Speaker 1: The seventy Sixers medal was put to the test in
Speaker 1: Game two, and they certainly passed. Joel Bake to three
Speaker 1: dry tick us all spits thanks right side lays up
Speaker 1: at Joel a b scores the ball at the Sixers
Speaker 1: up the league of three twenty four seconds to go.
Speaker 1: Having left the North with a hard earned split and
Speaker 1: home court advantage in hand, the Sixers are eager to
Speaker 1: get back to South Philadelphia. Man for the Fast always
Speaker 1: show up, so I'm sure it's always the same as
Speaker 1: elect far. Now the seventy Sixers change the tone of
Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference semifinals. Get a chat with Jonah bowl
Speaker 1: All on this episode of the broadcast. Alright, alright, alright,
Speaker 1: things looking in film a little bit different now since
Speaker 1: the last time we spoke. Seventy Sixers and the Raptors
Speaker 1: all square, tied up at one game apiece heading into
Speaker 1: a huge Game three of this best of seven second
Speaker 1: round series between the Atlantic Division rivals. I'm Brian Selzer,
Speaker 1: hope you are doing great. We got a bunch to
Speaker 1: dive into in terms of the good we saw in
Speaker 1: Monday's game to ninety four eighty nine victory for the
Speaker 1: seventy Sixers will also look ahead, of course to Thursday's
Speaker 1: showdown in South Philadelphia. But first, as we normally hit
Speaker 1: upon at the start of any one of our podcasts,
Speaker 1: a couple of reminders. If you are not yet a
Speaker 1: subscribe to the podcast, we would love to have you,
Speaker 1: please do visit any one of your favorite podcasting platforms
Speaker 1: that could be Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, tune in, Stitcher, Spreaker, pocketcasts, SoundCloud,
Speaker 1: whatever it is. Go there, type in Sixers Podcast Network
Speaker 1: that will take you to our feed and please do subscribe.
Speaker 1: So here we are seventy Sixers one game, Toronto Raptors
Speaker 1: one game, a major swing matchup Thursday at the Center
Speaker 1: in South Philadelphia. You know, I thought it probably would
Speaker 1: have been a little b too dramatic to put game
Speaker 1: two on Monday in Toronto and must win terms, but
Speaker 1: there was no doubt in talking to some of the
Speaker 1: coaches and players on the team. There was of course
Speaker 1: extra urgency given how things didn't go all that well
Speaker 1: for the Sixers in game one on Saturday. Of course,
Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard and Pascal Siakam got loose. Seventy Sixers just
Speaker 1: didn't seem to have it. But from the jump Monday
Speaker 1: at Scotia Bank Arena. There was no doubt the seventy
Speaker 1: Sixers looked and performed like a different team. Joel behind
Speaker 1: his back in traffic, over the running jj for three.
Speaker 1: That's it. Sevens has got a man into the corner.
Speaker 1: En Us three ball up at it James and Us
Speaker 1: knocking down another three time out Toronto Joellabe there comes
Speaker 1: a double shot. Cocket three picks it out to the
Speaker 1: right side. Butler three ball. Jimmy Butler has done it again.
Speaker 1: Back to the three. Immediately we saw some key adjustments.
Speaker 1: I thought Brett Brown had a fantastic game. He stuck
Speaker 1: to his guns and coached with conviction. He put Joel
Speaker 1: Embiid on Pascal Siakum, let Marcus Saul have his free
Speaker 1: range shooted from mid ranger distance. Didn't work out for
Speaker 1: the Raptors. Ben Simmons got the lion's share of the
Speaker 1: minutes on Kawhi Leonard. With some help, Sixers were passing
Speaker 1: the ball more effectively from side to side, created some
Speaker 1: nice looks on the wing and in the corner. For
Speaker 1: three Sixers held the Raptors to just thirty eight points
Speaker 1: in the first half and thirty six and a half
Speaker 1: percent shooting for the entire game, well below the averages
Speaker 1: that Toronto had both in regular season and in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: I thought a defense at the start of the game
Speaker 1: was almost as good as it could be. I was
Speaker 1: proud of a defense, and for those reasons, I think
Speaker 1: a spiro was just fine and it was reflected in
Speaker 1: a pretty solid defensive First out, Jimmy Butler, pivotal to
Speaker 1: the seventy six was playing out a gritty game to win.
Speaker 1: Twelve of his thirty points came in the critical fourth frame.
Speaker 1: That big three that he hits put the Sixers up
Speaker 1: by seven points with about two minutes to go, and
Speaker 1: then the past Joel and beat on that twisting, impressive
Speaker 1: driving lay up, and that gave the seventy sixers pretty
Speaker 1: much the game and some important insurance in the final seconds.
Speaker 1: To tell you truth, I just happened to make a
Speaker 1: couple of shots. Everybody told him to come out aggressive,
Speaker 1: shoot the shots that are there. I still think that
Speaker 1: passed the ball when I wasn't open. Maybe a little
Speaker 1: bit later. If some people may say Paul and Oman
Speaker 1: we guarded, I think that's that's the reason that we
Speaker 1: want and even though Kawhi Leonards still finished with a
Speaker 1: big number thirty five points thirteen to twenty four, shooting
Speaker 1: seven rebounds, six assists, I thought Ben Simmons really did
Speaker 1: make life difficult for the Cloth. Simmons continuing to shine
Speaker 1: defensively in the playoffs. He is proving his worth on
Speaker 1: that end against a couple of all stars. Seann Magahart.
Speaker 1: You know, obviously Quais, a very talented guy. Lost defensively.
Speaker 1: He's great, so for me make it tough for him
Speaker 1: offensively on his side, it was really my job. So
Speaker 1: I'm glad. I'm glad I got that role. Simmons didn't
Speaker 1: score a ton in Monday's game, but no matter, his
Speaker 1: value was present in a lot of other areas, and
Speaker 1: he also had seven rebounds, five assists and a couple
Speaker 1: of steals, finishing with a plus two rating in nearly
Speaker 1: forty four and a half minutes before we put game
Speaker 1: two to rest. I gotta give a shout out to
Speaker 1: the bench right twenty six to five advantage in scoring
Speaker 1: against the Toronto reserves, fifteen to six against the counterparts
Speaker 1: from the rafters in rebounding. James Enis, the third had
Speaker 1: a great game so did Greg Monroe, who Brett Brown
Speaker 1: tapped as the first big man off the bench to
Speaker 1: relieve Joel Embiid. And I'm also gonna throw Jonah Bolden
Speaker 1: in there. I thought the rookie came in in a
Speaker 1: pinch after Monroe went out with an ankle sprain and
Speaker 1: it didn't work out with Boban Marnyanovitch, and Bolden delivered.
Speaker 1: He had some really helpful rebounds between the third and
Speaker 1: fourth quarter and that timely triple to push the Sixers
Speaker 1: lead back to nine early in the fourth. After practicing
Speaker 1: Campden on Wednesday, Joan and I talked about his growth
Speaker 1: during the postseason and how some veterans have helped him. Jonah,
Speaker 1: you're a rookie going through this postseason. You've appeared in
Speaker 1: every game so far. What are some of the things
Speaker 1: that you're learning and taking away? The details of every
Speaker 1: play in the position is critical. The attention to detail
Speaker 1: is magnified. Personnel becomes much more significant than the regular
Speaker 1: season and obviously more significant than the play itself. I think,
Speaker 1: you know, Coach repeats it a lot, and it's very
Speaker 1: true that a lot of the playoffs is the players
Speaker 1: um and other players. I think the things that I've
Speaker 1: taken away from my first UM playoffs here is just
Speaker 1: like I said, attended the detail significance of every play
Speaker 1: entity's taken to another level physicality. Um yeah. Does it
Speaker 1: almost slow down the more minutes to play in a
Speaker 1: playoff game? Does it feel like it gets slower there's
Speaker 1: more stuff that you can process? Does it feel more natural? Uncomfortable? Yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: yeah no dot um, comfortability comes with time. UM. So,
Speaker 1: I mean it's kind of for me, it's it's kind
Speaker 1: of a new season UM in some forms, like starting
Speaker 1: like I said, everything different other than obviously the sport UM.
Speaker 1: You know, for me, it was just coming in fresh,
Speaker 1: ready to go. UM. The more time I get, the
Speaker 1: more comfortable I'd be, and and the more comfortable I feel.
Speaker 1: Game two against the Rafters, you came in in the
Speaker 1: second half, had a couple of big rebounds, hit a
Speaker 1: key three pointer or what did you think the team
Speaker 1: needed in that game? In particular? Um, just for everyone
Speaker 1: to know the role UM, I mean specifically, guys are
Speaker 1: telling me, you get the bullet, just shoot it. UM.
Speaker 1: And that's that's kind of what I did when I
Speaker 1: came back in UM, and and and and and just
Speaker 1: sticking to the game play and UM for me, like
Speaker 1: I said, no, my role knowing knowing that I'm out
Speaker 1: there to to help my teammates out and in any
Speaker 1: aspect um possible. And if it's getting the rebound at
Speaker 1: crucial times or knocking down the three like my teammates
Speaker 1: asking me, then that's what I'll do. Can you give
Speaker 1: you some examples of some of the conversations you've had
Speaker 1: with the specific veterans on this team, And it seems
Speaker 1: like a guy like Jimmy Butler is someone who's always
Speaker 1: coaching young guys up. Yeah. I mean, like I said,
Speaker 1: the guy just kind of tell tell me specifically, UM
Speaker 1: to just shoot h That's that's what I do. And
Speaker 1: I'll continue to do that. UM. And they you know,
Speaker 1: they give me the upmost confidence and and and believe
Speaker 1: in myself. Um that they they also instill the fact that,
Speaker 1: like I said, every play is is critical and significant,
Speaker 1: So you can't really take a playoff defensively or offensively,
Speaker 1: um at this point in this season, in the postseason. UM,
Speaker 1: so just just being ready, whether you whether my time
Speaker 1: comes in in the first over my time comes in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter. Always remember ready that when I'm coming,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna need to be ready and my team has
Speaker 1: depending on me. What do you think the home crowd
Speaker 1: is going to be like Game three? You guys have
Speaker 1: taken home court advantage in this series. Um, crazy like
Speaker 1: it always is here? Uh if not, if not more crazy,
Speaker 1: just just how the series is tied. Um. And you
Speaker 1: know that you speak nothing less of Philadelphia fans. They're
Speaker 1: they're very you know, fanatical and behind us and and loud.
Speaker 1: So you're definitely gonna fill him and hear him. Jona,
Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Thank you. Jonah Bolden heightened awareness
Speaker 1: to some of the finer intricacies and subtleties of pro
Speaker 1: basketball in the NBA postseason, averaging about nine minutes per
Speaker 1: game in the playoffs. And you know, I think all
Speaker 1: things being relative, very relative, I think you can say
Speaker 1: that he is a solid track record against the Toronto
Speaker 1: Raptors between the game on Monday and then if you
Speaker 1: remember the home game right before Christmas, he had not
Speaker 1: rebounds and four blocks and the Sixers regular season win
Speaker 1: over the Raptors. What the Sixers, We'll try to do
Speaker 1: to keep the good things going. In Game three on
Speaker 1: Thursday night, will hit that in a moment. But first,
Speaker 1: I don't know the whole entire breakdown of the demographics
Speaker 1: of our Sixers podcast network listening audience. But if you're
Speaker 1: a young kid out there, or more likely than not,
Speaker 1: you're the parents of a young kid out there, I
Speaker 1: gotta tell you about these seventy Sixers Kids Club presented
Speaker 1: by five Below. It's brand new and it is awesome.
Speaker 1: Membership is only thirty five bucks, includes a welcome Kid
Speaker 1: team store discount, a five below gift card, plus a
Speaker 1: whole lot more. Be an inaugural member of the seventy
Speaker 1: Sixers Kids Club presented by five Below. Sign up today
Speaker 1: at sixers dot com slash Kids Club. Okay, we got
Speaker 1: a big one Thursday night, nationally televised game on ESPN
Speaker 1: in south Field Alpha at the Center in the primetime spotlight.
Speaker 1: Seventy six ers very eager to be back at home.
Speaker 1: Our crowd is amazing. You know, it's loud, they bring energy,
Speaker 1: it's energetic and for us, that's going to fuel us,
Speaker 1: and we just gotta be ready to play it. We're not.
Speaker 1: We're not. A crowd is always behind us and wants
Speaker 1: us to win more than anybody. So we're gonna fuel
Speaker 1: off that. That's Tobias Harris think he's having a great postseason,
Speaker 1: averaging sixteen points, ten rebounds a double double for the
Speaker 1: whole playoffs, plus four and a half assist per game.
Speaker 1: He's shooting nearly forty five percent from three, a double
Speaker 1: double in each game of the Raptors series. Really strong
Speaker 1: stuff from Tobias Harris. No doubt Joellenby knows what his
Speaker 1: numbers have been, and of course he'd love to get
Speaker 1: himself going and do some more scoring. But I thought
Speaker 1: it was also great to hear him say that he
Speaker 1: doesn't want to force the issue. He talked about this
Speaker 1: on Wednesday at practice, and he's got a very matter
Speaker 1: of fact view about how he's fitting in and his role.
Speaker 1: Man is the layoffs. We all make adjustments. We had
Speaker 1: a bad first game and we made some adjustments. I'm
Speaker 1: sure they're gonna make some adjustments too. We gotta respond
Speaker 1: to that. But at the end of the day, it's
Speaker 1: all about playing hard me especially if I'm not getting
Speaker 1: open looks or I'm not in situations where i can't
Speaker 1: play one on one. You know, Like I said, I
Speaker 1: got to make the right decisions and go from that.
Speaker 1: But uh, it's a game of adjustments and they're gonna
Speaker 1: make theirs and we gotta respond to it. But at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, it's all about playing hard.
Speaker 1: And you know, if I don't got it going offensively, uh,
Speaker 1: you know that I tend to focus extremely on the
Speaker 1: defensive and so uh, he goes both for us, and
Speaker 1: you know what about that? And to that point, as
Speaker 1: we saw in Game two when it mattered most game
Speaker 1: on the line, who was there the big man to
Speaker 1: pass out to Jimmy Butler on the double team for
Speaker 1: three and then that driving layup. I think it's a
Speaker 1: great mindset that Joe has, very healthy, team oriented focus
Speaker 1: as far as how things have gone for him in
Speaker 1: this series, speaking of offensive numbers, Danny Green of the Rafters,
Speaker 1: he was the other important part of the Kawhi Leonard
Speaker 1: deal and he's been a significant subplot due really impart
Speaker 1: to what he hasn't done yet in the Eastern Conference
Speaker 1: SEMIS and that's hit threes his bread and butter, two
Speaker 1: for ten through his first two games, had an open
Speaker 1: look with time expiring late in Monday's game in Toronto.
Speaker 1: Ten total points in the series thus far, and he
Speaker 1: finished the regular season second in the league in three
Speaker 1: point percentage at forty four and a half percent. Brett
Speaker 1: Brown once the seventy six ers on high alert. He
Speaker 1: coached Danny Green in San Antonio. I know Danny Green
Speaker 1: well enough to know that the chance of that continuing
Speaker 1: is small, and we caught a break the other night
Speaker 1: with the open look that he had. But to think,
Speaker 1: like you know that's a common with what you know
Speaker 1: numbers he's produced in the first two games is not
Speaker 1: at all what I'm thinking and what I have learned
Speaker 1: having spent a lot of time around him. The three
Speaker 1: point shooting behind Kawhi Leonard's so vital in this series
Speaker 1: to Toronto's chances. Toronto's combined for nineteen for sixty four.
Speaker 1: That's under thirty percent through two games, and the seventy
Speaker 1: six Ers have to continue to clamp down on the perimeter.
Speaker 1: You gotta love that statistic, Toronto shooting under thirty percent
Speaker 1: from three to start this series. Let's end this thing
Speaker 1: on a lighthearted additional field good notes at m del NBA.
Speaker 1: You probably know the handle by now. Got to give
Speaker 1: it to the man. You got a Mike Scott Hive
Speaker 1: tattoo after getting enough followers on Twitter amazing. Mike was
Speaker 1: asked about it on Wednesday, and if you've picked up
Speaker 1: an anything about Mike Scott's personality so far, authentic, real,
Speaker 1: no bs, just a true, straight up dude, and he was.
Speaker 1: He was gushing on Wednesday when he was asked about
Speaker 1: the tattoo. That's crazy, that's crazy. It was dope, man,
Speaker 1: shout out to him. I got off the tickets for Sunday.
Speaker 1: That's crazy, man, crazy fan. I love it. I never
Speaker 1: I told him. I never had fans like this since
Speaker 1: probably UVA, but as far as I'm in a league,
Speaker 1: best fans new disrespect to Atlanta Clippers in DCUM, but
Speaker 1: I never had fans like this, So I just I
Speaker 1: love it, and they embraced me. I embraced them. I
Speaker 1: feel like I'm one of them. And uh, it was dope.
Speaker 1: So I only hope to see Mike Scott's back out
Speaker 1: on the court soon. He is progressing from his right
Speaker 1: heel and planter fascitis injury. He did practice on a Wednesday,
Speaker 1: and he is questionable going into Game three on Thursday.
Speaker 1: Some keys then I'll be looking for Thursday night at
Speaker 1: the Center six. Continue to ride the wave. It was
Speaker 1: a close win, but it was a win on Monday,
Speaker 1: and capitalized on the momentum and the boost at the
Speaker 1: home crowd figures to give on Thursday night. Cut down
Speaker 1: on the turnovers that would be good. Sixers had nineteen
Speaker 1: of them in the game on Monday, and in that respect,
Speaker 1: I thought they were fortunate to escape with a win.
Speaker 1: Toronto also scored twenty two points off the Sixers turnovers
Speaker 1: in Game one. Sixers also have owned the glass in
Speaker 1: this series and that has got to continue. In Game
Speaker 1: one on Saturday, when the Sixers still had a shot,
Speaker 1: it was because in large part they're rebounding, especially on
Speaker 1: the offensive glass. Sixers dominated the boards in Game two
Speaker 1: on Monday. They are outrebounding the opposition. This is Brooklyn
Speaker 1: and Toronto combining the playoffs by almost twelve and a
Speaker 1: half rebounds per game. That is amazing and almost five
Speaker 1: rebounds better in terms of rebound differential than the next
Speaker 1: closest team in the postseason, and that is Milwaukee. So
Speaker 1: get those extra possessions by crashing the glass and three
Speaker 1: point defense. As we said, if the Sixers are able
Speaker 1: to limit and just even mitigate the threat of Kawhi Leonard.
Speaker 1: If there's no three point shooting behind him, that takes
Speaker 1: a huge weapon away from the raptors. So keep that going,
Speaker 1: seventy six ers and I think if those things come
Speaker 1: to fruition, hey sixers take the swing game on Thursday night.
Speaker 1: Thanks for Jonah Bolden for hopping on this episode of
Speaker 1: the podcast, Thank you for listening. Enjoy the game on
Speaker 1: Thursday night. Should be a great atmosphere at the Center
Speaker 1: and hopefully we'll be talking more about a great results.
Speaker 1: And lastly, a reminder if you're gonna look out for
Speaker 1: a rewind edition the podcast in your fee, either later
Speaker 1: on Thursday night or first thing Friday,