WEBVTT - The BroadCast: 3/5/2018 ~ With Home Stretch Here, a Visit With Bob Cooney 0:00:01.040 --> 0:00:04.760 It's time to talk Sixers, Simmons off balance and an 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:09.000 incredible bank shot is good Here on the Broadcast, the 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:13.119 official podcast of Sixers dot Com. If drive dom he 0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:16.079 goes in that slabs it. Oh man, what a play 0:00:16.120 --> 0:00:21.320 by it be. Now here's today's episode, a new day, 0:00:21.360 --> 0:00:25.040 an opportunity for the seventy Sixers to move forward after 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:29.600 a tough loss in Milwaukee on Sunday night. Brian Seltzer, 0:00:29.640 --> 0:00:33.240 welcoming you into the latest edition of the broadcast. Thanks 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:35.720 so much for checking it out. Our guest on this 0:00:35.760 --> 0:00:38.720 episode of the podcast, it is going to be excellent 0:00:38.760 --> 0:00:41.760 to sit down with the one and only Bob Cooney 0:00:41.800 --> 0:00:44.320 morning Man. Well, now he's a morning man, a really 0:00:44.320 --> 0:00:48.320 early morning man on our flagship station for Sixers Radio 0:00:48.360 --> 0:00:51.040 Broadcast ninety seven five The Fanatic. You can hear him 0:00:51.080 --> 0:00:53.040 each day from six to ten, and you'll hear from 0:00:53.120 --> 0:00:55.560 him and his thoughts on the state of the Sixers 0:00:55.800 --> 0:00:59.400 in just a matter of moments. Reminder that to subscribe 0:00:59.400 --> 0:01:01.240 to the podcast, you can go to a couple of places. 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:06.600 You can go to iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher. Type 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:09.400 in Sixers Podcast Network. We also have our own SoundCloud 0:01:09.440 --> 0:01:15.640 page at SoundCloud dot Com backslash sixers sixers with nineteen 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:18.039 games to go in the season, there in the thick 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:22.040 obviously of the Eastern Conference playoff race as of Monday 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:24.319 in sixth place with the record of thirty four and 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:28.560 twenty eight. Always a good opportunity, regardless of the stage 0:01:28.560 --> 0:01:32.199 of the season to touch base with Bob Cooney. Now 0:01:32.200 --> 0:01:34.920 an early morning riser is a part of the Fanatic 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:38.920 Morning crew, and selfishly Bob a hard adjustment on this end, 0:01:39.560 --> 0:01:42.479 not being able to see around in person as much. 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:45.080 How you doing, I'm doing well, Brian. How are you? 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:48.480 I'm good. I'd even say great because I'll tell you 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:52.160 what Sunday Nights was doing the postgame show on ninety 0:01:52.160 --> 0:01:54.680 seven five to the Fanatic, And I will tell you, 0:01:54.880 --> 0:01:57.840 I don't think I have a better, more enjoyable experience 0:01:58.000 --> 0:01:59.760 on the air than the nights when I get to 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:07.520 hear a Bob Cooney voiced ferguson commercial running. Yeah, I'm 0:02:07.560 --> 0:02:10.160 sure it's the highlight of your life. There is the 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:14.120 enthusiasm that is booming. You gotta bring it right, Brian, 0:02:14.240 --> 0:02:17.600 you know what it's all about. Uh, well, there was 0:02:17.639 --> 0:02:19.800 lots of energy with that. There's lots of energy at 0:02:19.800 --> 0:02:22.000 the start of Sunday's game for the seventy six ers, Yes, 0:02:22.040 --> 0:02:23.600 there was, and there's also a lot of energy at 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:25.240 the end. It was just not on the seventy six 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:28.280 ers side of things. Um, it was a strange game. 0:02:28.480 --> 0:02:30.040 It was kind of like, if you can remove any 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:32.720 rooting interests, an entertaining game for sure. A lot of 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:37.440 star power turnovers here we are again. Yeah, it's it's 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:39.960 the way they come, Brian, I think it's not. Uh, 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:42.200 you know, can you live with a turnover when you're 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:45.040 trying to run a play and the defense makes a 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:46.880 good play on it, maybe a deny in the post 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:49.120 or something like that, All right, you can live with that. 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:52.680 But but when you're trying to break an eat nothing 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:55.640 run and you try to throw like a cross court 0:02:55.720 --> 0:03:00.239 one handed bounce pass through traffic, Uh, that I don't 0:03:00.240 --> 0:03:03.640 think Brett can live with, you know, the silly things, 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:06.560 maybe Joel trying to throw a fancy pass or something 0:03:06.639 --> 0:03:08.840 like that, Like, you can't live with those. He's gonna 0:03:08.880 --> 0:03:12.040 have to live with. Joel's gonna turn the ball over 0:03:12.080 --> 0:03:14.320 a lot simply because his ball handling isn't there yet. 0:03:14.360 --> 0:03:16.919 He's still raw in that in that area, I believe 0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:18.640 because he hasn't He hasn't played a lot of basketball 0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:20.359 over the last five years, and I think the last 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:22.040 thing to come as always your ball handling. I don't 0:03:22.280 --> 0:03:24.600 just mean dribbling, I mean the passing. I mean just 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:28.480 handling the basketball. So they're gonna have turnovers there. But 0:03:30.040 --> 0:03:31.560 I didn't like the way they played with a lead. 0:03:31.680 --> 0:03:34.320 Quite frankly, they still kept the up tempo a lot, 0:03:34.360 --> 0:03:36.480 even if twenty one point lead nineteen point leads, and 0:03:36.480 --> 0:03:38.960 they kept staying up tempo. I think there could have 0:03:39.000 --> 0:03:40.240 been a way they could have slowed it down a 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:42.840 little bit, and maybe that would have prevented some turnovers, 0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:44.680 and it surely would have taken some time off the clock. 0:03:45.000 --> 0:03:47.920 For as ridiculous as the Sixers run was to start 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:50.040 the game, when the games played at this evel, you 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:52.480 know the opponent's gonna make it at some point, and 0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:55.320 you thought that maybe that midway stretch of the second quarter, 0:03:55.400 --> 0:03:57.560 you were like, maybe that was it, because it seemed 0:03:57.560 --> 0:03:59.520 like the Sixers got it back to a comfortable point 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:02.200 ut of the first half, twelve point game, and then 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:03.880 the way the Bean and the team came out to 0:04:03.920 --> 0:04:06.680 start the third quarter, like all right, they're rolling, but 0:04:07.360 --> 0:04:11.160 on the road high stakes, and I think the desperation factor. 0:04:11.200 --> 0:04:14.920 You could see Milwaukee really knew it needed to get 0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:17.479 that game, having lost four in a row, and their 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:20.640 guy led them to it. Yeah, yeah, he's an amazing 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:24.080 talent on kompo Is And yeah it was. It was. 0:04:24.680 --> 0:04:26.800 It's odd, like we've seen it many times. I've seen 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:28.240 it through the years I covered the NBA. You have 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:30.359 also when a team jumps out to that lead, you 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:31.840 expect the other team to make a run and come 0:04:31.880 --> 0:04:34.520 back and get into it. And Milwaukee did that in 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:37.679 the first half. To do it twice as odd. So 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:39.920 that the fact that they did it the second time. 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:41.560 Here's where I think the six Ers are going to 0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:44.160 have some problems, Briy, And it certainly seemed to be 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:47.760 the case on Sunday night. At one point they had 0:04:48.320 --> 0:04:51.240 ersan Ilia Silvia, you have Darius Saritt, you have m 0:04:52.080 --> 0:04:54.960 Marco Bellonelli on the floor at the same time, not 0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:57.760 three guys that are really quick afoot, you know which, 0:04:57.880 --> 0:05:02.200 which is fine, But so it seemed to me that 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:05.240 the defense defense's design was all right, let's run the 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:08.200 three pointers off the line, get out there, don't allow 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:10.880 three pointers and let and make them, you know, beat 0:05:10.920 --> 0:05:13.080 you with the dribble drive where you have Joel embiad 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:15.240 in the back wherever it is. They did do that, 0:05:15.400 --> 0:05:19.000 but Milwaukee converted like every time, and there was a 0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:20.760 lot of three point plays in there, a lot of 0:05:20.760 --> 0:05:24.840 baskets and fouls, so, uh, you know, you're picking your poison. 0:05:24.839 --> 0:05:27.520 Are we letting up three pointers or are we running 0:05:27.520 --> 0:05:30.240 them off the three point line? And when they did 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:33.800 allow three pointers, Milwaukee shot a pretty good percentage there 0:05:33.800 --> 0:05:36.080 in the second half. And then it went the other 0:05:36.120 --> 0:05:39.440 way where um Onto Takumpo would would drive a lot, 0:05:39.480 --> 0:05:42.200 and he found like Zeller, why Zeller's having a game? 0:05:42.360 --> 0:05:44.679 But that's what happened because you're you're driving in odd 0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:47.400 man situations two on ones from the lane on down 0:05:47.680 --> 0:05:49.360 and in Bead stuck does he go after the ball? 0:05:49.400 --> 0:05:51.400 Does he play off? And and and I think that's 0:05:51.400 --> 0:05:55.880 where your your comeback came from from Milwaukee obviously, um 0:05:56.520 --> 0:05:58.360 And it's you know, I want to get into the hole. 0:05:58.360 --> 0:06:00.560 And Bead playing his eighty second game thing a little bit. 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:05.160 He's been terrific this year. Ben Simmons breakout. You can 0:06:05.160 --> 0:06:08.719 see the potential that he's got, but you look ahead 0:06:08.720 --> 0:06:12.000 where there's someone like Janis and first of all, amazingly 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:13.960 he's only twenty three. I kind of, you know, I 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:15.599 was looking some stuff up last night. I was like, 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:17.520 maybe this guy's like twenty four to twenty five. Now, 0:06:17.520 --> 0:06:20.840 he's still only twenty three years old. Unbelievable. And you're like, 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:23.280 he has that gear where it seems like he's been 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:25.039 in the league long enough where he can have a 0:06:25.080 --> 0:06:27.719 stretch like he did late in the third quarter where 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:30.000 it's total, I'm a star, I'm going to take the 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:32.160 game over. And while we've seen that in flashes with 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:34.760 Ben and Joel, it's like it's neat to kind of 0:06:34.760 --> 0:06:36.880 think out and project given how young and relatively in 0:06:36.960 --> 0:06:39.360 experience they are. They get a couple more seasons under 0:06:39.400 --> 0:06:41.279 their belt, you know, that seems like it's something that 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:44.000 comes over time where you can really start to impose 0:06:44.080 --> 0:06:46.560 your will over an extended stretch of a game. I 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:50.640 absolutely think. So let's go Ben's case. First, he's going 0:06:50.680 --> 0:06:52.360 to have to develop a shot. We all know that 0:06:52.640 --> 0:06:54.880 in order for him to take over a game, he's 0:06:54.880 --> 0:06:56.599 going to have to develop a shot. He can still 0:06:56.600 --> 0:06:59.479 take over a game even without it. I think. You 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:01.640 know people who say defender, all they have to do 0:07:01.720 --> 0:07:04.120 is back off of him and he can't do anything. Well, No, 0:07:04.200 --> 0:07:06.000 he can drive the ball right at your chest and 0:07:06.040 --> 0:07:08.080 then still beat you around the basket because he can 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:11.600 use both hands. So I think for him to consistently 0:07:11.640 --> 0:07:13.240 be a guy that can close out a game, he's 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:15.720 got to develop that ten twelve fifteen footer and I 0:07:15.760 --> 0:07:18.720 don't see that being a problem moving forward. Joe's problem 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:21.520 right now is simply his ball handling. You know, he's 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:26.400 a wonderful shooter. I still think offensively and defensively, he's 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:29.000 like a five year old soccer player. Where wherever the 0:07:29.040 --> 0:07:31.920 ball is he wants to be, And that'll come with maturity. 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:34.360 You know, stop running after the basketball, Get where you're 0:07:34.400 --> 0:07:36.920 supposed to be, post up, whatever it may be. Get 0:07:36.960 --> 0:07:38.880 their stay there. If the ball comes to you, great, 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:41.040 If it doesn't, you know, then you're on to the 0:07:41.040 --> 0:07:45.360 next adventure. But both of those guys have the tremendous 0:07:45.400 --> 0:07:48.680 ability to take over a game now, and as their 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:51.240 games grow in the cases that I just mentioned, it's 0:07:51.720 --> 0:07:55.240 gonna be mind boggling to watch them. Sunday Milwaukee a 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:58.200 tough one for the squad. But as we step back 0:07:58.240 --> 0:08:00.400 a bit and look a little bit more big picture, 0:08:00.640 --> 0:08:05.400 less granular to barrowe off to used Brett Brown word Sixers. 0:08:05.480 --> 0:08:07.720 Right now, thirty four and twenty eight they are in 0:08:07.760 --> 0:08:10.840 the middle of the pack in a very tight Eastern Conference. 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:12.800 I mean, it really is crazy. Just two games out 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:16.080 of third, which is held by Cleveland, and then a 0:08:16.120 --> 0:08:18.200 game and a half in front of Miami for eighth 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:20.720 as we speak now, and then there's Detroit which is 0:08:20.760 --> 0:08:23.640 four games behind Miami freight. So it seems like at 0:08:23.640 --> 0:08:26.960 this point, with nineteen games to go, Sixers look like 0:08:27.080 --> 0:08:29.160 they're going to be in it. Did you think that 0:08:29.200 --> 0:08:32.760 we would be in a conversation talking about the possibility 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:36.040 of home court advantage with nineteen games to go in 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:38.559 the year when things started back in October? It's amazing, 0:08:38.640 --> 0:08:41.880 isn't it? And in talking to people where the reaction 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:44.680 everything after Sunday Night's game against Milwaukee, the loss is 0:08:45.120 --> 0:08:47.040 what the hell's going on here? You know? Part of 0:08:47.080 --> 0:08:49.240 that stuff? You say, well, all right, sit back for 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:52.559 a second. Realistically, this could be a forty five win team, 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:54.559 This could be a four seat in the playoffs. Tell 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:56.120 me you wouldn't have signed up for that before the 0:08:56.160 --> 0:09:00.160 year started, you know exactly. So you know, I was 0:09:00.160 --> 0:09:04.200 on this like thirty eight thirty nine win before the 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:07.000 season started. That was kind of my perdition. Players getting 0:09:07.040 --> 0:09:08.840 used to each other. So they're exceeding where I thought 0:09:08.880 --> 0:09:12.320 they were going to be, which'all in all lends you 0:09:12.400 --> 0:09:14.959 to say it's been a successful season. Successful season. I 0:09:15.000 --> 0:09:16.920 think it's you know, they've had a little tough stretcher. 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:18.360 They got three more games on the road, if I'm 0:09:18.400 --> 0:09:22.000 not mistaken, three straight on the road, right yeah, after Milwaukee, 0:09:22.040 --> 0:09:24.040 and then I believe they close out. I want to 0:09:24.040 --> 0:09:27.320 say something like ten of their last sixteen, maybe eleven 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:29.360 or at home. They have a nice home stretch to 0:09:29.360 --> 0:09:32.000 finish the season. I think that's gonna bode really well 0:09:32.040 --> 0:09:34.400 for them. I really I was going through the schedule 0:09:34.440 --> 0:09:36.040 like I was doing the Eagles thing like game by 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:38.760 game win win win, lost, win law. So I think 0:09:38.760 --> 0:09:40.760 it's going to really play out well for them, And 0:09:40.800 --> 0:09:43.400 a fourth seat wouldn't surprise me. By well, listen, you've 0:09:43.400 --> 0:09:45.880 been doing this forever, and you know, like I kind 0:09:45.880 --> 0:09:48.000 of thought to talk about, well, this is an easy 0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:51.200 portion of the schedule coming up was a little bit overblown, because, yeah, 0:09:51.200 --> 0:09:54.080 the opponents weren't quite the same caliber that we saw 0:09:54.200 --> 0:09:57.000 for the first half two thirds of the season. But 0:09:57.040 --> 0:09:59.240 if you look at the way the schedule structured, just 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:01.680 how condemned instant packed in the games are after the 0:10:01.679 --> 0:10:03.920 All Star break, I mean the last two weeks, and 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:06.600 then you're throwing guys like Ben, Joel and Dario who 0:10:06.600 --> 0:10:09.280 were actually out in Los Angeles for the All Star Game, right, 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:12.080 I mean, I think it was out of twenty five days, 0:10:12.120 --> 0:10:15.040 the Sixers might have physically been home in Philadelphia. This 0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:17.640 is going through this coming Sunday's game at Brooklyn. I 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:19.560 think maybe they've been at home or will be at 0:10:19.600 --> 0:10:22.960 home for about four days total. Because it's like you 0:10:22.960 --> 0:10:24.600 have that three game road trip end with a back 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:26.719 to back that you play at home against Charlotte, and 0:10:26.760 --> 0:10:29.240 then the next afternoon you're on a flight to Milwaukee 0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:31.400 and you're on the road for another eight days. It's crazy, 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:33.880 it is, and it's and you know, and you and 0:10:33.920 --> 0:10:35.760 I have done the travel on that. It's hard. It's 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:38.760 really really hard to do. It doesn't matter your opponent. 0:10:38.800 --> 0:10:41.640 That's why I thought Bride so the Cleveland win was 0:10:41.640 --> 0:10:44.400 a great win in Cleveland. Obviously all that that entails 0:10:44.679 --> 0:10:48.120 the next night to come home against Charlotte mentally and physically, 0:10:48.440 --> 0:10:50.760 that's a really, really tough home because you just beat 0:10:50.840 --> 0:10:53.760 Lebron James and all everything that was surrounding. You know, 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:58.319 all of that that's mentally fatiguing, let alone the physicality 0:10:58.400 --> 0:11:00.200 part of it. You know that it takes to come 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:02.400 back and play the next night to get behind. And 0:11:02.480 --> 0:11:04.880 I'm watching, I'm thinking, you know what, maybe this is 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:06.800 just one you gotta chalk up. And they made a 0:11:06.840 --> 0:11:09.160 great comeback and they played well, and they played hard, 0:11:09.160 --> 0:11:12.120 and I thought ersoni Eli Silva, you know, I'm a huge, 0:11:12.200 --> 0:11:15.840 huge proponent for was really good, like stepped right in 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:17.760 and he and Joel and b looked like they played 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:22.040 together for twenty years. That I thought was a great stretch. 0:11:22.080 --> 0:11:23.920 And I had to go back to those two games. 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:26.360 After the disappointment that I fell to the Milwaukee game, 0:11:26.679 --> 0:11:28.680 I had to say, Okay, they just had a really 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:31.200 good two games stretch. Maybe this Milwaukee game was the 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:33.800 one game where you say, all right, those things happen. 0:11:34.240 --> 0:11:37.280 And especially about the Cleveland and Charlotte wins, something that 0:11:37.320 --> 0:11:40.680 it seems like Sixers fans and followers, the team, and heck, 0:11:40.760 --> 0:11:43.800 probably people within the organization itself. I've been talking about 0:11:44.120 --> 0:11:46.080 for a good portion this year is how do we 0:11:46.120 --> 0:11:48.160 get to a point where we close out games? And 0:11:48.200 --> 0:11:50.600 they did it on the road against arguably the best 0:11:50.600 --> 0:11:52.440 player in the league, and then they had a massive 0:11:52.440 --> 0:11:55.120 comeback against the Hornet. So actually wanted to queue up 0:11:55.160 --> 0:11:59.360 a cut. This was from Brett after the game, coincidentally 0:11:59.480 --> 0:12:03.080 enough in Milwaukee, and then get your take on Brett 0:12:03.120 --> 0:12:06.280 talking about how things go with the way the Sixers 0:12:06.320 --> 0:12:09.520 are designed, especially trying to close late games out and 0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:11.280 that sort of thing. So here we go. We have 0:12:11.360 --> 0:12:13.720 a team that needs to free each other up. We 0:12:13.760 --> 0:12:16.079 don't have somebody. We're just gonna give it to Giannis 0:12:16.160 --> 0:12:18.679 and he's gonna dance, so bledsoe, he's gonna dance. So 0:12:18.800 --> 0:12:21.960 watch Jabari. You know, I want a wing on Middleton. 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:25.079 I want a wing that's not who we are. Whatever 0:12:25.160 --> 0:12:27.120 we do, we have to get done as a team. 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:30.440 We have to have violent cuts, we have to have 0:12:30.640 --> 0:12:33.960 adult screens, and we have to cut to meet him. 0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:37.120 Joel is the only real like, let's give it to 0:12:37.200 --> 0:12:39.199 Joel and let him go to work and type of guy, 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:41.600 and so you need body movement and team movement. That's 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:44.720 why we leave the NBA and passes we was second 0:12:44.720 --> 0:12:48.320 and assist percentages and the past is king. So you 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:52.920 take what we saw Sunday night where Giannis goes totally 0:12:52.960 --> 0:12:55.920 bonkers and he pretty much put the bucks on his back, 0:12:56.280 --> 0:12:57.880 and then you look at the way the Sixers got 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:00.959 it done at Cleveland Thursday and versus Charlotte Friday. I mean, 0:13:01.360 --> 0:13:03.880 that is an interesting and juxtaposition that you got to 0:13:03.920 --> 0:13:05.800 keep in mind think about how things might play out 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:09.160 going forward from here the rest of the season. Yeah, yeah, Yeah. 0:13:09.480 --> 0:13:12.560 It's funny listening to Brett's cut there, and I know 0:13:12.600 --> 0:13:15.880 what he's saying. I think it's for the greater goal, Brie, Like, 0:13:16.000 --> 0:13:18.400 the greater goal is to pass, pass, pass, and move 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:20.679 learn how to play that game. The isolation can come 0:13:20.679 --> 0:13:22.240 when these guys get to be a little bit more 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:27.760 veteran like obviously, and we're talking about they're such babies 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:29.800 in this league, you know what I mean. They've hardly 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:31.960 played any games on the grand scheme of things, So 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:35.040 I understand what Brett's saying. Hopefully at some point they 0:13:35.040 --> 0:13:37.840 will incorporate that so that you can go to isolation 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:39.560 that you can break down a game that if you 0:13:39.640 --> 0:13:42.360 need a basket from somebody, you have multiple people you 0:13:42.400 --> 0:13:44.280 can go to. And I don't think it's that far off. 0:13:44.320 --> 0:13:46.319 I really do think it's right around the corner. We're 0:13:46.360 --> 0:13:49.920 recording this podcast on March fifth, we turned back the clock. 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:53.520 One month ago, Sixers were right on the cusp of 0:13:53.640 --> 0:13:57.360 starting that big blitz and surge of the month of February. 0:13:57.400 --> 0:14:00.439 They were a five hundred team before that long homestand 0:14:00.480 --> 0:14:04.360 started against the Washington Wizards. Do you think this time 0:14:04.400 --> 0:14:10.040 a month ago the Sixers would have thought that they 0:14:10.080 --> 0:14:13.080 were going to go after someone like in our SONI Iliasova. 0:14:13.760 --> 0:14:16.480 I guess the roundabout, kind of weird way that I'm 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:18.520 asking this question is like it kind of felt like 0:14:18.559 --> 0:14:20.800 they were going to make a move at the trade 0:14:20.800 --> 0:14:24.080 deadline or surrounding that if someone was bought out Marco Bellinelli. 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:26.160 But do you think they might have even exceeded their 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:28.760 own expectations going through that winning streak and getting as 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:31.200 close up to home court advantage as they did, and 0:14:31.280 --> 0:14:33.640 that might have put the thought further in their mind 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:37.200 to get aggressive and go after someone like it really 0:14:37.280 --> 0:14:39.960 was bright. It was just like validation. No, no, no no, no, 0:14:40.080 --> 0:14:43.760 because I really thought when it happened, what I said 0:14:43.800 --> 0:14:48.320 to myself was, wow, the sixers are gone. Hmm, this 0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:51.600 could be fun. Like, let's pick him up, and you 0:14:51.640 --> 0:14:54.680 know what, maybe instead of getting in at a good 0:14:54.720 --> 0:14:57.800 seed and playing in the playoffs, maybe we get a 0:14:57.800 --> 0:15:00.600 better seed and maybe we can win in the playoffs. 0:15:00.560 --> 0:15:03.479 I honest to god, I really thought that Brian Colangelo 0:15:03.560 --> 0:15:05.880 and how much Brett had to do with it, I 0:15:06.040 --> 0:15:08.560 thought that they were I thought that the thinking at 0:15:08.600 --> 0:15:11.440 the time was, Wow, we're playing really well. Let's add 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:13.760 another piece. Let's let's see what we can do. It 0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:16.920 doesn't kill you, obviously, as far as anything by taking 0:15:16.960 --> 0:15:20.800 these two guys on and buyouts. As I said earlier, 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:23.240 I was a big I was a big proponent. I 0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:26.720 never liked that they traded Ilia Silva last year, and 0:15:26.960 --> 0:15:29.720 I joked with Brian Colangelo about that endlessly, to the 0:15:29.720 --> 0:15:31.320 point where he said, all right, you can stop writing 0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:34.160 that now. But I just thought he was a great 0:15:34.200 --> 0:15:36.880 fit for this team last year, and so to bring 0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:38.960 him back it did it said to me in my head, 0:15:39.000 --> 0:15:41.920 I said this out out though a few people. I 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:45.760 could just have seen Brian and Brett say this might 0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:47.920 be fun to bring him back and see where we 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:50.040 can go with it. And I think they've, you know, 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:53.560 majorly strengthened their bench because of it. Can you correct 0:15:53.560 --> 0:15:55.000 me if I'm wrong. I think it was even going 0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:57.040 back as far as the day after the end of 0:15:57.040 --> 0:16:01.359 the regular season press conference last year, where Ryan pretty 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:05.280 directly and publicly said, stretch four is something that we're 0:16:05.320 --> 0:16:07.720 going to have on our minds going into the offseason. 0:16:07.920 --> 0:16:10.240 And it worked great when our son was here. It did, 0:16:10.280 --> 0:16:13.080 and that again one of the reasons I just didn't 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:15.960 understand really what they did. But they did what they did, 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:18.920 and that's fine. And I don't want to say they've 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:21.720 corrected it, but you know, they revisited it. Let's put 0:16:21.720 --> 0:16:25.120 it that way. And I just think to me and 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:27.440 you and I did it together. We watched practices with 0:16:27.480 --> 0:16:30.360 her son. It's not just games, it's it's practices and all. 0:16:31.000 --> 0:16:32.520 And he had one thing last year. He was in 0:16:32.560 --> 0:16:34.040 a little bit of a shooting slump, and he stayed 0:16:34.080 --> 0:16:36.320 after for over an hour, over an hour over their 0:16:36.360 --> 0:16:38.960 shooting and just shooting, shooting, shooting, And then I had 0:16:39.000 --> 0:16:40.480 somebody come up to me and say, you know this 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:42.840 is impressive because I was standing there watching and I said, 0:16:42.880 --> 0:16:45.600 it is for a veteran to stay grind of the season, 0:16:45.640 --> 0:16:48.520 stay extra hour, And the person that said to said, no, 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:51.200 it's even more impressive because his family just came in 0:16:51.240 --> 0:16:53.400 this morning and it's the first time he's going to 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:55.920 see them in six weeks. And as much as he 0:16:55.960 --> 0:16:57.840 wanted practice, get over and leave, he knew he had 0:16:57.880 --> 0:17:00.280 to put in his work first. And guys like Ario 0:17:00.360 --> 0:17:04.200 SARTs see that, and you know, guys Joel Embid, younger guys, 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:06.400 they see that stuff. And as much as he adds 0:17:06.440 --> 0:17:09.159 to them on the court, that's vitally important to the 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:11.800 growth of this program. Looks like he and Joel have 0:17:11.840 --> 0:17:15.440 been doing it for really three games already this year. 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:18.760 Is It's amazing, isn't nice? Little giving go the other 0:17:18.880 --> 0:17:22.639 night against Charlotte, little backdoor cut and passed by Joel. 0:17:22.720 --> 0:17:25.720 And then and then Sunday night when they were playing Milwaukee, 0:17:26.400 --> 0:17:28.399 Urson went down the lane and just a little shovel 0:17:28.440 --> 0:17:30.520 pass or maybe it was Joel one of them. You know, 0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:34.480 they just look like they they're very much in communication 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:36.720 together on the floor. And it's such a different spot 0:17:36.760 --> 0:17:39.000 now because the team is at a point where it 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:41.400 can make a decision like do we want to keep 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:44.960 someone such as Trevor Booker who has a great track record. 0:17:45.080 --> 0:17:47.520 I thought he did well and sure you want the 0:17:47.600 --> 0:17:49.720 team to ask me to do or do you make 0:17:49.760 --> 0:17:52.640 an aggressive push for someone like Elia Silvan. It's also 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:55.280 kind of telling that guys, even going back as far 0:17:55.320 --> 0:17:58.600 as this summer to JJ Reddick, when you hear veterans 0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:01.840 talking about, you know, the factors that appealed to them 0:18:01.840 --> 0:18:04.840 coming to the seventy six ers. Uh style of play 0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:09.280 is one. Young talent is another. And then especially between 0:18:09.480 --> 0:18:13.840 Reddick and Bell and Ellie and Iliasova, it's like Brett 0:18:13.840 --> 0:18:15.760 Brown is at the top of the list. You know, 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:18.439 it pretty much speaks to you could say where his 0:18:18.480 --> 0:18:21.760 reputation lies. Yeah, yeah, when when when they picked up 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:25.119 um um JJ during the summer, I met with the 0:18:25.200 --> 0:18:26.840 Mountain Vegas. He was nice enough to wait for me. 0:18:26.920 --> 0:18:28.879 I was just landing. He was nice enough to wait 0:18:28.920 --> 0:18:30.920 for me. I texted him in all and we talked 0:18:30.920 --> 0:18:32.760 and I and you know, for a little I just 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:36.280 said why and he said, Brett he did. He just 0:18:36.320 --> 0:18:37.800 looked at me, said Brett. He goes listen Bob. I 0:18:37.880 --> 0:18:42.560 had offers from many West Coast playoff teams, but I 0:18:42.600 --> 0:18:44.960 just thought that the best fit was here. I wanted 0:18:44.960 --> 0:18:47.320 to play with these guys here. I wanted to play 0:18:47.359 --> 0:18:49.880 for Brett. And that's that's big. And for all these 0:18:49.880 --> 0:18:51.960