Speaker 1: This podcast is part of the seventy Sixers Podcast network
Speaker 1: search seventy Sixers Podcast wherever you get your pods. It
Speaker 1: is time. It is here. It is the big season preview,
Speaker 1: and there's no more fitting way perhaps to get things started.
Speaker 1: And with the big man himself, I just dream a boy,
Speaker 1: you know, just having a lot of fun, acting crazy
Speaker 1: to parade then and then also just being here, starting
Speaker 1: to family here and being fear a fun a long
Speaker 1: time and wanting to finish here. That's WHA want to
Speaker 1: make you happen. We go one on one with Joel
Speaker 1: Embiide chatting about fatherhood, change and the year ahead. Lauren
Speaker 1: Rosen is also here, and we'll recap training camp and
Speaker 1: give a sneak peek at what might be in store
Speaker 1: for the Sixers. You ask about feeling, and that's something
Speaker 1: that I feel like I've asked almost every player on
Speaker 1: the roster, and they don't feel like there is a feeling.
Speaker 1: They feel like this group has everything that it needs
Speaker 1: to go all the way. They believe in themselves. They
Speaker 1: believe in the group, and I do think that the
Speaker 1: starts plus important information about how you can help the
Speaker 1: seventy sixers, help support local businesses throughout the season. I'm
Speaker 1: Brian Seltzer, and this is the broadcast from the seventy
Speaker 1: Sixers podcast Network. Welcome in seventy sixers, hoot peeps. It
Speaker 1: is just about time. There is so much to get
Speaker 1: to on this big season preview edition of the broadcast.
Speaker 1: Opening night is a Wednesday at the Center against the
Speaker 1: Washington Wizards Lauren Rose and I will get to that
Speaker 1: a little bit later on, but first I wanted to
Speaker 1: start with a conversation with a guy on whom a
Speaker 1: very large part of the franchise's fate. Hinges, don't worry.
Speaker 1: His shoulders certainly are big enough. He wouldn't want you
Speaker 1: to feel sorry for him because of the burden he bears.
Speaker 1: An after an offseason that saw Joel Embie'd become a
Speaker 1: dad and get a new head coach and president of
Speaker 1: basketball operations, our interview naturally began by talking about the
Speaker 1: notion of change and whether or not Joe is actually
Speaker 1: feeling much of it. No, really, I mean, I just
Speaker 1: I'm still the same you know, I've always been family
Speaker 1: type of guy. Family over over int it. So I'm
Speaker 1: still the same man, you know. Having a new edition,
Speaker 1: I mean kind of she changed them a little bit
Speaker 1: in me, but I'm still the same. Man. I'm excited
Speaker 1: to be, you know, a new dad and you know,
Speaker 1: be able to raise a kid, and so I can
Speaker 1: go from there. Because I'm a dad myself. I gotta
Speaker 1: ask you some dad questions. I can't remember the first
Speaker 1: two and a half months of my twins life. I
Speaker 1: can barely remember the first two and a half years
Speaker 1: of their life. What's it been like for you? It's
Speaker 1: been great, h It's actually it's funny because every time
Speaker 1: we go the doctor season like he's just like she's
Speaker 1: just so impressed of like, well, it's doing as far
Speaker 1: as the stuff that he's doing already at his age
Speaker 1: um advance is U So that's pretty good. Like I
Speaker 1: just I love when it just you know, just looks
Speaker 1: at me and just starts laughing and uh so, I
Speaker 1: mean it's it's been amazing just spending a lot of
Speaker 1: time with him. Man. Yeah, have you been able to
Speaker 1: see any personality traits developed so far? Have you gotten
Speaker 1: any smiles? Oh? Yeah, for sure, I've been. It's been
Speaker 1: That's that's the whole thing. Like even the doctor was saying,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's only eleven weeks, and he's been smiling
Speaker 1: for the past five weeks basically, like just like smiling
Speaker 1: all stop and you know, screaming over the place and
Speaker 1: which is which is pretty crazy. Do you have any
Speaker 1: good stories so far? I look back at pictures my
Speaker 1: kids puked on my head, they went to the bathroom
Speaker 1: on me. Any happy disaster stories that you can share
Speaker 1: with us. No, he's been an amazing key. He's been
Speaker 1: doing great. It's tremendous. You know. It's obviously hard to
Speaker 1: ignore the connection between New Life and Arthur, your son,
Speaker 1: and Arthur your brother. How far along did you feel
Speaker 1: like you wanted to honor your brother that way? I mean,
Speaker 1: did you know in advance that you were having a
Speaker 1: boy or a girl? And when did you start thinking
Speaker 1: about honoring your brother's legacy in that way? Um? In
Speaker 1: ment a lot for me and my family. Obviously, losing
Speaker 1: my little bother the way we did it was very
Speaker 1: tough on me, and you know, almost quite basketball because
Speaker 1: I heard I was and also from my mom. She's
Speaker 1: been dealing with this since then. He's been very tough
Speaker 1: on the So giving my son that name was huge.
Speaker 1: Uh and um, he didn't help get over it, buddy,
Speaker 1: also kind of help relax a little bit more than
Speaker 1: just be more open to life again. But he meant
Speaker 1: a lot, and uh, I'm glad I did it. I
Speaker 1: was going to ask you about that because this obviously
Speaker 1: isn't the first time you've done something to recognize Arthur.
Speaker 1: I mean, there's the Angels Foundation in Cameroon, if I'm
Speaker 1: not mistaken. In the court I think this time a
Speaker 1: year ago that you opened in the Frankfurt section of
Speaker 1: the city. I know no one gets over anything, but
Speaker 1: does it help you cope a little bit more and
Speaker 1: keep the thought of him present us? I mean, it
Speaker 1: stay hard. But that's why all this stuff that I've
Speaker 1: been done in his name I've happened because you know,
Speaker 1: you try to, you know, being so young and have
Speaker 1: you hadn't done anything in life, you try to, you know,
Speaker 1: just carry his name and it's like you can see
Speaker 1: um for as long as you can, as long as
Speaker 1: I'm in this planet, I'm still gonna do the same thing.
Speaker 1: And you use that too also help a lot of
Speaker 1: people in needs. Uh, And that's what we've been doing
Speaker 1: with the foundation, and you know the court that we
Speaker 1: open here in his name, and you know, my little
Speaker 1: my son. Uh. And then there's a few other stuff
Speaker 1: that my parents do back in Camon as far as
Speaker 1: our charity and donations and stuff like that. There's obviously
Speaker 1: been dramatic change with the Sixers. As we shift the
Speaker 1: conversation to basketball, can you walk me through the timeline
Speaker 1: of your reaction to the coaching change and Doc Rivers,
Speaker 1: a championship winner getting hired by you guys. Uh, it was, man,
Speaker 1: I have a lot of love for coach bou and
Speaker 1: you know we've been here for a long time. Man,
Speaker 1: I was. I was sad too losing as Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: I cared a lot about him. Uh. And then but um,
Speaker 1: perhaps you know, could us to the owners for also,
Speaker 1: you know, going out and hiring guys like Darren Moore,
Speaker 1: who I think he's the best um in this job,
Speaker 1: at this job, in this league. Uh. And you know,
Speaker 1: just talking to him, he's a very very small guy
Speaker 1: like this, we can talk about anything, and that's why
Speaker 1: we do. We just talk about anything. We talk about
Speaker 1: more stuff than actual basketball, just more life stuff. And
Speaker 1: that's what I like. And just like you when you
Speaker 1: talk to somebody and I just focus on basketball. And
Speaker 1: you were able to talk about life. That's how relationship
Speaker 1: I has been. And then coach adding coach who has
Speaker 1: won the championship. I think I thought it was great too.
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna be a great leader and he's
Speaker 1: gonna trying to push us every day and to be better.
Speaker 1: Can you take me inside some of the meetings that
Speaker 1: you and Doc and Ben have had together. That's something
Speaker 1: that Ben Simmons talked about. What are certain things that
Speaker 1: you guys have been looking at discussing to get on
Speaker 1: the same page for the start of the season. We've
Speaker 1: just been talking about you know, we gotta, you know,
Speaker 1: be accountable towards each other and the whole organization. We
Speaker 1: just gotta take on the vole and just be better
Speaker 1: than what than whipping in the past, and just lead,
Speaker 1: lead by example especially and just doing the white things
Speaker 1: and just dominique together and go back to what we
Speaker 1: used to do and two or three years ago, you know,
Speaker 1: just play together, dominate together. Half fun. The game was
Speaker 1: very fun two or three years ago, just moving the ball,
Speaker 1: all sharing the ball, everybody's happy. So we just got
Speaker 1: to get back to that, and that's why we've been
Speaker 1: talking about along those lines. I feel like you've been
Speaker 1: putting in and I know that you have because you've
Speaker 1: talked about it a ton of work over the offseason.
Speaker 1: But it seems like for guys in professional sports, some
Speaker 1: of the success with the coaches, like, well, how can
Speaker 1: you elevate my game? How can you help me evolve
Speaker 1: and develop? Are there certain things that you're hoping A
Speaker 1: new staff, a new set of eyes, new sets of
Speaker 1: minds can help do to bring your game to an
Speaker 1: even higher level that it's been at so far. A man,
Speaker 1: the only thing I want them to be is, you know,
Speaker 1: just want I just want everybody to be open about anything, really,
Speaker 1: because I feel like I can't help, you know, this
Speaker 1: organization in so many other ways other than just be
Speaker 1: a postal player. And I'm sure have seen it just
Speaker 1: playing against me or just being here in the past
Speaker 1: couple of days. Just about how much I can do
Speaker 1: other than just posting up. And you know, I can
Speaker 1: be used as a playmaker. I can be used as
Speaker 1: a screener. I can't can do everything. I can pick
Speaker 1: him pop, I can handle the ball. I can, you know,
Speaker 1: just set up my teammates. So there's a bunch of
Speaker 1: stuff I can do when I want to be used
Speaker 1: in that complete role. You've talked about the responsibility you
Speaker 1: feel for the city. How often do you think, because
Speaker 1: I know you talk about a championship, but when you
Speaker 1: think about what that could mean for the city, do
Speaker 1: you have certain visions in your mind, like dream about
Speaker 1: what would look like going down Broad Street? Hopefully the
Speaker 1: world's in a place where we can all be around
Speaker 1: each other. Are those types of visions that you have? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I have a vision about being like just like just
Speaker 1: had to parade and you know, just talking and giving
Speaker 1: a spitch and all that stuff. But now I just
Speaker 1: dream about, you know, just having a lot of fun,
Speaker 1: acting crazy at the parade and all that stuff. And
Speaker 1: that's why it's like it's so important to me. And
Speaker 1: then also just being here, starting the family here and
Speaker 1: being here for a long time and wanting to finish
Speaker 1: your so yeah, that's why I want to make it
Speaker 1: happen so much. Do get him, Joe, Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: Thank you, Joel Embiid Ready to rock the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one season. Before I bring on Lauren Rosen to
Speaker 1: continue our big season preview, Just a quick seventy six
Speaker 1: ers podcast network PSA. If you like what you're hearing,
Speaker 1: and you are not yet a subscriber or a follower
Speaker 1: of ours, please do consider changing that. And if you're
Speaker 1: listening on Apple, give us a rating. We ask, we gravel,
Speaker 1: We plead it helps us get discovered selfishly, we would
Speaker 1: love for more of that to be happening. Also, I
Speaker 1: want to give a shout out to Danny Green New
Speaker 1: seventy Sixer and our man Harrison Sanford and their excellent
Speaker 1: podcast Inside the green Room Search Inside the green Room
Speaker 1: wherever you get your pods to listen to new episodes
Speaker 1: every week. And a reminder that's coming up on the
Speaker 1: seventy Sixers podcast network this week. On Coach Check, which
Speaker 1: will premiere on Tuesday, December the twenty second, Matt Murphy
Speaker 1: of the Bluecoats speaks with Jamir Nelson, who's now going
Speaker 1: to be the assistant general manager for the Coats as
Speaker 1: well as a scout for the seventy Sixers. That's coming
Speaker 1: up on Coach Check. The episode drops on Tuesday, December
Speaker 1: twenty second. My sixer's coverage partner in crime, of course,
Speaker 1: is none other than Lauren Rosen, pumped to go on
Speaker 1: a podcasting journey throughout the season with her. Lauren joins
Speaker 1: us now and I don't know about you, Lauren, but
Speaker 1: I feel like this season. Maybe it's just the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty effect, but I feel like this season has been
Speaker 1: going on for years that it's never really stopped. I
Speaker 1: completely agree. I don't think there was an offseason. Like
Speaker 1: you can try to tell me that there was, but
Speaker 1: when I look back on my calendar, I just can't
Speaker 1: find it. No, especially for the last four weeks since
Speaker 1: the draft, it's just been at such a rapid, NonStop pace,
Speaker 1: fun pace, exciting pace. But it's incredible that amidst everything
Speaker 1: else that tappened, draft, free agency, preseason, that was took
Speaker 1: place two games in four days, that the games are
Speaker 1: here and they're about to count, which excites me. It's exciting,
Speaker 1: but it's a lot, and I think that the seventy
Speaker 1: six ers themselves would agree. I mean, two of them
Speaker 1: were in the bubble far longer than the rest of
Speaker 1: them because they want a championship, and then they had
Speaker 1: to move across the country. Then we have rookies that
Speaker 1: got drafted a couple of weeks ago and they're already
Speaker 1: wearing uniforms on the court at the center like it's
Speaker 1: been a whirlwind for us, but let's acknowledge that it's
Speaker 1: been maybe a bigger whirlwind for them. This whole thing
Speaker 1: is just like I've said this the entire hiatus, but
Speaker 1: it's really hard to wrap your head around. In a
Speaker 1: traditional world, I would feel like at this point I
Speaker 1: would add a big megaphone affect my voice where I say,
Speaker 1: and now it's time for the big season preview. And
Speaker 1: I'm not trying to diminish what we saw in the
Speaker 1: two preseason games or what's been said and done at
Speaker 1: the training complex the last couple of weeks. But I
Speaker 1: think the reason why I'm not adding that big megaphone
Speaker 1: booming effect to my voice is because I'm kind of
Speaker 1: in a wait and see mode. I gotta be honest, like,
Speaker 1: I just don't know how much stock you can place
Speaker 1: in the two preseason games, and in a cool way,
Speaker 1: in a different way, like we just got to see.
Speaker 1: It might be a couple of weeks, it might it
Speaker 1: might be a month, it might be longer. I don't know. Well,
Speaker 1: the good news is, if you want to put stock
Speaker 1: into two preseason games, we saw a lot of good obviously,
Speaker 1: the second one in Indiana there was some sloppiness, but
Speaker 1: there were some rallying. There was great stuff from the bench,
Speaker 1: So if you want to put stock into either of
Speaker 1: those games, you can certainly find good there. But I
Speaker 1: agree with you, it's all way too soon to really
Speaker 1: make any definitive declarations or predictions, at least for me,
Speaker 1: about what that this group is gonna look like. Like
Speaker 1: I said, there was a lot of good there, but
Speaker 1: there is a lot that remains to be se I
Speaker 1: agree with you. I think it definitely warrants getting into
Speaker 1: what we did see, and it's just I guess maybe
Speaker 1: more it's not so much as what to make of it,
Speaker 1: it's how much is going to actually translate. Because some
Speaker 1: good came late in games when only reserves played. Some
Speaker 1: good came when other teams didn't have their top guys,
Speaker 1: or even the Sixers didn't have their top guys. But
Speaker 1: for me, and I was talking about this on the
Speaker 1: radio with the Von Gives after the game on Friday, personally,
Speaker 1: I went into the preseason feeling a lot of positivity
Speaker 1: and great vibes coming from the Sixers, and there was nothing,
Speaker 1: absolutely nothing during those two games that made me feel
Speaker 1: any different, Like I'm coming out of the preseason with hope,
Speaker 1: with optimism. I think that the main guys who have
Speaker 1: a body of work over time, who you kind of
Speaker 1: know what they're about, showed you some great stuff. Talking
Speaker 1: about a lot of veterans, members of the starting five.
Speaker 1: And then for some players who you might want to
Speaker 1: see have a bounce back here insert Mike Scott, might
Speaker 1: want to have a build upon good they did last year.
Speaker 1: Insert for a concorkmuse, Guys who you didn't know anything about,
Speaker 1: rookies Tyrese, Maxie Hillo. Those were areas where I was like, now,
Speaker 1: if they can continue to build, we're going to be
Speaker 1: in a really good spot. And look, we're not usually
Speaker 1: the two to talk about struggles, but where the team faltered.
Speaker 1: There are reasons for chemistry not being fully there for
Speaker 1: a group of people that met each other a couple
Speaker 1: weeks ago, Guys coming back from injuries, Guys that have
Speaker 1: never worked in a system that looks like this system.
Speaker 1: So I think, considering the stuff that we saw that
Speaker 1: might have been a little bit harder to swallow, those
Speaker 1: are things that can be built upon and errors that
Speaker 1: can be addressed rather quickly. I think in a lot
Speaker 1: of situations. So I agree with you. I think everybody
Speaker 1: sort of has if there's a positive narrative there for
Speaker 1: everybody if you want to, if you want to find it.
Speaker 1: And I'm really excited about what this is going to
Speaker 1: look like, because, like he said at the very beginning,
Speaker 1: we have no idea really yet what the team looks
Speaker 1: like and how good they can be. It seems like
Speaker 1: going into this year and I'm still trying to wrap
Speaker 1: my mind exactly how to interpret some of what Doc
Speaker 1: Rivers has been saying. I know that he wants defense
Speaker 1: to be the bread and butter this team, but it's
Speaker 1: been interesting to me that he's been talking about the
Speaker 1: offense a lot. I think he knows what the defensive
Speaker 1: potential is, but the challenge for him it's not saying
Speaker 1: offense is more important, but he feels perhaps the biggest
Speaker 1: growth area this team could be on the offensive side.
Speaker 1: If they played defense like how they've done in the past,
Speaker 1: amped up a little bit more, combined with some real
Speaker 1: offensive tweaks and improvements, that's where this team can get
Speaker 1: to the next level. Well, I also think when you
Speaker 1: think about defense, there are a lot of established defenders
Speaker 1: on this team. There are guys on this team, whether
Speaker 1: or not they've played together before Danny Green, who are
Speaker 1: really really good defenders, and we know they have it,
Speaker 1: and we know that that's a skill that they can
Speaker 1: turn up. And that's across the roster. There are a
Speaker 1: lot of really strong defenders on this team. I agree
Speaker 1: with you it seems like Doc's focused more on offense
Speaker 1: right now, but that's because maybe there's more to build
Speaker 1: there and there's more to learn there, and there's more
Speaker 1: intricacy on that end of the floor that this group hasn't.
Speaker 1: They're going to have to play a totally new way.
Speaker 1: It's a totally new roster, the options are totally different.
Speaker 1: So I understand the need to put a little bit
Speaker 1: more emphasis on the offensive side when it comes to
Speaker 1: what there is still to learn, Whereas on defense, these
Speaker 1: are guys that know how to defend, and it's going
Speaker 1: to be about how much they engage there and how
Speaker 1: intense they can be for a full forty eight minutes.
Speaker 1: One thing that we know coming into this year, the
Speaker 1: Sixers wanted to enhance spacing, and I felt in the
Speaker 1: two preseason games we saw examples of that with a
Speaker 1: couple different lineups opportunities were there, shots might not have
Speaker 1: always gone down. But I think for me that's how
Speaker 1: I kind of look at the preseason two is are
Speaker 1: there indicators? Are there signs where in a perfect world
Speaker 1: and the team spends more time together and plays more
Speaker 1: games like the foundations, they are for things to actually
Speaker 1: come together and be executed upon. Well, you talk you
Speaker 1: mentioned spacing, and to me, that's just shooting, right, And
Speaker 1: there's so many shooting options now in both units. I
Speaker 1: know we're going to talk about this a little bit later,
Speaker 1: but the idea that there's a whole first unit and
Speaker 1: a whole second unit that can play together separately and
Speaker 1: have great options in both units, I mean, that's not
Speaker 1: something that depth wise, that's not something we've seen, at
Speaker 1: least in my time with the Sixers. So I'm excited
Speaker 1: about how the spacing looks on the first unit and
Speaker 1: on the second unit, and how all those shooters are
Speaker 1: going to be able to interact with the Joel Embiid,
Speaker 1: with the Dwight Howard, with a Bed Simmons, because I
Speaker 1: think it's going to be really cool and and like
Speaker 1: you said, it already looks a little different. It feels
Speaker 1: a little different. Those options around the perimeter are making
Speaker 1: a difference already. As we dive a little bit deeper
Speaker 1: into what we know, what we might not know after
Speaker 1: two preseason games, getting regular for the rest of the season.
Speaker 1: What we do know. I'm pretty good with what I
Speaker 1: saw from the starters. Yeah, kill you theirselves. The guys
Speaker 1: we've been watching for a long time look like themselves.
Speaker 1: Obviously we didn't get quite as much Joel Embiid as
Speaker 1: we wanted to see, but what we saw was good.
Speaker 1: What we saw for Ben he looked very good. We
Speaker 1: know that Tobias can bring a certain skill set. We
Speaker 1: know the same with Danny and Steth, even though they
Speaker 1: haven't played for the Sixers before. It does feel like
Speaker 1: that's a unit where we are going to know what
Speaker 1: we can get and a lot of them are going
Speaker 1: to continue to improve as they get to know each
Speaker 1: other better and as they gel better, no question about it,
Speaker 1: And specifically when it comes to Joel Embiid, only played
Speaker 1: about a half in the first preseason game, had the
Speaker 1: non COVID illness in the preseason finale against the Pacers.
Speaker 1: I'm good with Joe. I'm great. He looked excellent in
Speaker 1: that first preseason game, and at this point I do
Speaker 1: kind of trust that he knows what he has to
Speaker 1: do to get himself Freddie, and I think in hearing
Speaker 1: Doc Rivers talking about him, he knows what he's going
Speaker 1: to get out of too El Embid. I think the
Speaker 1: Doc Rivers Joel Embiid relationship is really something to watch
Speaker 1: because the way that Doc talks about how good Joel
Speaker 1: can be, it feels like they've already really developed something.
Speaker 1: And we saw it in the preseason games. We've seen
Speaker 1: it in some of the practice videos. But the two
Speaker 1: of them are really talking and really communicating, and I
Speaker 1: am excited to see what Doctor is able to add
Speaker 1: to Joel's game. Like you said, we only got one
Speaker 1: half out of him, but he did look really strong
Speaker 1: in that half. He looked in shape, he looked happy
Speaker 1: to be out there, and that's all we can ask
Speaker 1: for for Joel and Mead. What do we think as
Speaker 1: we take a look at two preseason games that clearly
Speaker 1: is not enough sample size the ceiling for this group
Speaker 1: can be. I think I think there's a potential and
Speaker 1: this is just based on the fields that I get.
Speaker 1: I think there's a potential for a solid start I
Speaker 1: just think it's one of those seasons where, like, I
Speaker 1: feel like the energy is good, and there's obviously a
Speaker 1: lot of factors that are making this year so different,
Speaker 1: But I could see in a perfect world, how you know,
Speaker 1: the team gets off to a nice start, has something
Speaker 1: to build upon real quickly. Well, you ask about ceiling,
Speaker 1: and that's something that I feel like I've asked at
Speaker 1: least at some point in the last few weeks almost
Speaker 1: every player on the roster, and they don't feel like
Speaker 1: there is a ceiling. They feel like this group has
Speaker 1: everything that it needs to go all the way, and
Speaker 1: I'm going to trust that. It seems like when they
Speaker 1: say it, they're saying it with conviction. They believe in themselves,
Speaker 1: they believe in the group, and I do think that
Speaker 1: the start could be really, really good, especially compared to
Speaker 1: other teams around the league years past. For the Sixers,
Speaker 1: it feels like they have all the pieces and now
Speaker 1: it's about fitting them together properly and getting ready to go,
Speaker 1: and we'll see what happens. I'm excited. I am excited
Speaker 1: to see how they really look in real competition outside
Speaker 1: of preseason games, because one of the things is is
Speaker 1: we're talking about, oh, there's all these unprecedented factors at
Speaker 1: work against the Sixers, but the same is also true
Speaker 1: for twenty nine other teams in the NBA. And I
Speaker 1: think that we can agree on this about the Sixers.
Speaker 1: And yeah, we view the world through glasses with red,
Speaker 1: white and blue tint, but I think that you could
Speaker 1: ask objective observers about this as well. Even though there's
Speaker 1: a lot of newness with the Sixers, there is still talent,
Speaker 1: high level talent, all Star, All League talent, and there's depth.
Speaker 1: And when you look at some of the early games
Speaker 1: on the Sixers schedule, and again, I don't know how
Speaker 1: much sense it makes to start looking at things like this,
Speaker 1: you know, to the first two or three weeks. There
Speaker 1: are teams that have also undergone change in the offseason
Speaker 1: that I would think, on paper, aren't in quite the
Speaker 1: same position as talent as the Sixers are. That's just
Speaker 1: my opinion. I mean, when I look at the schedule
Speaker 1: the way I'd say it is, it seems like the
Speaker 1: beginning of the season that the team should capitalize on
Speaker 1: because of who they're going to face. These are teams
Speaker 1: that they can they can afford to have a couple
Speaker 1: errors or a slow start, but these are teams that
Speaker 1: they should be able to rather handlely find paths to victory.
Speaker 1: It's something that you said in your response previous of
Speaker 1: that path the victory. We need to keep path to
Speaker 1: victory as part of our normal phraseology. Can't just be
Speaker 1: a November thing. No, I love what you said about depth.
Speaker 1: I think that's something to watch with this team for sure.
Speaker 1: I like the idea that they can play a whole
Speaker 1: first unit and a whole second unit. That's something that
Speaker 1: Doc has expressed his interest in doing. And when you
Speaker 1: look at that second unit, that's a second unit that
Speaker 1: did great against Indiana. That team outscored the Indiana bench,
Speaker 1: they outscored Indiana starters, they helped the Sixers rally to
Speaker 1: a victory. And that's a group that's not even finalized.
Speaker 1: There's competition to make it into that second unit. So
Speaker 1: the depth thing, to me is really exciting because you know,
Speaker 1: even in regular seasons, there are people that are going
Speaker 1: to get hurt, there are people that are going to
Speaker 1: miss games, and you need that depth. And this season,
Speaker 1: more than ever, I think depth is going to be
Speaker 1: really important because of all the intangible factors that you
Speaker 1: alluded to couldn't agree with you more I think that.
Speaker 1: So I did the games in the radio for Tom
Speaker 1: Aguinnis in the preseason, and I'm the only one doing it.
Speaker 1: So in those situations you end up talking to yourself
Speaker 1: a lot and creating these internal conversations. But the one
Speaker 1: consistent internal conversation that I had was looking at the team.
Speaker 1: The bench made me feel really, really good. I know
Speaker 1: Boston didn't have Kemba and Tristan, but even after those guys,
Speaker 1: I'm looking at their bench and I'm like, I just
Speaker 1: I don't As of right now, I don't see it
Speaker 1: in the same way that I see it with the
Speaker 1: Sixers bench. I look at Indie's bench, didn't see it
Speaker 1: the same way. And these are two teams that are
Speaker 1: you would presume, going to be right in the thick
Speaker 1: of things, with the Sixers in the Eastern Conference. I
Speaker 1: think that if Mike Scott can build upon the preseason
Speaker 1: shake was fantastic. Obviously Dwight Howard is I am. I
Speaker 1: am so on on team Dwight right now. It's not
Speaker 1: even funny, or I should say Team Morey, team brand
Speaker 1: in the front office forgetting him. I think you start
Speaker 1: with those three guys, and then you look around and
Speaker 1: see where a Tyres Maxie could fit in a Batist
Speaker 1: thible fits in a fir Con cork mose. I feel
Speaker 1: solid about this bench, I do. I think the bench
Speaker 1: could be a real weapon. I think the chemistry between
Speaker 1: Dwight Howard and Shake Milton is one of my favorite
Speaker 1: things that I've seen so far with this group, and
Speaker 1: the way that they talk about each other too. We
Speaker 1: keep saying it, we haven't seen them play a ton.
Speaker 1: Everything is different this year. We don't have the ability
Speaker 1: to watch practice the way that we used to. We've
Speaker 1: only seen two preseason games. What we've seen and what
Speaker 1: we've heard from those two, specifically the way they talk
Speaker 1: about each other, the way Shake says he's learning from Dwight,
Speaker 1: the way that Dwight says that Shake is this transcended
Speaker 1: type guy. And then the chemistry that we've already seen
Speaker 1: between them on the court For two guys that just
Speaker 1: met a couple weeks ago. They are really feeling the
Speaker 1: vibes and I am excited to see how they can
Speaker 1: leave that second unit together. Shake was great in the preseason,
Speaker 1: thirty four points. That was by far the most in
Speaker 1: the sixers. He shot over fifty four percent overall, five
Speaker 1: of eleven from three, eight assists, seven boards. Love it.
Speaker 1: He was terrific. Seems like there's this quiet I'm going
Speaker 1: to prove it to you type confidence about our man Shake. Well,
Speaker 1: what's interesting about Shake is I think from his sort
Speaker 1: of breakout period in the spring now whatever, nine months ago,
Speaker 1: there's been all this conversation about is Shake the real deal?
Speaker 1: And time and time again he has proven that he
Speaker 1: really is, and he's put in the work and now
Speaker 1: he's shown in multiple settings that he is able to
Speaker 1: do it. He took this weird off season and clearly
Speaker 1: got better. He says he's put on weight, he said
Speaker 1: his confidence is clearly also rising. So those things together,
Speaker 1: coupled with, like you said, this thirty four point team
Speaker 1: leading scoring wise performance throughout the preseason, I mean he
Speaker 1: Shake Milton is the real deal. We can stop asking
Speaker 1: that question. I'm with you. Two more things I wanted
Speaker 1: to get to before we wrap up our not so
Speaker 1: quite big preseason preview, but enthusiastic season preview. I think
Speaker 1: we can say it's an enthusiastic season preview. Tyrese Maxie,
Speaker 1: I don't know how it's going to come together, especially
Speaker 1: in the beginning. I do think he seems to have
Speaker 1: a demeanor about him where he's going to force the issue,
Speaker 1: not be deterred and go confidently forward and try to
Speaker 1: assert himself and make sure that he can get minutes
Speaker 1: if they're there to be had. I think confidently is
Speaker 1: the key word there. This is not a guy that
Speaker 1: looks like he spent one year in college, how a
Speaker 1: condensed offseason, didn't play in summer league, moved straight here,
Speaker 1: had to miss time during training camp, all of those things,
Speaker 1: and he's still looking as good as he is. I'm
Speaker 1: excited to see how he looks in real NBA competition,
Speaker 1: maybe going up against team's starting units as opposed to
Speaker 1: going up against reserves, which is which is who he
Speaker 1: faced throughout most of the preseason. But like you said,
Speaker 1: he looks confident, he's smiling, he's happy to be here,
Speaker 1: and that's someone that you can't not root for. He's
Speaker 1: been awesome, a pleasure to watch, a pleasure to talk to,
Speaker 1: and as is the rest of the city, we are
Speaker 1: all rooting for Tyree's Maxie Well ended on this the
Speaker 1: Eastern Conference. Doc Rivers joked he just seems to go
Speaker 1: where the tough conferences are. I would say a very
Speaker 1: balanced Eastern and Western conferences this year. They could be
Speaker 1: very tough, especially in the Atlantic Division. Atlantic might be
Speaker 1: the toughest division in the league. Yeah, Pacific is probably
Speaker 1: right up there too, but Atlantic. You've now got Brooklyn
Speaker 1: with kde and Kyrie two and O in the preseason.
Speaker 1: That's something I definitely have my eye on. What Boston
Speaker 1: missing Gordon Hayward means, Miami can they do it again? Atlanta?
Speaker 1: Where are they going to be? Toronto's made some changes,
Speaker 1: The Knicks went three in one of the preseason. What
Speaker 1: type of world do you expect to see in the
Speaker 1: Eastern Conference this year? Well, it's going to be a
Speaker 1: competitive world first, Sure, I agree with you. It seems
Speaker 1: like the conferences are sort of narrowing up when it
Speaker 1: comes to talent and teams that really could go all
Speaker 1: the way. I almost think that, yes, the West has
Speaker 1: this reputation for being better, but I think the East
Speaker 1: actually has more teams that could get it done, that
Speaker 1: could win a title this year. And I might be
Speaker 1: exposing myself now, but I am a constant consumer of
Speaker 1: basketball content. There are a lot of friends in the
Speaker 1: pod space that I listen to enthusiastically, and something that
Speaker 1: I've noticed as I've been consuming content over the last
Speaker 1: few weeks is the predictions that people have are all
Speaker 1: so different. There are so many teams that could win
Speaker 1: it all. There are so many teams that could go
Speaker 1: all the way that could surprise us. So I'm just
Speaker 1: excited for the parody that I think we're going to
Speaker 1: have all year long. It's not one of those seasons
Speaker 1: where you go in knowing who's going to come out
Speaker 1: of it, and I am looking forward to that. The
Speaker 1: journey officially beginning for the seventy six ers Wednesday at
Speaker 1: the Center against Russell Westbrook, Bradley Beale and the Washington Wizards.
Speaker 1: Looking forward, Lauren, to going on that journey step by
Speaker 1: step with you right here on the pod throughout the season.
Speaker 1: It's a journey. I'm looking forward to it too self.
Speaker 1: Of course, you should be following Lauren on Twitter if
Speaker 1: you are not yet already at Lauren m Rosen. One
Speaker 1: more order of business before our big season preview edition
Speaker 1: of the broad cast is said and done. A few
Speaker 1: weeks back. Not sure if you caught this, you might
Speaker 1: have seen us drop a video on our Sixers social
Speaker 1: channels promoting a new small business support initiative that the
Speaker 1: organization has taken up. Hey, I'm Vain. I'm the owner
Speaker 1: of Power Cafe here and watches Square West Coffee Accured meets.
Speaker 1: Our coffee is untampered, no frills, just delicious coffee. We
Speaker 1: were happy to collaborate with the Philadelphia seventy six Ers
Speaker 1: and effort to support small businesses. We know everyone, but
Speaker 1: especially local businesses, those right here in our own backyard
Speaker 1: have been hit hard by the pandemic over the last
Speaker 1: nine plus months, and the seventy Sixers have been thinking
Speaker 1: about ways they can lean in support and help, and
Speaker 1: to set some more light on that, I thought it
Speaker 1: would be good to talk briefly with seventy six Ers
Speaker 1: team president Chris Heck. Chris, we know the past nine
Speaker 1: and a half months have been unlike anything anyone has
Speaker 1: ever experienced. It's nice, I think to see NBA bassketball
Speaker 1: being played again, But specifically I wanted to ask you,
Speaker 1: how are the seventy sixers trying to help people businesses
Speaker 1: in their own backyard with the new season getting underway. Yeah, thanks, Brian,
Speaker 1: I think we have a real opportunity in front of
Speaker 1: us to support our local small businesses, and I think
Speaker 1: it's a really critical time to do so. So we
Speaker 1: have partnered up for the first half of the season
Speaker 1: with thirty six different small businesses, and each one of
Speaker 1: those small businesses will will launch the tune in details
Speaker 1: on game day through our social media platforms. So what
Speaker 1: that means is that they basically will tell everybody how
Speaker 1: to tune in to watch our games, how to tune
Speaker 1: in to listen to our games, and also when to
Speaker 1: do so. And on top of that, and this is
Speaker 1: the really fun part. It seems to be very much
Speaker 1: a a passionate cry for what uniforms we wear in
Speaker 1: a particular night, and they get to do launch that
Speaker 1: as well and share with everybody their own message to
Speaker 1: the community on how their business can be supported. So
Speaker 1: we're going to do that in front of every single
Speaker 1: game day, and we're gonna give everyone in that platform,
Speaker 1: these small businesses the platform to share their great products
Speaker 1: with our community. I'll be honest. The rollout on social
Speaker 1: was fantastic. The video was so awesome seeing some of
Speaker 1: the places you go to shop, eat, do whatever else
Speaker 1: being featured in line with the seventy six ers and
Speaker 1: the excitement building for the start of this season. Have
Speaker 1: you heard any response from some of these businesses through
Speaker 1: people that either work in our organization or talking to
Speaker 1: some of these businesses directly. Yeah, I mean, listen, that's
Speaker 1: how we've got the thirty six businesses on board. They're
Speaker 1: all in our community, right so we may live down
Speaker 1: the street from them, and we may be neighbors with
Speaker 1: somebody that manages a store, or we may have a
Speaker 1: family member that works there and or owns a property.
Speaker 1: And so we reach out to our staff and we
Speaker 1: put together a little committee on this project and give everyone,
Speaker 1: give everyone an opportunity to nominate someone that they're close
Speaker 1: with or that they're familiar with. And so within twenty
Speaker 1: four hours we had all the slots filled up. And
Speaker 1: the real hope is to continue this, not to finish
Speaker 1: it when the first half of the season ends in March,
Speaker 1: but also to do it in the second half too
Speaker 1: if it's effective, and we think it will be effective.
Speaker 1: I've been with the team. I think this is gonna
Speaker 1: be my sixth season, and I always know that serving
Speaker 1: the community the region has always been at the forefront,
Speaker 1: whether it was through things like projects seventy six, seventy
Speaker 1: six hours of community service. But I also can't think
Speaker 1: and I'm sure many people would be hard pressed to
Speaker 1: find a time looking back over the last nine months
Speaker 1: a set of circumstances that brings more to the focus
Speaker 1: the importance of a brand, a company, and organization a
Speaker 1: member of the community to try and use their platform
Speaker 1: to lift others up. And I mean that seems to
Speaker 1: be the spirit that's been driving all this. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think if anything in COVID has taught us at the
Speaker 1: Sixers is that we do have a great platform and
Speaker 1: we all should use it for good. And so that
Speaker 1: is a very much a part of our DNA, and
Speaker 1: it's not just at certain levels, but everyone in the organization.
Speaker 1: Um you know, um, Sean Spencer, he runs our content department.
Speaker 1: This was his idea, his original idea, and he wanted
Speaker 1: to do it for Opening Night and then it expanded
Speaker 1: to the entire season and um you know you throw
Speaker 1: in uh Maggie's Irby and Alex Ers and Nick McCain. Um,
Speaker 1: these these people are artists and they're at their craft,
Speaker 1: and their craft is is storytelling and capturing. Um, this
Speaker 1: beautiful city, UM in social media and giving it to
Speaker 1: the world and so UM. You know, we we like
Speaker 1: to we like to jump on UM projects that we're
Speaker 1: already pretty good in that space and UM. And we
Speaker 1: also like to do things that just click and just
Speaker 1: resonate within our group because we do have people from
Speaker 1: all walks of life in our staff and and it's
Speaker 1: nice to hear from everybody because everybody is contributing. Before
Speaker 1: we wrap up, one more thing I wanted to ask
Speaker 1: you about. I was lucky enough to be part of
Speaker 1: the group that was in the house for the seventy
Speaker 1: six ers first game of any kind played at the
Speaker 1: Center since March eleventh, when they hosted the Celtics for
Speaker 1: the preseason game. One of the most interesting quotes I
Speaker 1: heard after the game was not Doc Rivers talking about
Speaker 1: pick and roll between Shake Milton and Dwight Howard or
Speaker 1: dwell and Be dominating the first half, or Debias Harris
Speaker 1: getting a near double double. It was him shouting out
Speaker 1: the game, ops, we're talking about the Derek Hayses, the
Speaker 1: Ryan COLLETTI is the I heard it too, you know,
Speaker 1: I was in there with you, even though we were
Speaker 1: so isolated. I didn't get First of all, watching the
Speaker 1: game was awesome. It was great to be there. It
Speaker 1: just felt good because you had our home court down
Speaker 1: and our you know, look and feel and um. But
Speaker 1: there's obvious this gigantic void of having the best home
Speaker 1: court advantage in the entire MBA where we've sold out
Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty four straight games. But our fans,
Speaker 1: our fans are so authentic and loud and supportive when
Speaker 1: it's when the effort is there and uh and and
Speaker 1: certainly have a presence like no other, and that was missed.
Speaker 1: But it was also a little bit maddening. Like sitting there,
Speaker 1: there's no one to talk to, right, so you realize
Speaker 1: what a community type environment it is at a sporting event,
Speaker 1: not just at the six Ers, but any sporting event,
Speaker 1: and so like that, that kind of was a tough hit. Um. Well,
Speaker 1: that's why we're putting on a live entertainment show, um
Speaker 1: inside the very socially distant center where our games are
Speaker 1: played in. And I think that a little nod to
Speaker 1: our fans that we want to be lively and active
Speaker 1: with the very few people that we can have in
Speaker 1: the arena right now. So it's just a nod back
Speaker 1: to our fans. But the roundabout answer to your question,
Speaker 1: I heard Doc say the same thing. He has not
Speaker 1: met Derek Hay's yet. But it wasn't just Derek who
Speaker 1: orchestrates this. Matc Cord his delivery was just exceptional. He
Speaker 1: was really great. To hear his voice again, it was
Speaker 1: Christian Crosby. He always brings back a positive vibe and
Speaker 1: a great smile. And even though you couldn't see it
Speaker 1: behind his mask, you know we had the entertainment team
Speaker 1: out there. It was just a really nice effort, even
Speaker 1: though we can't have our true home court agreed and
Speaker 1: whether it was things like free throw distractions, ringing the
Speaker 1: bell chance, we know that's all going to be a
Speaker 1: part of the game day environment at the Center. But
Speaker 1: Wendy's frosty trees out will be back. I will tell
Speaker 1: you that it's going to look a little different. We're
Speaker 1: still working out the kinks, but so that'll be fun.
Speaker 1: I love it. Kudos to you, Chris and the staff
Speaker 1: for coming up with all these creative ways to simulate
Speaker 1: as much of a South Philly field of games of
Speaker 1: the Center as possible, and also for leaning in to
Speaker 1: help small businesses in the Philadelphia area. Chris Heck always
Speaker 1: great speaking with you. Happy start of the season. Man,
Speaker 1: all right, thanks Brian, appreciate what you do. Awesome local
Speaker 1: business support initiative being rallied by the seventy sixers. Be
Speaker 1: sure to look at our social feeds every game day
Speaker 1: for more information about how you can help. Thank you
Speaker 1: to Chris, Lauren Rosen, Joel Embiide for joining the pod.
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening. Have a great holiday if you
Speaker 1: have not yet already celebrated, and be on the lookout
Speaker 1: next week Monday, we're gonna have an announcement here on
Speaker 1: the podcast. I'm Brian Seltzer. Talked next time, let's see it.