Speaker 1: The first week of the seventy sixers season was pretty good.
Speaker 1: Betty in a slam, Richardson got its own, miss puts
Speaker 1: it up in gosh, Richardson with a gutty basket. That's God.
Speaker 1: The bias Harris puts the Sixers up by prey. You know,
Speaker 1: in fact, the first week of the season was better
Speaker 1: than good. It was perfect literally, and had put the
Speaker 1: team atop the NBA dot Com Our rank. They're gonna
Speaker 1: be monstrous defensively. There's enough offensive talent there. You know.
Speaker 1: That's a formula for a team that can compete for
Speaker 1: a championship. We touch base with John Schumann, the guy
Speaker 1: who gave the Sixers number one billing on this episode
Speaker 1: of the broadcast, the first team to four and currently
Speaker 1: the only team two four that also does not have
Speaker 1: a loss caveat very least at the time of the
Speaker 1: taping of this podcast. How are you, Brian Seltzer back
Speaker 1: for another episode of the broadcast, And yes, this seventy
Speaker 1: Sixers are indeed off to a four and oh start
Speaker 1: for the first time since two thousand and two thousand
Speaker 1: and one. We should all know, of course, where the
Speaker 1: seventy Sixers ended up going that season, and the Sixers
Speaker 1: are the only team in the NBA to get to
Speaker 1: four wins while also not having a loss on their ledger.
Speaker 1: The Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, and a Utah Jazz all
Speaker 1: go into the weekend with records of four and one,
Speaker 1: but the seventy Sixers are the only perfect team left
Speaker 1: out of thirty in the NBA, and for good reason.
Speaker 1: They've been excellent on the defensive end of the courts.
Speaker 1: Going into the weekend. They were number four in the
Speaker 1: NBA in defensive rating, just under ninety seven points allowed
Speaker 1: per one hundred possessions, their first in the league. In steals,
Speaker 1: they are top five in deflections. They are best on
Speaker 1: the boards rebounding the basketball, top three in block shots
Speaker 1: per game. They have been monsters in the PA ain't
Speaker 1: scoring the ball, especially on second opportunities. Just phenomenal, phenomenal
Speaker 1: and very encouraging stuff. We're going to talk to John
Speaker 1: Schumann about ranking the seventy six ers number one in
Speaker 1: the first edition of the NBA dot Com Power Rankings
Speaker 1: for this season, but first want to remind you that
Speaker 1: to subscribe to our podcast, search seventy Sixers Podcasts or
Speaker 1: seventy six Ers Podcast Network anywhere where you get your pods.
Speaker 1: It could be Spotify, Pandora, Apple Podcasts, Google podcast, tune In, Stitcher, SoundCloud, wherever.
Speaker 1: It's easy as typing in a few of those keywords
Speaker 1: in your search and then subscribing to our feed. John
Speaker 1: Schumann in a moment. But we've been doing this the
Speaker 1: past couple of weeks. Now I hope you've enjoyed it
Speaker 1: our opening tip segments, and for this week, we'll take
Speaker 1: a trip down ninety five. The seventy six ers season,
Speaker 1: as we know, is well underway. The team now headed
Speaker 1: across the country to start a four game track against
Speaker 1: some very good Western Conference clubs. But back east, there's
Speaker 1: plenty of work being done as well. About thirty miles
Speaker 1: south of Philadelphia in Wilmington, Delaware, at seventy Sixers Field House,
Speaker 1: That is where a collection of nearly twenty or so
Speaker 1: players spent this past week taking part in training camp
Speaker 1: for the Delaware Bluecoats, the seventy sixers G League affiliate.
Speaker 1: There were some noteworthy names in Coates camp. Mariol Shayak,
Speaker 1: this year's second round pick out of Iowa State, Haywood
Speaker 1: high Smith, one of these Sixers two way players last year.
Speaker 1: Chris Camagi and Isaiah Miles are there as well, and
Speaker 1: they were in seventy sixers training camp. But the most
Speaker 1: prominent face of all was no doubt, Zaire Smith, the
Speaker 1: sixteenth overall pick acquired by the Sixers in the two
Speaker 1: eighteen draft. It's an intriguing story for sure. On the
Speaker 1: heels of a strong summer during which he displayed a
Speaker 1: lot of positives at Summer League, the twenty year old
Speaker 1: Smith was a sign of the Blue Coats with two
Speaker 1: goals in mind, to stay fresh and to continue to improve.
Speaker 1: We're excited most of the up for the good and
Speaker 1: getting ready here come out of plays in damage out
Speaker 1: there do my minis just be a growthful play sing
Speaker 1: shoot the ball by name. The Blue Coats are in
Speaker 1: just their second season of existence. Prior to relocating to
Speaker 1: Delaware's largest city a year ago, the franchise spent five
Speaker 1: seasons playing in Newark as the eighty seveners. In addition
Speaker 1: to twenty eighteen, marking the coach's first campaign in Wilmington,
Speaker 1: it was also the first season that the GM head
Speaker 1: coach tandem of Matt Lily and Connor Johnson worked together.
Speaker 1: Both guys aren't even thirty yet, and they boast really
Speaker 1: impressive resumes. Lily has spent nearly a decade in the
Speaker 1: G League, rising to a top front office position from
Speaker 1: the ground up. He was Elton Brand's right hand man
Speaker 1: in Delaware before eb got bumped up to the big
Speaker 1: gig with the Sixers. Johnson meanwhile played Amherst in Massachusetts,
Speaker 1: worked for Jay Wright for a bid at Villanova, then
Speaker 1: landed a spot on Brett Brown's staff as an operations assistant.
Speaker 1: He proceeded to work his way up to Brown's director
Speaker 1: of player Development and coaching administration, and ultimately was tapped
Speaker 1: to become the coach's head coach. What did Lillian Johnson
Speaker 1: accomplish in their first season simply put the duo fine
Speaker 1: tune and infrastructure that facilitates development on all fronts. It's
Speaker 1: good Milton nails a corner, three Simmons of the past
Speaker 1: of Milton in the corner, and shake Milton gives us
Speaker 1: six first from a player's standpoint. Shake. Milton finished second
Speaker 1: in the G League in scoring, then had his two
Speaker 1: way contract converted full time with the Sixers, hell with
Speaker 1: another's slab at a Vala Detroit Norvelle Pell was named
Speaker 1: to the All g League Defensive Team and earned a
Speaker 1: two way contract this offseason. Highsmith, one of the two
Speaker 1: way players last year, made great strides and Jared Brownridge
Speaker 1: ended twenty eight nineteen as the lead leader in three points.
Speaker 1: Also worth noting, for the past couple months, nearly it
Speaker 1: doesn't bluecoat staffers, coaches to talent evaluators advanced their careers
Speaker 1: either within the seventy sixers organization or elsewhere. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: Million Johnson, they seem to have something cooking down in Wilmington.
Speaker 1: We don't treat it as Sixer staff and bluecoat staff
Speaker 1: like it's one organization that works together, the kind of
Speaker 1: put together the plan for what path do we see
Speaker 1: for this player? Are the what are the goals and
Speaker 1: checkpoints we're kind of looking to check off along the way.
Speaker 1: So I think it's it's really collaborative with myself, Connor,
Speaker 1: everyone is kind of onboard with carbon out what does
Speaker 1: the plan for this guy look like? What is our
Speaker 1: vision and how can we how can we help them
Speaker 1: get there? That was Lily Here's counter Johnson. The Sixers
Speaker 1: have a strong culture since Brett came on board, and
Speaker 1: that is something that we aren't the same team as
Speaker 1: the Sixers, but at the same time, we value the
Speaker 1: same things and we preach the same things to our players,
Speaker 1: and I think that's another element of continuity that as
Speaker 1: the players go back and forth they can see it's
Speaker 1: progress that wouldn't be possible without committed, consistent support from
Speaker 1: the seventy Sixers themselves, not just holistically but financially too.
Speaker 1: This is Elton brand. We take pride in having the
Speaker 1: Blue Coats, the ability to have the Blue Coats as
Speaker 1: an extension of the Sixers. That's what the Blue Coats
Speaker 1: stand for us. They're an extension of the Sixers. It's
Speaker 1: not just the players, it's also for you know, staff,
Speaker 1: myself starter, you know, as in a leader's true leadership
Speaker 1: role as G League GM of the G League of
Speaker 1: the eighty seven Ers, which are now the Blue Coats,
Speaker 1: and it afforded me an opportunity to really grow and develop.
Speaker 1: And we're looking to promote from within and give our
Speaker 1: staff and the plays an opportunity to grow and that's
Speaker 1: what's been taking place. But the top priority, make no
Speaker 1: mistake about it, is to develop contributors to the seventy
Speaker 1: Sixers and their championship aspirations, whether that's a player who's
Speaker 1: slated to be with the Blue Coats all season or
Speaker 1: someone a little more established like Zaire Smith who's with
Speaker 1: the Coats right now, to playing simple, get reps and
Speaker 1: stay fresh. How do you guys like try and manage
Speaker 1: that type of dynamic with them that it's really ultimately
Speaker 1: only going to better them to just be playing actively somewhere,
Speaker 1: regardless of where it is. There's nothing like the opportunities
Speaker 1: to play in front of fans and have our great facility.
Speaker 1: You can't replicate an actual game situation by practicing on
Speaker 1: the side or scrimmaging, even if it's against pros, all
Speaker 1: league NBA players being out there and actually, you know,
Speaker 1: having that opportunity, so you know, the fieldhouse being developed
Speaker 1: in the way it is Coach Johnson, the way he's
Speaker 1: marrying his systems exactly with ours, Matt literally the GM
Speaker 1: there making sure that the players know their roles not
Speaker 1: only to develop for the Blue Coats, but when they
Speaker 1: have the opportunity with the Sixers. So it really helps
Speaker 1: us as an entire organization. Again, Connor Johnson, there's no
Speaker 1: break in what the player and get from whether it's
Speaker 1: they're here or whether they're up and camped in with
Speaker 1: the Sixers or playing in a game that they're getting
Speaker 1: the same things that they need and they experience kind
Speaker 1: of the same resources that they get either way. So
Speaker 1: for as hype as you rightfully should be about the
Speaker 1: seventy Sixers, do pay attention to what's going on in Wilmington.
Speaker 1: The Blue Coat season opener is at home on November
Speaker 1: ninth at seventy Sixers Field House, and odds are, whether
Speaker 1: it's a player, coach, front office staffer, you might just
Speaker 1: be seeing them at some point in not too distant
Speaker 1: future with the Sixers. That was our opening tip, which
Speaker 1: hopefully you've been digging. One thing I know you will
Speaker 1: dig or you should is something the seventy Sixers have
Speaker 1: planned for a couple of weeks from now. It's called
Speaker 1: seventy six Ers Crossover, the art exhibition presented by Reebok
Speaker 1: celebrating the creative crossover between basketball and the city of Philadelphia.
Speaker 1: How awesome is that. Maybe you've seen some of the
Speaker 1: teases of the artwork on social media or in arena
Speaker 1: down at the Center. It's going to be a free
Speaker 1: event open to the public from Saturday, November sixteenth through Tuesday,
Speaker 1: November nineteenth at the Fittler Club in Philadelphia. That's on
Speaker 1: twenty fourth Street, just south of Ludlow, right by Ranstad
Speaker 1: and the event is going to explay more than two
Speaker 1: hundred pieces of art produced by artists from thirteen different
Speaker 1: countries amazing. Visit seventy six ers dot com slash seventy
Speaker 1: six Ers Crossover and follow us on social media for
Speaker 1: all the additional information you'll need on specific showtimes and
Speaker 1: details for how you can enjoy this one of a
Speaker 1: kind art exhibition at seventy six Ers Crossover, presented by
Speaker 1: Reebok each and every week on Mondays on NBA dot com.
Speaker 1: You can look forward to the release of John Schumann's
Speaker 1: Power rankings, and following the first let's call it half
Speaker 1: week of regular season play, the seventy Sixers were up
Speaker 1: three spots from number four to number one. John was
Speaker 1: at the Sixers game on Wednesday, the win over the
Speaker 1: Minnesota Timberwolves, and prior to tip he and I had
Speaker 1: the chance to catch up. John. There is a boiler
Speaker 1: plates on your weekly power rankings column that reads, in part,
Speaker 1: if you have an issue with the rankings or have
Speaker 1: a question or comment for John Schumann, send him an
Speaker 1: email or contact him via Twitter. How often does the
Speaker 1: populace take you up on that offer? Pretty often? But
Speaker 1: I don't take it too seriously because one, I don't
Speaker 1: because one, you know, everybody that's doing that has their
Speaker 1: own biases, and then two I don't personally, I don't
Speaker 1: stress the actual rankings of the team very much. I
Speaker 1: will tell you, I'll let you in on a secret
Speaker 1: that of the work goes into what's written about the teams,
Speaker 1: and then at the end I just put them in
Speaker 1: some sort of order. Right, So, like I care about
Speaker 1: when I write my Power rankings is if you're a
Speaker 1: Sixers fan and you watch every single Sixers game all
Speaker 1: eighty two, you can come to the Power Rankings on
Speaker 1: Monday and maybe learn something that you didn't necessarily know
Speaker 1: about them, like a stat or you know how a
Speaker 1: particular lineup has done compared to the rest of the league,
Speaker 1: how how they do in this particular category compared to
Speaker 1: the rest of the league. Now, it's impossible for me
Speaker 1: to do that for all thirty teams for all twenty
Speaker 1: six weeks of the season, but that's sort of the
Speaker 1: goal when I go into it. And so therefore, like
Speaker 1: all the work or the bulk of the work goes
Speaker 1: into what I write. I think bit more of as
Speaker 1: a notebook than rankings to my as like a league
Speaker 1: wide notebook. Then to rankings, and then sort of at
Speaker 1: the end, I say, all right, who should be number one,
Speaker 1: who should be number thirty? And how am I going
Speaker 1: to sort them in between? And some weeks it's a
Speaker 1: lot easier than others. Some weeks it's difficult. Even this
Speaker 1: week after Week one, it was kind of difficult just
Speaker 1: because there wasn't a team that we expected to be
Speaker 1: really good that was really dominant in week one. You know,
Speaker 1: the Sixers won their first couple of games, but it
Speaker 1: wasn't the prettiest of weeks or or prettiest of basketball
Speaker 1: that we saw. But you know, it has has to
Speaker 1: do with a lot with how that team is doing,
Speaker 1: and then how the teams around them are doing, and
Speaker 1: sort of the teams that teams that there are in
Speaker 1: the same tier and how they've been doing recently. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'd have to think that some of the toughest situations
Speaker 1: to rank the teams is when you've got a blank
Speaker 1: canvas and how many times a year. Do you have
Speaker 1: that essentially now? And that's about it the first two
Speaker 1: weeks perhaps, and then also when there hasn't been much
Speaker 1: movement in the standings on a league wide basis, right,
Speaker 1: Like to me, that would be when when things are static,
Speaker 1: that's when if I were doing it, that's when the
Speaker 1: rankings would become difficult. There was a year, I guess
Speaker 1: it was Michael Carter Williams's rookie year when the Sixers
Speaker 1: were expected to be pretty bad and then they won.
Speaker 1: They beat the Heat in week one, like in their
Speaker 1: first game they started, and I put them number one
Speaker 1: because if why not? You know it's week one and no,
Speaker 1: they're not going to be number one forever, they're probably
Speaker 1: not going to be number one again. And and I'm
Speaker 1: sure they quickly fell off at after that. But what
Speaker 1: I mean, like it's just rankings. It doesn't matter, Like really,
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter. And hopefully, like I said, somebody comes
Speaker 1: in there and can read it, and yeah, they may
Speaker 1: not be happy with the way I ranked the teams,
Speaker 1: but maybe there's something in there that they can get
Speaker 1: out of it. So um, and like I said, like
Speaker 1: if if you did that, if you just said if
Speaker 1: you just ranked them on based on who you think
Speaker 1: can win the championship at the in June. Then you know,
Speaker 1: the Warriors would have been number one for five straight years,
Speaker 1: you know, so what's the you know, not five straight year,
Speaker 1: but then you know, you get the point, and so
Speaker 1: you know, I try to have a little bit fun
Speaker 1: with it too. Is there a basic criteria formula that
Speaker 1: that you drop them upon and fall back upon? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I think quality wins is a big thing to me.
Speaker 1: A quality win is you know, a road team, a
Speaker 1: road win over a good team, or just to win
Speaker 1: over another good team. So obviously, when I was looking
Speaker 1: at this week, the Sixers were two and oh, the
Speaker 1: Nuggets were two and oh. And I had thought pretty
Speaker 1: highly of the Nuggets, I had them ranked in the
Speaker 1: top five even before the season started. But the Sixers
Speaker 1: sort of win over the Celtics, and thinking that the
Speaker 1: Celtics were a good team and knowing, you know, knowing
Speaker 1: that they'd be a pretty good team. That sort of
Speaker 1: made the difference in in ranking those two teams and
Speaker 1: putting the Sixers number one. Like quality, like good wins
Speaker 1: is matters to me, and so for instance, like the
Speaker 1: Spurs were also two and oh, but just had beat
Speaker 1: two sort of weaker Eastern Conference teams, and it was
Speaker 1: fairly easy not to, you know, push them too high
Speaker 1: because knowing you know who they had beaten, how much
Speaker 1: they win by, and that type of thing. Before the
Speaker 1: season started, you have the seventy six ers rank number four,
Speaker 1: which is all things considered, top five, pretty good. What
Speaker 1: has you so bullish generally speaking at the outside of
Speaker 1: the year about the seventy six ers. I mean, they're
Speaker 1: going to be monstrous defensively, and we know that and
Speaker 1: they already have been. I mean their defense in Game
Speaker 1: one was terrific and that is a great foundation to
Speaker 1: start with. There are I think legit questions about their offense,
Speaker 1: but they're still talent. I mean, there's still talent there.
Speaker 1: Like you have Joel and beat, you have Ben Simmons,
Speaker 1: who you know, as limited as his as he is
Speaker 1: with his jump shot, can get downhill and get buckets.
Speaker 1: We saw it in game one, I think get twenty
Speaker 1: four or twenty six, I forget which what it was. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Josh Richardson and Tobias Harris. So there's enough offensive talent
Speaker 1: there where they're going to be at worst average offensively.
Speaker 1: And then with how good they are going to be defensively.
Speaker 1: That's you know, that's a formula for one of the
Speaker 1: best teams in the league and a team that can
Speaker 1: compete for a championship if everything comes together. Going back
Speaker 1: reflecting on the summer thing about the moves transactions the
Speaker 1: seventy six Ers and Elton brand made, do you remember
Speaker 1: was there one? Was there too a few that kind
Speaker 1: of made you pause, stopping your tracks and be like, wow,
Speaker 1: I didn't see this coming. Ordin al Horford it's I've
Speaker 1: thought the world of al Horford for a long time,
Speaker 1: and I go back to two years ago in that
Speaker 1: playoffs where Boston reached the conference finals basically without Kyrie
Speaker 1: Irving and they beat Milwaukee in the first round and
Speaker 1: al Horford was guarding Janisanto Tokumpo and did a fantastic
Speaker 1: job on him. They went to seven games. Al Horford
Speaker 1: was the best player in Game seven. And then they
Speaker 1: played the Sixers in the second round and he outplayed
Speaker 1: Joel Embiid. I mean, he guarded Joel Embiid. He even
Speaker 1: guarded Ben Simmons at times, and he was he outplayed
Speaker 1: them both. And I think he's just obviously he's talented,
Speaker 1: but what I think about him is that he just
Speaker 1: he executes the game plan to a t. Like he
Speaker 1: knows the game plan and executes it perfectly on both
Speaker 1: ends of the floor. He knows what he's supposed to
Speaker 1: do offensively, he knows how his team can take advantage
Speaker 1: of the other team offensively and then defensively. He knows
Speaker 1: where to be and what to do, what his job is,
Speaker 1: and like he is just sort of like I just
Speaker 1: see him as the epitome of execution as a veteran player.
Speaker 1: He has his limitations, of course, and he's not going
Speaker 1: to have the best shooting games all the time. But
Speaker 1: I feel like, you know, that was a huge coup
Speaker 1: for the Sixers to get to, as Brett Brown has
Speaker 1: said it, to get him and then to take him
Speaker 1: away from the Celtics at the very same time. How
Speaker 1: much have you found over your time covering the league
Speaker 1: that as players get up there in years, how much
Speaker 1: farther can IQ take you a savvy for the game
Speaker 1: in all can that be a prevailing factor and prolonging
Speaker 1: not just a career, but how effective you are in
Speaker 1: this middle stage in terms of age of your career absolutely,
Speaker 1: And you know, Al's a great example of that that
Speaker 1: he you know, isn't the most athletic guy. You know,
Speaker 1: isn't as obviously getting older and you know, doesn't move
Speaker 1: his wa well, but just executes. A coach is going
Speaker 1: to trust him all that, like, is always going to
Speaker 1: trust him to do the right, to do what the
Speaker 1: coach wants. And I think that's a huge part of
Speaker 1: sticking in this league is just gaining the trust of
Speaker 1: the coaches and then in the extension the front office
Speaker 1: that's that that's making the personnel decisions. Um. You know
Speaker 1: he shoot, look at TJ McConnell, like a guy like
Speaker 1: that that just doesn't you know he I was talking
Speaker 1: about him with somebody today. He's just amazing like that
Speaker 1: this guy is in the league considering how small he is.
Speaker 1: He's not that athletic and he really can't shoot outside
Speaker 1: of seventeen eighteen feet, but he's tough and he's smart.
Speaker 1: He knows what to do. Um And so like, there
Speaker 1: are gout great examples of that, and a lot of
Speaker 1: them came out of this organization when when when the
Speaker 1: team wasn't winning, that just um didn't come in with
Speaker 1: a ton of talent. It just knew what to do
Speaker 1: and worked hard, and also you know, listen to their
Speaker 1: coaches and if they execute well, they can stick around
Speaker 1: for a long time. You talked about how in your
Speaker 1: power rankings you like to drop in a few nuggets
Speaker 1: and each capsule about a team that might open fans
Speaker 1: eyes to something else. And one that stood out to
Speaker 1: me from the recent Power rankings and you're writing about
Speaker 1: the seventy Sixers, is that the Sixers allow the Celtics
Speaker 1: to score just thirty seven points on fifty one possessions
Speaker 1: with Joel Embiid on the floor. Obviously, that is telling
Speaker 1: of Joe's defensive impact, but it also makes you think
Speaker 1: back to last year and how much of a subplot
Speaker 1: it was, particularly in the Toronto series when the Sixers
Speaker 1: were eliminated, of what happened when Joel wasn't on the floor.
Speaker 1: And when I look at this year's Sixers team, it's
Speaker 1: obviously different, especially on the offensive end, than it was
Speaker 1: last year. There's no jj Reddick in particular, but when
Speaker 1: Joel's not on the floor, this year you do have Horford.
Speaker 1: And for all the great things that Al does, I
Speaker 1: think simply his presence of being available provided good health.
Speaker 1: When Joel isn't available, whether it's for a substitution or
Speaker 1: a game off here or there, I think that makes
Speaker 1: the Sixers better. It should in theory, yes, yes, I
Speaker 1: think that would like if you look at the Toronto series, well,
Speaker 1: what went wrong, Well, we were I forget the plus
Speaker 1: minus in how exactly how many minutes it was when
Speaker 1: when mbid was off the floor, but it was staggering.
Speaker 1: And yes, and we know, speaking of staggering, Brett Brown
Speaker 1: staggers the minutes of his starters. Now there's a plus
Speaker 1: in a minus that the plot. The positive is that
Speaker 1: you're always going to have two starters on the floor,
Speaker 1: right and you have a talented starting lineup. If you
Speaker 1: have two of those guys on the floor at all times,
Speaker 1: you can take advantage of the other team's second unit.
Speaker 1: And we saw in the playoffs last year him starting
Speaker 1: the second and fourth quarters sometimes with the with the
Speaker 1: whole starting lineup on the floor, which was unique, and
Speaker 1: they obviously took advantage of that. The negative is that
Speaker 1: if you're doing that, you don't have all five starters
Speaker 1: on the floor together at the same time for as
Speaker 1: for as long as you would if you didn't stagger
Speaker 1: the minutes, Like if you just say, okay, we're gonna
Speaker 1: play them the first nine of the first and the
Speaker 1: last seven or eight of the second quarter, And so
Speaker 1: maybe you lose some of the potency that way. But
Speaker 1: then maybe you know, with this starting lineup, maybe the
Speaker 1: fit isn't perfect. You know, it's a lot of talent,
Speaker 1: but maybe the fit isn't perfect, and so maybe staggering
Speaker 1: the minutes is the way to go. But like you said,
Speaker 1: I think the benefit of it obviously is to have
Speaker 1: you always can you know, when they're healthy, you always
Speaker 1: have either Joel Embiid or Al Horford anchoring your defense
Speaker 1: and that's huge. Speaking of fit, how do you see
Speaker 1: Josh Richardson fitting in all this at this stage of
Speaker 1: his career. It's interesting because they're asking him, I think,
Speaker 1: to be a more of a ball handler than he's
Speaker 1: ever been. I think he's he's they're trying to I
Speaker 1: don't want to say force isn't the right way, but
Speaker 1: like because of the lack of pick and roll ball
Speaker 1: handling that they have on this team, he's sort of
Speaker 1: now like pushed into that role a little bit. And
Speaker 1: so and I think so far so good in that regard,
Speaker 1: and I think that's that could be a big factor
Speaker 1: in just how good they are come you know, May
Speaker 1: and June is just how well Richardson does with handling
Speaker 1: the ball and making those decisions out of pick and
Speaker 1: rolls to give them something different, something other than you know,
Speaker 1: uh and bead post ups and and uh, you know
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons trying to get downhill. How much was Richardson's
Speaker 1: assent and the more that he did in Miami something
Speaker 1: that was talked about within league circles the last couple
Speaker 1: of years. I thought he's terrific. In fact, there was
Speaker 1: a year I don't I don't think it was last year,
Speaker 1: maybe the year before where Gordon were There was a
Speaker 1: bunch of injuries for All Stars and the Heat were
Speaker 1: a good team and Go Drag was selected by the
Speaker 1: Commissioner's office as a injury replacement for All Star. When
Speaker 1: I was looking at I thought Josh Richardson should have
Speaker 1: been that like, I thought he should have been there
Speaker 1: All Star that year. Um, he's really good, just a
Speaker 1: terrific two way player. Um has turned himself into a
Speaker 1: great shooter. Um. I think the ball handling is coming.
Speaker 1: I think you know, we're gonna see it with this
Speaker 1: team a lot more than we have in the past.
Speaker 1: And then defensively, he's he's fantastic and obviously he's going
Speaker 1: to have a huge role in this on this team
Speaker 1: guarding opposing point guards. Um, with his length and his size,
Speaker 1: he's just obviously the sort of default matchup for opposing
Speaker 1: point guards. So um, he's a he's a fantastic two
Speaker 1: way play. Like the fact that they were able to
Speaker 1: get him out of the Jimmy Butler deal was was great,
Speaker 1: Like it was terrific. Like it's you know, they they
Speaker 1: lost Reddick, they lost Butler, but they gained two borderline
Speaker 1: All Stars in to replace them, and you know, it
Speaker 1: switches to the dynamic because you're, you know, swapping two
Speaker 1: wings for a wing and a and a big but um,
Speaker 1: you know, talent wise, they did just fine. I want
Speaker 1: to ask at the top, would we have kept the
Speaker 1: seventy six ers at number one? We're recording this on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: October thirtieth, after their win over the Atlanta Hawks, where
Speaker 1: they have maintained their purchase this point of the week,
Speaker 1: or sure, I mean, it wasn't the prettiest of wins.
Speaker 1: I think their offense, we saw some more offensive struggles.
Speaker 1: But I've always say a roadwin is a good win,
Speaker 1: you know, even if it's not against the best team,
Speaker 1: and even if it's only by a couple of points,
Speaker 1: road wins are good wins. You can you'll take a roadwin, however,
Speaker 1: you can get it um And so no, I wouldn't.
Speaker 1: I in my mind in my midweek power rankings, which
Speaker 1: are only in my head, they are still number one.
Speaker 1: One storyline that emerged from that was the seventy six
Speaker 1: ers going to Joel and b late in the game,
Speaker 1: fourth quarter type battle. He was doubled a lot in
Speaker 1: the game, he got to the free throw line, made
Speaker 1: the final two to win the game. As far as
Speaker 1: the next phase of Joel's evolution, is it about handling
Speaker 1: increased attention that he gets, drawing double teams, cutting down
Speaker 1: on turnovers, recognizing those situations, executing late in the fourth
Speaker 1: quarter when Brett Brown said he is the team's crown
Speaker 1: jewel and they'll look at that. Yeah. I thought it
Speaker 1: was fascinating that they ran a design duck in basically
Speaker 1: for the last play of the game. Like, you don't
Speaker 1: see that, It doesn't happen. But before the season started,
Speaker 1: you know, Pep Brett Brown was asked, you know who's
Speaker 1: going to be your go to go to guy down
Speaker 1: the stretch and he said, I think it's Joel. Look well,
Speaker 1: other thought as well, how are you going to do that?
Speaker 1: He's you know, you're gonna getting the ball into the
Speaker 1: post is not as easy as it as it sounds.
Speaker 1: But there was example number one of you know, them
Speaker 1: trying to get Joel the ball on the last possession
Speaker 1: and it worked. And give credit to Al Horford for
Speaker 1: making that pass. That was not the easiest past to make.
Speaker 1: And you know that's that's huge, and you know we're
Speaker 1: talking right now, but before the Minnesota game, and it'll
Speaker 1: be fun to see how both the Sixers and the
Speaker 1: Wolves going into this game guard post ups because Joel
Speaker 1: and Carl Anthony Towns are number one and number two,
Speaker 1: I don't think in that order, maybe in verse order,
Speaker 1: and post ups per game, So it'll be interesting to
Speaker 1: see how both teams handle that and how both those
Speaker 1: guys handle, you know, the defense that comes their way.
Speaker 1: I obviously live in a very hyper focused seventy sixers world.
Speaker 1: Is it rare what we're seeing from Matisse Stybe. I
Speaker 1: know it's only three games in and he did do
Speaker 1: some pretty good stuff in the preseason. What stood out
Speaker 1: to you about Batist Styble. He's been a guy Bret's
Speaker 1: gone to early on in the rotation. He's Kawhi Leonard
Speaker 1: esque in his ability to snatch the ball from anybody
Speaker 1: who's got a loose handle anywhere in his vicinity. That's
Speaker 1: it's it's pretty ridiculous the way U or his hands
Speaker 1: and his um, his quickness defensively, and it says a
Speaker 1: lot about the guy that he trust. You know that
Speaker 1: he earned, um the coach's trust. Uh, to be in
Speaker 1: the rotation from day one like that says a lot
Speaker 1: that you know, uh, to to earn that job over
Speaker 1: people that have been here before. You know, they've been here,
Speaker 1: have been around already. UM. And so uh, you know,
Speaker 1: he's obviously got a ways to go, especially offensively. UM,
Speaker 1: but he's starting from a pretty high floor, let's say,
Speaker 1: you know, with what he can do defensively and just
Speaker 1: his size and UM, you know, his defense on Kemball
Speaker 1: Walker and in the opener was was terrific and was
Speaker 1: noteworthy just because they have not only this huge starting lineup,
Speaker 1: but then now they have um guys off the bench
Speaker 1: that can can def and just as well. He came
Speaker 1: in against Trey Young the other night Trey Young got
Speaker 1: off to a quick start for the Hawks. Thought he
Speaker 1: kind of threw Trey off his game a little bit. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he he does seem to have a pretty ridiculous snack
Speaker 1: for just being able to sniff things out make I
Speaker 1: guess Brett Brown, Shoot, I'm forgetting the exact phrase, the
Speaker 1: reckless thief. I think it's what Brett called them the
Speaker 1: other day. But you know, he's like, and he made
Speaker 1: a joke about it. He's like, I've been out of
Speaker 1: position my whole career, and that's why I've been successful,
Speaker 1: but like at a position within reason, like he's been
Speaker 1: consistently successful. Yeah, I mean, I mean the one thing
Speaker 1: to watch is just you know, how he how he
Speaker 1: does with with with fouls, you know, just being able
Speaker 1: to stay out of foul trouble and and keep his
Speaker 1: team out of foul trouble. Because if he's coming in
Speaker 1: you know, late first quarter or whatever it is, you know,
Speaker 1: and and and that the other teams in the bonus
Speaker 1: that you know, those those things are more important I
Speaker 1: usually ask Gott National reporters and they passed there or
Speaker 1: were able to get them on the pod or even
Speaker 1: just see them like in passing and I'm just making
Speaker 1: bad small chat. I'd like to ask stuff like, well,
Speaker 1: what is from what you've been hearing, what do people
Speaker 1: think of this person that person? The other Elton brand.
Speaker 1: I mean, obviously this team has been shaped aggressively within
Speaker 1: his vision line over the last year and a half.
Speaker 1: Now at this point, what do you think are some
Speaker 1: of Elton's distinguishing traits as a front office executive from
Speaker 1: what you've been able to gather and that's allowed him
Speaker 1: to be able to pull off some of these aggressive moves.
Speaker 1: I mean aggressive is the word? Like, that's that. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's amazing just how far they've come since two years ago.
Speaker 1: I guess it was they were twenty five and twenty
Speaker 1: five right like, and then just went on that huge
Speaker 1: run down the stretch of that season, and then we've
Speaker 1: just seen so many like like, the team is unrecognizable
Speaker 1: from what that team was that was, you know, the
Speaker 1: Sarach and Covington starting lineup that was so good, you know,
Speaker 1: and then there was you know, a fairly quiet summer,
Speaker 1: and then the Jimmy Butler trade and then the Tobias
Speaker 1: Harris trade and then uh, you know, Butler and Reddick
Speaker 1: become Richardson and Horford. I mean, it's just it's just
Speaker 1: keeps rolling, and it's you know, given the age of
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons and Joel and beat it's unusual for a
Speaker 1: team to be so aggressive in trying to win a
Speaker 1: championship right away. But you know, you gotta admire it, like,
Speaker 1: you know, why not, you know, and bead is a
Speaker 1: force and one of the best, maybe one of the
Speaker 1: best two way players in the league, an MVP candidate
Speaker 1: if and a Defensive Player of the Year candidate if
Speaker 1: he stays healthy. So um, you know, if you if
Speaker 1: you feel like it's time to go for it, you
Speaker 1: go for it. And they've done that. And I mean
Speaker 1: just the Horford and Richardson acquisitions this summer are just
Speaker 1: I you know, I don't think any many of us
Speaker 1: saw that coming, and that just speaks to his prepared
Speaker 1: to be able to you know, pivot from you know,
Speaker 1: Butler and Reddick to those two guys like that. That
Speaker 1: says a lot about how prepared Eldon and his staff
Speaker 1: were going into the summer and just one final thing
Speaker 1: before we wrap this up. How much do you think
Speaker 1: that approach was dictated by seventy sixers front office seeing
Speaker 1: that well, Joel while he still has room to grow,
Speaker 1: we have an established sense of what he can do,
Speaker 1: and Ben Simmons, while there's still areas that he can
Speaker 1: obviously grow. Like that, they saw enough evidence out of
Speaker 1: the two of them to know that they were I
Speaker 1: guess I'm saying is how much was a reflection of
Speaker 1: the readiness of those two players that the seventy six
Speaker 1: ers were, like, even though they're young, all right, now
Speaker 1: is the time to try and capitalize on this rather
Speaker 1: than wait a little bit more for more growth and
Speaker 1: evolutionary development from those players. I mean, hey, even though
Speaker 1: they're young, they're all stars. Like, they're all star level players.
Speaker 1: So and then you can just go back into time
Speaker 1: and realize that you never know when you're when your
Speaker 1: time is up or like or when your time comes.
Speaker 1: Like I remember in when the Thunder we're in the
Speaker 1: finals in two thousand and twelve. You know, Kevin Durant,
Speaker 1: Russell Westbrooke, James Harden and Serge Ibaka, all those guys
Speaker 1: were like twenty four and twenty five years old, and
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, you know they'll be back. You
Speaker 1: know we're going to be coming to Oklahoma City for
Speaker 1: the finals for years to come. And well, no, we haven't, right, um.
Speaker 1: And I remember at that time looking back and seeing Okay, well,
Speaker 1: Shack and Penny were like twenty five when they made
Speaker 1: the finals with the Magic and they never got back
Speaker 1: as a as a tandem. Um. Dwight Howard was twenty
Speaker 1: five ish or when he got to the finals, UM
Speaker 1: with the Magic and he never got back with that group.
Speaker 1: You know, it's you There are teams that get get
Speaker 1: pushed far and you're like and maybe and they don't
Speaker 1: make it all the way, and you say, you know
Speaker 1: they're they're young, you know they're that guy's just entering
Speaker 1: his prime. He'll be back. But you just never, like no,
Speaker 1: not necessarily. You know, you never know what's coming around
Speaker 1: the corner. And so you've got to you gotta push
Speaker 1: for everything while you can. You know, you can't take
Speaker 1: take anybody's talent for granted and think that it's it's
Speaker 1: always going to be there. John Schuman, thanks so much, man,
Speaker 1: appreciate it. YEP. John's Weekly Power Rankings on NBA dot Com.
Speaker 1: Get them every Monday. Always a good thought provoking read.
Speaker 1: Follow John on Twitter at John Schumann. All Right, the
Speaker 1: Sixers continue this long run of road games. They are
Speaker 1: out West, taken on some quality teams, at least in
Speaker 1: the early part of this season. They've got the Portland Trailblazers,
Speaker 1: Phoenix Suns, a Utah Jazz, and Denver Nuggets. Will keep
Speaker 1: tabs on what's going on next time here on the broadcast,
Speaker 1: and oh be sure to listen out for rewind editions
Speaker 1: to the podcast, recapping every game the morning after you
Speaker 1: see it.