Speaker 1: Round two between the seventy Sixers and the Raptors offered
Speaker 1: plenty of good storylines. The front and Center was the
Speaker 1: first head to head matchup for a pair of stars
Speaker 1: since both were traded into the Atlantic Division. Butler put
Speaker 1: it in at a remarkable falling down shot. Butler hanging
Speaker 1: in the air, throws it up and got it to go.
Speaker 1: Letter gets another freight hand champ Hey fundrous Lamp fight
Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard. He fight just be the best player in
Speaker 1: the game right now. Wow. No, Jimmy Butler and Kawhi
Speaker 1: Leonard did not disappoint. The Sixers came up short and
Speaker 1: Toronto again. We recapped the matchup and discuss other Sixers
Speaker 1: things with Serena Winners. It was an early barometer. That
Speaker 1: doesn't mean that that barometer is not going to be
Speaker 1: more even come April. It just means that there's a
Speaker 1: little bit of ways to go. NBC Sports Philadelphia Sixers
Speaker 1: reporter Serena Winners our guest on this week's edition of
Speaker 1: the broadcast. What going on out there are seventy Sixers
Speaker 1: pod people. Hope everything is good and well in your
Speaker 1: world relatively speaking, of course, you know that Wednesday night's
Speaker 1: game in Toronto stings one thirteen, one h two loss
Speaker 1: to the Raptors. Thirteenth straight time the Sixers have dropped
Speaker 1: a regular season game in the North and they will
Speaker 1: have to wait until next year to try and end
Speaker 1: that trend. But of course, who knows, wouldn't be entirely
Speaker 1: out of the question whatsoever if these two division and
Speaker 1: conference rivals would meet up once again in the postseason.
Speaker 1: But two more matchups between the Sixers and the Raptors
Speaker 1: on the calendar, with the next one coming up in
Speaker 1: just a few days right before the Christmas holiday at
Speaker 1: the Center. My name is Brian Seltzer. As always, we
Speaker 1: very much appreciate you're checking out the podcast. You can
Speaker 1: subscribe through iTunes, google Play, Stitcher, pocketcasts, SoundCloud, tune in.
Speaker 1: Any one of your favorite podcasting platforms should have us.
Speaker 1: All you gotta do is type in Sixers podcast Network
Speaker 1: and that should take you to our feeds. So yeah,
Speaker 1: Wednesday night on the road against the Raptors was not
Speaker 1: a game that ended up the way the seventy Sixers
Speaker 1: wanted it to go. Sixers went into the matchup with
Speaker 1: the second highest win total in the NBA, with seventeen.
Speaker 1: Toronto led the league with twenty dubs, and Toronto would
Speaker 1: end up getting number twenty one at the expense of
Speaker 1: the Sixers. I thought things got off to a pretty
Speaker 1: good start in that when the Sixers led and by
Speaker 1: six points after a quarter, and it felt like going
Speaker 1: into the final four to five minutes of the first half,
Speaker 1: the team was in a pretty good spot. But then
Speaker 1: Kawhi Leonard, who had already been scoring at will in
Speaker 1: the game, seemed to flick a switch. His teammates responded.
Speaker 1: The urgency level of the Raptors understandably and perhaps not
Speaker 1: so surprisingly intensified as well. You gotta remember they were
Speaker 1: coming off just their fifth loss of the season on
Speaker 1: Monday at home against the Denver Nuggets, and Toronto took
Speaker 1: things to another level. Of The Sixers hung around in
Speaker 1: the third quarter, they got that big dunk from Joe
Speaker 1: to open up the fourth quarter to give them a
Speaker 1: brief lead, but after that it was pretty much all
Speaker 1: Toronto and their reserves. For as big as Kawhi Leonard
Speaker 1: was and Serge Ibacca was in Wednesday's game, the bench,
Speaker 1: led by Ionas Valanciunas for the Raptors was really important
Speaker 1: to helping Toronto seize control that game on Wednesday night.
Speaker 1: So the final score once again was one thirteen, one
Speaker 1: oh two. It was a big game and thought it
Speaker 1: was certainly worthy of a post mortem discussion with seventy
Speaker 1: six ers reporter from NBC Sports Philadelphia, Serena Winners, and
Speaker 1: before the seventy Sixers flew out of Toronto to Detroit
Speaker 1: for Friday's game against the Pistons, Serena and I sat
Speaker 1: down to talk after our respective independent launch ventures. If
Speaker 1: I really had my off day act together, I would
Speaker 1: probably take a page out of the Serena Winters playbook.
Speaker 1: I would invigorate myself, go to the gym and do
Speaker 1: something worthwhile with my time. I need to get onto
Speaker 1: that plan. I don't have that part of my life
Speaker 1: down you. I did make it to the gym today.
Speaker 1: I did, and I went for a stroll in Toronto
Speaker 1: and even got through to some emails. Didn't have time
Speaker 1: to eat the lunch, got lunch. It's just sitting next
Speaker 1: to me here. So what I could be with you,
Speaker 1: Brian as becose you're being passionate about taping a podcast
Speaker 1: before we hopped on a plane to exactly I ran
Speaker 1: and stuff my face full of a poutine. That's why
Speaker 1: I'm spending my frue time. I feel like I got
Speaker 1: to do it. I know that's like a cliche thing
Speaker 1: they have in Toronto or Canada, I guess from when
Speaker 1: I've read it Julian Montreal thing. But there are places
Speaker 1: psycho too, and I'm like, I just gotta I gotta
Speaker 1: sample more the local fair and when I come to Toronto,
Speaker 1: I just try to try to check a couple different
Speaker 1: poutine places off my list, so you enjoy the poutine.
Speaker 1: There are parts of the poutine I enjoy. I don't
Speaker 1: know if I fully joy like if I saw it
Speaker 1: on the menu at a restaurant in Philadelphia, I don't
Speaker 1: know if i'd get it, but they're parts of it
Speaker 1: that I enjoy, Like I like gravy, I like French fries,
Speaker 1: I like cheese. It's just a lot. I have to
Speaker 1: go with a very small portion size very heavy. There's
Speaker 1: a lot happening in the poutine. So I did the
Speaker 1: exact opposite of like going to the gym or something
Speaker 1: like that. That's okay, that's all right. I like to
Speaker 1: go to the gym and then also eat nachos there
Speaker 1: you go, you know, so you just balance each other around.
Speaker 1: Work hard, play hard exactly, or just work hard, eat hard. Yes,
Speaker 1: I had some time over lunch to think about what
Speaker 1: we saw Wednesday night in Toronto, and I kind of listen.
Speaker 1: There was so much build up to the game, and
Speaker 1: there was a lot of excitement and if you file
Speaker 1: the Sixers, if you're a fan of the team, of
Speaker 1: course you're disappointed by the outcome. I think Brett Brown
Speaker 1: and the players were too. But it definitely was a
Speaker 1: different type of game in the first time around. It's
Speaker 1: a different team the first time around. So a day later,
Speaker 1: what are your thoughts on what we saw at Scotia
Speaker 1: Bank Arena. It was a different game the first time around.
Speaker 1: I think that now having slept on it and thinking
Speaker 1: about that game and looking back at that game, one
Speaker 1: of the things I will remember is how poorly the
Speaker 1: Raptors shot, especially in that first half, and you've got
Speaker 1: to take advantage of that if you were the Sixers.
Speaker 1: And so I kind of looked back at that and
Speaker 1: I think to myself, man, there were so many opportunities,
Speaker 1: so many chances were the Sixers to beat what is
Speaker 1: now the best team in the NBA. It felt like
Speaker 1: it was there. It felt like the Raptors were off
Speaker 1: their game. And when one of the best teams is
Speaker 1: off their game and you haven't won in their building,
Speaker 1: you just want to take advantage of it. So that's
Speaker 1: one of the things. And of course the turnovers, because
Speaker 1: it also happened the last time that we were here.
Speaker 1: I know that Ben had eleven the first time and
Speaker 1: seven the other night, and I think they had at
Speaker 1: least seventeen points. Gave up at least seventeen points off
Speaker 1: their turnovers against the Raptors. But what I will say
Speaker 1: is that they definitely had a chance to beat the
Speaker 1: best team in the NBA. I saw some good things defensively,
Speaker 1: and they had their moments, they had their spurts. I
Speaker 1: just wish that in that second half they would have money.
Speaker 1: Williams used a term with me at the half. He
Speaker 1: just said, we gotta bring the juice. We got to
Speaker 1: bring the juice, and we come out and if we
Speaker 1: bring the juice, we'll win this game. But there were
Speaker 1: some parts in the third and fourth They're a little juiceless, Brian,
Speaker 1: a little juiceless. I agree. When I saw Kyle Lowry
Speaker 1: missing some open looks, Danny Greene missing some open looks
Speaker 1: in the first half. You're like, some open looks. Kyle
Speaker 1: Lowry couldn't hit a shot, he was over five. You're
Speaker 1: being too kind, Brian. You gotta take advantage of that.
Speaker 1: I am, And you're absolutely right. I'm because you're watching
Speaker 1: that unfold. And I thought there were times when the
Speaker 1: Sixers made the Raptors work for it, especially in the
Speaker 1: first half. I thought their transition defense was pretty good,
Speaker 1: disrupted some things with Toronto on the break. It was okay,
Speaker 1: it was a step in the right direction. They did
Speaker 1: score a lot of points of transition. I thought the
Speaker 1: second half that changed in a big way when Kauhi
Speaker 1: really started to take it to another level. He's good,
Speaker 1: isn't He should really sit back and you go, man,
Speaker 1: is he good? And they say he's not even percent yet.
Speaker 1: I know. So that was one thing we're watching last night.
Speaker 1: You were like, even compared to that October thirtieth game,
Speaker 1: like Kawai seemed to have found a different gear. So
Speaker 1: you're watching the Sixers are up by nine and then
Speaker 1: Jimmy hits that three pointer to give him a six
Speaker 1: point lead late in the first half, and you're thinking,
Speaker 1: all right, scoreboard wise, this is looking good. But as
Speaker 1: you said, there were things in the underbelly of what
Speaker 1: was going on that made you feel unsettled. But I
Speaker 1: thought the deficit felt larger at the end of the
Speaker 1: half than it was based on that teen nothing run
Speaker 1: where Kauhi really flicked the switch. I thought it was
Speaker 1: good to see them come back and take the one
Speaker 1: point lead after the Muscal threes late in the third.
Speaker 1: I kind of thought that the game was hanging the bounce.
Speaker 1: There was a big scoring drought there, right happy six
Speaker 1: Ers not scored in like three minutes something like that,
Speaker 1: and then they kind of with Jimmy feeling it like
Speaker 1: he sparked them and got them back into it. Joe
Speaker 1: had that jam to begin the fourth, and you're like, Okay,
Speaker 1: there may be daylight here, there might be something, but
Speaker 1: there's just such a slim margin fair against. Like you
Speaker 1: were saying a team that that's good, that that's deep.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's the other thing. They are a deep,
Speaker 1: deep team. When you watch that game, didn't you go, wow,
Speaker 1: this bench is good, like you you forget you forget
Speaker 1: that because they have so many good starters. You forget
Speaker 1: how deep the benches and Fred van Leet. He didn't
Speaker 1: play first game correct, Yes, the first game because he
Speaker 1: had that toe injury. Correct, So that was something to
Speaker 1: where we didn't get to see him the first time around.
Speaker 1: Seeing him this time. He's a big part of what
Speaker 1: they do too. He's great. Og n Anobi is great.
Speaker 1: I know he's a starter, but I think Pascal Siak,
Speaker 1: I'm like, he may not do a bunch of stuff
Speaker 1: stat wise. The first game he had a great stack game,
Speaker 1: but just what he does for their rebounding and that
Speaker 1: was a huge story in the game on Wednesday, but
Speaker 1: especially the offensive rebounding. I know that's always been a
Speaker 1: focus for the Sixers is to limit the offensive rebounding
Speaker 1: of the opposing team. And we saw a lot of
Speaker 1: offensive rebounds for Toronto the first app What I will
Speaker 1: say though, Brian, I was surprised that Toronto didn't get
Speaker 1: more points off their offensive rebounds. So the Sixers kind
Speaker 1: of got lucky there, didn't take advantage of that. And
Speaker 1: it sounds like such a simple thing, And for me,
Speaker 1: I know this is something that I probably overlooked. Just
Speaker 1: about every game day we have when I just like
Speaker 1: take account of the final boxsheet is who's had more shots?
Speaker 1: And you know, if a team has three or four
Speaker 1: more shots, five or six more shots, who knows. But
Speaker 1: when there's like you start to get into the double
Speaker 1: digit disparity, just like you know, um, I think Toronto,
Speaker 1: I'm looking right now, Toronto made three more shots, took
Speaker 1: twelve more and you know, you're what's that? That's like
Speaker 1: twenty five percent? But they still made three more shots.
Speaker 1: And in a game like that, it's an eleven point
Speaker 1: deficit at the end, you know that that can make
Speaker 1: a difference. And the reason why you've got a team
Speaker 1: that's taken more shots is because of turnovers and offensive rebounds, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, at the end of the day, the offensive
Speaker 1: rebounds are leading to an extra shot every time, and
Speaker 1: the turnovers are too, So if you could have cut
Speaker 1: back on those, we wouldn't have seen the shot discrepancy.
Speaker 1: The other thing that talking about the bench that I
Speaker 1: thought stood out in both games. Jonas Valancunis, Yes, I
Speaker 1: mean that to be able to bring in a guy
Speaker 1: who's as accomplished as he is off the bench, I
Speaker 1: mean there's not a lot of guys and not a
Speaker 1: lot of teams. I should say that can you know,
Speaker 1: obviously throwing surge out there that that's a smaller look for,
Speaker 1: but obviously it's very very good. And then if you
Speaker 1: can bring joan Us off the bench, I mean, that's
Speaker 1: that's a tough load to corral. He looked good. And
Speaker 1: Joel Embiide, who we haven't talked about yet, he had
Speaker 1: a tough night. He had a tough night against him.
Speaker 1: He Joannis was able to push Joel a couple feet
Speaker 1: farther then. I'm sure the Sixers would have liked him
Speaker 1: to be offensively and I think that really affected the
Speaker 1: team's offense. But yeah, he had a strong night. Man,
Speaker 1: he had a strong night, and he seemed locked in
Speaker 1: from the get go against arguably the best, if not
Speaker 1: one of the best centers in the NBA. I was
Speaker 1: really impressed with Toronto's defense, especially on Joe, like the
Speaker 1: aggressive help they brought into the paint. They put a
Speaker 1: fancy offensive numbers, but they they're such a well rounded
Speaker 1: team and it was just for me though. It was
Speaker 1: great theater, Like you know, we can I'm not saying
Speaker 1: these are these are not obvious now, but you've got
Speaker 1: the Kawai Jimmy angle. You've got the top two teams
Speaker 1: in terms of win totals in the league, going at
Speaker 1: conference rivals, division rivals. It was just it was great
Speaker 1: theater and I thought it was a healthy perspective that
Speaker 1: everyone seemed to take, led by Brett after the game.
Speaker 1: On top of that, just because you mentioned all the
Speaker 1: you know, the narratives, the healthy theater, I mean, not
Speaker 1: only we've talked about how the Sixers have not won
Speaker 1: in Toronto since Brett Brown has been head coach, but
Speaker 1: did you know that the Sixers have not beaten Kawhi Leonard.
Speaker 1: That's a good one. They have not beaten Kawhi Leonard.
Speaker 1: They are now Kawai is now twelve and zero against
Speaker 1: the Sixers, Brian twelve and oh because now that I'm
Speaker 1: thinking of it, he didn't play the two games the
Speaker 1: Sixers beat the Sprayers last year. Yes, So there was
Speaker 1: just so many different There were so many layers to
Speaker 1: that game. Yeah, there really were, And I mean there
Speaker 1: was definitely positive to take away. There was definitely growth,
Speaker 1: Jimmy having his most aggressive night offensively, little things like
Speaker 1: I remember even with a minute left in that game,
Speaker 1: when it seemed very much like the Sixers were done
Speaker 1: in the timeout, Jimmy being very assertive, telling you know,
Speaker 1: whether it's been or somebody else, we gotta do this defensively.
Speaker 1: We still got this, you know, very much in it
Speaker 1: with a minute remaining in it pretty clear at the
Speaker 1: sixers we're going to lose that one. Those types of
Speaker 1: things are important to me because trying to push that
Speaker 1: fight all the way through to the end, I think
Speaker 1: that's a big positive, not trying to give it up
Speaker 1: as we're all learning moments, so there's definitely possible to
Speaker 1: take away. But then some of the same storylines from
Speaker 1: the first game, like the turnovers, cleaning that type of
Speaker 1: stuff up. There was a lot of there was a
Speaker 1: lot of the B word being thrown around before the
Speaker 1: game on Wednesday, the barometer word out of the yeah,
Speaker 1: the good old yeah. Um. But I don't think, you know,
Speaker 1: there's like is this a barometer? And then there's also
Speaker 1: the it's December fifth, And I don't think that those
Speaker 1: things need to be mutual exclusive, like it is a
Speaker 1: barometer for December fifth, and it's the outcome was a
Speaker 1: better barometer than what you got on October thirtieth, And
Speaker 1: now you're gonna have two more opportunities against a really
Speaker 1: good team in your building before the season has done.
Speaker 1: The next one coming up the Saturday before Christmas at
Speaker 1: the Center. Um So, I don't think that those things
Speaker 1: the idea of it being a barometer, but then it
Speaker 1: also still being earlier in the season, they need to
Speaker 1: be mutual exclusive because I do think, um, as we
Speaker 1: look at what Jimmy Butler did, if other guys are
Speaker 1: on you know, if Joel is feeling comfortable in doing
Speaker 1: this thing, and obviously Ben, maybe you get a little
Speaker 1: bit more from there. I think those two guys will
Speaker 1: be the first to tell you they weren't on top
Speaker 1: of their game Wednesday night. Then you're looking at a
Speaker 1: different deal. And I mean, I just you can't the
Speaker 1: weapon that Jimmy poses. I mean, it was fun to watch.
Speaker 1: You mentioned the early barometer, and I think you make
Speaker 1: a good point there because we have used that term
Speaker 1: a lot. But barometer doesn't mean that this is where
Speaker 1: we're going to see them in the postseason. Barometer means, okay,
Speaker 1: what if it that we still have to work on.
Speaker 1: What are our deficiencies? Still? Clearly, are we looking a
Speaker 1: little bit better than we looked a month ago? And
Speaker 1: I think we had a little bit of answers there.
Speaker 1: Maybe maybe for fans it's not the answers that they want,
Speaker 1: but that's just because they're passionate fans and want to
Speaker 1: see them be Toronto. But it was an early barometer.
Speaker 1: You saw where the Sixers are, You saw him where
Speaker 1: they're headed, and there's still time. Brett will always tell
Speaker 1: you that he doesn't even want to look at where
Speaker 1: they're at until after Christmas. That he divides the season
Speaker 1: up into thirds, right, So that doesn't mean that that
Speaker 1: barometer is not going to be more even come April.
Speaker 1: It just means that there's a little bit of ways
Speaker 1: to go, patients. It's not easy, but the good news
Speaker 1: is in the good old NBA. Another game run on
Speaker 1: the doorstep, and the Sixers have one another big one
Speaker 1: against the Detroit Pistons on Friday. But incredibly, we're almost
Speaker 1: at the thirty game mark of this season. How did
Speaker 1: it go so fast? I don't know. I don't know,
Speaker 1: And all things considered, is there a staying from a
Speaker 1: loss like Wednesday? Shut But the Sixers they're in a
Speaker 1: great spot. All think that's easy to say. I mean,
Speaker 1: I know I'm on the team, digital the team you
Speaker 1: step back, and I think a lot of teams would
Speaker 1: envy the position that the Sixers are in right now.
Speaker 1: You know, they do have more work to be done,
Speaker 1: some things to iron out, but it would have been
Speaker 1: your biggest takeaways from your first what are we have
Speaker 1: two months full months almost when we account for the
Speaker 1: regular season the end of this year. Biggest takeaways. I
Speaker 1: love that there's such a family vibe around the team
Speaker 1: that starts with Brett. I know that he helps to
Speaker 1: create that, but that guys genuinely care, They care about
Speaker 1: each other, and you know, me being new around here,
Speaker 1: new with the team, that is something that has been
Speaker 1: very very easy to pick up on. That it's more
Speaker 1: than just basketball at the Sixers organization, and I think
Speaker 1: that's important. I think that's how you build the culture
Speaker 1: that they are finally at basketball. Takeaways that Joel Embiide
Speaker 1: is so good, but they also rely so much on
Speaker 1: him and need him to step up in those big moments,
Speaker 1: and we've seen what happened, for example against Toronto when
Speaker 1: he doesn't have his best game, right I mean they
Speaker 1: were in that game with Joel not having a good game,
Speaker 1: with probably having one of his maybe one of his
Speaker 1: worst performances of the year and Sixers exactly. The Sixers
Speaker 1: were still very much in that game. Imagine if he had,
Speaker 1: you know, one of his dominant performances, or not even dominant,
Speaker 1: but one of just a more productive night where they
Speaker 1: could have been in that game. Watching Ben, he has
Speaker 1: so much defensive potential. It's just about doing it from
Speaker 1: start to finish. And that's hard for someone to say
Speaker 1: because you're not in their shoes and a starter. But
Speaker 1: we've seen games like for example, against Memphis where Ben's
Speaker 1: just locked in defensively and what that does for the team,
Speaker 1: and also that Jimmy's bringing something here. I think that
Speaker 1: there's some tangible that he can really bring to this team,
Speaker 1: whether that's leadership, whether that's accountability, whether that's speaking up.
Speaker 1: He's bringing something, and I'm excited to see what happens
Speaker 1: when he feels like he fits in and when he
Speaker 1: does feel a little bit more comfortable and he can
Speaker 1: continue to provide that leadership. I think he's bringing some
Speaker 1: swag and moxie. He's got like a different I think
Speaker 1: Joel and Ben are certainly well on their way to stardom,
Speaker 1: if not an even higher level of just playing old stardom.
Speaker 1: But Jimmy's got this thing where he's a little bit older,
Speaker 1: He's been through a couple more things, He's achieved a
Speaker 1: little bit more individually, and he has got this I
Speaker 1: feel like, easygoing inner confidence, like kind of I don't
Speaker 1: know if you feel this way, but I feel like
Speaker 1: he's got like a a man, someone at peace with
Speaker 1: the way things are right now. Obviously motivated and driven,
Speaker 1: but he's got some swag. I don't know if that
Speaker 1: comes from his humor. He works so hard, but he's
Speaker 1: also got this, you know, just natural. I think unforced
Speaker 1: sense of humor about him. I think he knows too,
Speaker 1: And I think that in any profession, in any walk
Speaker 1: of life, I think that sometimes change is good. And
Speaker 1: Joel and Ben have been here for a while, are
Speaker 1: the leaders of this team, and sometimes it's good to
Speaker 1: shake things up a bit with a little bit of
Speaker 1: change and see how that helps motivate and help grow
Speaker 1: these guys. Like you said, Jimmy is a bit older,
Speaker 1: a bit wiser in the basketball world, has some advice
Speaker 1: to give, some tips to give, and some wisdom to
Speaker 1: pass on. And he's fun to talk to. I don't
Speaker 1: know if you ever just like caught up with him
Speaker 1: outside of the locker room or the scrums or I mean,
Speaker 1: he's he's just human like, he's just an easy guy
Speaker 1: to chat with, and that type of stuff goes a
Speaker 1: long way, especially when you're the new guy coming into
Speaker 1: an organization. You know, having teammates and people around feel
Speaker 1: comfortable just chatting with you about anything, or your two
Speaker 1: parts series on NBC Philly NBC Sports Philly dot com.
Speaker 1: It was great like that great, it was, I mean,
Speaker 1: I loved I learned that he must be a fan
Speaker 1: of the Christian Bale Batman series with some of the
Speaker 1: quotes who rolled out there. I thought his response to
Speaker 1: your question, I think was something like, um, do you
Speaker 1: understand what Duel is saying? Yeah? I thought it hilarious.
Speaker 1: Just give me the inserts something ball yes, which is true,
Speaker 1: by the way, because if you're ever round a huddle,
Speaker 1: any fans that sit sitting nearby, I'm sure they heard
Speaker 1: Joe say that quite a bit in the timebouts. What's
Speaker 1: it like being around the huddle? That has to be
Speaker 1: and I've noticed these are the weird things that I observe.
Speaker 1: You sit behind the stanchion in the basket, Yes, behind
Speaker 1: one of the end lines. Not always the most typical
Speaker 1: spot for a sideline reporter, but I would think that
Speaker 1: that's to get more frequent, easy access to being able
Speaker 1: to roam, but getting the insight of what's in a
Speaker 1: huddle has got to be I would think among the
Speaker 1: top perks. It's it's fun. It brings it's funny. It
Speaker 1: brings me back to because I grew up playing basketball,
Speaker 1: and for a minute, you kind of forget that you're
Speaker 1: covering the team, and it's almost like you're you're listening
Speaker 1: in on the huddle like you were playing basketball back
Speaker 1: in the day. Um, But it just what I what
Speaker 1: I look for in huddles, Brian as I like to
Speaker 1: see what guys are communicating with each other. Is Jimmy
Speaker 1: talking to Ben, Is Jimmy talking to Landry? Is t
Speaker 1: J pulling Landry aside? Is Monty Williams or Billy Lane
Speaker 1: talking to one of the players. I look for those
Speaker 1: types of cues. You look for nonverbal type stuff. And
Speaker 1: then when Brett comes over and and and draws something up,
Speaker 1: you look, you look at who's who's paying attention. You
Speaker 1: know when you look at, um, what types of tips
Speaker 1: Jimmy just gave Landry defensively because he's a rookie and
Speaker 1: had to guard Kawhi Leonard and you know, Jimmyson Landry,
Speaker 1: you've got to get stops and telling him what to
Speaker 1: do and all that types of that type of stuff.
Speaker 1: That's what That's what build your culture. That's it builds
Speaker 1: the camaraderie there um. But I will also say that
Speaker 1: it's kind of funny because depending on the arena and
Speaker 1: depending on where I am, and depending on how close
Speaker 1: Brett Brown is to me, I always feel a little
Speaker 1: bit awkward because you know, I kind of can stick
Speaker 1: out like a sore thumb, So I try to make
Speaker 1: myself not too visible. But I will tell you it
Speaker 1: is really hard to hear, especially in Philly, because the
Speaker 1: fans are so loud, because the arena is so loud,
Speaker 1: So you really got to concentrate to pick up on anything.
Speaker 1: Is lip reading? Have you become more proficient with that? Like,
Speaker 1: is it a lip reading part of it? It? Absolutely? Yeah,
Speaker 1: you have to become proficient with lip reading. And honestly,
Speaker 1: a lot of the times when I'm over there, you're
Speaker 1: not reporting on this stuff that's that you're even seeing.
Speaker 1: You know, you're You're selective with anything that you would
Speaker 1: say about the huddle that t used for the broadcast. Right,
Speaker 1: you came out and said, Hey, fans, Brett Brown is
Speaker 1: called ear tug post. Does that even mean really to
Speaker 1: the average fan? Sure? But what I think, like I
Speaker 1: said as fun is is Montie Williams pulling somebody aside
Speaker 1: or seeing a defensive mistake that keeps happening with one
Speaker 1: of the guys and TJ showing someone of something. I
Speaker 1: think that type of stuff is interesting to fans. And
Speaker 1: then you also get the mood. You get the vibe
Speaker 1: of the team during the game at that point in time,
Speaker 1: right like during that Cleveland game, which I'm sure no
Speaker 1: fan wants to remember, but they're one loss at home,
Speaker 1: knowing what knowing what the vibe was, right, Those types
Speaker 1: of things are important because you it would be a
Speaker 1: problem if no one cared in the huddle, but people cared,
Speaker 1: and that would probably only inform stuff that you did
Speaker 1: more going forward, you know, picking up on things. You're
Speaker 1: gonna wrap this up. Do you have a favorite walk
Speaker 1: off interview that you've done so far? Favorite walk off
Speaker 1: interview that I've done so far? Probably Jimmy Butler's second
Speaker 1: game winner his second game, the Brooklyn one. Mm hmm,
Speaker 1: just because the fact that he had a second game
Speaker 1: winner in the same exact fashion as the first game winner.
Speaker 1: It really is Chris. I mean, it's it's funny, like
Speaker 1: you look at Brooklyn, come of Brooklyn. You knew, you
Speaker 1: knew it was coming here. Yeah, you know what I mean?
Speaker 1: Who said it? Someone didn't read this guy. I think
Speaker 1: it was JJ at one point said yeah, they just
Speaker 1: must have not scouting report. So I remember that one.
Speaker 1: That one was. Oh, one was fun. That was a
Speaker 1: good one. It has been a fun start of the season.
Speaker 1: We have the next stop on the tour up in
Speaker 1: Detroit and a plane to catch, so onward to the
Speaker 1: Motor City we go. Serena, thanks so much anytime, Brian,
Speaker 1: good stuff. NBC Sports Philadelphia Sixers sideline reporter Serena winners
Speaker 1: and we'll take her up on that offer anytime, she says.
Speaker 1: We will make a point of doing that again at
Speaker 1: some point down the road before the season wraps up.
Speaker 1: A reminder that for another important seventy Sixers game on Friday,
Speaker 1: Serrena and the rest of the outstanding local NBC Sports
Speaker 1: Philadelphia squad Mark zumof Ala Abdlin Abbey will bring you
Speaker 1: coverage all game long from a little Caesars Arena. Game
Speaker 1: time is at seven o'clock and that threesome will bring
Speaker 1: you all you need to know. Is surrounding another big
Speaker 1: game for the seventy six Ers. The Pistons and the
Speaker 1: Sixers even in the lost column at nine going into
Speaker 1: Friday's game, the Sixers have played four more times in
Speaker 1: the Pistons and our plus four in the win column,
Speaker 1: but each team has won once at home in the
Speaker 1: season series. Sixers in Detroit will also play again on
Speaker 1: Monday at the Center. Just like that, that'll be it
Speaker 1: for the season series between the Sixers and the Pistons,
Speaker 1: two teams currently the top four the East. Want to
Speaker 1: thank Srina Winners for taking the time to talk. I
Speaker 1: want to thank you for taking the time to listen
Speaker 1: to that talk and we will speak to you next
Speaker 1: week right here on the broadcast. See him