welcome to episode 22 of The Sideline Specialists! This week, we’re tackling the latest NFL headlines, including Jameis Winston’s big win with the Browns, Detroit’s unstoppable vibe, and whether the Rams are truly back. Plus, we dive into the NFL power rankings, preview Week 9, and take a quick detour to discuss Tobias Harris sparking the ire of Pistons fans. Let’s get into it!

Jameis Winston Leads the Cleveland Browns to Victory: A New Era?

Jameis Winston stepped up big time, guiding the Cleveland Browns to a much-needed win. Did Winston finally settle into the Cleveland rhythm, or was it a one-game wonder? We discuss his impressive performance, what this could mean for the Browns’ playoff hopes, and if Winston could be the quarterback Cleveland’s been waiting for. Spoiler: we’re all hoping for no more interceptions.

Detroit Lions Looking Dominant: Real Contenders?

The Detroit Lions have looked unstoppable lately, and Week 8 was no different. With a balanced offense and solid defense, the Lions might just be contenders this season. We break down how Detroit has gotten to this point, what they’re doing right, and if this is the team to beat in the NFC. Is the Motor City primed for a Super Bowl run? It might be time to believe in the Lions’ roar.

Are the Los Angeles Rams Back?

After an up-and-down start to the season, the Rams looked impressive in Week 8. But is this resurgence for real, or just a blip? We analyze their recent performances, discuss what’s clicking for L.A., and whether they can keep the momentum going. Rams fans, it might be time to start believing again—but cautiously.

NFL Week 8 Recap: Biggest Wins, Surprises, and Storylines

Week 8 brought plenty of action, from upsets to blowouts. We recap all the biggest games, key plays, and storylines that emerged, breaking down how each team’s performance impacts the playoff picture. Who came through in crunch time, and which teams are starting to worry fans? Catch up on everything you missed!

NFL Week 9 Picks and Predictions: Who’s Got the Edge?

Looking ahead to Week 9, we make our picks for each matchup and predict which teams will stand out. Can the Lions stay dominant? Will the Browns keep their winning streak alive? And what about those Rams? We highlight the games to watch, give our hot takes, and even throw in some fantasy advice for good measure.

NFL Power Rankings Through 8 Weeks: Who’s on Top?

With eight weeks in the books, it’s time for an updated power ranking. We rank every team based on their performance so far, with some surprises in store. Find out who’s risen to the top, who’s hanging on by a thread, and which teams need to make serious adjustments heading into the back half of the season. Hint: Some longtime powerhouses may be slipping.

Power rankings through Week 8

Tobias Harris Ruffling Feathers in Detroit: Pistons Fans Are Already Frustrated

Switching gears to the NBA, Tobias Harris is already making waves with Pistons fans—but maybe not the good kind. We discuss why Harris’s arrival in Detroit isn’t exactly winning fans over, how he’s fitting (or not) with the team, and what this means for the Pistons’ season. Pistons fans, you’ll want to tune in to vent, laugh, or maybe both.

Timecodes:
00:00:00 Intro
00:01:42 NBA Tips Off, Tobias Harris video
00:09:51 NFL Week 8 Reactions
00:40:22 NFL Power Rankings
00:50:17 NFL Immaculate Grid
01:05:13 Outro

brooklyn nets, kevin durant, kyrie irving, seth curry, ben simmons
by Alex Fischbein

Brooklyn Nets becoming the next what if | The Atlantic Files Ep217

On this week’s episode of the Atlantic Files, the Brooklyn Nets continue to lose some needed ground in the standings as they await Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and Ben Simmons to return, the James Harden experience is alive and well in Philadelphia, both the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics are making playoff pushes, and the New York Knicks are stuck trying to figure out what’s going on.

The latest news coming out of the Ben Simmons saga is that now he has back issues and is regarded as “week to week.” Rich Paul even told Brian Windhorst that Simmons most likely won’t even be ready to come back in the month of March. Kevin Durant is finally coming back on March 3 while we’re all still waiting for a decision from the New York City Mayor on whether or not Kyrie Irving is going to be able to play full time again.

Let’s also not forget that the Nets are currently in the play-in territory, so if everything doesn’t go their way, they could be the next biggest ‘what if’ story for the NBA.

James Harden’s honeymoon period with the Philadelphia 76ers is going as well as anyone could have imagined! They’re now 3-0 since he’s been playing and he’s almost put up triple-doubles in every one of them. Joel Embiid has talked about the fact that he’s never been this wide open in his career and Tyrese Maxey is putting up more than 20 points per game as well. Is this all sustainable?

Coming from the depths, the Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics are both making playoff pushes. Which team can make it further come playoff time?

Finally, we have the New York Knicks, yet again, bringing up the rear. The team has been quite the dumpster fire this season. After such a successful season last year, it’s so disappointing to see it all just fall apart this year. What should they do for the rest of the year and into the off-season?

Timecodes:
0:00 – Intro
2:14 – Ben Simmons out until April, Kevin Durant coming back
15:47 – If the Brooklyn Nets don’t win a ring, are they a failure?
21:13 – James Harden in Philadelphia is off to a great start
32:17 – The better playoff team, Boston Celtics or Toronto Raptors
49:36 – What should the New York Knicks do now?

Julius Randle, New York Knicks
by Alex Fischbein

What’s up with Julius Randle | The Atlantic Files Ep210

On this week’s episode of the Atlantic Files, Klay Thompson finally returns to the floor, Tobias Harris is now on the block, Julius Randle is feeling the heat in his seat, Joel Embiid is back to his MVP level of play, the Atlanta Hawks are shopping John Collins, and the Memphis Grizzlies are going nuts!

First things first, we wanted to give the shout-out to Klay Thompson on finally returning from his slew of major injuries. Rehabbing from back-to-back injuries of that magnitude is no minor feat. Now, the Golden State Warriors look like they’re going to be big-time favorites to win the Western Conference and even could be NBA Finals favorites on top of that.

Then, there are the more surprising things to take place this season. The Memphis Grizzlies are all of a sudden near the top of the West and Kyle Kuzma has been playing out of his mind. This drove us to the question of which of these two things are the most surprising? Did anyone see the Grizzlies being this good or did they see Kuzma improving as much as he’s showing lately?

Going to the Atlantic, finally. Daryl Morey and the Philadelphia 76ers are still in all of the rumor mills and on all of the news sites for more trade talks. This time, they’re actually trying to package Tobias Harris with Ben Simmons in trades. Yes, they’re putting together $80M worth of contracts together and trying to get something out of it. Harris has been a name on this podcast that has been thrown in trades already, but which team is actually willing to take on that contract?

This all brings us to our main topic of Julius Randle. Last season now looks like a very distant memory due to the lack of effort, lack of production, and all-around bad play this year. The Knicks are nowhere near the level that everyone expected after last season, and they could be in danger of only making a play-in tournament spot or even missing the playoffs. Julius Randle was in the highest of graces with the Knicks fans and all of a sudden that came crashing down as he had to tell them to shut up and cursed at them along the way.

Finally, there was another prominent Eastern team working the trade phones. The Atlanta Hawks are now shopping John Collins and they’ve even been linked to the Sixers. At this point, who knows what kind of craziness will go down before the trade deadline.

Timecodes:
0:00 – Intro
1:34 – Klay Thompson returns!
5:03 – Memphis Grizzlies vs Kyle Kuzma, who’s more surprising?
15:06 – Tobias Harris on the Philadelphia 76ers trade block
25:27 – Joel Embiid back to MVP numbers
31:06 – John Collins is on the block for Atlanta Hawks
37:04 – Julius Randle stinking and New York Knicks fans are fed up

Tobias Harris, Philadelphia 76ers
by Alex Fischbein

Tobias Harris vs Sixers Fans | The Atlantic Files ep209

On this week’s episode of the Atlantic Files, Tobias Harris fires back at Philadelphia 76ers fans, Kyrie Irving finally plays, Russell Westbrook says some interesting things, LeBron James is dipping down to new lows, and New York Knicks fans are turning on RJ Barrett too.

In case you haven’t seen the clip yet, Tobias Harris had some things to say to Sixers fans during their home game against the Houston Rockets. Fans were starting to boo Harris after he blew an open layup and only had six points through three quarters. After making his patented turnaround jumper in the post and fans started to clap, he barked back with “don’t f***ing clap!” Not sure if it was wise to say something like that unless you’re on the level of a Joel Embiid or Allen Iverson in the minds of Philly fans.

If that wasn’t enough, Philly fans have also turned their ire towards new play-by-play announcer, Kate Scott. She tweeted about how she’s been getting nasty messages from all sorts of fans. Not just the ones that everyone would expect, but even younger crowds and fellow women have been sending her all sorts of hate in her DMs. Be better Sixers fans.

Kyrie Irving is finally back on the court as of the night this new episode was recorded. The Brooklyn Nets are in dire need of more scorers as they continue to struggle against the better teams throughout the league. Also, they could always use another person with everyone dropping like flies due to the health and safety protocols.

Kevin Porter Jr. and Christian Wood were both suspended for a game by the Rockets. They both had some serious attitude and either went home or refused to go into the game. This rebuild could be taking a toll on the team that wasn’t expected and it could force them to ship off two of their best young core.

Then, we get to the Los Angeles Lakers. My, how the mighty have fallen. This team had lofty expectations coming into the season and has not really met any of them at all. Anthony Davis is hurt again, and now Russell Westbrook is saying that it doesn’t matter if he turns the ball over a lot or not. On top of that, LeBron James feels the need to celebrate and talk trash to the worst teams in the league as they barely scrape by with a win.

That plus some more bonus conversation about RJ Barrett and the New York Knicks on the latest episode!

Timecodes:
0:00 – Intro
2:38 – Kyrie Irving returns for his first game of the season
8:33 – Tobias Harris gets booed then barks back at Philadelphia 76ers fans
20:43 – Kate Scott talks about getting nasty messages from Sixers fans
28:15 – Houston Rockets suspend Kevin Porter Jr. and Christian Wood
38:53 – Russell Westbrook says he can turn the ball over whenever he wants
48:52 – LeBron James hits some new lows
56:21 – New York Knicks fans turning on RJ Barrett

Tobias Harris, Philadelphia 76ers
by Alex Fischbein

Last night in the Atlantic (12/9/21)

Only a three-game slate last night in general, but the Sixers played one of them… Well, they kind of played…

Standings:
Brooklyn Nets(1) 17-8
Philadelphia 76ers(7) 14-12
Boston Celtics(10) 13-13
New York Knicks 12-13
Toronto Raptors 11-14

Let’s talk about last night!

Tobias Harris

Honestly, I had to dig deep to figure out whom to highlight from this game. The first quarter didn’t look too bad because Joel Embiid looked like he was determined to make sure no one would stop him. Then he cooled off and the entire team didn’t look ready to play at all. So, Tobias Harris became that guy to highlight as he did get 17 points and 7 rebounds on 54.5% shooting. However, plenty of Sixers fans continue to wonder why it can’t be more than that. He is getting paid one of the largest contracts in the league and is expected to be the number one perimeter threat on the team. Sometimes it looks that way, but more often than not, that’s not the case. Harris has plenty of talent, he’s a very good player! The question just remains whether or not his talent level to contract ratio is what’s holding the team back from achieving their ultimate goal.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Doc Rivers, Philadelphia 76ers
by Alex Fischbein

Doc Rivers is an issue | The Atlantic Files Ep206

This week, on the Atlantic Files, we welcome Troy of the Planet 76 Podcast to talk about Doc Rivers and the Philadelphia 76ers. We debated whether or not the Sixers needed to trade Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, or both. Also, we took a look at all of the latest Damian Lillard rumors and even the New York Knicks since they’ve benched Kemba Walker.

One of the biggest conversations going around Philly sports circles right now is the coaching from Doc Rivers. His after-timeout play calls, rotations, and playoff resume have been very sketchy. Now, with the team getting back to full strength except for Ben Simmons, his coaching is going to be scrutinized. Every ‘x and o’ matters now when the team isn’t as talented as the ones they’re going to play.

Whenever Ben Simmons is brought up, Tobias Harris’ name now gets thrown into the conversation as well in terms of trade talk. Some Sixers fans want to trade Harris and keep Simmons while others want the opposite. What if the Sixers actually need to trade both of them to truly compete for a title? Can they get anything out of Tobias Harris’ huge contract?

Then, in comes the added Damian Lillard rumors. These days there are new rumors about Lillard wanting to play with Ben Simmons in Portland. On top of that, apparently, Lillard is unhappy with the team and the coaching since it wasn’t the exact coach that he wanted. Also, to add more fuel to the fire, Portland fired their General Manager so nobody knows what that might bring in terms of roster makeup.

Finally, the Knicks aren’t exactly improving ever since their plan to bench Kemba Walker. The offense hasn’t done much more than it already was doing, and the defense doesn’t look improved either. So where do they go from here then? Are we going to see Kemba Walker inserted back into the lineup or are do they have to make some sort of deal?

Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro
1:18 – Can Doc Rivers coach the Sixers to a championship?
7:18 – Should the Sixers trade both Tobias Harris and Ben Simmons?
15:38 – Damian Lillard apparently wants to play with Ben Simmons
26:51 – Realistic landing spots for Damian Lillard
37:20 – Benching Kemba Walker hasn’t done much for the New York Knicks
41:00 – Troy from Planet 76 Podcast gives his Sixers predictions and talks about the Process