Speaker 1: This podcast is part of the seventy Sixers podcast network
Speaker 1: search seventy Sixers podcast wherever you get your pods. The
Speaker 1: seventy Sixers went on a tear coming out of the
Speaker 1: All Star break, but the run stopped with the Bucks.
Speaker 1: It was a fun game, it was a competitive game.
Speaker 1: There were some great performances, but the Sixers came up
Speaker 1: just short. I'm gonna stock you we really please and
Speaker 1: what we saw, especially in that Ben Simmons Janice matchup,
Speaker 1: I'm Lauren Rosen, I'm Devon Gibbons, and I'm Brian Seltzer.
Speaker 1: Plus to bias in the clutch and sustaining some of
Speaker 1: the good we've seen since the break on this week's
Speaker 1: Friday Deep Die. Not that these second half of the schedule,
Speaker 1: guys has been known for public consumption for quite some time,
Speaker 1: but immediately when it was released, with the Sixers not
Speaker 1: having played the Milwaukee Bucks in the first half of
Speaker 1: the season, that was the very first opponent I was
Speaker 1: looking for when how many times in the second half
Speaker 1: of the season, and the first matchup came on Wednesday
Speaker 1: at the Center. We obviously did start there. Let's go
Speaker 1: around the room, Lauren, what do we think look, you
Speaker 1: would have loved to get a win if you're the
Speaker 1: Sixers in that game on Wednesday, but the Bucks were
Speaker 1: at full strength, if not nearly completely full strength. The
Speaker 1: Sixers were definitely not at full strength, and it took
Speaker 1: MVP level play from Jannis to get them over the
Speaker 1: hump against a Sixers team that was severely shorthanded without
Speaker 1: Joel Embiid. I think anytime you don't have Joel Embiid,
Speaker 1: you can use the words severely shorthanded. It took Jannis's
Speaker 1: heroics to get over the hump against this Sixers team
Speaker 1: absent their best player on the second night of a
Speaker 1: back to back, clearly pretty exhausted. So I think that
Speaker 1: this was as close to a moral victory as any
Speaker 1: team wants to accept. I don't want to put words
Speaker 1: in anyone's mouth, but postgame, the vibes were not terrible.
Speaker 1: People felt that it was still an overall solid learning
Speaker 1: outing and it was fun to watch. It was fun
Speaker 1: to watch. I agree, as close to a moral victory
Speaker 1: as you could have, and especially coming on the second
Speaker 1: of the back to back, where you go deep into
Speaker 1: the final seconds of the game, come from behind against
Speaker 1: the New York Knicks and you win that basketball game,
Speaker 1: you have to feel good about where they were shorthanded
Speaker 1: as they were without Duel Ebid, Seth Curry going down Lake,
Speaker 1: the Lakes just had to be tired, and you don't
Speaker 1: want to make excuses, but it is what it is.
Speaker 1: And I thought they put up a valued effort and
Speaker 1: unfortunately it did not come away with the W. But
Speaker 1: I cannot wait to see them now in a couple
Speaker 1: of weeks. So on the back to back to home
Speaker 1: the two game series in Milwaukee, where hopefully Ebid is back,
Speaker 1: the roster is where it's going to be at that time,
Speaker 1: and then we can really get a good gauge of
Speaker 1: where these two teams are as they stack up against
Speaker 1: one another. But a nice showing, if you will, on
Speaker 1: Wednesday night against the Milwaukee Bucks. So a lot to
Speaker 1: look forward to with these two teams. I thought Doc
Speaker 1: Rivers put it really well after the game. You could
Speaker 1: see the toll of last night's game. Playing that fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: When you see Tobias and Fur and Seth and Shake
Speaker 1: missing wide open shots all front rim, you know that's
Speaker 1: not good for your offense. I don't leave this game discourage.
Speaker 1: Let me put it that way. Could you be disappointed
Speaker 1: it was an overtime loss, the seventy six was led
Speaker 1: by as many as nineteen points in the third quarter. Sure,
Speaker 1: you can be disappointed. It's against a great team, someone
Speaker 1: who's right on your heels for the top spot in
Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference. But Doc said he didn't leave the
Speaker 1: game discouraged, which I think he should not have, nor
Speaker 1: should anyone else inside that locker room have left the
Speaker 1: game feeling discouraged because you could not evaluate what we
Speaker 1: were seeing without the context who was available and who
Speaker 1: is not. No Joel Embiid, no Seth Curry in crunch
Speaker 1: time when the game was on the line. So you
Speaker 1: take away arguably the best player on the planet this
Speaker 1: season in Joel, and one of the best shooters not
Speaker 1: only on the Sixers roster, but in the game. That
Speaker 1: is tough sledding to go up against a team as
Speaker 1: talented as Milwaukee, despite the fact that the rest of
Speaker 1: the guys aside from Yannis pretty much all had off
Speaker 1: nights for the most part. And then you throw Jannis
Speaker 1: in there, and he's as great as he is. It's
Speaker 1: just for me hard to truly put so much stock
Speaker 1: into this as far as like saying, well, yes, the
Speaker 1: winner of this game is better than the seventy Sixers.
Speaker 1: At this point in time, I can't go there yet
Speaker 1: because I can't ignore the fact that Joel Embi didn't play.
Speaker 1: I'm with it, and I would add with Jannis. He
Speaker 1: struggled in that first half four points, four turnovers, guarded
Speaker 1: heavily by Ben Simmons. I mean, you have to wonder
Speaker 1: if Ben got a little bit more tired holding him
Speaker 1: down that way, or did Yannis just decide to turn
Speaker 1: it on. I'm not really sure, but it's worth noting
Speaker 1: that if the Sixers maybe had had all their gas,
Speaker 1: they might have been able to put the clamps on
Speaker 1: Yannis the way they did for the full game. But
Speaker 1: they were on the second night of what was a
Speaker 1: late back to back. That first half of the back
Speaker 1: to back, the game started later than the second half,
Speaker 1: and Jannis really struggled until the end, and I think
Speaker 1: that that's worth noting as we continue to prepare for
Speaker 1: more of these matchups. Obviously, I'm employed by the Philadelphia
Speaker 1: seventy Sixers, so I view the world through certain colored glasses,
Speaker 1: but I also really look forward to seeing teams who
Speaker 1: we don't get to see on a regular basis, and
Speaker 1: for me, I was really curious to see how Milwaukee
Speaker 1: would come out. They had won five straight coming into
Speaker 1: the game, nine out of the last ten, and the
Speaker 1: way they came out, I was like, what, I was like,
Speaker 1: come on, the Sixers just grinded through. Seriously. I was like,
Speaker 1: the Sixers just grinded through a game the night before,
Speaker 1: hard fought game against the Knicks. They were shorthanded talking
Speaker 1: about the Sixers and Milwaukee just they were totally taken
Speaker 1: out of their game by the Sixers, but they also
Speaker 1: missed some shots that were there for them. By the
Speaker 1: same token, I was really impressed with the way the
Speaker 1: Sixers started the game, very surprise. Did not see that
Speaker 1: happening whatsoever. The Sexers just totally stifling Milwaukee throughout that
Speaker 1: first half. I know it's all about who emerges the
Speaker 1: winner in the end, but I thought that there was
Speaker 1: a lot of good that was done through the first
Speaker 1: two and a half quarters of the game by the Sexers. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there was a lot of good work. And I also
Speaker 1: referenced something that coach Doc Rivers pointed out, and you
Speaker 1: can have it for both games on Tuesday and Wednesday,
Speaker 1: which were the fact that we threw it back to
Speaker 1: the nineties with the basketball and how physical it was,
Speaker 1: the low scoring, the midshots and all. But you know,
Speaker 1: it was entertaining in a different type of way. And
Speaker 1: of course with no one beat out there, it was
Speaker 1: encouraging to see them perform the way that they did
Speaker 1: against two formidable conans, even though New York was coming
Speaker 1: off of a back to back the night before where
Speaker 1: they played a tough one against Brooklyn, also going deep
Speaker 1: into their game. But when you look at it and
Speaker 1: just see where the schedule falls, and I'm big on
Speaker 1: how did it happen? So he Doc Gris talks about
Speaker 1: the disappointment Shore. We can be disappointment. Disappointed because it
Speaker 1: was a nineteen point lead. You saw Milwaukee surging back. Okay,
Speaker 1: let's get everything together. Let's slow the offense down maybe
Speaker 1: a little bit, let's pick and choose where we go on.
Speaker 1: Let's be better in transition. There are a lot of
Speaker 1: things to point out, but once again, when you're shorthanded
Speaker 1: the way you were playing the late game that Lauren
Speaker 1: mentioned and still being in it and never going away,
Speaker 1: mind you, even when Milwaukee had that momentum and they
Speaker 1: took it. The seventy sixers did find a way to
Speaker 1: take it back. Unfortunately the w ensued at the end,
Speaker 1: but still something to look forward to. Hopefully you don't
Speaker 1: have too many more games. We know there's a stretch
Speaker 1: here without and B for a little bit of time.
Speaker 1: But going forward, there's something to take away from a
Speaker 1: game like this. There's always something to take away from
Speaker 1: losses like you suffered last night, and I'm sure with
Speaker 1: the coaching staff that they had, they'll point out and
Speaker 1: find those things that they need to work on to
Speaker 1: build on that point. There's a couple of way is
Speaker 1: that you can look at it. The seventy six Ers,
Speaker 1: barring something totally unimaginable, are going to be in the
Speaker 1: playoffs and very very likely a top four seed. Are
Speaker 1: they going to be the one seed? There might not
Speaker 1: be as much margin for error for the one seed
Speaker 1: as being a top four seed. So does a win
Speaker 1: or a loss against the Bucks on Wednesday? How much
Speaker 1: does that matter in the grand scheme of things. I
Speaker 1: don't know if you really, if you're the Sixers, given
Speaker 1: where they are right now, if you need to play
Speaker 1: that much weight and whether it's a win or a loss.
Speaker 1: I think you can make the case that the loser
Speaker 1: of Wednesday's game could emerge from that game feeling better
Speaker 1: about itself and the way it matched up than the
Speaker 1: winner of that game. I like that might be a
Speaker 1: little bit of a reach. No, I get it. I
Speaker 1: get it again. And then Jane at the end gave
Speaker 1: them a little bit of some stuel there as well,
Speaker 1: with sitting on the floor, to be honest, gets it back,
Speaker 1: attacking the pain now and knots at home and turning
Speaker 1: out the lights on top rivers. Yes, sit down, Philadel
Speaker 1: single handedly claiming the court at Will's farical that Mark.
Speaker 1: You can hear the Philly fans. They didn't like it.
Speaker 1: They're reacting to him shitting on the floor right there.
Speaker 1: Sure the players weren't too happy about that. But again,
Speaker 1: like I said, and I agree with yourself, just being
Speaker 1: able to take away from some things, knowing that you
Speaker 1: were in a tough spot coming off of that the
Speaker 1: game before against the New York Knicks, where that was
Speaker 1: a tough one. Sure you could take a lot of
Speaker 1: things from this, feel good about yourself and point out, hey,
Speaker 1: they needed every second to beat us tonight. And sure
Speaker 1: we were home and we played very well at home.
Speaker 1: But that conversation can be had where you don't want
Speaker 1: to use that as the only thing, but it's a
Speaker 1: thing where they needed every second, every available player that
Speaker 1: they had to take us down, including the reigning MVP
Speaker 1: Lauren that you mentioned. I would just add that this
Speaker 1: is a team that's consistently found ways to compete, regardless
Speaker 1: of the opponent, regardless of the deficit, regardless of an advantage.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's a team that always knows how to compete.
Speaker 1: And that's really fun that we've had games where we've
Speaker 1: been down nineteen. We the Sixers fans, we the Sixers.
Speaker 1: The Sixers have been down nineteen, and they've found a
Speaker 1: way to come back and compete. Obviously, you never want
Speaker 1: to blow a lead. Last Night's lead, rather Wednesday's lead
Speaker 1: ended up getting eaten up. But I've been really encouraged
Speaker 1: by regardless of the opponent, regardless of which Sixers are available,
Speaker 1: Let's go back to the seven Sixers, the small Sixers,
Speaker 1: this is a group that finds ways to compete on
Speaker 1: a nightly basis, independent of opponent, independent of availability, and
Speaker 1: I think that that's something really special. The one thing
Speaker 1: that we could analyze from this game, regardless of whether
Speaker 1: or not Jowell Embiad was playing or the Bucks had
Speaker 1: to sit certain guys because they were involved in a trade.
Speaker 1: We'll talk about that in a moment. Is how Ben
Speaker 1: Simmons went up against Giannis Autacombo head to head. I
Speaker 1: think that's something that everyone was looking forward to. Doc
Speaker 1: Rivers with a lot of praise for Ben after the game.
Speaker 1: Listen times Ben was on him. We couldn't have guarded
Speaker 1: that any better. I thought they did a pretty good
Speaker 1: job of getting Ben to switch off of them, and
Speaker 1: I thought a lot of that was fatigued too on
Speaker 1: Ben's part, like you know, several of him. He probably
Speaker 1: didn't have to switch. We didn't want him to. Dee,
Speaker 1: what did you make of that matchup? I like what
Speaker 1: he did because of previous matchups, things that we've seen
Speaker 1: any before where although he's six ten six to eleven,
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons and Jannis is also a big human and
Speaker 1: what he's able to offensively. Sometimes we have seen Ben
Speaker 1: struggle where you had to use Joe ellen b You
Speaker 1: also had to use last season al Horford to also
Speaker 1: match up with Jannis, And in this case, I thought
Speaker 1: Ben did a tremendous job early on with standing his ground,
Speaker 1: bodying him up on the little block, bodying him up
Speaker 1: on the face up where he decided to face up
Speaker 1: and turn his body, figuring out which way he wanted
Speaker 1: to play him on a perimeter. I'm going to back
Speaker 1: off because you know, to ray shooter, but then I'm
Speaker 1: also going to jab at you a little bit show
Speaker 1: and see what you do. Make you dribble, and when
Speaker 1: you do dribble, now you're a little thrown off and
Speaker 1: I have to make a decision. So I really like
Speaker 1: the overall game plan of what he did. There was
Speaker 1: no need for Yannis to go with the two little
Speaker 1: thing that he likes to do famously against Ben. And
Speaker 1: I think Ben Simmons held up and held his own
Speaker 1: last night, showing why he is a defensive Player of
Speaker 1: the Year candidate, a worthy one and maybe even the
Speaker 1: leader for a lot of people. And another point, Selts
Speaker 1: something to take later on when these two teams see
Speaker 1: each other in the future, whether it's the two regular
Speaker 1: season games in Milwaukee and if by chance they see
Speaker 1: one another in the postseason, that this is a matchup
Speaker 1: where you know you can throw and be as well
Speaker 1: as Simmons and if need be, as a third some
Speaker 1: good things because of his lateral movement, Dwight Howard and
Speaker 1: how he's able to move as well. So I like
Speaker 1: what Simmons did defensively last night. I pick a little
Speaker 1: bit as some of the things, and I'm sure everyone
Speaker 1: was a little fatigued, but at the end offensively when
Speaker 1: they needed a little more, I would have liked to
Speaker 1: have seen Simmons do a little bit more just to
Speaker 1: help out with Harris off, Milton having an off type
Speaker 1: of night, and a few others as well, But overall,
Speaker 1: I thought a solid game from Ben Simmons, especially defensively
Speaker 1: against Giannas, despite the thirty two points lay. To me,
Speaker 1: if I'm a Bucks fan, I'm frightened by what I
Speaker 1: saw last night, knowing that these teams could end up
Speaker 1: in a best of seven situation down the road. If
Speaker 1: this is what Ben was able to do tired, if
Speaker 1: this is what the Sixers were able to do without Joel,
Speaker 1: I am a very concerned Bucks fan this morning. I
Speaker 1: am not wanting to run into the Sixers in the
Speaker 1: postseason again. I think we just keep going back to
Speaker 1: the same point. This is as close to a moral
Speaker 1: victory as you can get. I love what you said
Speaker 1: about Ben really put Janis and the six or Twitter
Speaker 1: has has decided to start putting players in the benettentiary
Speaker 1: when he locks somebody up. So Jannis was in there
Speaker 1: for two and a half quarters and I love to
Speaker 1: see it. The intensity that Ben has been bringing on defense.
Speaker 1: His sharing last night was wonderful. He's just really found
Speaker 1: another level and I'm excited to see him continue to
Speaker 1: unlock more without Joel in the next couple of weeks
Speaker 1: because it's going to be really cool for him if
Speaker 1: he continues on the trajectory that he's on. So the numbers,
Speaker 1: according to NBA dot Com, Ben Simmons on Jannis for
Speaker 1: over eight minutes in the game on Wednesday. During that time,
Speaker 1: Jannis two for eight from the field. Now, again, you
Speaker 1: can only take these numbers the grain assault they list
Speaker 1: him is o for three from three, but of course
Speaker 1: Ben was in the vicinity and decided to back off
Speaker 1: Yannis when he hit that three in the overtime period.
Speaker 1: So you know, take these numbers with a grain assault,
Speaker 1: but four turnovers committed by Yannis with Ben on him,
Speaker 1: so those are obviously really good numbers and yes, to
Speaker 1: circle back to what you said, Devon and brought this
Speaker 1: up first. Last year, Jannis was pretty much Joel's guy defensively,
Speaker 1: and that's a weapon that the seventy six ers we
Speaker 1: won't know until they play again, hopefully, if Joel's out there,
Speaker 1: if Doc Rivers sees the world defensively the same way
Speaker 1: that Brett Brown does and wants to try Joel on
Speaker 1: Jannis a little bit. I think that right on the
Speaker 1: offensive end, the six or sixteen by Ben, you want
Speaker 1: to see better there, The zero attempts and the free
Speaker 1: throw column, you want to see more there, the seven turnovers,
Speaker 1: you'd like that cleaned up. But I think for me,
Speaker 1: I'm ultimately going to feel like, based on what I've
Speaker 1: seen this season, I'm gonna have faith that Ben can
Speaker 1: do that and do a little bit more on the
Speaker 1: offensive end the next time around. If he doesn't, then
Speaker 1: then maybe I step back and reevaluate them. I'm looking
Speaker 1: at this, But I think for me going into that
Speaker 1: game on Wednesday, what I wanted to see was had
Speaker 1: his Ben hold his ground? Does he against Jannis? And
Speaker 1: I think that can we all agree he acquitted himself
Speaker 1: pretty well? Yeah? Absolutely, absolutely, I would concur. All right,
Speaker 1: we've talked about Ben and Janis before moving on and
Speaker 1: putting this game behind us. What about the rest of
Speaker 1: the rosters of the Sixers and the Bucks. I'll say this,
Speaker 1: I think the Sixers are better suited to match up
Speaker 1: with Milwaukee this year than last year, and that takes
Speaker 1: into account the changes that both teams made in the offseason.
Speaker 1: We'll have to see if the seventy Sixers, obviously if
Speaker 1: any moves in them before the end of this month.
Speaker 1: Milwaukee made some tweaks. Just gone back to Wednesday with
Speaker 1: the addition of PJ. Tucker agreed, I think that this
Speaker 1: year's Sixers team matches up better than last year or
Speaker 1: Sixers team did with these Milwaukee Bucks. Of course, these
Speaker 1: Milwaukee Bucks now different, as you said, Celts, but we
Speaker 1: saw some good defense from Tobias Harris last night. We
Speaker 1: saw Matisse Bible due with some of what he can do.
Speaker 1: The two of them had some solid possessions against Chris Middleton,
Speaker 1: who is still Milwaukee's probably secondary weapon right if not
Speaker 1: true holiday so cool to see that the Sixers defenders,
Speaker 1: multiple Sixers defenders can do good work on a fewer
Speaker 1: amount of Milwaukee players. Right, there are more good Sixers
Speaker 1: defenders than there are good Milwaukee offensive players. And again
Speaker 1: that's part of why I'm afraid of running into the
Speaker 1: Sixers down the road if I'm a Bucks fan. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a great point as well. The matchups. I do
Speaker 1: like the Sixers a little more this season, the growth
Speaker 1: of natistable defensively, understanding that if it is going to
Speaker 1: be a Janis Middleton Holiday type of type of game,
Speaker 1: where those are your three offensive players that you have
Speaker 1: to worry about. I feel very comfortable with Simmons, Thible
Speaker 1: and andb especially Downe to stretch and doing the work
Speaker 1: that you need to because I think that when it's
Speaker 1: all set and done, when they're playing, all of the
Speaker 1: games are going to come down to the wire in
Speaker 1: my opinion, because that's how closely matched they are and
Speaker 1: that's just how it's going to be. So if you
Speaker 1: are are available to throw those three out and we'll
Speaker 1: see how things play out over the next week, as
Speaker 1: you talked about ourselves now less than a week at
Speaker 1: the deadline, that we will see where things are with
Speaker 1: these two teams. But I do think they match up
Speaker 1: much better and improved Joel and be as good as
Speaker 1: we have seen him before, better now Simmons as well,
Speaker 1: and Thyble also, So I do like where they are.
Speaker 1: My one concern is that they as good as Giannis
Speaker 1: was and Lauren you already mentioned it. Middleton did have
Speaker 1: an off night and Drew Holiday as well still, if
Speaker 1: you will, recovering from the COVID situation, that he was
Speaker 1: down for a while, so seeing where they are later
Speaker 1: on in the season. But I would also believe that
Speaker 1: the Sixes are much improved by them as well, and
Speaker 1: have their legs and understand the entire offense and where
Speaker 1: they are, how comfortable they are within their offense. So
Speaker 1: I just I think that that's going to be a
Speaker 1: fun matchup no matter what wherever we see him once again,
Speaker 1: and they're they're a good basketball team. But I do
Speaker 1: think the six Is fare very well against them. I'm
Speaker 1: not afraid if I were forced to take some truth seram,
Speaker 1: things that I would be falling away. In the back
Speaker 1: of my mind from Wednesday's game was Lopez's ability to
Speaker 1: pop out. That would concern me because he's shown in
Speaker 1: the past that if he gets going a little bit,
Speaker 1: he can knock some down. That could be tricky in
Speaker 1: the wrong moment at the wrong time shots and that
Speaker 1: was something that really helped get them going. Devencenzo's bounce
Speaker 1: really good. He obviously made some costly defensive mistakes against
Speaker 1: fur CONCORKMS, but Deeven Chens is a threat. And I
Speaker 1: also wouldn't expect Bobby Portis and Bryn Forbes to go
Speaker 1: combined over eight from three and one for eighteen from
Speaker 1: the field. Again, I think they clearly underperformed the game
Speaker 1: on Wednesday, But to speak to both of your points,
Speaker 1: I'd love to see personally a match. But again, between
Speaker 1: these two teams in the postseason, we know they have
Speaker 1: two more games Adviser Forum in April against one another.
Speaker 1: And this is especially after some of the antic from
Speaker 1: Yannis on Wednesday. Hey day, Um, Jannis made a big
Speaker 1: basket in the over time and then he just sat
Speaker 1: at mid court and I wondered if you guys took
Speaker 1: notice of that. Oh yeah, I wanted to go in
Speaker 1: stone cold stunner him, but I already got one tech.
Speaker 1: You know. Um, he made some tough shots at the
Speaker 1: end of the game, reigning MVP, and he had a
Speaker 1: great game. So I'm not one to talk trash or
Speaker 1: say anything negative, but uh, we'll see them again and
Speaker 1: get a different results. Yeah, the Seeds felt like they
Speaker 1: were planted in it. Maybe even perhaps a wrestling move. Yeah,
Speaker 1: him doing that one not only for the seventy six
Speaker 1: is year Dwight Howard speaking, But the Sixer fans were
Speaker 1: not happy with the antics of Yannis, So expect he's
Speaker 1: he's in the clear right now because the two games
Speaker 1: will be in Milwaukee, but in the postseason and you
Speaker 1: have more than Look, Lauren, you can tell us great
Speaker 1: it was being in the building with the three thousand
Speaker 1: plus fans in there, but come playoff time where maybe
Speaker 1: they are a little more in there. Yes, the either
Speaker 1: of the Sixer fans, they will be all over him.
Speaker 1: I'm with it, and I love that the Sixers left
Speaker 1: that game excited for their next matchup with this team.
Speaker 1: I think it was very clear that there were some
Speaker 1: unfinished business vibes among the group as they headed home
Speaker 1: last night. So I'm looking forward to this next series,
Speaker 1: of course with the Bucks, but potentially another series, a
Speaker 1: longer series after that. And it seems like these Sixers
Speaker 1: players are looking forward to it as well. And for
Speaker 1: Joel Embiid to be in the building last night and
Speaker 1: to be watching on I mean, you know, he was
Speaker 1: just thirsting to get into that game. It had to
Speaker 1: be really hard for him to watch knowing that the
Speaker 1: Sixers were so close, knowing that they actually only needed
Speaker 1: a little bit more. Joel embiad brings a lot more.
Speaker 1: So again, I like the Sixers chances as they move
Speaker 1: forward and face this team again. Guys, it may feel
Speaker 1: like forever ago. But two other noteworthy developments since last
Speaker 1: we spoke here on the deep Dive. Number One, We've
Speaker 1: alluded to it, but Joel and Be did get hurt
Speaker 1: against the Washington Wizards last Friday in DC, and drawing
Speaker 1: down and daring again in his way was Garrison Matthews,
Speaker 1: and it beat his hurt and he is clearly in pain.
Speaker 1: Not to belabor the point, but the Sixers they played
Speaker 1: great with or without him since coming back from the
Speaker 1: All Star break. They were really competitive against a terrific
Speaker 1: team in Milwaukee. Do we think d the Sixers are
Speaker 1: capable of sustaining this high quality of play? Not saying
Speaker 1: they're gonna win every game or four out of five
Speaker 1: all the time, but do we think they're capable of
Speaker 1: sustaining quality competitive top of conference play in the absence
Speaker 1: of Joel. I do I think we've seen enough of
Speaker 1: the sample size to say that they definitely have a
Speaker 1: tough road trip coming up. The next game tomorrow night
Speaker 1: at the Senators final game of a four game homestand
Speaker 1: against the Sacramento Kings. But then when they hit the
Speaker 1: road for six, that's gonna be a tough one. So
Speaker 1: it's never easy for anyone, whether you're at four strength
Speaker 1: or without one of your better players, of course, in
Speaker 1: this case an MVP candidate and Joel and b So
Speaker 1: I do think though that we have seen enough from
Speaker 1: this team to believe that they can sustain this level
Speaker 1: of play there well, eight and two in their last ten.
Speaker 1: It is gonna be tough. It is gonna be tough.
Speaker 1: But I do think that this will tell us a
Speaker 1: lot more about this basketball team, quite honestly, with what
Speaker 1: we see over the next six in particular with this
Speaker 1: road trip upcoming. But they are a good basketball team.
Speaker 1: You can see a structure, you can see a different
Speaker 1: type of game plan each and every night, and how
Speaker 1: they would like to do things. I think they are
Speaker 1: just in the moment, of course, with what the coaching
Speaker 1: staff does. I would have personally liked the scene on
Speaker 1: Wednesday a little bit more later on in the game,
Speaker 1: as things started to get a little away from You
Speaker 1: mentioned Dante devagent ten DiVincenzo knocking out his shots, broke
Speaker 1: Lopez as well, and even though they struggle with Portis
Speaker 1: and Forbes, they did get good looks, they just missed them.
Speaker 1: I thought that they would incorporate a little bit of
Speaker 1: zone like we saw against the Indiana Pacers, just to
Speaker 1: kind of save their legs a little bit because of
Speaker 1: the fatigue factor of the night before against the New
Speaker 1: York Knicks. But even with that being said, we've seen
Speaker 1: it before them, so we know that that's something that
Speaker 1: they can pull again out of their head. So I
Speaker 1: think we've seen enough of a certain amount of things,
Speaker 1: different things that will make Sixer fans and observers and
Speaker 1: feel good about where his team is despite the fact
Speaker 1: that he is not there. I like the idea of
Speaker 1: seeing a little bit of zone on this road trip.
Speaker 1: It's going to be a very tiring one. You mentioned it.
Speaker 1: I don't know for sure that I'm convinced that they're
Speaker 1: going to be able to win all most half of
Speaker 1: those games on the road but it's one of those
Speaker 1: situations where they have been playing incredibly well or certainly
Speaker 1: exceeding expectations without Joel thus far. So I would hope
Speaker 1: that team can continue building on what they have already
Speaker 1: done over these last few without Joel. I don't see
Speaker 1: them not hanging around in any of the games on
Speaker 1: this road trip, but I'm willing to give them grace
Speaker 1: for sure if they drop any or a few of them,
Speaker 1: because of how challenging it is to play on the
Speaker 1: road against elite teams without your elite MVP level player.
Speaker 1: And again, though, how did it happen? If you lose
Speaker 1: a game? Okay, that's fine, but how did it happen
Speaker 1: where you lost? You don't want to sit there and say, okay,
Speaker 1: you're on a six game rule trip. You get a
Speaker 1: tough night and you get your doors blown off. Where
Speaker 1: you competitive? And I think that's where that's something that
Speaker 1: they hang their hats on them that they compete every night.
Speaker 1: And as long as we see it that way, I'm
Speaker 1: sure we can look at it realistically with where they
Speaker 1: will be, not making excuses, but just understanding the situation
Speaker 1: of where they are. I think we need to call
Speaker 1: that the rule of Gibbons, the how did it happen factor?
Speaker 1: How did it happen, how did it attend? I'm making
Speaker 1: that a Friday deep dive decree. Moving forward, we can
Speaker 1: do that. The rule of Givens. Yeah, the road trip
Speaker 1: is no joke. It starts with a revenge matchup in
Speaker 1: the Garden against the Knicks, then only a day separating
Speaker 1: the Sixers from their first game out west against Golden
Speaker 1: State next Thursday at the Lakers. Saturday, the Clippers two
Speaker 1: days Idol go to Denver, and then two days later
Speaker 1: in Cleveland against a team that beat Boston the other night.
Speaker 1: So no easy sledding a team that has beaten the
Speaker 1: Sixers twice. I was not going to mention that, but
Speaker 1: you are not indirect. That is a true statement. So
Speaker 1: the Sixers certainly have a tough road trip cut out
Speaker 1: for them. Very last thing I want to bring up
Speaker 1: with you, guys, I think we have to acknowledge the
Speaker 1: talking about declarations and proclamations. The Tobias Harris exultation on
Speaker 1: the court after the big basket against the New York Knicks.
Speaker 1: I'm an all star Harris on the backed out to
Speaker 1: the right of the lane, left and dribble Hanks in
Speaker 1: the paint. It's good Tobias Harris back to backfield goals
Speaker 1: Time Out, New York ninety six, ninety two The Sixers, Lady.
Speaker 1: I loved it, and I'm gonna go out on Limon say,
Speaker 1: might be the best thing that Tobias did not go
Speaker 1: to the All Star Game. He is mean Tobias, and
Speaker 1: I know Divon likes aggressive Ben I like mean bounty
Speaker 1: ball Tobias. Lord, you got this one. I loved everything
Speaker 1: about that moment. We know Tobias is a generally mild mannered,
Speaker 1: even keeled, steady type of guy, and to see just
Speaker 1: a little bit of spice, a little bit of attitude,
Speaker 1: is really refreshing and welcome. He was mad, but in
Speaker 1: a good way. It was really cool to see. I've
Speaker 1: never seen him be that demonstrative. And I was sitting
Speaker 1: on this side of the arena where he was yelling
Speaker 1: towards me, and I felt a little like, oh okay,
Speaker 1: what did what did I do? And it was really
Speaker 1: it was really cool. I was happy. I was happy
Speaker 1: for him. I have been happy for him all season long.
Speaker 1: We say it a lot, but I really do hope
Speaker 1: that his first All Star bid is his second All
Speaker 1: Star season next year. Like Doc Rivers said, if Doc
Speaker 1: Rivers thinks it can happen, I certainly think it can happen. Well,
Speaker 1: when I saw it immediately after the game, I think
Speaker 1: Subs you had posted the video actually on your Twitter account,
Speaker 1: and I was just basically okay, so Buys talking that talk.
Speaker 1: And he had every right too, because he had some
Speaker 1: big baskets in the clutchy the four points that they
Speaker 1: needed to separate themselves time out in New York, after
Speaker 1: the big bucket that he made to Bias Harrison in
Speaker 1: that moment something like that. I've never felt that in
Speaker 1: an NBA game, but I'm sure it warranted. You know
Speaker 1: that that feeling. And of course, if Thibodeau was one
Speaker 1: of those coaches that well he's an Eastern Conference coach,
Speaker 1: she didn't vote him in that. He's pointed the finger Tivodeau.
Speaker 1: He's talking to him, not directly, indirectly, but he's talking
Speaker 1: to him, And I'm okay with that. If he carries
Speaker 1: that to each game where they play against these teams
Speaker 1: like that, then I'm fine with it. If that's going
Speaker 1: to be his motivation and it leads to the six
Speaker 1: was having success. I'm good. I'm good with it as
Speaker 1: long as it's not forced and it's genuine and it
Speaker 1: comes out naturally. I like it. There was something personal
Speaker 1: in there too with Julius Randall. How could there not be.
Speaker 1: I mean, Tobias's teammates following the game didn't explicitly call
Speaker 1: Julius Randall out, but the suggestion was made that if
Speaker 1: Tobias was playing on a lesser team and he was
Speaker 1: the number one option, he would certainly be putting up
Speaker 1: the same type of numbers that Julius Randall is putting up.
Speaker 1: And Julius Randall was chosen as a replacement athlete or
Speaker 1: were this All Star Game and Tobias Harris was not,
Speaker 1: And I think there's no way that that's not a
Speaker 1: little bit personal. Tobias certainly looked like the better player
Speaker 1: in that game, in my opinion, has looked like the
Speaker 1: better player all season long, and in my opinion, would
Speaker 1: be putting up better numbers if he was the best
Speaker 1: player on the News or Knicks. But he's one of
Speaker 1: the best players on the seventy six ers, a better team,
Speaker 1: and that could have been the reason why he didn't
Speaker 1: get an All Star bid. I get it. I get
Speaker 1: being spicy in that situation. We shall see well they
Speaker 1: do it again on Sunday. That's gonna be a good
Speaker 1: one because now he's home and Sixes have defeated them
Speaker 1: two times so far this season. The tough part about
Speaker 1: the All Star thing before we go is, like Doc Rivers,
Speaker 1: he said it very well post game. Everyone deserved that
Speaker 1: made it, deserve to be the Julie's random deserve to
Speaker 1: be there. So I like the fact that Tobias is
Speaker 1: pointing fingers at the guys that made it over him.
Speaker 1: So when they played the Pacers again with demadis of bonus,
Speaker 1: especially as an injury replacement, and they already played the
Speaker 1: Chicago Bulls with Zach Levine, Ben Simmons had a tremendous
Speaker 1: job on him defensively, I can't wait. I I like
Speaker 1: angry to Bias. I like this. Keep bringing it angry
Speaker 1: to Buias, go at them all. I'm all for it,
Speaker 1: all for it. Hey, listen. If you're listening to this podcast,
Speaker 1: you can't obviously see this. If you're watching on YouTube
Speaker 1: on the seventy six ers channel, you can see this.
Speaker 1: All three of us are wearing hoodies as we tape
Speaker 1: this episode. But Divine he's rocking the Franklin. Hey, I
Speaker 1: got the Franklin. Look at that, my friend. When I
Speaker 1: found out that my friend had T shirts. I made
Speaker 1: it very clear that my friend had T shirts and
Speaker 1: made it known on Twitter and he took care of them.
Speaker 1: So everybody go check it out. Go get yourself one
Speaker 1: nice drives good. Look at that. Look at that sign
Speaker 1: it every time. Look get that. So go ahead and
Speaker 1: get your Franklin T shirt. I have it on great
Speaker 1: authority that Franklin is a big Divine Givens fan, on
Speaker 1: the highest of canine authority. The feeling is mutual, good stuff. Guys,
Speaker 1: Always pleasure, Thank you, always, thank you. You guess when
Speaker 1: programming note to tell you about before we part ways
Speaker 1: for a couple of days until the Monday Mailbag. Tom
Speaker 1: McGinnis has a new episode of Tom's Talks coming out
Speaker 1: on Saturday. It features the one and only Furky from Turkey,
Speaker 1: the man who sent Wednesday's thriller against the Bucks into overtime.
Speaker 1: You know, and when fur Con cork Mos is involved,
Speaker 1: the content is always wholesome and Tom McGinnis too for
Speaker 1: that matter. All right, thanks as always for listening, talk
Speaker 1: to next night, See you