Speaker 1: This podcast is part of the seventy Sixers podcast network
Speaker 1: search seventy sixers podcast wherever you get your pods Amazingly,
Speaker 1: the end of the first half of the season is
Speaker 1: almost here and the seventy sixers aren't a pretty good place.
Speaker 1: We're going to take a look back at the last
Speaker 1: couple of months, from biggest performanceive and memorable games, to
Speaker 1: encouraging trends to bold predictions spoiler, we have high hopes
Speaker 1: for the big fella. I'm Lauren Robin, I'm Devon Givens,
Speaker 1: I'm Brian Seltzer. What has been and what's to come?
Speaker 1: That's the focus of this week's Friday Deep Dive. We
Speaker 1: are diving deep on a Friday for the final time,
Speaker 1: incredibly before the end of this first half of the
Speaker 1: twenty twenty twenty one NBA season. So that means we're
Speaker 1: going to take this opportunity to gamify our impressions of
Speaker 1: the first half while starting to look ahead to half
Speaker 1: number two. Lauren Rosen, Devon Givens, great to be with you, guys.
Speaker 1: We're gonna get into this game in a moment. I
Speaker 1: think we have to talk about the All Star reserve
Speaker 1: selections first, though, we cannot let that pass by. We
Speaker 1: do have to bring it up. There's some good. Ben
Speaker 1: Simmons gone back third straight year, so I'm not so
Speaker 1: good Tobias Harris not going. I thought Ben was a
Speaker 1: worthy selection. Felt for Tobias I did. I did as
Speaker 1: well Selts. I think it's hard to get three guys
Speaker 1: in off of the same team. But we did see
Speaker 1: it from a team that isn't ranked as high in
Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference as the seventy six ers are, which
Speaker 1: is a bummer. And I do feel that Doc Rivers
Speaker 1: expressed that we've heard people around the league express that
Speaker 1: Tobias Harris is someone that would be putting up even
Speaker 1: bigger numbers if he was the guy on his team.
Speaker 1: And we did see when the selections came out. A
Speaker 1: lot of the guys on teams that are doing winning
Speaker 1: less may get into this game because their stats are better.
Speaker 1: And you have to feel for Tobias because you have
Speaker 1: to assume that if Tobias played for one of those teams,
Speaker 1: maybe his numbers would be like one of those guys
Speaker 1: and maybe he'd get to be an All Star. So
Speaker 1: is he getting penalized for being on a winning team? Maybe?
Speaker 1: And you kind of hate to see that. I did
Speaker 1: think he did enough with his resume this season so
Speaker 1: far to make it into the game. You also know
Speaker 1: that at the end of the day, there are different
Speaker 1: ways that people look at players around the league when
Speaker 1: it comes to the voting, certainly with the fans and
Speaker 1: in the selection via the media and the coaches and
Speaker 1: the players as well. And Tobias Harris was the worthy candidate, guys,
Speaker 1: and I think with him, what would help him now
Speaker 1: for the next season as he looks for his first
Speaker 1: All Star birth is to help his team now get
Speaker 1: to a deep run into the postseason, possibly remain at
Speaker 1: the top of the Eastern Conference where they are the
Speaker 1: number one seed going into the playoffs, and then just
Speaker 1: being effective when he is there. It's not as if
Speaker 1: they don't know his name, but we know the name
Speaker 1: has shock value when you have a certain type of name,
Speaker 1: and you know, with all due respected Tobias Harris, it's
Speaker 1: just not there yet, fair or not. You know, he
Speaker 1: has performed well enough where it should not matter that
Speaker 1: his name doesn't have shock value because of the things
Speaker 1: that you mentioned, being at the top of the East
Speaker 1: on a winning team and being very productive second leading
Speaker 1: scorer on the team, So it is disappointing, but I
Speaker 1: hope it certainly motivates him for the overall goal of
Speaker 1: the team for the remainder of the season. A couple
Speaker 1: of things that stood out to me in the aftermath
Speaker 1: of the reserves being announced on Tuesday. One thought it
Speaker 1: was a really neat revelation that Doc Rivers said when
Speaker 1: he called around on behalf of both Ben and Tobias.
Speaker 1: He said that other coaches who talked to are like,
Speaker 1: what you're calling, You're lobbing for Ben? Why are libbing
Speaker 1: for Ben? He's good, which kind of speaks to the
Speaker 1: point D that you just made. And then that Doc
Speaker 1: has also talked about as well after the game on
Speaker 1: Tuesday when the Sixers beat the Raptors, that sometimes you're
Speaker 1: not an All Star until the season after your first
Speaker 1: quote unquote All Star season. I think that's how Doc
Speaker 1: put it, and I think there's something totally to be
Speaker 1: said for that. If Tobias is able to sustain the
Speaker 1: historic numbers that he's been putting up so far the season,
Speaker 1: seventy six Ers, fingers crossed for them go on a
Speaker 1: great run, Tobias comes out strong next season, doing similar
Speaker 1: things to me. I don't see anyway that he's not
Speaker 1: an All Star doesn't make it right, like you said,
Speaker 1: doesn't make it any easier for Tobias, I'm sure, but
Speaker 1: I think that he's almost there. I think he's probably
Speaker 1: as close as he's ever been. I could get behind that.
Speaker 1: I just think he also might feel like maybe this
Speaker 1: was that year after the way that he played last year.
Speaker 1: And obviously the season last year didn't end the way
Speaker 1: that that Doc is saying the season should end the
Speaker 1: season before you become an All Star. But I think
Speaker 1: he might feel that he's played at an All Star
Speaker 1: level for a few years now, and it is hard
Speaker 1: to consistently raise the bar but not be rewarded. I
Speaker 1: just can't imagine that being difficult, And so props to
Speaker 1: Tobias for taking it like a champ. And hopefully Doc
Speaker 1: rivers prophecy will come true after the team makes a
Speaker 1: long run and he gets into that game next year,
Speaker 1: and next year All Star will be more fun, right,
Speaker 1: It'll be a different kind of more traditional All Star.
Speaker 1: There's your silver lining. Maybe next season is a better
Speaker 1: time to get your first All Star birth my silver lining,
Speaker 1: go drop twenty five points a game the remainder of
Speaker 1: the season, deep run championship. Let's party, party time, I
Speaker 1: love it. That's right, Hey, he can make it. Tobias
Speaker 1: can make it an All Star weekend next year instead
Speaker 1: of an All Star Day. And to your point, d
Speaker 1: I think Tobias well on his way embodying that type
Speaker 1: of mindset. Had a terrific game against Toronto twelve points
Speaker 1: out of his twenty three in the fourth quarter on Tuesday,
Speaker 1: seven boards, five dimes, two block shots. Came out and
Speaker 1: played a heck of a game after not receiving that
Speaker 1: call to the All Star Game. All right, it is
Speaker 1: now time for everyone's favorite game, which I'm going to
Speaker 1: name on the spot of answer or sames E's we
Speaker 1: love it answer or Samesy's We're gonna throw out a question.
Speaker 1: We can go round the horn here. We can each
Speaker 1: give our responses, but we don't each have to fabricate
Speaker 1: or manufacture our reply or answer to these questions. Reflecting
Speaker 1: on the first half of the season, if you happen
Speaker 1: to believe the same thing as someone who spoke before you,
Speaker 1: you just say same'si's and or pass. We don't need
Speaker 1: to keep ourselves or anyone else here for that matter,
Speaker 1: longer than they need to be. We just appreciate the
Speaker 1: quality minutes spent lists. We want quality minutes spent listenings
Speaker 1: r Good minutes, always good minutes, effective minutes. Yes, indeed, Okay,
Speaker 1: easy one to start with, most pleasant surprise of what
Speaker 1: has been so far a promising twenty twenty twenty one season,
Speaker 1: Lawn Rosen tip us off Well. To be honest, I
Speaker 1: think I have to go with Tobias Harris and the
Speaker 1: way that he has brought confidence to his game. He
Speaker 1: has increased his efficiency, he has leveled up on defense.
Speaker 1: Tobias has really done all the things that he said
Speaker 1: he wanted to do this season. And I think at
Speaker 1: the beginning of the year, it's really easy to say
Speaker 1: that I spent my offseason working hard, and I wanted
Speaker 1: to improve my defense and I wanted to improve my efficiency.
Speaker 1: We hear that from a lot of players year after year,
Speaker 1: and those are admirable things to want to do in
Speaker 1: the season ahead. I think it's really special for a
Speaker 1: guy like Tobias, who had already improved his defense and
Speaker 1: efficiency last year, to come in and really improve it
Speaker 1: this year and to sustain what he's been able to
Speaker 1: do something else. I'd like to add to the additions
Speaker 1: to Tobias his game is the way he's played in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter since he became a seventy six er.
Speaker 1: He's expressed wanting to be a closer, wanting to be
Speaker 1: a go to guy at the end of games, and
Speaker 1: this year we've seen it a few times. Selts. You
Speaker 1: just mentioned the last game Rono who could forget his
Speaker 1: buzzer not buzzer beater, but his game winner against the Lakers.
Speaker 1: This is a guy who set goals for himself, has
Speaker 1: had the guts to lay them out publicly, and then
Speaker 1: has had the drive to actually go and achieve them.
Speaker 1: Am I surprised? Not necessarily so maybe I didn't answer
Speaker 1: the question that well, but am I impressed. Yes, well,
Speaker 1: I'll go the other way. No, Samesy's to start off
Speaker 1: the new game, I'm going with. I'm going with a
Speaker 1: usual suspect for a lot of different reasons, and that
Speaker 1: is four time All Star now Joel embeat. Because of
Speaker 1: how he's now elevated his game too, it seems to
Speaker 1: me to take that next step, the thing that we've
Speaker 1: been wanting him to do. We've seen twenty eight and
Speaker 1: twelve and a half and two and a half blocks
Speaker 1: in the season, and we've seen it means something at
Speaker 1: that time, but it just feels different now. So when
Speaker 1: I go and I leaned towards Joel Embiad and anyone
Speaker 1: who's listening or viewing us and say, oh, that's easy, well, no,
Speaker 1: it's not, because I think he has changed his approach
Speaker 1: now to the game and what he is doing for
Speaker 1: this team. Guys. They are number one in the Eastern
Speaker 1: Conference and that is really a lot based off of
Speaker 1: what he has done as the guy for this basketball team,
Speaker 1: so from offensively recognizing the double teams when they get there,
Speaker 1: defensively still being someone who controls the paint the way
Speaker 1: that he does, selective three point shots that are meaningful
Speaker 1: within the flow of the game and not disrupting, and
Speaker 1: it's passing overall. I think that we're seeing the maturity
Speaker 1: that I think a lot of people have been asking
Speaker 1: for from a veteran player Joel Embid although rather young,
Speaker 1: but still a veteran in this league. So I'm gonna
Speaker 1: go with Joel Embiid. I think that's totally valid both
Speaker 1: of you guys so far and listen, it's interesting because
Speaker 1: I did look this up before we started. Even though
Speaker 1: Joel's turnover numbers are relatively similar as they were last
Speaker 1: year in the year before per thirty six or one
Speaker 1: hundred possession basis to me, they don't feel as weighty
Speaker 1: as they have in the past. And I know that
Speaker 1: we're not in the playoffs yet, but it just doesn't
Speaker 1: seem like they're turning up in late game situations as
Speaker 1: frequently as they did in the past. And obviously we
Speaker 1: know that after the way last year ended, that was
Speaker 1: a big area of focus for him. Most pleasant surprise
Speaker 1: of the season so far. You know, I could just
Speaker 1: go real folksy and cheeky and say the entire team,
Speaker 1: but I'm going to make it more specific than that, because, hey,
Speaker 1: the Sixers are in a great spot. I'm going to
Speaker 1: talk about the head coach, Doc Rivers. Not that I
Speaker 1: expect the Sixers to be a complete disaster when they
Speaker 1: hire someone has proven and accomplished as Doc Rivers, But
Speaker 1: you never know. You thought that the match was perfect,
Speaker 1: especially when Daryl Morey and Elton Brand made some of
Speaker 1: the moves they did on the heels of draft night
Speaker 1: and getting ready for training camp. But I really love
Speaker 1: the way that Doc has set the tone for this
Speaker 1: Sea and I think, especially at the outset, he kept
Speaker 1: things relatively simple in terms of what he asked the
Speaker 1: players to do, didn't try to overcomplicate things. I think
Speaker 1: he challenged individual players to try and do better than
Speaker 1: they have in the past. Clearly he's made it a
Speaker 1: point of emphasis to try and get some of his
Speaker 1: best individual players to do better together. And I just
Speaker 1: think he's got a real good pulse for this team
Speaker 1: so far more often than not, I think what he's
Speaker 1: done with the rotation who he plugs and when has worked.
Speaker 1: Take for example, for con CORKMS against the Raptors on Tuesday,
Speaker 1: and the way he broke it down after the game
Speaker 1: was real straightforward, Hey, Seth Curry's not playing. We need
Speaker 1: a great spot up three point shooter for con Cork.
Speaker 1: Mose hasn't hit the bron side of the barn for
Speaker 1: two weeks, but we're gonna bring him in, give him
Speaker 1: an opportunity and it paid off. And I just think
Speaker 1: that Doc seems to be taking everything in stride, matter
Speaker 1: of factly, real poised as you'd expect, and I think
Speaker 1: that he has the Sixers playing what could be on
Speaker 1: the verge trending towards championship basketball. So I think Doc
Speaker 1: has been really sharp so far. Something as simple as
Speaker 1: the furkon corkmis in inserting him into the into the
Speaker 1: starting lineup of for Curry and just simplifying it, we
Speaker 1: needed someone who's the spot up shooter for our team,
Speaker 1: for our starting five out there, and that's what you've seen.
Speaker 1: You can just feel the difference in what he has
Speaker 1: been able to do and to bring to the team. Obviously,
Speaker 1: we all wish that the fans could and just take
Speaker 1: all of that in the games in the building, but
Speaker 1: even viewing it on television, you can see the difference
Speaker 1: right now with this team. He has a team believing.
Speaker 1: It seems like they do at least, and it's a
Speaker 1: really good sight. And one other point that you made itself,
Speaker 1: it's about it be quickly before we get to larness.
Speaker 1: We know it's about the playoffs, but we're not there yet.
Speaker 1: So all we can do right now is just simply
Speaker 1: focus on what they are doing in the moment, because
Speaker 1: if they weren't doing good, we would also say that
Speaker 1: as well. So he's doing really well. When we get
Speaker 1: to the playoffs, reevaluate things there, but right now I
Speaker 1: agree with you that in the moment he's playing really well.
Speaker 1: We don't use the D word too often here on
Speaker 1: the Deep Dive unless we're talking about said deep dive
Speaker 1: itself and or divine givens. But I'm gonna throw this
Speaker 1: out there. We try to be a fair and balanced
Speaker 1: or what did I say before, balanced and fair podcast?
Speaker 1: Not fair and balanced trying to be balanced and fair?
Speaker 1: Has there been a disappointment so far? Because I'm throwing
Speaker 1: it out there, I'm gonna give you one just to
Speaker 1: maybe give you a sense of where my mind is
Speaker 1: thinking on this. It's gonna be really related to health
Speaker 1: and a guy who I kind of feel for as
Speaker 1: of late because I believe in him. I think he's
Speaker 1: done good stuff in the past. I think you could
Speaker 1: help the seventy six ers if you were fully healthy
Speaker 1: and in rhythm. I'd love to see Mike Scott healthy
Speaker 1: for a stretch, get the opportunity to get his legs
Speaker 1: under him a little bit, get back into a rhythm again.
Speaker 1: I believe in Mike. I'm not saying that he is
Speaker 1: a disappointment. I'm bummed for him. It's a disappointing situation
Speaker 1: that after what I thought were two really good preseason games,
Speaker 1: he just hasn't had a chance because of a couple injuries,
Speaker 1: to get out there on the floor and get into rhythm.
Speaker 1: And I think that every bit of depth helps, and
Speaker 1: I think we've seen a few games this year with
Speaker 1: the Sixers they could use some stretched depth at the
Speaker 1: four spot, and he just hasn't been out there. So
Speaker 1: that's kind of the mind that I'm thinking of. It's
Speaker 1: tough to really complain or harp upon things when your
Speaker 1: team is leading the Eastern Conference as we speak right
Speaker 1: now and has put up a great record at twenty
Speaker 1: one and eleven. My disappointment is not the same as
Speaker 1: your celts, and it might be a little bit more
Speaker 1: of a cop out answer, but look, my disappointment this
Speaker 1: year is somewhat personal. I don't think the team has
Speaker 1: blown out enough team. And here's why I say that,
Speaker 1: sets This is a team that's leading the East. They've
Speaker 1: done an incredible job despite not having a lot of
Speaker 1: continuity with this lineup. They also are leading the league
Speaker 1: in clutch wins. They have had fourteen clutch wins, which
Speaker 1: means they've had great experience in close games finding a
Speaker 1: way to win, and that is incredibly valuable. Personally, I
Speaker 1: like to be able to start writing the reac half
Speaker 1: of how the game goes before the final buzzer. It's
Speaker 1: just better for my workflow. So personally, personally, my dream game,
Speaker 1: I would love lopsided victories every night, just so I
Speaker 1: can get a head start on my work. So that's
Speaker 1: that's just me. That's just personal. At least they're leading
Speaker 1: the league and clutch wins. If they want to keep
Speaker 1: doing the close ones, they're more exciting for the fans,
Speaker 1: that's fine. But if we could just throw in a
Speaker 1: few more lopsided victories in the second half of the season,
Speaker 1: I would be a happy girl. Fan perspective, great reporter perspective,
Speaker 1: not so much when you're on deadlining exactly. I love it.
Speaker 1: It's it's such a cop out of an answer, but
Speaker 1: I mean, that's really this, that's really my only disappointment
Speaker 1: with this team is too many close games. That's it, right,
Speaker 1: that's a good one. Even going back to Tuesday, you
Speaker 1: get off to such a hot start. How did it
Speaker 1: get so close? But hey, they still walked away with
Speaker 1: the w to pick up their twenty first win of
Speaker 1: the season. I'll go with I'll go with again something
Speaker 1: that's a usual suspect when we talk about the Philadelphia
Speaker 1: seven sixes. Albeit they are much better on the road,
Speaker 1: I would like for them to be better than they
Speaker 1: are on the road when they do get to the postseason.
Speaker 1: As we evaluate this team right now, they have to
Speaker 1: find ways to win away from the center and be
Speaker 1: it no fans, and we can factor in all of
Speaker 1: those things. It's too many of the games that Lauren
Speaker 1: you're talking about. We've seen them in some and we've
Speaker 1: seen them give away a few. The Toronto game on
Speaker 1: Sunday for an example, that one got away from them,
Speaker 1: and then Cleveland earlier in the year, and we can
Speaker 1: point out and highlight a few. Obviously, the West Coast
Speaker 1: trip where they went one in three disappointing to me
Speaker 1: because once again they were in those games. And when
Speaker 1: we talk about that different seventy six or team under
Speaker 1: Doc Rivers, while the number is much better, I need
Speaker 1: when I look at the Utah Jazz and I see
Speaker 1: what their road record is, I'm like, well, why are
Speaker 1: the seventy six is not also posting that road record?
Speaker 1: So maybe I'm picking, but that's also me having them
Speaker 1: at this level right now after these thirty plus games,
Speaker 1: where I think they are good enough to perform better
Speaker 1: away from this center. I know COVID and the health
Speaker 1: everything has kind of taken guys away from the team
Speaker 1: in certain games because of that. But for the most part,
Speaker 1: and especially the second half of the season, since we're
Speaker 1: now winding down these final four at home, I want
Speaker 1: to see them with a better road record to prepare
Speaker 1: themselves for the postseason once they get started with the
Speaker 1: second half. I love it. I like what we did there.
Speaker 1: And Hey, through two categories so far, we've had no SAME's,
Speaker 1: he's yet on what did we call this game? The
Speaker 1: horrible name that I came up with answer or SAME's
Speaker 1: he's yes, Okay, we're working with it. We'll see if
Speaker 1: we get through category number three. Hey, we'll work with it.
Speaker 1: It works all right. Trend that you want to see continue? Obviously,
Speaker 1: we want to see the seventy sixers continuing to win games,
Speaker 1: but anything else for you, guys, a trend that you
Speaker 1: would like to see continue. D I don't think you've
Speaker 1: started us off yet in a topic, so go ahead. Yeah,
Speaker 1: this is another one for me, that's the divine again.
Speaker 1: Yes again. Aggressive Ben Simmons is the best Ben Simmons,
Speaker 1: the way that he has been playing as of late,
Speaker 1: aggressively looking for his when we talk about the way
Speaker 1: that he's been playing and wondering if it will fit
Speaker 1: into what the style of the seventy sixies have been
Speaker 1: doing for the early part of the season, when we've
Speaker 1: seen aggressive Simmons sometimes but also more so kind of
Speaker 1: giveaway to others and allow them to do it. I'm
Speaker 1: watching these games now where I would anticipate a pass
Speaker 1: coming from Simmons to an open teammate, which is the
Speaker 1: right basketball play, But the other right basketball play, which
Speaker 1: could be the more effective play, is to keep that
Speaker 1: dribble one more time, or having your eyes set on
Speaker 1: the rim in the basket and going out there and
Speaker 1: looking for his And so far, so good with how
Speaker 1: he has done it, and I'm pleasantly surprised with what
Speaker 1: he has done. That is the one for me of
Speaker 1: the trend that I would like to continue to see
Speaker 1: as we move along in this twenty one campaign. Over
Speaker 1: the last five games, his numbers so good going into
Speaker 1: Thursday against the Mavericks, averaging twenty five points, shooting sixty
Speaker 1: five percent from the field, eighty percent on nine attempts
Speaker 1: per game from the line, yeah, nearly nine rebounds, seven
Speaker 1: a half assists, a couple steals, and two double doubles.
Speaker 1: Playing at such a high level, I will go with
Speaker 1: one of Ben simmons counterparts. I think if there's something
Speaker 1: that I want to see continue, it's the Embiid MVP campaign.
Speaker 1: I think that Joel Embiid should be Whether or not
Speaker 1: he is is not up to me. I think he
Speaker 1: should be the front runner for MVP this season based
Speaker 1: on what he is doing this season, night after night,
Speaker 1: and I hope that that continues. I hope for him.
Speaker 1: He's someone I don't have to tell you guys how
Speaker 1: much adversity Joel Embiid has faced since coming into this league.
Speaker 1: He deserves this moment. He has worked for this moment,
Speaker 1: and I hope for his sake that he can continue
Speaker 1: on the path that he's on, averaging currently almost thirty
Speaker 1: points a game, but in the last ten games thirty
Speaker 1: two point one points. They're sorry. In his last nine
Speaker 1: games thirty two point one points, eleven point seven rebounds,
Speaker 1: three point seven assists, one point four blocks, one point
Speaker 1: three steals, forty nine point two percent from the field,
Speaker 1: thirty four point eight percent from three, eighty seven point
Speaker 1: six percent from the free throw line. Do I need
Speaker 1: to go on? These are crazy numbers and he's doing
Speaker 1: it over and over again. I think it was Tobias.
Speaker 1: It was either Tobias or Matiz who recently said that
Speaker 1: that they looked at the stat sheet. It was Tobias
Speaker 1: and Joel had twenty five and twelve or twenty five
Speaker 1: and sixteen or whatever it was. And that was an
Speaker 1: off night for Joel Embiid. What a privilege to be
Speaker 1: able to watch a player for whom a twenty five
Speaker 1: point seventeen rebound double double. It's kind of an off night.
Speaker 1: I hope that he can continue making those his off
Speaker 1: nights and those fifty point outings his on nights, and
Speaker 1: if we net out somewhere in the middle all season long,
Speaker 1: he's going to be in good shape. One award season
Speaker 1: comes around, I love that one. So here's what I'm
Speaker 1: gonna do. I'm not gonna go Samesy's. I'm gonna blend
Speaker 1: Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons together and give you this.
Speaker 1: Those two last year in all the minutes they played together,
Speaker 1: which was nearly eight hundred and forty. Their net rating
Speaker 1: and their two man lineups together was point six this
Speaker 1: year in six hundred twenty seven minutes fourteen and a half.
Speaker 1: That to me is crazy and also worth noting that
Speaker 1: it is not the highest net rating that they've had
Speaker 1: together in their career. Their best net rating together was
Speaker 1: Ben's first season, which was twenty seventeen eighteen, when it
Speaker 1: was fifteen and a half for the whole season. What
Speaker 1: does that say to me? I think it says obviously
Speaker 1: that what you guys said, Ben and Joel both playing
Speaker 1: at a really high level, Doc and his staff finding
Speaker 1: more ways for them to be effective together, and also
Speaker 1: Darryl moorey Eb and the rest of the front office
Speaker 1: bringing back a looking field of this roster that is
Speaker 1: somewhat similar, certainly more so than last year to what
Speaker 1: the Sixers looked like in twenty seventeen eighteen when JJ
Speaker 1: was clicking. You had another shooter off the bench in Bellanella,
Speaker 1: you had Arson and all that stuff. So I think
Speaker 1: that all that number about it being fourteen and a
Speaker 1: half for the net rating for Ben and Joe this
Speaker 1: year kind of speaks to a couple of factors that
Speaker 1: underscore the Sixers success. But to see their net rating
Speaker 1: together leap up by fourteen points per one hundred possessions. Again,
Speaker 1: I'm not like saying that fourteen and a half is
Speaker 1: a great number, but the fact there's been that much
Speaker 1: of a jump, I think is really what the takeaway
Speaker 1: should be. That this year compared to last year, they're
Speaker 1: just so much more effective together kind of takes away
Speaker 1: those questions, takes away those questions of can they play
Speaker 1: well together? And yeah, again here they are. Love. That
Speaker 1: was beautiful, all right, No Sames, he's yet maybe some sames.
Speaker 1: I feel like this could be potential SAMs A category. Alright,
Speaker 1: best individual performance? Yeah, do we agree? Fifty points Chicago Bulls?
Speaker 1: Did we go there? I think that we can't not
Speaker 1: say that. I think that maybe the question should be
Speaker 1: best individual performance. That's not the fifty point game against
Speaker 1: Chicago by Joel Ebid. Yeah, he was phenomenal in that game,
Speaker 1: and you could just see it happening. Clearly he thought,
Speaker 1: all right, thirty thirty plus tonight, double figure rebounds, He's
Speaker 1: gonna get his double double place outid defense, and then
Speaker 1: it just kept going and kept going and then he
Speaker 1: got there. Obviously, my honorable mention would have been Ben
Speaker 1: Simmons's performance, and you saw even in a loss, but
Speaker 1: it's it was. It was such a dominant performance with
Speaker 1: the fifty point game against the Chicago Bulls, so I'll
Speaker 1: still go with that one. And as you guys said,
Speaker 1: we all agree on that one honorable mention. Perhaps November
Speaker 1: or rather January twelfth against Miami. That was a good game.
Speaker 1: Forty five points for Joel, sixteen rebounds, four assists, five steals,
Speaker 1: a block. Very good that night as well. That would
Speaker 1: be my honorable mention. But how do you top fifty
Speaker 1: and seventeen? I don't. I don't think you can. And
Speaker 1: the Miami game was when they were shorthanded, correct, correct? Right?
Speaker 1: I think you know a couple that stood out to
Speaker 1: me to bias against the Lakers and the one point
Speaker 1: went at home twenty four points, seven rebounds, three assists,
Speaker 1: ten to sixteen in that game, two for four from three.
Speaker 1: And I'm serious, this is a serious answer here, and
Speaker 1: I had it written down before we even talked about
Speaker 1: the fifty point game from dwell embiid. How about the
Speaker 1: thirty nine piece from Tyrese Maxie. Let me tell you,
Speaker 1: and I probably shouldn't say this. I was ready to
Speaker 1: take a nap and wake up and just go through
Speaker 1: the motions of the postgame show. Once we heard who
Speaker 1: was not playing in that afternoon game against Denver Nuggets,
Speaker 1: I was as ready to tune out in one of
Speaker 1: seventy two as I've ever been ready to tune out.
Speaker 1: And here's Tyree, still relatively early on in the season,
Speaker 1: comes out and sets everything on fire. He was great, man.
Speaker 1: It was so much fun to watch him play the
Speaker 1: bounce that he played with in that game. I was
Speaker 1: able to get to the rim against some really good
Speaker 1: players on Denver who were playing in that game, and
Speaker 1: he gave the seventy sixers a fighting chance. And I
Speaker 1: think that when you, at least for me, when I
Speaker 1: take into account the fact that I know expectations for
Speaker 1: that game and as far as personal enjoyment whatsoever, and
Speaker 1: then Tyrese comes out and crushes it, that to me
Speaker 1: was a really fun game to watch. And I know
Speaker 1: that he's a rookie trying to find a spot in
Speaker 1: the rotation. All that to me with that game showed
Speaker 1: is the kids got potentially you can't just wake up
Speaker 1: and drop thirty nine in a game, So to me,
Speaker 1: that was one of the highlights from the first half.
Speaker 1: You know what, can I add an honorable mention? Another
Speaker 1: honorable mention? I like what you said about that Tyrese
Speaker 1: game because that was the day where the team literally
Speaker 1: had seven players. That was the seven sixers day. That
Speaker 1: was a memorable day. We expected it to be difficult
Speaker 1: and it ended up just being a lot of fun,
Speaker 1: it felt. I know teams don't like to take moral victories,
Speaker 1: but if there's ever going to be a moral victory,
Speaker 1: it's beating a healthy team with none of your stars
Speaker 1: and only seven players available. And they almost did that.
Speaker 1: They really hung with a healthy Denver Nuggets team that's
Speaker 1: doing a good job or was doing a good job
Speaker 1: at the time, and nobody expected them to hang in
Speaker 1: that game, and they really did for a long time.
Speaker 1: Another game, I don't know people expected them to hang
Speaker 1: in the game against the Utah Jazz without Joel embiid
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons career high forty two points, twelve assists, nine rebounds,
Speaker 1: one rebound away from a forty point triple double. Another
Speaker 1: game that you think maybe they're not going to win
Speaker 1: this one. They started Mike Scott. That was the Small Sixers.
Speaker 1: We had the seven sixers, we had the Small sixers.
Speaker 1: Both were really fun to watch, and while they weren't wins,
Speaker 1: they delivered some really cool performances, some really cool opportunities
Speaker 1: for guys to capitalize on the absences of their teammates,
Speaker 1: and we saw some interesting stuff. So I would add
Speaker 1: that once the list for sure. And Harris also dropped
Speaker 1: thirty six in that game as well. Both of them
Speaker 1: were great in that game. The fact that they both
Speaker 1: were able to show, hey, we're all stars too, I
Speaker 1: think that was a big moment regardless of how things
Speaker 1: ended up churning out in the Eastern Conference. But yeah,
Speaker 1: I think both of them played like all stars for
Speaker 1: Shore in the absence of Joel that day, I thought
Speaker 1: Lauren Rose was just about to jump ahead. And the
Speaker 1: now world infamous game of Answer or Samesy's, of which
Speaker 1: we've had no Samesy's yet so far, the best or
Speaker 1: favorite team performance collectively win or otherwise, I think for me,
Speaker 1: Lakers is obviously an easy one to throw out there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I have one go first time, I'll go. I'll go
Speaker 1: with the Indiana Pacers win without Joel and b they're
Speaker 1: trying to get over that hurdle of if he is
Speaker 1: not in the lineup, how do you get the W?
Speaker 1: And they've struggled in that category and that win against
Speaker 1: Indiana having to come back and beat that team at home.
Speaker 1: I thought for me that that was that was the
Speaker 1: one that would stand out for this category. And let's
Speaker 1: see it we have any sames E's here, I'm tempted.
Speaker 1: I think now that you bring that one up, it's
Speaker 1: between that one and the Lakers game. The Lakers game
Speaker 1: feels like the more natural, bigger ticket type of win.
Speaker 1: But the way that they put in that zone and
Speaker 1: seeing Ben and Matisse just break it down and destroy,
Speaker 1: Like seeing t J McConnell afterwards talking about how they
Speaker 1: panicked that one might have been the most fun at
Speaker 1: least to watch, the most gratifying, the most surprising. The
Speaker 1: Laker one was you knew it was going to be
Speaker 1: close at the end, and that game, we didn't know
Speaker 1: that the Sixers were going to come back. So I
Speaker 1: don't know, I think I might have to jump on
Speaker 1: board with you on this one and say Sames's, I
Speaker 1: think I'm gonna go with that Pacers game, because and
Speaker 1: that doesn't take anything away from the Lakers game, that
Speaker 1: might have been a more quality win. It might have
Speaker 1: been a more meaningful win when you look back at
Speaker 1: this season and the opponents that this team has faced
Speaker 1: and beat, that might be the big one. But in
Speaker 1: terms of the most enjoyable, the most fun to watch,
Speaker 1: I think I have to go with the Cheney Zone
Speaker 1: and the win over the Pacers. That was awesome. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it might be a great sweep for the SAME's e's.
Speaker 1: I think that that's that's probably one of the highest
Speaker 1: quality wins in addition to the Lakers. It's just it's tough.
Speaker 1: This was the category that I struggled with the most
Speaker 1: as far as, like, you know, trying to find some
Speaker 1: deep meaning to a win, because if we're stating the facts,
Speaker 1: you know, the Sixers have played a lot of these
Speaker 1: better teams without a full compliment of players. I mean,
Speaker 1: you go down the list. The two game series against
Speaker 1: Miami didn't have Jimmy or Bam and host of other players. Boston,
Speaker 1: they were missing Kemba, I believe, and no, I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: they were missing Tatum was out that game, right, So
Speaker 1: they were missing Tatum Toronto. They just missed Kyle Lowry
Speaker 1: for that two game series, So yeah, I think for me,
Speaker 1: it's Lakers on you know, drama and fun factor, and
Speaker 1: then let's throw an Indie for the quality win. SAME's
Speaker 1: we might be ending it on a SAME's e's love It,
Speaker 1: Love It, Harmony, love It, Love It? What else? Any
Speaker 1: other random grab bad categories that I missed you? You
Speaker 1: guys are want to throw out a submission form? Do
Speaker 1: you throw out bold proclamation for the second half? Do
Speaker 1: you still want to do that? Yes? Of course, Yeah, sure,
Speaker 1: let's throw out a bold proclamation? So you must have one?
Speaker 1: Should I go first? Please? Yes? You sho Okay, here's
Speaker 1: my bold here's my bold proclamation for the second half.
Speaker 1: Understanding that I could be totally wrong, but this is
Speaker 1: an opportunity to just make one. And I'm going to
Speaker 1: say that the Sixers finished the season. Whether they stay
Speaker 1: there from now until the end, I don't know, but
Speaker 1: I think they finished the season with the one seed.
Speaker 1: I think this Sixers team has what it takes to
Speaker 1: be the top team in the East, and I think
Speaker 1: that they can do it. I'm not sold on Brooklyn yet,
Speaker 1: and I think it would be really satisfying to see
Speaker 1: the Sixers prove themselves better despite the all star of
Speaker 1: it all, the three all stars versus the two all
Speaker 1: stars of it all. I think this Sixers team is
Speaker 1: the real deal. I think that they could head into
Speaker 1: the playoffs with the one seed. And I think that's
Speaker 1: going to be my bold proclamation. Because listening, I'm always
Speaker 1: on the scroll. I listen to a lot of podcasts,
Speaker 1: I watch a lot of sports programming. It doesn't feel
Speaker 1: like many people are really buying Sixers stock right now
Speaker 1: and really feeling like the Sixers are that best team
Speaker 1: in the East. It's all nets. Everything you hear is
Speaker 1: all nets, and I'm not buying that. I think this
Speaker 1: team is the real deal. I'm going Sixers enter the
Speaker 1: playoffs with the one seed. Wow, who's bold? Like it?
Speaker 1: I don't even know if that's that bold. That's how
Speaker 1: I feel, That's how I feel. Yes, they're there right now?
Speaker 1: Why not stay there? Yeah? Right, maybe it's not actually
Speaker 1: that bold, Yeah, maybe it's real. All right, So I'll
Speaker 1: go with you know what I'll go with if they're
Speaker 1: going to do just that and stay in that number
Speaker 1: one seed. I'm gonna look at this team right now
Speaker 1: and say my bold prediction is if they continue on
Speaker 1: this path and Joel Emba is continuing to play at
Speaker 1: the very high level, he's gonna have to do that
Speaker 1: and play more games than we expect. So my bold
Speaker 1: prediction is gearing up for the postseason. I think he's
Speaker 1: gonna play more games than we expect down the stretch.
Speaker 1: I don't know the number. I know we saw what
Speaker 1: we had like eight seven, eight back to backs, nine
Speaker 1: back to backs, and he's not going to play in
Speaker 1: all of them. But I think he's going to surprise
Speaker 1: us and play in these games. I understand the medical
Speaker 1: staff also as it's saying this, but in order for
Speaker 1: them to do what they need to do in getting
Speaker 1: that number one seed, for him to individually win the MVP,
Speaker 1: he's gonna have to play a little bit more. So
Speaker 1: I think my bold prediction is more of embed in
Speaker 1: the second half than I think many would expect in
Speaker 1: terms of missing certain games as we look at the schedule,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go with one and a half bold predictions here.
Speaker 1: I'll build off yours, divine. I think that Joel is
Speaker 1: going to finish in the top two in both MVP
Speaker 1: and Defensive Player of the Year voting, and I think
Speaker 1: that's my half. That's my half bold prediction and my
Speaker 1: bold prediction. I don't know if this is really bold.
Speaker 1: I think that Tobias is gonna average twenty for the season,
Speaker 1: and I think he's gonna shoot overall fifty forty oh
Speaker 1: eighty seven. That's fair. Maybe, look, Tobias, you're listening, dad, mom, fiance, everybody.
Speaker 1: I can kind of tell when he's gonna miss a
Speaker 1: free throws me. I don't know. I have this thing.
Speaker 1: I watched him and I'm saying, you know what, this
Speaker 1: is a Tobias moment where he splits them. So oftentimes
Speaker 1: they are at the end of the game and I'm like,
Speaker 1: come on, Tobias, all right, you're you're in the fifty
Speaker 1: forty nine. Let's let's lock this down sea getting so
Speaker 1: you can rub it in the faces next season when
Speaker 1: it's time for the All Star and say I'm in
Speaker 1: this prestigious club of fifty forty ninety. I like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I like where you're going, though, but I do see it.
Speaker 1: Sometimes I'm like, yeah, Tobias is gonna split these here.
Speaker 1: Maybe that's my bold Maybe I should just make the
Speaker 1: bold prediction for twenty twenty one, twenty two, and that
Speaker 1: Tobias will be an All Star that season. We might
Speaker 1: have to wait for a year. Maybe that answer Samesy's
Speaker 1: who knew? How about that? Light answers Sea, Yeah, okay,
Speaker 1: all right. The game is throw a topic out there,
Speaker 1: respond to it, also known as sports talk format one
Speaker 1: oh one. I'm not sold on the name, but I'm
Speaker 1: sold on the game. There's there's one more, a little
Speaker 1: honorable mention. Since you went with the half, We're gonna
Speaker 1: go with another half, Defensive player of the Year, Ben Simmons. Oh,
Speaker 1: I like that? Like that. I think there's a chance
Speaker 1: Rudy Gobert, I get it. Miles Turner as well. I'm
Speaker 1: going with Ben Simmons. I think maybe whichever of those
Speaker 1: two teams Sixers or Jazz have a stronger second half
Speaker 1: down the stretch, maybe that could tip it. I think
Speaker 1: Ben's got a real shot. I do, he does? He does.
Speaker 1: I have a question for your prediction. Could we have
Speaker 1: a very very bold prediction, maybe just a regular bold prediction?
Speaker 1: Three sixers on the all defensive team list? Wow? Matistible?
Speaker 1: Huh because his numbers, his minutes aren't there. But if
Speaker 1: you if you look at per thirty six, the numbers
Speaker 1: are absolutely there and it makes everybody else look kind
Speaker 1: of bad, right, Like, I don't know it, just you
Speaker 1: heard it here first. As he's gonna have to have
Speaker 1: a big impact because when you look at when you
Speaker 1: look at reserves making it, you have to have a
Speaker 1: big impact on the game, obviously, and we know that
Speaker 1: Marcus Smart has done that as a reserve and it's warranted.
Speaker 1: Will Matis sty will garner that type of respect around
Speaker 1: the league. There are only two teams, and what position
Speaker 1: are they going to put them at? The forward, the guard?
Speaker 1: I don't know, but that's a good one. I'm curious.
Speaker 1: I want to I want to look it up. I
Speaker 1: think you can vote as well. And I want to
Speaker 1: see when the last time a team has three players
Speaker 1: on all defense was. I'd be interested. That's a good question. Yeah,
Speaker 1: good guys, this is great, first one of the books.
Speaker 1: We'll do it again, maybe with a different name answer
Speaker 1: or Samesy's only on the Friday Deep Dive. Thank you guys,
Speaker 1: love it. That was fun. Thanks, thanks, all right. A
Speaker 1: couple quick programming notes from the seventy six ers podcast
Speaker 1: network in the Days ahead with the all star break
Speaker 1: almost upon us. There will be a mail Bag Monday
Speaker 1: this coming Monday, on March the first. There will not
Speaker 1: be a mail Bag Monday the following week, on March eighth.
Speaker 1: We'll be back with the mail Bag on March fifteenth.
Speaker 1: After that one week break and the Friday Deep Dive,
Speaker 1: we'll also be taking a break next Friday, March the fifth,
Speaker 1: and we'll be back on March the twelfth. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: Have a great weekend.