Speaker 1: This podcast is part of the seventy Sixers podcast network
Speaker 1: search seventy sixers podcast wherever you get your pods. How
Speaker 1: can it be? Our final Friday Deep Dive for the
Speaker 1: regular season. Already you know what that means. It's time
Speaker 1: for some superlatives. We talk about the season's top moments
Speaker 1: and give out the Golden Clamps Award. Plus we look
Speaker 1: ahead to the final two games before the playoffs. I'm
Speaker 1: Lauren Rosen and I'm Brian Selzer. It's time for the
Speaker 1: Friday Deep Dive, Final Friday of this a wacky, wild, crazy,
Speaker 1: unpredictable twenty twenty twenty twenty one regular season. It is
Speaker 1: only we two this week, Lauren, not we three. Unfortunately.
Speaker 1: I know there's a Divan sized hole on my screen
Speaker 1: and my heart on this deep Dive Friday. I was
Speaker 1: about sly mail back on Monday. All the days are
Speaker 1: running together selves. The days, the weeks, the months all
Speaker 1: been one long existence. This year, we really do feel
Speaker 1: like Divon makes the deep dive on a Friday. I
Speaker 1: don't want to say that you and I do shallow
Speaker 1: dives on Mondays, but I'm not sure if we can
Speaker 1: truly take it deep in the truest sense without divine,
Speaker 1: but we're gonna have to try. We're gonna do our
Speaker 1: best for this week. We are, but we will integrate
Speaker 1: divon somehow, some way. I told him to leave us
Speaker 1: a voicemail to contribute to today's show, So we'll get
Speaker 1: to that in a bit. The theme for our final
Speaker 1: Friday deep dive of the regular season, of course, we'll
Speaker 1: be continuing once the playoffs start. That'll be for next
Speaker 1: week is some of our top moments, reflections, impressions, takeaways,
Speaker 1: quirky and non from the season that has been. Sixers
Speaker 1: did play on Thursday night, wrapping up a road trip
Speaker 1: that we can just keep on moving along from two
Speaker 1: games to go in the regular season, Lauren later on
Speaker 1: Friday night, beginning a two game home series with the
Speaker 1: Orlando Magic. I was really excited for the Heat game
Speaker 1: on Thursday. I was. I was like, finally, the first
Speaker 1: time in a weeks a game that feels like it
Speaker 1: has some consequence to it. A good opponent on the
Speaker 1: other side didn't go the Sixers way. They were out
Speaker 1: of it early. They lost one oh six ninety four,
Speaker 1: and we continue to wait for that one seed. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, not every night can be your night Thursday,
Speaker 1: not the Sixers night. Not sure there's much more to add.
Speaker 1: I was talking to Tom again us in the postgame show,
Speaker 1: and one thing that we discussed before the game was
Speaker 1: how Miami is a very physical, tough team. They've got
Speaker 1: some dudes on their team. They do. They're a little
Speaker 1: bit older on the timeline, not necessarily as far as
Speaker 1: Team Genesis, although I think you can say that as well,
Speaker 1: but talking about guys like Jimmy Bam plays really tough.
Speaker 1: You've got Igidalla, Trevor Ariza, They've got some tough guys
Speaker 1: on their team. So I was curious to see how
Speaker 1: that was going to play out, and that was certainly
Speaker 1: a subplot in the game. We saw the whole incident
Speaker 1: surrounding Areza, and then Dwight Howard got involved in a
Speaker 1: few things, Dwayne Dedmond and of course Unanis Haslem mixing
Speaker 1: it up. So anyhow, Tom and I talked about it
Speaker 1: before that, talked about that before the game and after
Speaker 1: the game. But Tom also pointed this out, given that
Speaker 1: he's been here for almost three decades, he was like,
Speaker 1: something came to mind tonight, given how this game was
Speaker 1: going out, and that the Sixers weren't really in it.
Speaker 1: Going back to the two thousand and two thousand and
Speaker 1: one season, when, of course the seventy Sixers made their
Speaker 1: run to the finals, Tom remembered at the end of
Speaker 1: the regular season it was like literally the final week
Speaker 1: of the regular season, because I checked him on it
Speaker 1: after he said this. Sixers lost a game in Orlando,
Speaker 1: went to Miami, had a free night in Miami, played
Speaker 1: in Miami, got their doors blown off. I think it
Speaker 1: was like one hundred one to seventy seven, and then
Speaker 1: lo and behold. A couple of weeks later, seventy Sixers
Speaker 1: were doing fine in the playoffs, making it all the
Speaker 1: way to the finals. I think there was just an
Speaker 1: institutional knowledge cautionary tale from t Mac as in, let's
Speaker 1: not freak out. So's he suggesting that it is in
Speaker 1: fact good to lose in Miami heading into the playoffs.
Speaker 1: I think he was just saying that here is a
Speaker 1: past case where towards the end of the season a
Speaker 1: six Ers team went down to Miami, had a bad night,
Speaker 1: and blink your eyes. A couple days later, playoffs underway,
Speaker 1: they were fine. There you have it. Shout out to
Speaker 1: Tea Mac for that the guy doesn't forget, and he
Speaker 1: was spot on. I went back on Basketball Reference, I
Speaker 1: checked it out, and there it was. I was impressed.
Speaker 1: I love it all right, year end. Do we call
Speaker 1: them awards? I don't know if everything's going to be
Speaker 1: an award, it's going to be a superlatives. Yes, I
Speaker 1: like that we will call them superlatives. Well, we'll begin
Speaker 1: the show with a normal one overall top moments of
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty twenty twenty one season for you, Lauren Rosen.
Speaker 1: I will allow, perhaps not to tip my hand too much,
Speaker 1: that this can include preseason slash offseason developments, acquisitions, things
Speaker 1: of that nature. I think I want hear yours first then,
Speaker 1: because I well, I mean, I'll go first. I have
Speaker 1: no problem going first because it sounds like if it
Speaker 1: includes preseason, yours is going to predate mine. So then,
Speaker 1: just like chronologically, this makes sense, I think, just because
Speaker 1: it's set the table for everything else. And this is
Speaker 1: not to diminish anything that anyone else related to the
Speaker 1: seventy sixers organization accomplished this year. To me, I really
Speaker 1: do feel like the biggest key to this season that
Speaker 1: set everything in motion, that has allowed Joel to thrive
Speaker 1: and Ben to be better and has given the Sixers
Speaker 1: so much success. Was the acquisitions in tandem, trading for
Speaker 1: Seth Curry and getting Danny Green that has brought balance
Speaker 1: to the force. Ball goes to Danny Green in the corner.
Speaker 1: Another three by Green is good. The Rockets having trouble
Speaker 1: locating Danny Green and Green makes them pay. Here's set
Speaker 1: for three and it's good. Curry pours it in and
Speaker 1: the Sixers lead by thirteen. All that fly on the
Speaker 1: right sideline. Seth Curry four for four with a pair
Speaker 1: of threes. I think so much of the issues the
Speaker 1: Sixers had last year was the fit didn't work. Wasn't
Speaker 1: the right fit? Great players, great guys as individuals didn't fit.
Speaker 1: It is a great fit this year, and I agree
Speaker 1: with what Joe said about two weeks ago. We don't
Speaker 1: talk about that enough. So I'm not going to say
Speaker 1: it was all Daryl Morey, because I honestly I don't
Speaker 1: know if it was all Daryl Morey. Maybe some scenes
Speaker 1: had been planted. I don't know that. I'm just saying
Speaker 1: the fact that Seth Curry and Danny Green were brought
Speaker 1: in huge to setting this starting five in motions. So
Speaker 1: to me, that's my top moment of the year. I
Speaker 1: can't argue that mine is necessarily a bigger moment, But
Speaker 1: my top moment of the year, just considering the season
Speaker 1: that he has had, had to be joe El Embiid
Speaker 1: scoring fifty points and there it is a career high
Speaker 1: fifty points for Joel Hans MB February nineteen against a
Speaker 1: Chicago team that was, of course weaker. But for anybody
Speaker 1: to score fifty in this league, let alone a big
Speaker 1: man to score fifty in this league, a reminder. Fifty points,
Speaker 1: seventeen rebounds, five assists, two steals, four blocks, seventeen for
Speaker 1: twenty six from the field, only one three and fifteen
Speaker 1: for seventeen from the line. That was a crazy night.
Speaker 1: You could tell it meant something to Joel. You could
Speaker 1: tell it meant something to Joel that the fans were
Speaker 1: not in the building for that. I do think it'll
Speaker 1: be interesting to look back on one of his best
Speaker 1: performances of all time, one of his best seasons of
Speaker 1: all time, when we look down the road at Joel's career,
Speaker 1: when he's getting ready to go into the Hall of Fame,
Speaker 1: and you play those highlights, and they were from a
Speaker 1: game where there was nobody in the building. It was
Speaker 1: an interesting night. It was an interesting experience. It was
Speaker 1: only staff there, and I remember we all were sort
Speaker 1: of watching him get closer and closer to fifty, and
Speaker 1: then he got fifty, but like people didn't really cheer,
Speaker 1: because that's not what you do when you when you're
Speaker 1: part of a staff. And you couldn't help but think
Speaker 1: about how fans would react if they had been there.
Speaker 1: It was a cool night. It was a very bitter suite,
Speaker 1: I guess way for him to get fifty points, but
Speaker 1: certainly the most memorable, at least for me this year.
Speaker 1: So that was my top moment in some bummer kind
Speaker 1: of ways. It was very emblematic and symbolic of at
Speaker 1: least the first half of this season that here. It
Speaker 1: is one of the crowning individual performances for Joel Embiids certainly,
Speaker 1: and also for the seventy six ers. I mean, you
Speaker 1: think back and you know, geez one, was there a
Speaker 1: game like that where you think about fifty points first
Speaker 1: time since Alan Iverson And to me, it's so silly
Speaker 1: because Joel can drop forty nine and I mean that's
Speaker 1: a ridiculous output. Fifty sounds different. And he got to
Speaker 1: fifty by going one for two from the line. We
Speaker 1: remember that in that game. So it wasn't like a
Speaker 1: dramatic way that he actually reached fifty points, but fifty
Speaker 1: just sounded nice. You can have a They don't sell
Speaker 1: forty nine piece McNugget, They sell a fifty piece McNugget.
Speaker 1: You know. Yeah, And to hear the way that Tobias
Speaker 1: Harris celebrated Joel and the way that he spoke about
Speaker 1: Joel in the days that followed, talking about the fact
Speaker 1: that Joel, regardless of what Tobias does in the remainder
Speaker 1: of his career, he's still a young guy. He's still
Speaker 1: got some good years ahead of him. He knows that
Speaker 1: Joel is the best player he ever played with, and
Speaker 1: he looks forward to telling his kids that. I mean,
Speaker 1: the whole thing was just like extremely poetic. There was
Speaker 1: like a bittersweet nature to the way that it happened,
Speaker 1: and certainly memorable for those involved. Okay, I'm gonna see
Speaker 1: if I can do this. I think we have a
Speaker 1: voicemail contribution from none other than our guy Divon gives
Speaker 1: for his top moments of the season. So, Lauren, sorry,
Speaker 1: I couldn't be there, since we couldn't be there together
Speaker 1: to give our season ending, our regular season ending Friday
Speaker 1: deep dive pot, I just wanted to jump in and
Speaker 1: my A moment has to go with the MVP of
Speaker 1: the team, arguably the league and his Joel Indeed, and
Speaker 1: it wasn't really stays out. Chicago Footballs game where he
Speaker 1: scored a career high over fifty was tremendous. He was fantastic.
Speaker 1: He has really gotten himself into a place where he
Speaker 1: really understands his game who he is. That performance was
Speaker 1: my favorite, and just seeing Ti Reason against the Denver
Speaker 1: Nuggets dropping thirty nine also won my favorites again. Miss
Speaker 1: you guys. We'll catch up at the playoffs get underway
Speaker 1: as We'll talk to you next week. Love it, Thank you, Divon.
Speaker 1: We are three adults. We do have schedules that are
Speaker 1: not always the easiest to align. Hence the reason why
Speaker 1: we get a voicemail from Devon this week. He'll be
Speaker 1: back next week, right, Tyrese Maxie thirty nine points, no question,
Speaker 1: that was so much fun. That was a fun game
Speaker 1: despite it being in defeat. Yeah, a lot of fun
Speaker 1: and another one of those ones without fans, and it
Speaker 1: was weird to decide how to celebrate stuff like that,
Speaker 1: especially understanding that the team was going to have a
Speaker 1: top time in the second half. There will be a
Speaker 1: lot of memories from from that first half of the season,
Speaker 1: and I do think that Joel's fifty piece Tyrese is
Speaker 1: nearly forty piece will certainly stand out and endure the
Speaker 1: years in terms of stories and moments that people remember
Speaker 1: as part of this fan base. Good segue by Divine.
Speaker 1: He doesn't have to be with us, and he can
Speaker 1: give us a great segue to set up the next superlative,
Speaker 1: biggest breakout. I can go first because I will be brief,
Speaker 1: I said Tyrese Maxie. It wasn't really hard to choose.
Speaker 1: Maxi finishes a left hand jamp. Tie rees Maxi, a
Speaker 1: crowd favored to be sure his first year, The Benchie RUPs,
Speaker 1: the crowd jumps up a standing note for Maxi. Lots
Speaker 1: of players have up to their game this season. I
Speaker 1: don't know if anyone outside of Tyrese, maybe a couple
Speaker 1: other rookies we could talk about, has really had a
Speaker 1: breakout the way that Tyrese has and as frequently as
Speaker 1: he has. He did it, of course against Den without
Speaker 1: thirty nine points, but he did it last week with
Speaker 1: the twenty two points. He stayed ready all season long.
Speaker 1: He's stayed available, he's stayed positive, He's always smiling and
Speaker 1: just happy to be there and taking as much control
Speaker 1: of the opportunities that he has given as he can.
Speaker 1: It's been a pleasure to watch Tyrese, and I do
Speaker 1: think that we can call him our breakout guy for
Speaker 1: the year. And I think that if he had been
Speaker 1: and his teammates have said this, if he had played
Speaker 1: on a perhaps a lesser team, had heavier minutes, maybe
Speaker 1: he'd be averaging seventeen eighteen nineteen points a game, and
Speaker 1: in discussion for all rookie and all these accolades that
Speaker 1: he certainly would be worthy of. But really cool to
Speaker 1: see the way that he's found opportunities to thrive in
Speaker 1: a team that's competing for a championship with a lot
Speaker 1: of competition for minutes. I'm gonna have to go with
Speaker 1: the mud Man, the fifty ninth pick in the two
Speaker 1: twenty draft. Penultimate Paul actually with the dribble. Tyrese loves
Speaker 1: it and Paul champs it. What a play y, all right,
Speaker 1: outstanding season for beball Paul, of course, the G League
Speaker 1: MVP and Rookie of the Year, twenty two and a
Speaker 1: half points, twelve boards, two and a half assists, two blocks,
Speaker 1: almost two steals per game. I, for one Laren was
Speaker 1: not expecting to be feeling the way that I feel
Speaker 1: about beball Paul this soon. I think there was a
Speaker 1: lot of reason to see intrigue in him. I think
Speaker 1: it was a great value pickup for the seventy six
Speaker 1: ers At that point in the draft. I did not
Speaker 1: see awards like that in the G League coming. I thought,
Speaker 1: you could be nice piece for the Blue Coats this year.
Speaker 1: He'd put up some nice numbers, have some good games,
Speaker 1: not be someone who dominates. But he went down to
Speaker 1: the gubble and dominate he did. Yeah, it's been a
Speaker 1: pleasure to watch Paul. More on him for me later.
Speaker 1: I have a beball Paul moment Paul moment that I'd
Speaker 1: like to discuss. But yeah, it's been awesome to see
Speaker 1: him play. Really cool to see him when Workie of
Speaker 1: the Year, an MVP and the goubble. Like you said,
Speaker 1: he's certainly exceeded expectations, perps, everybody's but his own, because
Speaker 1: he came in here with some lofty goals and he's
Speaker 1: chased after every one of them. Moving on the Let's
Speaker 1: get down to Business Award, the Let's get down to
Speaker 1: business award. Who's carrying the briefcase in in the double
Speaker 1: breasted suit, who's got the hard hat, the lunch pail,
Speaker 1: who's getting down to business? Am I going first? Or
Speaker 1: are you going first? You can go first. I'll take
Speaker 1: the next one. Well, to me, it was an easy one.
Speaker 1: The Let's get down to Business Award had to go
Speaker 1: to Tobias Harris. For me, Tobias hasn't way out on
Speaker 1: the right side. Curry screens, switch Reggie Bullock on, Tobias
Speaker 1: Harris on the back out to the right of the lane,
Speaker 1: left and dribble Hanks in the paint. It's good Tobias
Speaker 1: Harris back to back bield goals time out, New York
Speaker 1: ninety six, ninety two The Sixerslade. I think throughout his
Speaker 1: career he's been a machine. He's been so durable, so reliable,
Speaker 1: so constant for the teams he's played for. But this
Speaker 1: year he's done it in a way that he's leveled
Speaker 1: up his game and played like an All Star while
Speaker 1: being durable and reliable and a constant force on the
Speaker 1: court and off the court. I mean, Tobias Harris brings
Speaker 1: it no matter what. He brings it early in games,
Speaker 1: he brings it late in games. He sets goals, he
Speaker 1: accomplishes them. He's maybe one of the most reliable players
Speaker 1: in this league and was prior to this season. So
Speaker 1: now seeing him play the way that he has close games,
Speaker 1: the way that he has be as efficient as he's been,
Speaker 1: to me, this was an easy choice selves. I think
Speaker 1: that that is certainly I have a different answer, but
Speaker 1: that does not mean that your answer is by any
Speaker 1: way incorrect. I think one percent. I think Tobias his
Speaker 1: demeanor embodies the let's get down to business vibe. We
Speaker 1: talked about this. I forget if it was on Monday
Speaker 1: on the Mailbag or last week with the van, but
Speaker 1: how well that this season in particular, Tobias has struck
Speaker 1: the balance between being a leader and an elite player.
Speaker 1: Aaron everyone knows he should have been an All Star.
Speaker 1: Reggie Miller talked about it during the game on TNT
Speaker 1: on Thursday, and I couldn't agree with you more. It's
Speaker 1: the Bounty Tour twenty twenty twenty one for Tobias. He's
Speaker 1: got his list, taking names, all that good stuff, so
Speaker 1: no question about it. I think for me, the Get
Speaker 1: down to Business Award winner is Joel Embiid. Here's jacked
Speaker 1: in on a dry block by a bad too great
Speaker 1: defensive place. Mike Joe cap it off for a minute
Speaker 1: to go here and the Sixers will win this game.
Speaker 1: I think that. Listen. We were able to follow him
Speaker 1: a little bit before the season started when he was
Speaker 1: just like doing all types of work. He was playing basketball,
Speaker 1: he was getting into the gym in Camden, but he
Speaker 1: was also going to do conditioning by playing soccer and
Speaker 1: playing some tennis, and he was just all over the
Speaker 1: place doing a little bit of everything. He recommitted to
Speaker 1: his diet and nutrition. He took minimal time off after
Speaker 1: the bubble ended at the end of August, only a
Speaker 1: little time. When you have a kid, things change. But
Speaker 1: that's the other point. He's managing all this and having
Speaker 1: the season he's having while having a kid in the
Speaker 1: fold as well, making it look much easier than I'm
Speaker 1: sure it is, and having the type of season that
Speaker 1: he's having where he's tenth in the league and rebounds
Speaker 1: per game, he's fourth in scoring. As the time that
Speaker 1: we did this, he's an MVP candidate, should be the MVP.
Speaker 1: We'll see if he gets it. Certainly first team All
Speaker 1: League opportunity for Joel Embiid So to me, he got
Speaker 1: down to business and this Everyone's always said, well Joel,
Speaker 1: he's always said things, but is he going to back
Speaker 1: it up? I think this year, undisputedly the guys backed
Speaker 1: it up. I'm with it. I think there were a
Speaker 1: lot of good answers to I get down to business
Speaker 1: award question. I think maybe this twenty one seventy six
Speaker 1: ers could win it together, especially when you think about
Speaker 1: all the intangibles this season, the fact that they've been
Speaker 1: testing in the morning and at night and they haven't
Speaker 1: been able to socialize on the road or see their
Speaker 1: extended familieser. I mean, these guys are used to hosting
Speaker 1: their families at games and having friends come into town
Speaker 1: and watch them play and do all these things that
Speaker 1: their hard work rewards them for. At this point in
Speaker 1: their career, they haven't been able to do any of that.
Speaker 1: This year. They go on vacation, spend time with your family.
Speaker 1: Some of them like to crack open a bottle of wine.
Speaker 1: They've only been able to do it in their house.
Speaker 1: And I think that that all those intangibles, all of
Speaker 1: the sort of surrounding factors in this season, I think
Speaker 1: every player in the NBA honestly deserves consideration for the
Speaker 1: Get Down to Business Award because it's been all business
Speaker 1: this season, and it's been cool to see the Sixers thrive, thrive,
Speaker 1: even though the business of it all has has had
Speaker 1: a bit of a different equilibrium, no doubt, totally on
Speaker 1: board with that best shot, favorite shot? Did I say
Speaker 1: I was gonna go first for this one? Is my turn?
Speaker 1: I don't know. I wonderfully were the same one. I
Speaker 1: think I did say I was going to go first.
Speaker 1: All right, I'll go first. I will go with I
Speaker 1: think for me, it's the first thing that stands out
Speaker 1: is the Utah game at home. Who's got the three?
Speaker 1: Here's mb posting up. He's got Bogdanovitch thinking about a three.
Speaker 1: There it is, yes, Joel embiid tyne it up at
Speaker 1: a buck eighteen over boy on Bogdanovich right there. With
Speaker 1: time winding down, with about five seconds to go to
Speaker 1: send the game to overtime, and then the Sixers ultimately
Speaker 1: went a great game to wrap up the first half
Speaker 1: of the season. I like it that was not mine.
Speaker 1: I also went with the first thing that came to mind,
Speaker 1: which for me had to be January twenty seventh against
Speaker 1: the Los Angeles Lakers. To Buias, Harris hitting that game winner.
Speaker 1: Hurry has a shot. Clock is off, down eight seconds
Speaker 1: now Harris Harris against Carusoe on the drive, pull up jumper.
Speaker 1: It's good buyers. Harris sinks it with two point four lading.
Speaker 1: He's talked for so long about wanting to be a
Speaker 1: closer and hit big shots when it mattered. He had
Speaker 1: he had. There were some some other options on the
Speaker 1: court at the time, and to Bias may or may
Speaker 1: not have been the first option in that situation, and
Speaker 1: he took control over it hit the game winner. His
Speaker 1: teammates rejoiced. It was another game with no fans in
Speaker 1: the building and to see the team create their own
Speaker 1: energy and bring their own vibes. I think we should
Speaker 1: have known back in January that there was something special
Speaker 1: going on with this group because of the way that
Speaker 1: they all embraced Tobias afterwards. It was maybe the most
Speaker 1: we know Tobias not a big celebrator. It was maybe
Speaker 1: the most demure game winner over the Lebron James Lakers
Speaker 1: that has ever happened over the Lebron James Lakers. I'd
Speaker 1: have to do some research there, but yeah, that for
Speaker 1: me was the one because it was symbolically significant in
Speaker 1: terms of Tobias's development, and then significant of course based
Speaker 1: on the factors at play in the room that night.
Speaker 1: The Sixers, we know one of the traits for them
Speaker 1: this year. They've been a great fourth quarter team, They've
Speaker 1: found ways to win, still have the highest winning percentage
Speaker 1: in the league, and clutch games their second with twenty
Speaker 1: five clutch wins. So a lot of great rise to
Speaker 1: the occasion moments for the seventy six ers throughout the season.
Speaker 1: With the game on the line, we are working through
Speaker 1: our list the Golden Clamps honor. To whom shall we
Speaker 1: bestow the Golden Clamps. I wonder if you'd be willing
Speaker 1: to go first, because I have two answers, but if
Speaker 1: you take one of them, maybe I'll just have one answer.
Speaker 1: And now that I'm thinking about it, maybe I should
Speaker 1: have three answers. Do you mind going first? Right, there's
Speaker 1: at least two answers. Is at least if we're giving
Speaker 1: it to a player, of course, there have to be
Speaker 1: at least two answers. I'm gonna go with a play.
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna go with a play here, you can
Speaker 1: go with a play, or if you want, my play
Speaker 1: has to be from the bulls game, not too far
Speaker 1: back the block into the steel Matisse Stybel Laurie market
Speaker 1: and Marketing, blocked by an excellent defender in Matisse, stible
Speaker 1: and thoughtful, just got the steel. What a play? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: If I was going to pick a single play, I
Speaker 1: think it would have to be that one as well.
Speaker 1: And then to hear him describe it afterwards the way
Speaker 1: he said, Okay, so he got he got the block,
Speaker 1: and he was out of the play both times, honestly
Speaker 1: for the Steel and them, and he said that was
Speaker 1: just because Markenen was able to recover after the block
Speaker 1: from behind. Mattis said, that's the worst case scenario, like
Speaker 1: he was pissed about it. And then he went and
Speaker 1: he made the steal happen. That that might have to
Speaker 1: be the single the single play, and then if we
Speaker 1: want to if we want to go for a second option,
Speaker 1: I would have to go with the debut I guess
Speaker 1: of the great barrier Thieves against Indiana earlier in the
Speaker 1: season when they played that two three zone that we
Speaker 1: actually haven't seen a ton of since, but I think
Speaker 1: could be a little bit of a secret weapon for
Speaker 1: this team if they need it. Down the stretch, that
Speaker 1: zone with Ben and Matisse at the top, that just
Speaker 1: absolutely stifled Indiana. T J McConnell, what did he say?
Speaker 1: He said he was bamboozled or perplexed or something. He
Speaker 1: said that it really threw them off and it was
Speaker 1: a pleasure to watch the team come back down nineteen,
Speaker 1: I believe because of their defense, because their defense made
Speaker 1: way for their offense, and that's something they've said they've
Speaker 1: wanted to do all year long. So that was a
Speaker 1: really cool moment as well. Not a surprise. I think
Speaker 1: that both both of our favorite Clapps moments involved Matisse.
Speaker 1: Bible are Pal's over at the Six or Cents put
Speaker 1: together an article a while back. It pretty much only
Speaker 1: accounts for the first half of the season. Some of
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons top defensive performances of the year which was
Speaker 1: helpful and in prepping for this and going back and
Speaker 1: trying to jog my brain a little bit. But for
Speaker 1: anyone out there, just go to the six or cents
Speaker 1: dot com and search for Ben Simmons performances. But right
Speaker 1: the game against RJ. Barrett's second game of the season
Speaker 1: against the Knicks, that was one I agreed with Luca
Speaker 1: when the Mavericks were in Philly. Looking back, that might
Speaker 1: I might put that right up there as as one
Speaker 1: of his top ones. It was like, oh, Luca, Luca, Luca, yeah,
Speaker 1: and lucas great, but Ben shut him down. And I
Speaker 1: do think that that's worth worth discussing. People talk a
Speaker 1: lot about Luca being sort of the next transcendent player
Speaker 1: in this league, and based on what I've seen, I
Speaker 1: have nothing to say that that won't be the case.
Speaker 1: But because of all the chatter surrounding Luca and sort
Speaker 1: of magic dust that he has sprinkled around him, for
Speaker 1: these Sixers to face those maps for the first time
Speaker 1: this season and see Ben absolutely just put him to
Speaker 1: bed was was pretty awesome. Um. I don't know if
Speaker 1: that was the start, but the benetentiary knee Sixers Twitter,
Speaker 1: So just know that every time I see one, I
Speaker 1: do chuckle a little bit. Second last category superlative, insignificant
Speaker 1: yet still spectacular. I can go. I said, I had,
Speaker 1: I said, I had a Paul Reed moment coming up
Speaker 1: for you. On April thirtieth against Atlanta, the Sixers had
Speaker 1: been up the whole time. It was a dominant victory,
Speaker 1: as is the case in indominant performances, As is often
Speaker 1: the case, bebal Paul comes in for his minutes there
Speaker 1: at the end, and he had this break that he
Speaker 1: went from coast to coast. I don't know if you
Speaker 1: can consider it necessarily a eurostep, but had euro step.
Speaker 1: You vibes for the dunk at the at the finish,
Speaker 1: and it was just beautiful. Nathan Night on the move,
Speaker 1: He's size steps max. He goes up and read block
Speaker 1: this shot and now Paul read in transition on the
Speaker 1: move around okng wo Hettie Jambet beeball Paul in a
Speaker 1: big way, a block at one and a eurostep and
Speaker 1: a slam at the other, and the crowd loves it,
Speaker 1: as do the sexers. Paul Reid a sensational play, Oh
Speaker 1: my dwell Eban rolls around on the floor on the
Speaker 1: other end and just sheer joy and glee to celebrate
Speaker 1: beball Paul in that moment. And while it didn't necessarily
Speaker 1: do anything to impact the outcome of the game, it
Speaker 1: impacted everything else. I would say, So, if you say
Speaker 1: insignificant yet spectacular, I gotta go with beball Paul's flush
Speaker 1: against Atlanta To give the people some insight, some behind
Speaker 1: the scenes insight about how we go about our jobs.
Speaker 1: We have a couple of tools that are hugely helpful
Speaker 1: in terms of tracking down content. We have this one
Speaker 1: service that allows us to go through game by game
Speaker 1: or player by player it in jest, footage while the
Speaker 1: game is going on. It rates it automatically. How there's
Speaker 1: some algorithm I don't know, and it then like, let's say,
Speaker 1: I can look up player X, and then it gives
Speaker 1: you the top clips they have by rating. Um. There's
Speaker 1: another similar thing that the NBA provides. And would you
Speaker 1: not know that the highest rated play for Joel Embid
Speaker 1: this season was in fact a shot that did not
Speaker 1: go in missed it and be seriously, what's this? First
Speaker 1: of all, I can't believe you missed it. But then
Speaker 1: Joe Joe clean rebound one motion, look at that that
Speaker 1: would have been a sports forever look at that. Look
Speaker 1: at so my insignificant yet still spectacular was the near
Speaker 1: buzzer read that Joel Embiid had just insane, absolutely insane,
Speaker 1: that should have gone in. I mean, for that to
Speaker 1: not go in and for Kawai shot to go in
Speaker 1: two years ago, there's something weird going on with the
Speaker 1: magnetic field or I will just say it, there's something
Speaker 1: fishy going on there, and I think that it means
Speaker 1: that the Sixers are due for some sort of payout
Speaker 1: that goes the opposite way at some point, because lightning
Speaker 1: really has struck twice in about two years. With those
Speaker 1: two shots finishing the way that they did just absolutely
Speaker 1: insane and listening to some of the different calls and
Speaker 1: you know how people reacted to it. I mean, I
Speaker 1: think he should have gotten credit for it because of
Speaker 1: how close it was and how bizarre it was. Like
Speaker 1: I think both teams should have been like you, oh, yep,
Speaker 1: I guess we gotta we gotta let that one count.
Speaker 1: It was wild, not miss crazy near finish that wasn't
Speaker 1: against the Sun's insignificant yet still spectacular. We're gonna wrap
Speaker 1: it up with this. It is the Lauren Rosen subbeat.
Speaker 1: She staked her claim on it at the outset of
Speaker 1: this season. I think she has an eye for clubs
Speaker 1: with wholesome vibes or just wholesome vibes in general. It
Speaker 1: is the wholesome crown who takes or what takes the
Speaker 1: wholesome crown this year? Should I go first and then
Speaker 1: we can have a dramatic build up to you the finish.
Speaker 1: I think you have to go first. If it's really
Speaker 1: my beat, I think I get the final words. Okay,
Speaker 1: I just don't want to take yours. I probably won't
Speaker 1: because I think you're so if you take mine, I'll
Speaker 1: come up with something. Okay, I'm gonna deal with a
Speaker 1: because we can never have enough opportunities for people to
Speaker 1: dip into the back catalog. The energy Chain one of
Speaker 1: my favorite stories from the year that Lauren profiled that
Speaker 1: came out a couple months back, The energy chain postgame
Speaker 1: parties have that helped in a funky year, foster an
Speaker 1: atmosphere of camaraderie for the seventy sixers, and how Ben
Speaker 1: Canyon strength and conditioning coach helped facilitate this whole program.
Speaker 1: After game workout parties in the locker room, they handed
Speaker 1: out a like a wrestling chain belt thing around the
Speaker 1: neck like flavor. Flav loves it. That's my wholesome story.
Speaker 1: I love that. For those of you that haven't checked
Speaker 1: it out, make sure you check out. Good Vibes Only
Speaker 1: was the name of the story on sixers dot com,
Speaker 1: a really special look at what this team was becoming
Speaker 1: all along it. Yeah, for those of you, again who
Speaker 1: don't know the whole story, they've they've created a club
Speaker 1: like environment in the weight room after games. Dwight Howard
Speaker 1: blasts music and the guys lift together and they yell
Speaker 1: and they dap each other up and they have a
Speaker 1: great time. Um, there's a VIP list, you have to
Speaker 1: be invited. Joel Embiid has his own little VIP section.
Speaker 1: It's a whole thing. There's a lot of vibes coming
Speaker 1: together as one and it all goes backs. That's what
Speaker 1: we were saying, the weird nature of this season. They
Speaker 1: have to create their own fund, They have to create
Speaker 1: their own vibes, their own chances to bond, and they've
Speaker 1: been doing that since since the jump this season. So
Speaker 1: I love that pick. It was not my pick. I
Speaker 1: went with more of like a micro pick that I
Speaker 1: believe to be symbolic about we need that. That's why
Speaker 1: you're on the beat. We expect, we don't expect the
Speaker 1: mainstream take us inside the vibes. The nature of this
Speaker 1: I think it speaks volumes about the nature of this
Speaker 1: team and what could be to come in the years
Speaker 1: ahead for this team. Because a reminder, the centerpieces of
Speaker 1: this team all remain very young, but there are some
Speaker 1: younger than those young and to me, I might have
Speaker 1: a little bit of recency bias here, but my heart
Speaker 1: was glowing when Tyrese Maxie I asked him about his
Speaker 1: defensive improvement, because Doc Rivers has been very proud of
Speaker 1: him on the defensive end in the last couple of weeks,
Speaker 1: and Tyrese's answer was very short, very simple. He says, Oh,
Speaker 1: it's been easy to improve on defense. I've just been
Speaker 1: watching Matissa's film and I think that that was beautiful
Speaker 1: and I think it shows a lot about how much
Speaker 1: these guys trust each other, They admire one another, they
Speaker 1: can learn things from one another. And we talk a
Speaker 1: lot about Danny Green and Dwight Howard and Tobias Harris,
Speaker 1: the way that they are leaders, and they've created these
Speaker 1: wholesome vibes and their hoping these postgame parties, and Danny
Speaker 1: is like the master of ceremonies for these wholesome vibes.
Speaker 1: But it's trickling all the way down. So to see
Speaker 1: a rookie player and a sophomore player figuring it out
Speaker 1: together and growing together, and potentially those are the guys
Speaker 1: that are going to take the torch one days as
Speaker 1: these sixers continue to grow. I just thought that that
Speaker 1: was beautiful and personally it was one of the ones
Speaker 1: that got my followers on Twitter the most riled up,
Speaker 1: so I just had to take a cue from them.
Speaker 1: If they loved it, I'm willing to give that the
Speaker 1: Wholesome Award. I like that we have a macro and
Speaker 1: a micro moment, Yes for Wholesome Award, because I think
Speaker 1: that that helps tell the whole story. Runner up for
Speaker 1: me was after Joe did I think it's his most
Speaker 1: recent hip thrust after getting the N one and the
Speaker 1: bassline move on Cat against the Timberwolves. Ben Simmons reaction
Speaker 1: coming over kind of like slinking over, doing the long
Speaker 1: strides to help Joel up and then just laughing. I
Speaker 1: thought That was nice too. I like Tobias sort of
Speaker 1: like he can't he can't approve, but but he approves
Speaker 1: in those moments. Some of my honorable mentions also include
Speaker 1: furkon Courtma's jumping water one piece. Was the player of
Speaker 1: the game, And was he really the player of the game.
Speaker 1: I don't know who decides that, because he had a
Speaker 1: great game. He had five steals, but it might not
Speaker 1: have even been his best game this season. He just
Speaker 1: happened to go do an interview and Furcan chased him
Speaker 1: to pour water on him. Shout out to Alex Supers.
Speaker 1: That might be my photo of the season. Um. Just
Speaker 1: the sheer joy on Furcon's face dousing his teammate in water.
Speaker 1: Um was really beautiful to watch. I'm trying to think
Speaker 1: of any other opportunities. I mean the way that that
Speaker 1: Tobias and Tyrese warmed Danny up every game they get
Speaker 1: his shot in order. Tobias actually says he injects the
Speaker 1: balls with good vibes, that's part of the routine, and
Speaker 1: Danny calls Tobias the shot doctor. The options just like
Speaker 1: there are so many options. Don't even get me started.
Speaker 1: Ray John Tucker having a great dunkin warmups and then
Speaker 1: doing the Superman thing with Dwight. That's another huge one.
Speaker 1: Seth Curry dunking and warm ups and everybody's freaking out.
Speaker 1: That's another good one. There's there's just so much. There's
Speaker 1: just so much. It's endless. One of the endearing, many endearing,
Speaker 1: but arguably yes, the most endearing qualities of this year's team.
Speaker 1: They really seem to like each other. But it's been great,
Speaker 1: and that is so important. It is it's very agree
Speaker 1: with each other for another month and a half, two
Speaker 1: months hopefully, so might as well get along and enjoy
Speaker 1: the ride and potentially a few years. Not a lot
Speaker 1: of expirings on this group, so they could be stuck together.
Speaker 1: Might as well like each other. There you have it,
Speaker 1: your superlatives, regular, irregular, and in between for the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty twenty twenty one season up to this point. But
Speaker 1: then the true season really begins in just a few days.
Speaker 1: That was fun. It was fun. Thank you. Can we
Speaker 1: do superlatives again after the playoffs? We're gonna have to
Speaker 1: because we only got one superlative from Devon and we
Speaker 1: need his keen perspective on many of these matters. Cool
Speaker 1: we can update, we can update our list. Excellent. Alrighty,
Speaker 1: thank you very much, al thank you. We're gonna be
Speaker 1: back with a mail bag on Monday, and then I
Speaker 1: don't want to jinx it. I think we're gonna have
Speaker 1: an announcement about what we're doing for the playoffs soon,
Speaker 1: so be on the lookout for that. We're ramping it up,
Speaker 1: as they say. I think I hope I could just
Speaker 1: put the egg on my face this time next week.
Speaker 1: But hopefully someone's gonna ramp it up. Maybe maybe it'll
Speaker 1: just be you and meet right, Okay, I'll be nice.
Speaker 1: Here we go. Okay, all right, everybody, we can ever
Speaker 1: see you,