Speaker 1: We have basketball, real actual basketball. As the preseason is
Speaker 1: now underway, I cannot wait to get in here and
Speaker 1: start to get ready for what I think is going
Speaker 1: to be incredible season. We're gonna sit down with the
Speaker 1: man responsible for putting it all together on the courts.
Speaker 1: I'm just very, very anxious and excited to begin again,
Speaker 1: entering his seventh season as head coach of the Philadelphia
Speaker 1: seventy six Ers. Rhett brand our guest on this episode
Speaker 1: of the broadcast. Yes, it has been great to get
Speaker 1: back in the gym in Camden this week. See a
Speaker 1: little hoops, guys getting up and down on the floor.
Speaker 1: I mean, from my standpoint, it's simply been nice to
Speaker 1: have some fresh storylines to talk and write about. New year,
Speaker 1: new faces, and with that comes new themes. Although the
Speaker 1: expectations surrounding the Sixers for better results in the next
Speaker 1: eight months or so ahead, you can make the case
Speaker 1: or even higher than what they were this time last year.
Speaker 1: Brian Seltzer, welcoming you back to the broadcast or welcoming
Speaker 1: you to the broadcast for the first time, if you
Speaker 1: are a new listener, If you are either way, regardless
Speaker 1: of what category you fall into, Thank you very much
Speaker 1: for checking out this episode of the podcast. To subscribe,
Speaker 1: all you gotta do is go to any one of
Speaker 1: your favorite podcast hosting platforms Spotify, Apple podcasts, Google Podcasts,
Speaker 1: tune in, Stitcher, SoundCloud, whatever it is. Just type in
Speaker 1: Sixers Podcast Network and that will bring you to our feed.
Speaker 1: And now that the preseason is underway, I think we're
Speaker 1: probably gonna have at least one fresh episode for you
Speaker 1: each week, if not more so do beyond the lookout.
Speaker 1: We'll hear from Brett Brown momentarily. But first, it has
Speaker 1: been a crazy start to the week. Well, I guess
Speaker 1: the week's almost over now, perhaps better put, the week
Speaker 1: started in crazy fashion. He had media Day on Monday
Speaker 1: at the training complex, so much activity buzzing national media
Speaker 1: members in the house, people like Rachel Nichols, Zach Low,
Speaker 1: Brian Windhorst, Sham's Terrainia. Just really cool to see Camden
Speaker 1: become a hub of activity for media day and hype
Speaker 1: going into the NBA preseason. So there was media Day Monday,
Speaker 1: first practice of training camp on Tuesday. So I want
Speaker 1: to get started by taking stock of some of the
Speaker 1: very first impressions we're getting. The twenty nineteen twenty seventy
Speaker 1: six ers. Last we saw Joel Embiid a tough moment
Speaker 1: for him, very emotional at the end of Game seven
Speaker 1: in the second round against the Toronto Raptors. Following an
Speaker 1: off season of hard work. The big man is ready
Speaker 1: to rock. My life is a movie. Everything happened so fast,
Speaker 1: and I don't know. Sometimes I sit back, I'm like, us,
Speaker 1: that's crazy. I never thought I would have been ano setrition,
Speaker 1: and I'm really thankful Joelle's got a new do with
Speaker 1: braided corn rows shed some pounds over the summer for
Speaker 1: what figures to be a really big year ahead. It
Speaker 1: was definitely a really big summer for Ben Simmons, coming
Speaker 1: off his first All Star season, and he's now got
Speaker 1: a new long term deal. I'm happy to be here
Speaker 1: for another five years. I don't really want to be
Speaker 1: anywhere else, obviously, so I'm excited about what we have
Speaker 1: going on and excited about the new guys coming in.
Speaker 1: I think we have a real special opportunity to do something,
Speaker 1: you know, major here. Yeah, and it's been really nice
Speaker 1: to hear about Simmons and his leadership to the first
Speaker 1: early part of training camp. That was something that he
Speaker 1: talked about in his finals press conference of last year,
Speaker 1: following these second round exit to the Toronto Raptors, trying
Speaker 1: to become a better leader, and by all accounts, that
Speaker 1: seems to be the case so far. You to check
Speaker 1: out Lauren Rosen's right up on Ben Simmons and his leadership.
Speaker 1: Along with Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris also inked the contract
Speaker 1: this offseason, and he's been around a little bit over
Speaker 1: the summer. He was on the court even before the
Speaker 1: preseason officially start. It's just been good because you see
Speaker 1: that everybody's open to feedback and open to criticism and
Speaker 1: just understanding each other personalities but also understand each other's game.
Speaker 1: What can Tobias Harris do in a more featured role.
Speaker 1: We're gonna start to find out a really important subplot
Speaker 1: for the Sixers this year. You know, I really just
Speaker 1: can't believe that Al Horford is here. It's amazing that
Speaker 1: he's in seventy sixers, red white, and blue for Horford,
Speaker 1: the guy who formerly donned the green and white the
Speaker 1: last couple of seasons. The reasons to come on board
Speaker 1: here for the seventy sixers or evidence, You know, when
Speaker 1: I looked at the caliber players that they had, Joel
Speaker 1: and Ben and Tobias. Um It's something that um they
Speaker 1: that was hard to overlook right now. Spacing is something
Speaker 1: that Horford and Joel and Beat a working on at
Speaker 1: the outside of training camp. Josh Richardson perhaps a not
Speaker 1: so secret weapon, but he figures to be an X
Speaker 1: factor for sure, and he's getting to know his new
Speaker 1: team this week. I think it's a new challenge. So
Speaker 1: you know, I'm super excited to see, you know, where
Speaker 1: I fit, where how our team meshes and uh, I'm
Speaker 1: always excited for new things and new challenges to attack.
Speaker 1: So I know it's not gonna be easy starting out,
Speaker 1: but you know, the quicker we can, we can figure
Speaker 1: it out, and the quicker I can figure out where
Speaker 1: I fit and where I can help, I think it
Speaker 1: will be the better. But it's gonna happen. It's just
Speaker 1: a matter of time, can't wait. I love that picture
Speaker 1: of the projected starting five at a photostation on media day,
Speaker 1: just hanging out, spreading good vibes, and one of the
Speaker 1: first opportunities to see members of that projected starting five
Speaker 1: and other guys on the roster is going to be
Speaker 1: this Saturday for the Blue and White Scrimmage at seventy
Speaker 1: Sixers Field House in Wilmington, Delaware, the home of the
Speaker 1: Delaware Bluecoats of the NBA G League. And then on
Speaker 1: Tuesday down at the brand new Revamp Center. So excited
Speaker 1: to get back in the building and see all the changes,
Speaker 1: including that incredible scoreboard. Tuesday, the Sixers are going to
Speaker 1: host the Guanzoe Long Lions in their preseason opener. That
Speaker 1: game is going to be at seven o'clock and you
Speaker 1: can look for tickets by going to Sixers dot com
Speaker 1: slash tickets. So about the Blue and White Scrimmage that's
Speaker 1: going to be held on Saturday afternoon in Wilmington, Delaware.
Speaker 1: The idea was conceived in part by Brett Brown, set
Speaker 1: to enter his seventh season as the Sixers head coach,
Speaker 1: and before training camp got underway, had the opportunity to
Speaker 1: sit down with Brett talk about some of the guys
Speaker 1: on the roster, his summer activities, his feelings for your head.
Speaker 1: But the first thing we brought up was the Blue
Speaker 1: and White Scrimmage. Why don't we start with where the
Speaker 1: idea for the Blue and White Scrimmage came from? What
Speaker 1: inspired that. We have always felt that to conclude training
Speaker 1: camp no differently like than you study all week, you
Speaker 1: come and take a test, we practice all week. A
Speaker 1: great way to conclude training camp will be to play
Speaker 1: and to have an in a squad scrimmage and let
Speaker 1: the camp because there's still quite a number of people
Speaker 1: before you make final cuts twenty to be exact, you
Speaker 1: have an opportunity to play, you know, a legitimate type
Speaker 1: of you know, scrimmage game with your own team and
Speaker 1: it can culminate into all the teaching and implementation of defense, offense,
Speaker 1: whatever at the end of the week into a fun environment,
Speaker 1: you know, they can play a game. And so we
Speaker 1: have played that in different places recently at the Palestra,
Speaker 1: you know, try to like have a great interaction with
Speaker 1: the fans in the city. And this year we're really
Speaker 1: excited to be able to take it to Delaware and
Speaker 1: just show the importance and the partnership that we have
Speaker 1: with a G League program in Delaware and that will
Speaker 1: culminate the camp and tip off sort of the launching
Speaker 1: pad of our new season. And we're really excited to
Speaker 1: bring this event to our partners down in Delaware. Tell
Speaker 1: me a little bit more about your impressions of the
Speaker 1: seventy six ers field House, because you were there for
Speaker 1: a game, and I guess common perception is that development leagues,
Speaker 1: minor leagues, that's going through the trenches. But down there,
Speaker 1: I mean that facility is spectacular. So simply speak to
Speaker 1: the facility and what having something like that does to
Speaker 1: benefit the overall program. I was blown away at the
Speaker 1: professional of the event. You know, I can talk to
Speaker 1: you about the actual court, but what we should talk
Speaker 1: a little bit more about was, you know, something as
Speaker 1: simple as the ease of parking and getting to the
Speaker 1: building and parking and having a professional sort of you know,
Speaker 1: concourse that you're going through to get to an incredibly
Speaker 1: professional court. And then you see, you know, off on
Speaker 1: the sideline there's some strength and conditioning areas and you
Speaker 1: look up and you see, you know, kind of a
Speaker 1: skybox thing looking down on the court that sponsors can
Speaker 1: be a part of, and you know, administration and be
Speaker 1: a part of. And then you see, you know, just
Speaker 1: a like a college type program, a college type atmosphere
Speaker 1: venue that you're sitting at watching a high level game.
Speaker 1: You know, of a bunch of players that want to
Speaker 1: go play in the NBA one day, and many have
Speaker 1: and so all over the place, Like you drive down
Speaker 1: that you're not really sure what to expect and that's
Speaker 1: what you get. And you know, I look back at
Speaker 1: sort of odd days at you know, our old stomping
Speaker 1: grounds prior to us coming to this mecca, you know,
Speaker 1: this glorious basketball temple, that that's a hell of a
Speaker 1: venue for a G League program. And the trenches don't
Speaker 1: come to my mind when you start talking about what
Speaker 1: path did you take. There's no hard knocks that are
Speaker 1: happening with the Bluecoats. They're in a very professional environment.
Speaker 1: I feel like I remember you telling lots of stories
Speaker 1: about how you would go to the Boston Garden growing
Speaker 1: up and taking pictures with your camera and that sort
Speaker 1: of thing. What do you think something like the Blue
Speaker 1: and White Scrimmage would do for a young fan? Just
Speaker 1: how intimately fans can be involved and see the team
Speaker 1: be that close. I mean, you know, if you situate
Speaker 1: yourself in the mind of a family who might not
Speaker 1: be able to get to all these sold out games,
Speaker 1: what do you hope they get from the Blue and
Speaker 1: White Scrimmage? I mean, first, what you just said the opportunity,
Speaker 1: whereas they may not have this opportunity, the opportunity to
Speaker 1: you know, see Joel and and get close to Ben
Speaker 1: Simmons and wants tobiases Harris gifts up close and see
Speaker 1: somebody like Alhof that we used to battle with, you
Speaker 1: know in a competitive way with the Celtics six arrivalry,
Speaker 1: you know, and to just see it and feel it
Speaker 1: and just be a part of that atmosphere. I think
Speaker 1: for any you know, young coach, you know, young, young,
Speaker 1: young person even adult, like it's an experience if that's
Speaker 1: not something that you're accustomed to having the opportunity to
Speaker 1: go to NBA games all the time. And so that
Speaker 1: thing that we just talked about is really important. It's uh,
Speaker 1: it's that that saying you don't get a second chance
Speaker 1: to make a first impression. We want to go down
Speaker 1: there and you know, give a good performance and respect
Speaker 1: the audience and gives something back in our own way
Speaker 1: to that part of you know, our relationship, our partnership
Speaker 1: with Delaware. That's the first thing. And the second thing
Speaker 1: is to to make a very defined statement like we
Speaker 1: treat this program that we're working with seriously. It is
Speaker 1: a fet a system you know, my old coach now
Speaker 1: as the head coach, and we share you know, ideas
Speaker 1: and they implement our system and we can bring you know,
Speaker 1: Zaea back and forth, maybe motifs back and forth, you know,
Speaker 1: whatever it is, it is like it's a real relationship.
Speaker 1: And so those two things most resonate when you say,
Speaker 1: you know, ultimately what's the objective of the event, Those
Speaker 1: two are most important to me. Start with Tobias Harris.
Speaker 1: What were your thoughts when you found out that Tobias
Speaker 1: resigned that was coming back to the team. I mean,
Speaker 1: first and foremost, just an amazing teammate, you know, a
Speaker 1: plus human being, incredibly prideful on wanting to get better,
Speaker 1: wanting to win. A talented twenty six year old, you know,
Speaker 1: going on twenty seven that just annually has gotten better.
Speaker 1: Like his upward trend, his upward mobility to improve has
Speaker 1: been his sort of trademark over the years. You know,
Speaker 1: did you make a good investment and rewarding him with
Speaker 1: the contract that we did, And my answer is unequivocally
Speaker 1: quickly yes. He just ticks boxes all over the place.
Speaker 1: From skilled perspectives, from human perspectives, from teammate perspective, and
Speaker 1: there's an upside. So you know, all those things came
Speaker 1: to my mind when he agreed to terms with us.
Speaker 1: Off the court, like he's doing these clinics, like not
Speaker 1: just basketball clinics, like your wellness yoga. What are you
Speaker 1: reading when he has like kids? There? Get me some
Speaker 1: stuff on like what you learned about tobias human being
Speaker 1: off the court that distinguishes him. Well, just go to
Speaker 1: his charities, you know, go to where he invests some
Speaker 1: of his money, go to where he invests some of
Speaker 1: his time. It's a it's a very real snapshot into
Speaker 1: who he is. You know, he doesn't have to do
Speaker 1: this stuff. Lots of NBA people don't do this stuff.
Speaker 1: He chooses to do this stuff, and he feels clearly
Speaker 1: a responsibility to give back, like he there's there's a
Speaker 1: piece of him that he's very mindful of. This is calculated,
Speaker 1: it's not by mistake. And you know, you give credit
Speaker 1: to for sure, his family and his parents, how he
Speaker 1: was obviously raised. And then at some point all of
Speaker 1: us that have children, they leave the home and they're
Speaker 1: the world sort of shapes them. And he's been shaped,
Speaker 1: you know, by both standards in an incredible way. To me,
Speaker 1: and you know, this is my twentieth year now in
Speaker 1: the NBA, and you've had a chance to see a
Speaker 1: bunch of different personalities and mindsets, and he is as
Speaker 1: as special as I have been around shifting to a
Speaker 1: new guy, Josh Richardson. Tell us what you know about
Speaker 1: Josh Richardson. Good people, you know, genuineness and authentic part
Speaker 1: of him that I'm incredibly attracted to. Like you speak
Speaker 1: to teammates and his old coaches and I've downloaded them all.
Speaker 1: You know, anybody that had some level of contact with
Speaker 1: him him always like what do you think? Like what
Speaker 1: can I do to help him? You know, all that
Speaker 1: type of stuff. And I think the notion that he
Speaker 1: loves to play defense, just love it gets me really going,
Speaker 1: really excited. He not by sort of purposeful instruction. It
Speaker 1: kind of just evolved. He ended up maybe Miami's go
Speaker 1: to guy last year, and you know, is that who
Speaker 1: he is? I think at times it can be, but
Speaker 1: it's not like, you know, for us, that's what it's
Speaker 1: going to be all the time. You get Tobias and Alan,
Speaker 1: Joel and Ben, Like I think he's going to come
Speaker 1: in and do his thing. He's going to fit in.
Speaker 1: He's gonna play defense. We're going to tap into him
Speaker 1: when we should. I suspect he's going to have the
Speaker 1: smallest player on the opposition team guard him. Maybe I'm right,
Speaker 1: maybe I'm wrong, But like, how do we exploit that?
Speaker 1: And you know, you combine this just good person, authentic
Speaker 1: person with that type of mindset and like that type
Speaker 1: of skill. Talk about a perfect fit sandwiched in between Tobias,
Speaker 1: al Joel and Ben. That seems to work on paper
Speaker 1: and in my gut sort of feel first glance impression
Speaker 1: just fine. And for Alan, how to have him on
Speaker 1: this side of the rivalry at this stage of his career.
Speaker 1: What do you guys get from having al Horford on
Speaker 1: the court off the court again, Like we're really where
Speaker 1: do you begin? And you you learn a lot about
Speaker 1: somebody competing against them when the stakes matter the most.
Speaker 1: And we have done that with the Celtics and you
Speaker 1: just left those games that series, the times that you
Speaker 1: know I have coached against him, We've had a game
Speaker 1: plan for him. It keeps you up late at night
Speaker 1: and you feel like you did a few things. You
Speaker 1: took something away from the Celtics that was important to them,
Speaker 1: and you know there is some level of a win
Speaker 1: in that capacity. Then you get him with us, and
Speaker 1: so now he's you know, under our roof, and you've
Speaker 1: learned over all the years of how he has heard
Speaker 1: us off pily, his unique ability to post and pick
Speaker 1: him pop and play out of like second side, deep
Speaker 1: durable handoff action, pick and roll action. So like you
Speaker 1: get that. I think he was one of the toughest
Speaker 1: defensive players guarding Joel for Joel. I think Joel would
Speaker 1: admit that too, And so you know, win win, win,
Speaker 1: and and now he's a Philadelphia seventy six and sort
Speaker 1: of like, oh, by the way, stuff, he's just like
Speaker 1: an A plus person, Like he's an incredible locker room guy,
Speaker 1: a good human being, and you know, just thrilled to
Speaker 1: be able to have an opportunity to coach him. Ben
Speaker 1: seems like he has just been very active constantly throughout
Speaker 1: the summer. How much have you been following his activities
Speaker 1: basketball related and just everything he's done. Went back to
Speaker 1: Australia for about a month. It seems like he said,
Speaker 1: a very active summer he has and I have followed
Speaker 1: at all, you know, from what he's done here in
Speaker 1: the United States. I was in Australia while he was
Speaker 1: in Australia and not in the same city, but in
Speaker 1: the same country, you know, following all the stuff he
Speaker 1: was doing there with his camps, etc. And you know,
Speaker 1: he had the the incredible experience of signing a MAX contract,
Speaker 1: you know, over the course of the summer, and so
Speaker 1: we easily, you know, said, this is what we think
Speaker 1: of you is a MAX contract. And the the growth
Speaker 1: that I think that he feels he has to make,
Speaker 1: and it's true to first just get better because he's
Speaker 1: prideful and he's certainly aware of the responsibility that comes
Speaker 1: with you know, that that sort of annointment of we
Speaker 1: hope to see you for a long long time, and
Speaker 1: he is the paycheck to prove it. I think he's
Speaker 1: had a fantastic sum of meshing all that tough stuff
Speaker 1: together and uh, you know, excited to come back and
Speaker 1: lead us. I standard. Our goals are to hold a
Speaker 1: trophy up at the end of the year. And you
Speaker 1: don't cast that sentence out lightly. A lot of it
Speaker 1: is going to be put on his shoulders. He understands
Speaker 1: that we got a great team around him, but he
Speaker 1: still is out point guard and um, you know, I
Speaker 1: think that he's said a fantastic summer understanding all that
Speaker 1: stuff while getting better some random questions. See there's still
Speaker 1: some mud caked on your jeep. Tell us where is it?
Speaker 1: Tell me about the summer. Where did the mud come from? Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: we're opening it up. Tell me about the mud, the cake,
Speaker 1: the mud and in the summer, what you guys did. Um.
Speaker 1: I had a fantastic summer with my my family. I
Speaker 1: had a chance to go for three weeks in a
Speaker 1: little beach house in between Adelaide and Melbourne and spend
Speaker 1: some time in Australia in that environment. It's a small
Speaker 1: sort of fishing village of about a thousand people that
Speaker 1: empties out in Australia's version of the winter, which is,
Speaker 1: you know, our version of like October. It's not snow,
Speaker 1: it's just a little cool. And had a great time there.
Speaker 1: I took my eighty two year old father whitewater rafting.
Speaker 1: They said he was the oldest person to ever go
Speaker 1: down this grade five river. There were times that you
Speaker 1: weren't too sure if this was a wise thing, but
Speaker 1: it was effectively a six and a half seven hour
Speaker 1: roller coaster that went and it went, and as I said,
Speaker 1: a grave of people who whitewater raft Grade five rapids
Speaker 1: are sort of the gold standard. And the jeep that
Speaker 1: you see in our practice facility parking lot still has
Speaker 1: sort of deep Maine maybe a little bit Canadian mud
Speaker 1: cake to it, but that is a reflection, a byproduct
Speaker 1: of a very deep in the woods experience with my
Speaker 1: son and my dad and my brother in Lauren and
Speaker 1: my young nephew who is a lacrosse player at holy Cross.
Speaker 1: It was a family thing, a bonding thing that that
Speaker 1: challenged some sanity, I have to say, in a pursuit
Speaker 1: down a very rough river. So was that was that
Speaker 1: like an overnight pitch, a tent type thing or camp
Speaker 1: out or it was no, no, no no, because we did
Speaker 1: a few things like that was and I give credit
Speaker 1: to my dad. My dad planned the whole thing out.
Speaker 1: One day, um we went sort of deep into the
Speaker 1: woods and had some some guided boats that took us
Speaker 1: fishing and a very very secluded lake. Um. The other
Speaker 1: day we had a chance to go over to an
Speaker 1: island and just sort of explore this incredible part of
Speaker 1: Moose had Lake Mount Kineo and had a great sort
Speaker 1: of day exploring that walking around and just sort of
Speaker 1: like remote trails. Then the other day we had this
Speaker 1: deep in the woods seven hour whitewater rafting experience and
Speaker 1: we were all sort of scented in the upper main
Speaker 1: at Moose Lake backs to National Park, State Park. To
Speaker 1: be exact, it's tremendous. How you feeling right now? We're
Speaker 1: about or maybe you can even forecast ahead, Hey, feeling
Speaker 1: about everything right now? This is my twentieth year in
Speaker 1: the NBA. I'm going into my seventh year here in Philadelphia,
Speaker 1: and for me, sort of the compass, the judgment of
Speaker 1: like what was your someonelike is this is if you
Speaker 1: can sort of be incredibly excited to wake up and
Speaker 1: get into this building and start working. You've probably you know,
Speaker 1: gotten through some pains of the Toronto series, the fatigue,
Speaker 1: the normal fatigue that we all go through an NBA season,
Speaker 1: the anxiety excitement of Elton, you know, forming the team
Speaker 1: that he has formed, and just get ready to jump.
Speaker 1: I cannot wait to get in my jeep, albeit dirty
Speaker 1: with mud, and get in here and start to get
Speaker 1: ready for what I think is going to be incredible season.
Speaker 1: And I'm just very very anxious and excited to begin again.
Speaker 1: Love that focus from Brett Brown. Love hearing stories from
Speaker 1: the head coach back for your number seven on the
Speaker 1: seventy six ers sideline. Hope you enjoyed this edition of
Speaker 1: the podcasting, and new episodes are gonna be coming more
Speaker 1: frequently now that the preseason is here. We'll also have
Speaker 1: our Rewind episodes for you the day after every game,
Speaker 1: recapping all preseason and regularly season, plus a postseason games too,
Speaker 1: So be on the lookout. The feed's going to be
Speaker 1: more active starting right about now. Talked to you next
Speaker 1: time here on the broadcast. Let see it