Embiid/Simmons=Jabbar/Magic

[lansdale]

I don't see any NBA thread here, and maybe no surprise--not much to get excited about re the top teams -- pencil in GSW for another championship. Cavs and Thunder with shaky starts, Spurs lackluster without Kawhi, only Boston looking lik they can still play.

Still think there are a couple of reasons to follow the league -- Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. Tonight, Embiid, 23, had an amazing game -- the best of his career so far -- 46 pts. 15 rbs 7 assists, 7 blocks. Simmons, 21, w/18/10/9 and 5 stls, was one rb short of the third triple-double in the 14 NBA games he's played. Not bad. He had two in his first nine games. Who else has ever done this? -- Wilt Chamberlain. May seem outlandish to say it, but these two look like the reincarnation of Jabbar and Magic. Mind-blowing to watch two young players who are this good.

Bettors looking for a mortal lock for ROY -- Simmons was 5/2 before last night. My guess is he'll be closer to even money now -- still a huge overlay on the best rookie since LBJ.

[proximity]

great post.

really fun team to watch!!

[Robert Fischer]

Simmons is someone I've been waiting to catch on TV in a decent game overlapping w/ my schedule.

Really like Simmons.

[cj]

If Embiid can stay healthy, and that is a big if, this team is going to be scary good.

[lansdale]

As cj pointed out, the Sixers need to be very careful regarding Embiid's physical condition-- after all the time he's missed through injuries, it remains an open question whether his body is durable enough to handle a full NBA season. If the injury issues are behind him, though, seems like the sky is the limit for this team, especially if Fultz, still only 19, turns out to be the player everyone thinks.
I'll be watching.

[Robert Fischer]

looking at their 3pt shooting...

Simmons (my favorite 76er) doesn't shoot any 3's. :confused:

Redick has been ice cold, but he's stretching defenses with the threat, and will likely heat up to usual numbers.

Covington seems to be out of his mind hot lately. Maybe he's improved his 3 point shooting this season?? I don't know much about him other than a live athletic body who plays with confidence. If he's really becoming a 3pt threat, he's starting to encroach into fringe all-star territory.

Saric is a good front court shooter. That's my Croation bro. He's reliable.

Embiid is volatile. A little more consistency with his ability to catch a lazy center with a transition 3 or a bounce out open 3 (looked like he had at least one vs LAL) and he's elite. For now, teams are happy with him shooting some 3s, but pay for it when he has a good night.



In today's NBA (much more so than Magic's day), Simmons non-3pt game is a bit of a red flag.
However, he's a great player.(I know you guys love Embiid...) Ideally, to compensate, the shooting guard opposite Simmons will stretch the floor and at least one of the front-court guys stretching the floor ( shoot 5-10 per game Saric :) ).

[Valuist]

Second most fun team to watch in the NBA. But one proviso: can Embiid stay healthy for a full season?

Covington has gotten off to a great start, but will see if the new contract affects him at all.

As for RoY, I heard Simmons was minus money, and big time minus money to win RoY. Nobody else has a chance.

[lansdale]

First meeting of Embiid/Simmons unit w/LBJ tonight. Simmons supposed to be checking Lebron--should be interesting match-up. Sixers, one of the worst teams in NBA history two years ago, are -2 vs. last year's EC champs. Amazing turnaround.

[lansdale]

First meeting of Embiid/Simmons unit w/LBJ tonight. Simmons supposed to be checking Lebron--should be interesting match-up. Sixers, one of the worst teams in NBA history two years ago, are -2 vs. last year's EC champs. Amazing turnaround.

Reality check for Sixers. They'll have to pick up a bench before they can contend at this level.

[cj]

Reality check for Sixers. They'll have to pick up a bench before they can contend at this level.

Hopefully the #1 draft pick will return healthy, he'll help a lot.

[lansdale]

Hopefully the #1 draft pick will return healthy, he'll help a lot.

Yeah -- sounds like he can play, but you never really know until they've played some in the league. When you watch the slowed-down, 35-year-old D. Wade juking these guys out of their shorts you realize how young most of them are -- it's going to take a couple of years before things start to come together enough for them to be in contention. In the short run, I think they'll gain a lot of ground when Simmons realizes he has to take over games like last night's, instead of deferring to players like Reddick. He's truly unstoppable in the paint.

[proximity]

Yeah -- sounds like he can play, but you never really know until they've played some in the league. When you watch the slowed-down, 35-year-old D. Wade juking these guys out of their shorts you realize how young most of them are -- it's going to take a couple of years before things start to come together enough for them to be in contention. In the short run, I think they'll gain a lot of ground when Simmons realizes he has to take over games like last night's, instead of deferring to players like Reddick. He's truly unstoppable in the paint.

tonight was a great game for this and the team overall was really disciplined with the ball.

[cj]

The process got put on hold last night :)

[thaskalos]

The process got put on hold last night :)

Beware. The last time you bragged here about the Thunder...they went on a tailspin against some pretty weak competition. :)

[cj]

Beware. The last time you bragged here about the Thunder...they went on a tailspin against some pretty weak competition. :)

They're a good team. Roberson injury hurts a lot, probably ruins any chance of the conference finals without a Presti miracle. Roberson is Harden's kryptonite.

[Robert Fischer]

Blake Griffin ---> Detroit :eek::popcorn:



How does this tie in to Embiid/Simmons / Philly 76ers / "The Process", you ask??
Detroit is 2 1/2 back from Philly for the last playoff spot in the EAST. Griffin hopes to work a 2-man game with big man Drummond to take that spot ( also - we don't have an '18 NBA thread ;) )

Clippers unload a BIG bloated contract for Griffin 30M++ guaranteed/yr... Helps Clips rebuild, and potentially gets Detroit into the playoffs, while generating media (this is perhaps the first time I checked on the Pistons since watching a Dennis Rodman career highlight youtube...).

[proximity]

the team is hotter than an august weekend at the vegas blu pool... :jump:

[tucker6]

the team is hotter than an august weekend at the vegas blu pool... :jump:

pics or it didn't happen.

[buzzy]

Simmons is for real.. his stats are with the goat.. if embiid stays healthy (big if)
WOW

[Valuist]

Game one of the Sixers/Celtics was simply about the variance in 3 point shooting. The Celtics hit 17, the Sixers only 5. That's a 36 point differential right there.

I did notice when Philly did get the ball inside to Embiid, there was nothing Boston could do to stop him. The guy is scary good, with finesse to go with his power.

[thaskalos]

Game one of the Sixers/Celtics was simply about the variance in 3 point shooting. The Celtics hit 17, the Sixers only 5. That's a 36 point differential right there.

I did notice when Philly did get the ball inside to Embiid, there was nothing Boston could do to stop him. The guy is scary good, with finesse to go with his power.

I was shocked to see how ignorant Charles Barkley was in his post-game assessment of this game. He announced that Philly had terrible matchup problems against Boston...when the simple fact was that the Sixers had their worst shooting performance on the same night when the Celtics shot lights-out.

No wonder Barkley blew all that money gambling... :)

[cj]

I was shocked to see how ignorant Charles Barkley was in his post-game assessment of this game. He announced that Philly had terrible matchup problems against Boston...when the simple fact was that the Sixers had their worst shooting performance on the same night when the Celtics shot lights-out.

No wonder Barkley blew all that money gambling... :)

Barkely is entertaining but clueless. You can tell most of those guys only watch a few games year, probably the ones where they're on the air. Some of the stuff I hear the in game announcers and the studio hosts are comical.

[Jeff P]

Embid was pretty hard to stop once he got into the paint - even with Horford covering him. Imo moreso in the 2nd half. Definitely fun to watch. Kind of amazing (at least to me) how much the Sixers have improved. Hadn't really watched them this year (until last night's game.)

But imo, the Sixers mailed it in on defense too many times. Too many Boston possessions with Embid occupying the paint and no Boston player within several feet of him. Every time that happened it seemed somebody in a white and green jersey ended up with a wide open shot. (Imo, a contributing factor in Boston's 3 pt fg %.)


-jp

.

[lansdale]

Game one of the Sixers/Celtics was simply about the variance in 3 point shooting. The Celtics hit 17, the Sixers only 5. That's a 36 point differential right there.

I did notice when Philly did get the ball inside to Embiid, there was nothing Boston could do to stop him. The guy is scary good, with finesse to go with his power.


Generally agree re 3-pt. variance -- no way Celts shoot 50% in the rest of this series and Rozier's 7-9 was a Halley's Comet event. But it was also obvious from the jump that not only were the Sixers rusty from the time off, but that they weren't taking Boston's offense seriously -- very often no rotation to shooters open after the fourth or fifth pass, and they were caught napping a few times in transition -- that Celt score off the dead ball made me laugh. Brown, who's a good coach, should take some of the blame for having Reddeck on Tatum so much of time -- don't think we'll see that in the next game -- and as Haralbob (who, as always, had the best take on the game) said, for playing two matador defenders like Belinelli and Reddeck at the same time. Still, all the Sixer starters except Reddeck are young guys who've never been in the playoffs before, and haven't yet completely grasped how much more intense and difficult the games are, round by round. As Jordan said, it's two different seasons.

Give these young guys credit though -- I thought they'd win ca. 45 games -- now they're throught the first round of the playoffs, after ending their season with a 16-game win streak -- the longest in the league this year. Embiid (with 31/13/5 last night) and Simmons are unstoppable players who should take the Sixers past the injury-depleted Celtics in this series. Looks like a match-up w/Lebron after that. Should be fun.

[Valuist]

Generally agree re 3-pt. variance -- no way Celts shoot 50% in the rest of this series and Rozier's 7-9 was a Halley's Comet event. But it was also obvious from the jump that not only were the Sixers rusty from the time off, but that they weren't taking Boston's offense seriously -- very often no rotation to shooters open after the fourth or fifth pass, and they were caught napping a few times in transition -- that Celt score off the dead ball made me laugh. Brown, who's a good coach, should take some of the blame for having Reddeck on Tatum so much of time -- don't think we'll see that in the next game -- and as Haralbob (who, as always, had the best take on the game) said, for playing two matador defenders like Belinelli and Reddeck at the same time. Still, all the Sixer starters except Reddeck are young guys who've never been in the playoffs before, and haven't yet completely grasped how much more intense and difficult the games are, round by round. As Jordan said, it's two different seasons.

Give these young guys credit though -- I thought they'd win ca. 45 games -- now they're throught the first round of the playoffs, after ending their season with a 16-game win streak -- the longest in the league this year. Embiid (with 31/13/5 last night) and Simmons are unstoppable players who should take the Sixers past the injury-depleted Celtics in this series. Looks like a match-up w/Lebron after that. Should be fun.

It definitely got their (Philly's) attention. Good thing they weren't at home. Losing a game 1 at home is trouble (see Toronto) after the first round. Embiid is a great talent with a big ego so game 1 was a good reminder they have to be better focused on defense. I think they will, and ultimately will win the series. But Stevens' team will play hard and make them work for it.

It was almost uncomfortable to see Toronto crumbling last night. Many suspected it would happen, and they are really in a tough spot now. IMO, game 1 was a MUST win for Toronto, given the setup, being at home against a tired Cleveland team.

[lansdale]

It definitely got their (Philly's) attention. Good thing they weren't at home. Losing a game 1 at home is trouble (see Toronto) after the first round. Embiid is a great talent with a big ego so game 1 was a good reminder they have to be better focused on defense. I think they will, and ultimately will win the series. But Stevens' team will play hard and make them work for it.

It was almost uncomfortable to see Toronto crumbling last night. Many suspected it would happen, and they are really in a tough spot now. IMO, game 1 was a MUST win for Toronto, given the setup, being at home against a tired Cleveland team.

Agree re Sixers -- as Embiid said today, '...our defense was trash', so I think the screws will be tightened in Game 2. Interesting if we see more of Fultz, who looked like the real deal in the few games he played -- possibly checking Rozier.
Guessing that this is the game they're looking to steal.

Surprised that the Raps were so pathetic in crunch time in their own building, especially against this weakened Cavs group -- doesn't bode well. If Lebron and Korver can get through the series without collapsing (forget about Love, who's really hampered by hand injuries), I think the Cavs hang on for the ECF.

[Lemon Drop Husker]

Interesting thread.

Will watch more.

[buzzy]

Boston has done a masterful job of exposing 76ers weakness and inexperience, right out of playbook of bill belichek, I think Simmons will rebound today.. at 6’10 and can handle and pass the ball better than guards a foot smaller, he’s a special talent... we’ll see?

[Rollingpk3]

Boston has done a masterful job of exposing 76ers weakness and inexperience, right out of playbook of bill belichek, I think Simmons will rebound today.. at 6’10 and can handle and pass the ball better than guards a foot smaller, he’s a special talent... we’ll see?


i think we need to pump the brakes on simmons a little. guy is an athletic freak i agree but lets see how long it takes for him to develop an acceptable game from beyond 10 ft. to go a whole season without a 3 pt field goal and to shoot ft’s like he does is a disgrace.

[lansdale]

Boston has done a masterful job of exposing 76ers weakness and inexperience, right out of playbook of bill belichek, I think Simmons will rebound today.. at 6’10 and can handle and pass the ball better than guards a foot smaller, he’s a special talent... we’ll see?

Agree that this series really has been Sixers vs. the brilliant Brad Stevens and a quicker team with near-perfect execution. This was especially true in games 2 & 3, where a few key moves by Stevens and dumb mistakes by Sixers made all the difference. Yesterday, every time the Celts hit a scoring drought, Stevens would call time, draw up a play, and they would score off it. Even as a Sixer fan, that last lob into Horford was a thing of beauty, with a characteristically stupid swipe at the ball by Covington, who, although a great defender, has made a lot of dumb plays during this series -- and all year, for those who have been following -- aside from being 0-fer for two of these games.

Re Simmons' shooting limitations, this is no secret and hasn't stopped from scoring, but that has never been his calling card and isn't the reason that the Sixers are going to be knocked out of the playoffs. They're going out because they still lack the experience and hoops IQ to compete at this level -- not really that shocking if you think about it. They also need at least one all-star level player to move to higher levels -- that might be Fultz, or less likely Saric, but still too many unknowns to make a call. Right now, the Sixers have one too many one-way scorers (Reddick, Belinelli, to an extent Saric and Ilyasova) who can't play much D. Covington is a decent 3-and-D journeyman, but still screws up a lot despite years in the league. They have another lottery pick coming up this year, and possibly more wheeling and dealing to be done re Fultz and that pick. Still, a very promising year for this young team.

[Valuist]

Boston better take care of business in game 5, because if not, the pressure level goes way up for game 6.

[lansdale]

Boston better take care of business in game 5, because if not, the pressure level goes way up for game 6.

Somewhat surprised to see the Sixers at -1 for Game 5. Would be a major step forward if they could win just this one and then take things a game at a time. Good adjustment by Brown going with the McConnell/three guard line-up in Game 4 to counter Celts quickness -- McConnell does a much better job vs. Rozier on D than any other Sixer. Assuming McConnell again gets major minutes in Game 5, think the game will come down to whether he or Rozier has a better night. Sixers are 8-0 when McConnell gets 15 or more.

[Valuist]

Somewhat surprised to see the Sixers at -1 for Game 5. Would be a major step forward if they could win just this one and then take things a game at a time. Good adjustment by Brown going with the McConnell/three guard line-up in Game 4 to counter Celts quickness -- McConnell does a much better job vs. Rozier on D than any other Sixer. Assuming McConnell again gets major minutes in Game 5, think the game will come down to whether he or Rozier has a better night. Sixers are 8-0 when McConnell gets 15 or more.

Philly opened at minus 1 but I saw earlier Boston was minus 1. And if we go back to game 1 in Boston, Philly was actually minus 4 1/2.

The zig zag theory, after a few seasons of not working, has been really rolling in just about every playoff series this year.

[lansdale]

Philly opened at minus 1 but I saw earlier Boston was minus 1. And if we go back to game 1 in Boston, Philly was actually minus 4 1/2.

The zig zag theory, after a few seasons of not working, has been really rolling in just about every playoff series this year.

Not sure how zig-zag applles to this series -- Sixers have been favored in every game and lost the first three. Surprised that Boston is still only -1, given that they're up 3-1 and playing a close-out game in their own building. Looks like bettors are uncertain about whether the switch to McConnell in Game 4 might mean tha the Sixers have turned a corner in thie series. We'll known soon enough.