Speaker 1: It's time to talk Sixers, Baby bet seven between the
Speaker 1: Lake and that he rocks the Realm. Here on the
Speaker 1: broadcast the official podcast of Sixers dot Com. Here's the Steel,
Speaker 1: Mike Pummington, three bottels of the year, pet God, Robert
Speaker 1: Cumming getting parts in another three. Now here's today's episode. Okay,
Speaker 1: here we go. Seventy Sixers gonna try and make some history.
Speaker 1: Confronted with a tough, tough, tough deficit in their best
Speaker 1: of seven Eastern Conference series with the Boston Celtics now
Speaker 1: trailing three games to none after Saturday's overtime loss one
Speaker 1: O one to ninety eight, Sixers are gonna do what
Speaker 1: has never been done in an NBA postseason series before,
Speaker 1: and net is to erase a deficit after dropping the
Speaker 1: first three games. That is the task at hand as
Speaker 1: the Sixers host the Boston Celtics in Game four later
Speaker 1: on on Monday night. Brian Seltzer, Well, welcoming you back
Speaker 1: into a postseason edition of the podcast. Thank you as
Speaker 1: always for checking it out. On this episode of the pod,
Speaker 1: I'm going to touch base with the man our guy,
Speaker 1: Divine Givens, seventy six Ers insider from ninety seventy five,
Speaker 1: the fanatic dot Com contributor to the Sixers Radio Network,
Speaker 1: and a guy who in times like these, at least
Speaker 1: for me, I feel like Devon brings always terrific perspective
Speaker 1: and good wisdom to the table when it comes to
Speaker 1: assessing the current state of affairs, which for the Sixers
Speaker 1: they're going to try to improve in game number four
Speaker 1: later on Monday, before we bring in Von, we will
Speaker 1: remind you that to subscribe to the podcast, all you
Speaker 1: gotta do is head to iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher or
Speaker 1: a SoundCloud type in Sixers Podcast Network, and that should
Speaker 1: take you to our feeds. We would love to have
Speaker 1: you as a subscriber. If you are not yet a
Speaker 1: subscriber to our feed already, we'll get playoff podcasts updated
Speaker 1: automatically and also day after game rewind editions of the
Speaker 1: pod as well. So yeah, if you're not on board,
Speaker 1: we'd love to have you as a subscriber, so please
Speaker 1: consider doing that. We're gonna get to Divon in just
Speaker 1: a moment. Going to run back some sound setting the
Speaker 1: scene for Game number four Sixers a stinging one on Saturday,
Speaker 1: no doubt about it, a game in which it looked
Speaker 1: like the Sixers had as good a chance as any
Speaker 1: to potentially pull out both in regulation and then in overtime.
Speaker 1: Could not get it done. Obviously, there were major breakdowns
Speaker 1: and errors, lapses on the court and in between the
Speaker 1: Ears two. But now it's just a matter of moving forward.
Speaker 1: The seventy Sixers, they recognize the task at hand. You
Speaker 1: know the stat involving the one hundred twenty nine teams
Speaker 1: that have already had three nothing leads in NBA playoff series.
Speaker 1: So no need to fully rehash that here, but Simmons
Speaker 1: trying to shake off of what the Sixers went through
Speaker 1: at the end of Game number three in overtime on Saturday,
Speaker 1: trying to keep the focus forward looking there's a lot
Speaker 1: of opposities, a lot of mistakes made. Um. It's frustrating
Speaker 1: when you know what the mistakes are. But we gotta
Speaker 1: we gotta come in really locking. It is going to
Speaker 1: be very hard. Boston's a great team. They've been there before.
Speaker 1: They've been in a situation where good close to that
Speaker 1: next round, UM, and you know we want to get
Speaker 1: that too. Obviously, it's gonna take a lot the reference
Speaker 1: challenge as from inside the Sixers locker room on Saturday,
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons, liking heavy minutes forty two of them, scored
Speaker 1: sixteen points, eight rebounds, eight assists, did have four turnovers,
Speaker 1: did have the putback attempt with nineteen seconds to go
Speaker 1: in regulation, and obviously the bounce passed to the top
Speaker 1: of the key to jo ellen Bid that was intercepted
Speaker 1: by Al Horford. So for Simmons and his fellow young
Speaker 1: emerging star to ellen Bid, these are situations to grow from.
Speaker 1: The Sixers are not pinpointing youth and an experience as
Speaker 1: a factor, but certainly when you look at situations like that,
Speaker 1: and we'll talk about this, I'm gonna bring it up
Speaker 1: with divine but opportunities to learn and grow from, no
Speaker 1: doubt about it. As for Embad, he and the Sixers
Speaker 1: were back at the training complex and Camden on Sunday afternoon.
Speaker 1: They went through a workout that probably to no surprise,
Speaker 1: was spirited and upbeats. As has been the case in
Speaker 1: years pasted with teams coached by Brett Brown here in Philadelphia,
Speaker 1: if you removed contexts, there'd be no way to really
Speaker 1: tell just how much adversity the team was up against.
Speaker 1: So the Sixers had some good vibes in the gym.
Speaker 1: On Sunday, Joel Ebad spoke after practice, were okay, we
Speaker 1: got we got it there. It's never been numbered for us.
Speaker 1: All thanky body going news. You got I think it.
Speaker 1: One day out of town, one game, him out of town,
Speaker 1: one clat out of time, man second by second, minute
Speaker 1: by minute, possession by possession, quarter by quarter, game by game.
Speaker 1: No doubt, that's the mindset, in the attitude that the
Speaker 1: seventy sixers are going to have to have. They're going
Speaker 1: to successfully pull themselves out of this three games to
Speaker 1: none whole. They do have two home games left out
Speaker 1: of the four that remain, but Boston with at the
Speaker 1: very most two opportunities to clench at home in Games
Speaker 1: five in Games seven, if both games are necessary. What's
Speaker 1: going through the mind of the head coach Brett Brown
Speaker 1: certainly not the notion of being swept. That is the
Speaker 1: farthest thing from what he is considering at this point
Speaker 1: in time. He feels that the spirits of the seventy
Speaker 1: sixers is good and that right now it's all a
Speaker 1: matter of trying to take care of business at home.
Speaker 1: We've jumped into this in a quicker way than any
Speaker 1: of us probably would have guessed at the start of
Speaker 1: the year. You know, we were all to hope and
Speaker 1: to make the playoffs. Then we we've we got real
Speaker 1: greedy and wanted to win fifty games, and then we
Speaker 1: wanted to get a home court, and then we wanted
Speaker 1: to beat Milwaukee and finished third, and we we've we've
Speaker 1: done all that and then you know, we have a
Speaker 1: great series against Miami and we win full one. And
Speaker 1: so the table set, the expectations a set. You can't
Speaker 1: redial that. And this is true, but to link it
Speaker 1: where where you know it's connected to we don't want
Speaker 1: to get swept, they're mutually exclusive to me. You know,
Speaker 1: we don't want to get swept because we don't want
Speaker 1: to get swept. And you know I've said, and I
Speaker 1: stand by this, we we do have more to give.
Speaker 1: We've stumbled on an incredibly hard matchup for us, there
Speaker 1: is no doubt about that. But it's borne out of competitiveness,
Speaker 1: not sort of the history to date that we've had
Speaker 1: this season with this team. Bret Brand at the Sextus
Speaker 1: training Plex on Sunday after practice. The idea of being
Speaker 1: swept not amongst his foremost concerns to get into what
Speaker 1: the seventy sixers should be looking at, trying to adapt
Speaker 1: and adjust going into Game four, trying to crack this
Speaker 1: puzzle that the Boston Celtics have presented. We're gonna bring
Speaker 1: it our guy from ninety seven five, the Fanatic. You
Speaker 1: can hear them always after games as a part of
Speaker 1: his postgame show, sometimes on our postgame show on Sixers,
Speaker 1: podcasts on Sixers and sixty everything in between. Divine givens
Speaker 1: what's up, Divine? How you doing? I'm doing good. I'm
Speaker 1: looking forward to see how the guys respond tonight against
Speaker 1: the Boston Celtics and Game number four. They're at home,
Speaker 1: they still have a chance, so I'm looking forward to
Speaker 1: see what they do. Listen, I felt that on the
Speaker 1: heels of Game three, if there were any person out
Speaker 1: there with whom I could talk about in terms of
Speaker 1: trying to solve the world's basketball problems, it would be you.
Speaker 1: What have been your overalls to the first three games?
Speaker 1: What's been going on that's allowed Boston to jump out
Speaker 1: to this lead? Well, I think the overall defense of
Speaker 1: the Boston Celtics had, while while we thought it was good,
Speaker 1: it was much better than we expected, and the fact
Speaker 1: that they've been able to harass the shooters out on
Speaker 1: the perimeter. Give Ben Simmons a little bit of trouble,
Speaker 1: which is a bit surprising due to the fact that
Speaker 1: he's played eighty nine games before Saturday's game and successfully well.
Speaker 1: Obviously with the season that he's had, historic season that
Speaker 1: he's had, it's a bit surprising to see that. I
Speaker 1: was a little a little taken it back by the
Speaker 1: lack of points that Embiid had because he has some
Speaker 1: really good looks and he's been he's been up and
Speaker 1: down in the series, but putting up decent numbers overall,
Speaker 1: and I thought that he would be able to really
Speaker 1: get it going in the paint. He got into it
Speaker 1: a little bit with Aaron Bains. I hope that didn't
Speaker 1: throw his game off. But the other thing that people
Speaker 1: don't realize as much as you get into the All
Speaker 1: Star conversation, how is he making it over Ben Simmons
Speaker 1: al Horford as a reserve and something like that, and
Speaker 1: you get to see him for these last three games
Speaker 1: that we've seen, and you understand I know you have,
Speaker 1: and I know I have. You understand how good defensively
Speaker 1: not just physically, but how smart he is at using
Speaker 1: his body to go up against someone like Joel Ebid
Speaker 1: who has this physical you would think this domination is
Speaker 1: presence over him, but the smarts that a veteran like
Speaker 1: Al Horford has had to play with over these years.
Speaker 1: And then you look at it, you go back cells
Speaker 1: to those Atlanta Hawk days where they had those teams
Speaker 1: that made it to the Eastern Conference Semis and of
Speaker 1: course the Eastern Conference Finals one time and losing to
Speaker 1: Lebron James. Like most other East team does, he played
Speaker 1: a lot of center and he had to play against
Speaker 1: guys like Roy Hibbert just bigger. And you can say
Speaker 1: what you want about the skill set being Roy Hibbert
Speaker 1: versus Joel Embi, but the fact that he is that
Speaker 1: much bigger and the way he's able to kind of
Speaker 1: push and beat out a little bit too had forced
Speaker 1: him to reset and maybe turn and face up more
Speaker 1: than he wants them to, or have to put the
Speaker 1: ball on the floor in the way the defense collapses.
Speaker 1: They just play some really good overall health defense celts,
Speaker 1: and I think that's really bothered the Sixers. And then
Speaker 1: on the offensive end as well, when you look at
Speaker 1: the Boston Celtics. Surprisingly, the way they've shot the ball
Speaker 1: has been tremendous, and you see someone like Jason Tatum
Speaker 1: rise right in front of your eyes, Jalen Brown playing
Speaker 1: through this injury doing the same thing, and Terry Rosier
Speaker 1: turning into a starting caliber guard in the NBA. It's
Speaker 1: been interesting to see it. And that's why I said that,
Speaker 1: being that we've seen what we've seen in these first
Speaker 1: three games they've been in the last two, you can
Speaker 1: argue that they should have won those they have not.
Speaker 1: Here we are three zero. They are still in a
Speaker 1: spot where I want to see as a team like
Speaker 1: this that first time in the postseason, with all of
Speaker 1: the pressure that's on them tonight six, see how they respond.
Speaker 1: And they're led by their coach at Brett Brown. They
Speaker 1: have some young players that also lead this team on
Speaker 1: the floor, but they have a nice mix of veterans
Speaker 1: and I really I'm really curious to see how this
Speaker 1: team responds. I think they would respond well. I don't
Speaker 1: think this would be one of those getaway games where
Speaker 1: it was just okay, let's just pack it in that
Speaker 1: we've we've been surprised by this Boston team. Let's get
Speaker 1: ready to go home for the summer. I really do
Speaker 1: believe we're going to get the best of the Sixers
Speaker 1: tonight in game number four. It's funny I think that
Speaker 1: if you were to ask coaches and players from both teams, everyone,
Speaker 1: whether you're a member of the seventy six Ers of
Speaker 1: the Boston Celtics, they tell you that the Sixers probably
Speaker 1: should be up two games to one in this series.
Speaker 1: It was that close in Game two and obviously what
Speaker 1: we saw in Game three, and I know that Brett
Speaker 1: Brown and the players didn't want to use youth as
Speaker 1: an excuse. That was a big talking point after Game three.
Speaker 1: But for me, it's hard not to see certain areas
Speaker 1: where inexperience has reared its untimely head. And then when
Speaker 1: you can try asked it with some of the guys
Speaker 1: in the Celtics. Has Jason Tatum been there before? No,
Speaker 1: But younger players like Jalen Brown went through the run
Speaker 1: last year. He was thrust into extra duty in the postseason.
Speaker 1: In twenty seventeen. Marcus Smart was a part of the
Speaker 1: core and he's obviously made an impact. And Al Horford,
Speaker 1: as we talked about, so steady. So for me, I
Speaker 1: think you can't completely overlook that dynamic where for the
Speaker 1: seventy sixers up against it, season on the line, potentially
Speaker 1: in certain spots of that type of pressure. In Game
Speaker 1: three in a hostile environment, big run Boston goes on
Speaker 1: late in the first half Game two. For me, I
Speaker 1: do feel like there have been times where the youngness
Speaker 1: factor of the seventy six ers, well, it may not
Speaker 1: be the prevailing issue, it has definitely been a factor.
Speaker 1: For my money. Well, let's just take it back to
Speaker 1: the shot wherein b took the shot. Ben Simmons gets
Speaker 1: the rebound with under twenty seconds to play with the
Speaker 1: one point lead, and maybe someone a little more sense
Speaker 1: of being a veteran player would decide to pull the
Speaker 1: ball out and try to run some clock and force
Speaker 1: the Boston Celtics to foul. But instinctually it takes over
Speaker 1: as a player like Ben Simmons is and he decided
Speaker 1: to with a short shot, flip it up really fast
Speaker 1: and maybe get a bucket and give them a three
Speaker 1: point advantage, and it ultimately turns out to hurt them
Speaker 1: in the long run in that game. So when you
Speaker 1: talk about the youth, you can look at that play.
Speaker 1: You could also look at the play where JJ Reddick
Speaker 1: was throwing it to whether it was Ebid or Simmons.
Speaker 1: We've seen it play forever, so I would like to
Speaker 1: say it was Joelanbiad that he was trying to get
Speaker 1: it to ole Ben Simmons was going off of Ebad's
Speaker 1: pick before he popped out, making sure that you seal
Speaker 1: off your man where and b make sure our Horford
Speaker 1: is not to come around and anticipate that pass and
Speaker 1: get a hand on it and then eventually get that
Speaker 1: steal that he wound up getting. So youth does play
Speaker 1: a factor. And of course, you know the argument is
Speaker 1: always going to be, as you pointed out Jason Tatum
Speaker 1: doing when he's doing, how can you use youth as that? Well,
Speaker 1: as you pointed out, he has so many players on
Speaker 1: the floor with him that are veteran players, and you
Speaker 1: can include Terry Rosier and that as well. So it's
Speaker 1: even in little minutes that he has gotten in those
Speaker 1: playoff runs in the past, he has gotten him. So
Speaker 1: you're absolutely right, youth does play a factor in it
Speaker 1: at some point. And whether you want to say youth
Speaker 1: is the reason of it, it's just youth as a
Speaker 1: little component of the whole thing, in little intangibles of
Speaker 1: the game that could cost you, especially in close ones.
Speaker 1: Tatum is averaging just under twenty four and a half
Speaker 1: points per game in the series. That's tied with Joel
Speaker 1: Ebad for the highest average of any player. Jalen Brown, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean it really is. Jalen Brown, as you said,
Speaker 1: in the two games he's been back, has been fantastic,
Speaker 1: a big spark off the bench. How much do you
Speaker 1: think the athleticism that's being presented by those two guys
Speaker 1: in particular, how much of it difference has that made?
Speaker 1: And I guess you really zero in on Tatum. He's
Speaker 1: been terrific. It's hard to overlook it because when you
Speaker 1: look at someone like Robert Covington that we like to
Speaker 1: say does have a sense of athleticism, and he's long
Speaker 1: and he's range. He likes to get his hand on
Speaker 1: the basketball to disrupt things, whether it's a dribble handoff
Speaker 1: or simply when someone tries to dip their body into them,
Speaker 1: he's able to use his length and maybe deflect the
Speaker 1: basketball and take them off of their rhythm of trying
Speaker 1: to use their offense as a weapon. And in this series,
Speaker 1: you can just see the quickness the first step celts
Speaker 1: off the ball, the length that they use even when
Speaker 1: they pick the ball of maybe a tab it too early,
Speaker 1: when they pick up their dribble to go for their shot.
Speaker 1: They have been able to use that length to maybe
Speaker 1: get a scoop lay up underneath an arm of a player,
Speaker 1: a high bounce off the glass, to use their length
Speaker 1: again to kind of shield their way from the defender.
Speaker 1: And let's just use Robert Covington again as an example
Speaker 1: with the six a frame and the long wingspan that
Speaker 1: he has to make it difficult for Tatum Brown, but
Speaker 1: they've been able to use that again to their advantage
Speaker 1: to get a shot off. So I think it does
Speaker 1: come into play. The one on one ability that both
Speaker 1: of them do in fact have also plays a factor
Speaker 1: in it. In the way that they use the backcuts,
Speaker 1: similar to what the seventy sixers do to use the
Speaker 1: backcuts and a lot of the cuts that they use
Speaker 1: overall to get some of their players open. That's where
Speaker 1: sometimes the athleticism does in fact come into play. So
Speaker 1: you have seen it. It's something that's maybe going to
Speaker 1: be addressed later on in the off season with this team,
Speaker 1: and it has been it has been glaring, to say
Speaker 1: the least, in these first three games. When you get
Speaker 1: to this stage of the season, the playoffs in particular,
Speaker 1: for teams to advance, sometimes it requires a club getting
Speaker 1: more out of some guys than you would expect. I mean,
Speaker 1: Terry Rossiero shooting fifty percent from outside the arc and
Speaker 1: averaging over four made threes game, he stands out in
Speaker 1: a big way. But I'd love to hear what you
Speaker 1: think about even a guy like Aaron Baines. I mean,
Speaker 1: I know he's not totally showing up in stat sheets. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's made more threes in the first three games of
Speaker 1: the series than he did all season, But his rugged presence,
Speaker 1: I think, at least to the eye test, I don't
Speaker 1: know how you'd measure it statistically. He did have double
Speaker 1: figure rebounds in Game three. It seems like he's bothered
Speaker 1: the sixers in the front court just enough to make
Speaker 1: an impact. And I'm even thinking back to game too.
Speaker 1: You know, you bring in someone like Greg Monroe and
Speaker 1: throw him in there, and that seemed to like batter
Speaker 1: down some stuff in the interior that opened things up
Speaker 1: on the perimeter for Boston. To key the run, and
Speaker 1: you're just thinking through stuff about what's made a difference
Speaker 1: in this series, that Boston has gotten a little bit
Speaker 1: more from some X factor guys, and for the Sixers
Speaker 1: to try and come back, you'd think that some players
Speaker 1: on their side might have to exceed some expectations of
Speaker 1: their own. Sure, and you don't. Let's not exclude Shane
Speaker 1: Larkin for the that he's also gotten a player like
Speaker 1: that where he's thrust into the role and we know
Speaker 1: he was out of the league last year and with
Speaker 1: Kyrie irving and out out and when Marcus Smart was
Speaker 1: down for a bit, it was Rosier and Larkin manning
Speaker 1: the point guard duty. So you're absolutely right. And what
Speaker 1: Rosier has been able to do. The one thing that
Speaker 1: impressed me the most sets about what Rosier has not
Speaker 1: really everyone, And you mentioned Baines and Larkin and even
Speaker 1: Greg Monroe, it's their shot selection. They don't they don't
Speaker 1: force shots. And even when Terry Rosier takes those long
Speaker 1: twos or those long threes, some of them are off
Speaker 1: the bounce because he has the necessary quickness to create
Speaker 1: that separation. You can get the shot off, but the
Speaker 1: others are just simply simply off of great ball movement
Speaker 1: by the Boston Celtics. It swings back to him and
Speaker 1: he has a good look and he takes it. Same
Speaker 1: for Shane Larkin, where he may not shoot more than
Speaker 1: three shots a game, but one of them maybe a
Speaker 1: pull up, one of them maybe a catch and shoot three,
Speaker 1: or another might be simply a layup off of a
Speaker 1: back door cut that he makes into your point. In
Speaker 1: game number two where Greg Monroe gave them two good
Speaker 1: baskets over all, the one being during that run in
Speaker 1: the second quarter that helped Boston get themselves back into
Speaker 1: the game with that twenty to five run under five
Speaker 1: minutes to play. Aaron Bains shooting whenever he needs to shoot,
Speaker 1: necessarily those cornered three pointers, and you know, making two
Speaker 1: or three of those, and you're right, they're just getting
Speaker 1: those from them. And I'm sure that's where Brett Brown
Speaker 1: is trying to get out of some of his players
Speaker 1: as well. Maybe this is where we might have an
Speaker 1: opportunity to see what the season on the line right now.
Speaker 1: Does Justin Anderson come into play at some point? T J.
Speaker 1: McConnell has given you good minutes. Do we see someone
Speaker 1: like Markuel Falster to try to give you a spark
Speaker 1: when Shane Larkin is going to floor. So they have
Speaker 1: given them very good minutes when they've been in there.
Speaker 1: Brand Stevens is pressing the right buttons with those players
Speaker 1: and the best part of boys. We talk about the
Speaker 1: culture with the seventy Sixers and how things have changed
Speaker 1: this season with the fifty two win year, dancing to
Speaker 1: the second round after winning the first against the Miami Heat.
Speaker 1: It's knowing your role and that's where a lot of
Speaker 1: when the Sixers team have done all year, knowing their role.
Speaker 1: And we're seeing the same thing from the other side
Speaker 1: in the Boston Celtics. This is a Sixers podcast, so
Speaker 1: I'm gonna stop talking about the Celtics in just a moment.
Speaker 1: But they have set the tone in this series in
Speaker 1: a convincing way. It's almost as if do you feel
Speaker 1: like they have come out and really taken this hole?
Speaker 1: You know what, You're not paying attention to us out there.
Speaker 1: Do you think that we just kind of walked into
Speaker 1: fifty five wins by accident? Okay, we see that, and
Speaker 1: this is what We'll raise you. A three games to
Speaker 1: none lead and we're missing our best two players, and
Speaker 1: you can really say one because Gordon Hayward hasn't played
Speaker 1: all season. Kyrie Irving now out for the remainder of
Speaker 1: the year. So yeah, absolutely, they've they've taken that approach
Speaker 1: of Okay, you want to overlook us, and you want
Speaker 1: to elevate this team in our division ahead of us
Speaker 1: before they've accomplished anything. Certainly that plays into it. So yes,
Speaker 1: and you know, there's this is the playoffs, so it's
Speaker 1: going to be intense defense. This is gonna pick up tremendously,
Speaker 1: which we've seen on both sides. You can talk about
Speaker 1: how good the series is offensively, both teams really have
Speaker 1: really dug in defensively. They've made it a point, they've
Speaker 1: made it a challenge to defend one another and it's
Speaker 1: really good. And that's why when you when I mentioned
Speaker 1: when you mentioned t J McConnell, or I've mentioned, or
Speaker 1: you hear elsewhere or in the arena altogether, and how
Speaker 1: he's been able to pick up his game and elevate
Speaker 1: his game for the short amount of time that he
Speaker 1: is to try to make an impact for this team
Speaker 1: when they when he knows that they need some sort
Speaker 1: of spark and to come in with that toughness, that
Speaker 1: grit that he gives you picking up Terry Rosier ninety
Speaker 1: two feet cells and disrupting those inbound passes for Terry Rosier.
Speaker 1: So I look at it, Yes, that has been maybe
Speaker 1: a challenge for the Boston Celtics to go out there
Speaker 1: and say, don't ignore us, We're still here. But um,
Speaker 1: it's it's been interesting, and it's been it's been really
Speaker 1: fun overall as a basketball to see both of these
Speaker 1: teams and the rivalry overall to really come back into play.
Speaker 1: You make a great point, I think TJ has been fantastic.
Speaker 1: We saw that in Game two him really come in
Speaker 1: there and make a difference and give the Sixers a shot.
Speaker 1: And yeah, the big picture, you think about this in
Speaker 1: the context of what it means long term, not just
Speaker 1: this spring, but could we see future editions of the
Speaker 1: rivalry play out in the postseason given the timelines of
Speaker 1: both of these teams. For the Sixers, where would you
Speaker 1: say adjustments should start going into Game four tonights. If
Speaker 1: like we saw in game numbers two and three, if
Speaker 1: things are there for Joel LNB to do his work
Speaker 1: on the block, you do it. You feed him constantly
Speaker 1: because if you are allowed to get him going, get
Speaker 1: him to the free throw line, get those players in
Speaker 1: foul trouble Aaron Bains and more specifically Al Horford. I
Speaker 1: think that's to the advantage of the seventy six ers,
Speaker 1: so I would do that. I like the fact that
Speaker 1: he didn't take many three pointers. I think he was
Speaker 1: over one on Saturday. So for me, I've always been
Speaker 1: up to three three pointers for him, so I was
Speaker 1: fine with the one because I do believe it was
Speaker 1: in a trail position. No, it was actually a little
Speaker 1: earlier than it should have been, but that's it. Dominate
Speaker 1: on the block like he has been. I want to
Speaker 1: see his presence on a defensive and more glaring than anything,
Speaker 1: because that's where they're gonna need it. Overall, when Jason Tatum,
Speaker 1: Brown Rosier are going to the basket or for being
Speaker 1: very creative and selective win and how he shoots make
Speaker 1: it very difficult for them offensively to get anything going.
Speaker 1: So that's one adjustment. While we have seen them go
Speaker 1: into and beat a lot, I want to see a
Speaker 1: steady dose if you will be on the block. And
Speaker 1: for him too, I understand fatigue comes into play just
Speaker 1: the playoffs you got you gotta fight through and then
Speaker 1: for him to bang with Horford and Bains. I know
Speaker 1: it takes a lot out of the energy while tremendously
Speaker 1: takes a lot out of you, but we have to
Speaker 1: see him fight through that. So that's one thing I
Speaker 1: would like to see. I would also like to see
Speaker 1: Selts something that I thought we would see a lot
Speaker 1: more of. If t J McConnell's in the game with
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons, let TJ run the ball a little bit
Speaker 1: and allow Ben to play off of the ball where
Speaker 1: he's able to be in attack mode, not when the
Speaker 1: defense is set up in geared to stop him at
Speaker 1: the top of the key. I want to see him
Speaker 1: to be able to catch it on the move, make
Speaker 1: a decision going to the basket maybe and get some
Speaker 1: of those little jump hooks up, maybe a dunk or
Speaker 1: two to ignite the crowd, to get himself, get his
Speaker 1: teammates going. That's something I want to see, you know,
Speaker 1: some backdoor cuts for Ben Simmons to make it easier
Speaker 1: on him so he doesn't have to think as much
Speaker 1: and to simply catch and go and make some plays.
Speaker 1: And also if the opportunity is there, as you pointed
Speaker 1: out Greg Munroe, Shane Larkin, where those minutes are there
Speaker 1: for them for maybe a five minute stretch to help
Speaker 1: you to give someone else a breather. I really would
Speaker 1: like to see them for maybe three to five minutes,
Speaker 1: just whether it's the defensive intensity, being able to push
Speaker 1: the break. Will we see Mark el faults and maybe
Speaker 1: something that he can give you against someone like Shane
Speaker 1: Larkin for a two to three minute stretch where it's
Speaker 1: beneficial not only for him in the future, but for
Speaker 1: this team tonight, where we get a chance to see them,
Speaker 1: maybe get a spark from those players that were unexpected
Speaker 1: from the team. Overall, it's been a nice chest match
Speaker 1: between Brett Brown and Brad Stevens, and I want to
Speaker 1: see if Brett Brown decides to dig a little deeper
Speaker 1: into his bag of tricks tonight to see if he
Speaker 1: can maybe pull something out of some of these other
Speaker 1: guys to salvage the season. Going back to what you
Speaker 1: said about Simmons, I think that based on what Brett
Speaker 1: Brown said Sunday surrounding the Sixers practice availability, that that
Speaker 1: seems like an area where he feels like Simmons could
Speaker 1: make a bigger impact post him up, not even necessarily
Speaker 1: so much try and I've through an attack the rim,
Speaker 1: which that's obviously a huge part of his game, but
Speaker 1: we saver the course of the regular season just how
Speaker 1: effective and versatile Simmons can be when he gets his
Speaker 1: man down in the block and can use his strength
Speaker 1: and physicality to score inside. And it's not even just
Speaker 1: the scoring overall. First of all, if he has one
Speaker 1: of those smaller guys like my size on him, he
Speaker 1: absolutely needs to dominate and go up there and get
Speaker 1: a bucket. But the other thing if he gets a
Speaker 1: bucket or two, while they may not double team, if
Speaker 1: he gets to the basket though and gets a round
Speaker 1: and embeat his lurking, and he has the opportunity, because
Speaker 1: we know how he is, he thinks past first, the
Speaker 1: opportunity to dump it off to him, beat for an
Speaker 1: easy layup and easy dunk again, to get the crowd going,
Speaker 1: to get those guys some confidence. That's something that is
Speaker 1: again beneficial to the Sixes and Ben Simmons. And you're
Speaker 1: absolutely right if he's able to get it going, because
Speaker 1: we've seen so many times where he's had the opportunity
Speaker 1: to post up players and we haven't seen it as
Speaker 1: much as we would have liked, but it is a
Speaker 1: weapon that I believe they can unleash. It has been
Speaker 1: there for them through the first three games. I'm not
Speaker 1: sure why it hasn't been used as much. But if
Speaker 1: it is there again, all hands on deck to night selves.
Speaker 1: You need everything in the bag of tricks that you
Speaker 1: have to go out there and try to lock down
Speaker 1: this win. Do you think that Simmons has been saying
Speaker 1: all the right things despite some of the growing experiences
Speaker 1: he's been encountered with in this series. Sure, he said
Speaker 1: all the right things. And I definitely like after game
Speaker 1: number two where he pointed out he wasn't good and
Speaker 1: something that he has to learn from. It wasn't an excuse.
Speaker 1: He knew he has to go out there and be better.
Speaker 1: At the one point performance was something again that we
Speaker 1: did not expect, something that none of us would have thought,
Speaker 1: especially in a tight game like that, were just a
Speaker 1: few more points, something that we're accustomed to seeing from
Speaker 1: him would have hopefully secure a win for them. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's one of those things where yes, he is learning,
Speaker 1: Yes he is young. I don't like to necessarily use
Speaker 1: the young thing because you're in game number ninety. They're
Speaker 1: young players. All these the floor on both sides, So
Speaker 1: let's just see if he can just go out there
Speaker 1: and execute. Execution is key and this thing, it starts
Speaker 1: and ends with him because he's his head of the snake,
Speaker 1: and we know about the whole snake thing now with
Speaker 1: the playoff logo with the team Boston Celtics as it
Speaker 1: has made it a point to try to use him,
Speaker 1: to take things away from him, to again cut the
Speaker 1: head off of the snake and not allow the offense
Speaker 1: to get going. So he has been saying the right things.
Speaker 1: I just want to see him a little more aggressive
Speaker 1: self to look for his more and even with Marcus Mars,
Speaker 1: I know that's a tough matchup. He's so physical, he
Speaker 1: gets into your body and disrupts a lot of things,
Speaker 1: but he's making it a challenge a point. You know,
Speaker 1: it's his purpose to go out there and stop Ben Simmons.
Speaker 1: I want to see him making his purpose to beat
Speaker 1: Marcus Mars because that will ultimately give him again that
Speaker 1: confidence that we've seen from him for the last four
Speaker 1: months where he's been so great, and they definitely need
Speaker 1: that tonight. So hopefully when we're talking about some of
Speaker 1: the things that he is, he's talking about postgame and
Speaker 1: how he's been saying the right things. Hopefully is again
Speaker 1: talking about a victory and he's saying the right things
Speaker 1: about how he was able to help his team get
Speaker 1: it done tonight. There was definitely the tough turnover that
Speaker 1: JJ Reddick was involved in down the stretch in regulation
Speaker 1: on Saturday. I think other than that, he's had a
Speaker 1: really solid series. He's been arguably the most consistent shotmaker
Speaker 1: for the seventy six from three point territory. You figure
Speaker 1: that if Robert Covington could get himself going, Dario Scharitch
Speaker 1: could get himself going, and even with a certain degree
Speaker 1: Marco Belinelli and or Sonny Eli Silva, that could help
Speaker 1: improve the sixers odds overall the outside shooting, and we
Speaker 1: know that it seems just from watching it that Brad
Speaker 1: Stevens his goal is to obviously again take it away
Speaker 1: from Ben Simmons, let him be, to a certain extent,
Speaker 1: go off because he's that good. He's going to get
Speaker 1: his in the low block, but also disrupt the outside
Speaker 1: shooting as much as possible because they have so many
Speaker 1: weapons and You're right. JJ Reddick has been the most
Speaker 1: consistent outside score for this team and he needs help.
Speaker 1: He can't do it alone. And we'll see a twenty eight,
Speaker 1: twenty three or twenty a performance from him, and it'll
Speaker 1: be really good, and it'll probably be enough from him.
Speaker 1: You need more along the lines of a fifteen, maybe
Speaker 1: an eighteen point outbursts from Amarco Bell and Nelli. We
Speaker 1: haven't seen that as of yet. You'll sign. Iliosilva looked
Speaker 1: to be on that trajectory on Saturday, but things kind
Speaker 1: of went away from him after those two big threes
Speaker 1: and a couple of layups. Shot the one air ball
Speaker 1: that I think the Wells Fargo Center would have exploded
Speaker 1: itself on Saturday had he made that one from the corner.
Speaker 1: Unfortunately it was an airball. So yes, if you can
Speaker 1: get some help from those other outside shooters, it will
Speaker 1: help out tremendously, not just JJ Reddick, but also again
Speaker 1: Joel and B where now there may be a little
Speaker 1: more focus on what they're doing out on a perimeter
Speaker 1: and making sure they stop those guys and where and
Speaker 1: B could probably benefit on that as well, maybe even
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons. If they get those outside shots going. They
Speaker 1: can't play off of them at all. Where Ben Simmons,
Speaker 1: if he's able to get by his man get to
Speaker 1: the basket, maybe get himself something going to towards the
Speaker 1: basket for an easy bucket. All right, Well, we know,
Speaker 1: based on what we've seen over the last seven months,
Speaker 1: the center should be rocking regardless of circumstance. Later on
Speaker 1: on Monday Night, before we wrap this up, last thing,
Speaker 1: got to ask you, what do you think we're gonna
Speaker 1: see in the game that follows the first game on
Speaker 1: the card tonight between the Toronto Raptors in Cleveland Cavaliers,
Speaker 1: another three OZ series. Unfortunately, it does not look good
Speaker 1: for Jurassic Parks. It's just a tough hole for them
Speaker 1: for us to ask them to go in the road
Speaker 1: down three oz where they've been in these I'll say
Speaker 1: game one and three where they should have won those
Speaker 1: two games coming back the way they did have an
Speaker 1: opportunity to win both games gaming them before. With the
Speaker 1: way Lebron James is playing so tremendously and he seems
Speaker 1: so confident with his fadeaway jumper that we've all seen
Speaker 1: him make consecutively like seven in a row and just
Speaker 1: going to the basket, even the way he shot that
Speaker 1: shot to end the game, the buzzer beater, getting him
Speaker 1: on the move like that, and the way he just
Speaker 1: tossed it up, like, oh, let me just throw this
Speaker 1: up there, Maybe just go off the glass while I'm
Speaker 1: fading away, running towards the sideline and underneath the bucket.
Speaker 1: It was. It's just it's tough to ask them to
Speaker 1: do that and have og On and Nobi out there
Speaker 1: trying to defend. He's done a nice job. But to
Speaker 1: ask a rookie to do what you want a defensive
Speaker 1: stopper to do against le Bron James, it's a tall task.
Speaker 1: So I think it's gonna be really tough for Toronto
Speaker 1: to head back to Toronto for game number five. I
Speaker 1: think the series is done. Doesn't matter whether we could
Speaker 1: be talking about wins, losses, or things between. Always great
Speaker 1: insights and chatter from Divine Givings. You hear him on
Speaker 1: postgame coverage, you hear him on six and sixty, and
Speaker 1: a bunch of other stuff as well. Divine, hopefully we're
Speaker 1: talking more about Sixers basketball in the immediate future. I
Speaker 1: would not be surprised if we areselves. Thanks again. All right, man,
Speaker 1: that is Devon Gibbons. We thank him as always for
Speaker 1: taking the time to chats. We thank you as always
Speaker 1: for taking the time to listen. At the very least
Speaker 1: we know this. As far as future podcasts for this
Speaker 1: season are concerned, we're gonna have a Game four rewind
Speaker 1: in your feed on Tuesday morning, so be on the
Speaker 1: lookout for that, and hopefully, if things go well, we'll
Speaker 1: have some more pods to do. As the Sixers looking
Speaker 1: to for say, Game five and send the series back
Speaker 1: to Boston on Wednesday. We'll be in touch here on
Speaker 1: the pod regardless of what shakes out, but ask for now,
Speaker 1: let's see what pans out in Game Number four is
Speaker 1: six o'clock on Monday night from the Center. See