Speaker 1: I'm Tari's mex Si and you're listening to the seventy
Speaker 1: six Ers Insider's podcast.
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Speaker 1: They'll go ring the insurance company's bell. Welcome back into
Speaker 1: the seventy six Ers Insiders podcast. Matt mur and Lauren Rosen,
Speaker 1: relatively fresh off the Sixers play in tournament victory over
Speaker 1: the Miami Heat to secure the seventh seed in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: They will take on the second seed, the New York Knicks,
Speaker 1: beginning on Saturday and Monday, games one and two of
Speaker 1: that series, which we'll definitely get into more specifically with
Speaker 1: Pat O'Keeffe from Nicks Radio. But that game against Miami
Speaker 1: one oh five, one oh four, what did you call
Speaker 1: it on social media? The Brickenford, the brick.
Speaker 2: Chicken, Nick Batum Bowl? I don't know. I got a
Speaker 2: shout out our friends at the Right Striky Sanchez podcast
Speaker 2: who called it lepoule. That's what they called the game.
Speaker 1: I thought that was hilarious. There was a way better
Speaker 1: way to say what I said. Well, this team has
Speaker 1: now won nine straight games, and Nick Batum Niko Batoum,
Speaker 1: as most of his teammates and coaches call him, played
Speaker 1: a huge role seventeen of his twenty points we're in
Speaker 1: the second half, six three pointers, key defensive plays as well,
Speaker 1: the way that he plays defense, always plus the block
Speaker 1: on Tyler Hero. It was cool to hear that the
Speaker 1: Sixers coaches informed him in the huddle of the play
Speaker 1: that the heat ended up running and that's a heat
Speaker 1: team that you don't always know what they're going to do.
Speaker 2: Well, let me just cut you off and shout out
Speaker 2: the coaching staff again, because there is so much prep
Speaker 2: that goes into these moments, right and you look at
Speaker 2: the play in that's a game you're not sure you're
Speaker 2: going to have to play, and then once you realize
Speaker 2: you have to play it, you're still not sure who
Speaker 2: your opponent might be. You finally figure out your opponent.
Speaker 2: You don't have a ton of time right to learn
Speaker 2: every single tendency that this team might have and might
Speaker 2: rely on in every single situation in the game. So
Speaker 2: I'm sure that they showed other plays, other plays to
Speaker 2: other players in that final timeout. And again we're talking
Speaker 2: about Nico Bittoom's block on Tyler Hero as the clock
Speaker 2: was expiring for at least one of the time that
Speaker 2: the clock was expiring down the stretch in this game.
Speaker 2: But the fact that, for those that don't know, the
Speaker 2: coaching staff showed Nico this exact play and said, this
Speaker 2: is what we think Tyler Hero is going to do,
Speaker 2: This is where we think he's going to come from,
Speaker 2: this is which direction we think he's going to be going,
Speaker 2: and this is how quickly he's going to shoot it.
Speaker 2: For Nico to go to the podium after the game
Speaker 2: and say, well, I knew he was going to do that.
Speaker 2: The coaches showed me that a minute before, and then
Speaker 2: he did it. That is such good game prep, Like,
Speaker 2: so much goes into this, and this is the video coordinators,
Speaker 2: this is the player development coaches, this is the assistant coaches,
Speaker 2: this is head coach Nick Nurse putting together a system
Speaker 2: that works. And it was so cool to see that
Speaker 2: moment get executed the way that these coaches. And again,
Speaker 2: they're preparing for countless situations, right, So they're preparing for
Speaker 2: different teams in this game, right, it could have been
Speaker 2: different teams, it could have been different players, it could
Speaker 2: have been different lineups with the ball, it could have
Speaker 2: been a different amount of time on the clock. And
Speaker 2: they have a plan for every single one of those scenarios.
Speaker 2: So to see them get to carry out their preparation
Speaker 2: in this way, I just love that Nico then gave
Speaker 2: them the immediate flowers on the podium after the game.
Speaker 1: It was just cool. It was really cool to see
Speaker 1: Joelle Embiid had a double digit fourth quarter max. He
Speaker 1: had his moments with some crafty finishes, but Buttom was
Speaker 1: obviously huge in this game. And to the point about
Speaker 1: game planning, this is a one game at a time
Speaker 1: type coaching staff, the game in front of you, the
Speaker 1: series in front of you. But I will say that
Speaker 1: in a recent media availability, head coach Nick Nurse was
Speaker 1: asked about like a March Madness style approach where you
Speaker 1: have members of your staff kind of working on potential
Speaker 1: future opponents, and he did reveal that they do that
Speaker 1: in the Eastern Conference while maintaining that one game at
Speaker 1: a time approach, but even to the point where they
Speaker 1: have people working on potential Western Conference teams as well.
Speaker 1: He said that heading into the playoffs, it just something
Speaker 1: to store in the back of your mind that the
Speaker 1: opponents will never sneak up on this Sixers group as
Speaker 1: they embark on what is hopefully a two month journey.
Speaker 1: Something else that Nick Nurse has said and is familiar
Speaker 1: with from his time in Toronto. Before we get into
Speaker 1: our conversation with Pat O'Keeffe and talk Nix, how about
Speaker 1: how everyone was able to pinpoint the momentum change that
Speaker 1: the Chick fil a brick and for Chicken provided literally
Speaker 1: in the moment.
Speaker 3: Literally not just me.
Speaker 1: I will take credit. I said, I leaned to you
Speaker 1: and said that, But then the tweets started flying from
Speaker 1: everyone who covers this team objectively.
Speaker 3: Everyone could feel it.
Speaker 2: Well, it's interesting, Matt, because one of the playoff cliches
Speaker 2: that we're used to hearing is how much every possession matters,
Speaker 2: single possession games, single possession opportunity, including when someone goes
Speaker 2: to the line missus two free throws boom. The Sixers
Speaker 2: didn't have to do anything except get a loud crowd
Speaker 2: behind them, right, and hopefully that impacted the miss free throws.
Speaker 2: But the way the two miss free throws can completely
Speaker 2: change the momentum, and then of course to then follow
Speaker 2: it up, I'll remind you that the Sixers then, of
Speaker 2: course were able to tack on a quick five points
Speaker 2: right after the brick and for chicken moment. But each
Speaker 2: of those possessions putting them together, shifting the entire game, now,
Speaker 2: shifting the entire path that the Sixers would have to
Speaker 2: a potential two month playoff run. Right, Every single possession
Speaker 2: really does matter in these situations. And as we look
Speaker 2: ahead to a New York Knicks team that has played
Speaker 2: the Sixers so tough all season long, games that have
Speaker 2: already felt like single possession games throughout against this Knicks team,
Speaker 2: And of course it's a similar situation to what we
Speaker 2: dealt with when we talked about Sixers Heat. Neither team
Speaker 2: fully healthy in any of their meetings against one another,
Speaker 2: and guys coming in and out of lineups, guys coming
Speaker 2: back from injuries, guys getting traded. This is almost a
Speaker 2: fresh series the same way that the Heat Sixers play
Speaker 2: in game was a fresh opportunity between two really interestingly
Speaker 2: matched teams.
Speaker 1: And now more on the Sixers and the Knicks with
Speaker 1: Pat O'Keefe pleas to be joined by Pat O'Keeffe from
Speaker 1: Knicks Radio and jumping into this Sixers Knicks series with
Speaker 1: the latest trend Pat. The end of the regular season
Speaker 1: was obviously interesting with the overtime game for the Knicks
Speaker 1: to get up to the two seed. What is the
Speaker 1: latest with this team as they awaited their first round
Speaker 1: opponent that is now the Sixers.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, it's certainly an interesting first round opponent, but
Speaker 3: I think once the Knicks secured that two seed with
Speaker 3: that overtime went over the Bulls, that was going to
Speaker 3: be the case either way, because you set yourself up
Speaker 3: knowingly for either the seventy six Ers or the Heat,
Speaker 3: two teams that, when fully healthy, present a significant amount
Speaker 3: of challenges, and that's certainly the case with Philadelphia. But then,
Speaker 3: of course, the key phrase there is you know when
Speaker 3: fully healthy. You know, the numbers are pretty well documented.
Speaker 3: The Sixers record when the big guy plays thirty two
Speaker 3: to eight overall, So if you play that out over
Speaker 3: the course of an eighty two game season, Philadelphia might
Speaker 3: very well be the number two seed. But look, as
Speaker 3: it's unfolding, we were well aware of all of the scenarios.
Speaker 3: Obviously the final day of the regular season, and by
Speaker 3: the way, the NBA with the games on Friday and
Speaker 3: then the games on Sunday, I thought it was fantastic
Speaker 3: just in terms of scoreboard watching and so many unknown variables.
Speaker 3: And you know, the last game of the one o'clock
Speaker 3: batch to finish was the Knicks and the Bulls, So
Speaker 3: you know, we knew if they lost that game, it
Speaker 3: was the three seed and it was going to be
Speaker 3: the Pacers, and if they won that game, it was
Speaker 3: the two seed against either the Heat or the seventy
Speaker 3: six Ers. It's just not in the nature of this
Speaker 3: Knicks team, and more specifically, it's not in the nature
Speaker 3: of the Knicks head coach to do anything but go
Speaker 3: one hundred percent to win the game that is in
Speaker 3: front of you every single time. So the way it
Speaker 3: played out didn't surprise me at all. And here we
Speaker 3: are setting up a really fascinating first round series.
Speaker 2: And pat to pull back the curtain a little bit.
Speaker 2: It was actually really cool because, for whatever reason, the
Speaker 2: Sixers game that started at the same time as the
Speaker 2: knixt game finished at a much earlier like there was
Speaker 2: a there was like a five minute buffer even before
Speaker 2: the overtime period started. So the Sixers go back into
Speaker 2: the locker room and mediately the game is on, which
Speaker 2: I think was really cool to sort of watch our
Speaker 2: guys await their opponent and like you said, playing that hard,
Speaker 2: understanding what the implications could possibly be. The way other
Speaker 2: teams might handle a specific situation plays into the reputation
Speaker 2: that this Knicks team has developed, this tough team, this
Speaker 2: gritty team. So from sort of if you had to
Speaker 2: go bird's eye view of this next team, maybe for
Speaker 2: Sixers fans that haven't seen a ton of Knicks basketball
Speaker 2: outside of their regular season series, what are the biggest
Speaker 2: points to watch for what makes this Knicks team exciting?
Speaker 3: To watch. Well, you know the description I just gave
Speaker 3: about Tom Fhibodeaux in terms of how he approaches each
Speaker 3: and every game. The team has certainly taken on his
Speaker 3: personality regarding that, and it starts with the point guard,
Speaker 3: it starts with Jalen Brunson, and he's known Tom Fibodau
Speaker 3: for his entire life, so in many ways, he's kind
Speaker 3: of been brought up under him. And you know, right now,
Speaker 3: at this point in time, over the last ten to
Speaker 3: fifteen games of the regular season, after the news that
Speaker 3: you know, Julius Randall, your second offensive option is out
Speaker 3: for the rest of the season, Jalen Brunson has become
Speaker 3: singularly over this ten to fifteen game stretch, I think,
Speaker 3: the most important player to his team among any players
Speaker 3: in the NBA, especially for the load that he has
Speaker 3: to carry offensively and in the playoffs that is not
Speaker 3: as easily implemented. So that's going to be one of
Speaker 3: the really intriguing storylines of this series. Can he continue
Speaker 3: to play at that level? I mean, historically players tend
Speaker 3: to not be able to continue that level of playing
Speaker 3: the postseason, when there's more time to focus on a
Speaker 3: specific matchup or a specific team, and plus the fact
Speaker 3: that you're playing against the teams that are among the
Speaker 3: best in the NBA, which the seventy six ers certainly
Speaker 3: fall into that category when fully healthy. So the Knicks
Speaker 3: are going to need the secondary scoring, and it's been
Speaker 3: Dante DiVincenzo has been that secondary scorer ogn Andobi has
Speaker 3: brought such versatility and skillfulness to the defensive end. But
Speaker 3: I think there's an area where you are going to
Speaker 3: look for secondary scoring as well. And then I think
Speaker 3: a next factor off the bench for this Knicks team
Speaker 3: is going to be boy On Bogdanovic, and his role
Speaker 3: hasn't been what it has been for him historically. He
Speaker 3: has had a really good career. He's won a twenty
Speaker 3: two active NBA players to fifteen hundred career three pointers.
Speaker 3: But on this next team, where Tom Fiboda likes to
Speaker 3: play a really tight rotation, there's not a lot of
Speaker 3: minutes available to guys off of the bench. But Bogdanovich
Speaker 3: is I think the guy in the Knicks roster who
Speaker 3: can most closely give you what Julius Randall gave you
Speaker 3: just in terms of offensive production and offensive creativity. So
Speaker 3: the minutes that he is going to be out there,
Speaker 3: and they used to. They like to stagger those minutes.
Speaker 3: So when Runson's on the bench, Bogdanovic is generally on
Speaker 3: the court because a lot of times he's the focal
Speaker 3: point of the offense in those few minutes when he's
Speaker 3: out there, he can be a big X factor in
Speaker 3: this series as well. And one of his best games
Speaker 3: as a Nick was that first game after the All
Speaker 3: Star break down in Philadelphia when the Knicks went down
Speaker 3: there and beat the Sixers and Bogdanovic had I think
Speaker 3: twenty two points off the bench in that game. That
Speaker 3: was one of his best games since coming over in
Speaker 3: the draft, the trade deadline trade.
Speaker 1: And then they also had the two games set in
Speaker 1: mid March. What was your reaction to the seventy nine
Speaker 1: to seventy three game.
Speaker 3: I was waiting for the fourth quarter to start when
Speaker 3: I saw the score and I'm like, oh wait, that
Speaker 3: was something. How that was lowest scoring game in the
Speaker 3: NBA at that point. I imagine nothing surpassed that this season.
Speaker 3: It was just an ugly game, you know, and look
Speaker 3: the Knicks and the seventy six ers, I think to
Speaker 3: a lesser extent, but teams like the Knicks, and you know,
Speaker 3: last year their second round playoff series against the Heat,
Speaker 3: we saw a lot of those you know, rock fight
Speaker 3: type games like drag it out, long possessions, but nothing
Speaker 3: to the extent of seventy nine to seventy three. I
Speaker 3: think a big part of that was just a matter
Speaker 3: of nobody was hitting shots that night. It was an
Speaker 3: ugly game, and then then of course they had the
Speaker 3: game two days later. That game was significant because that
Speaker 3: was the game that ogan Andobi returned after or his
Speaker 3: first lengthy absence. And you know I mentioned and you
Speaker 3: guys are well aware of the record with him be
Speaker 3: playing thirty two and eight when Ogannobi plays for the Knicks.
Speaker 3: The Knicks are twenty and three this season, and one
Speaker 3: of those three losses was a rare game that Jalen
Speaker 3: Bronson didn't play. So when I think of the second
Speaker 3: of that two game series at the Garden between the
Speaker 3: Knicks and the seventies six ers, the return of og
Speaker 3: an Andobi, that and Josh Hart's nineteen rebound performance sticks
Speaker 3: out to me.
Speaker 1: And that was the game Maxie came back from the concussion,
Speaker 1: so he didn't play in the first one.
Speaker 3: That's right, New York.
Speaker 1: And Embi didn't play in either of those, but with
Speaker 1: the the Maxie Brunts and Brunson bounced back from game
Speaker 1: one to game two in that in the games at
Speaker 1: the Garden. But with Brunson, Philadelphia fans are familiar with
Speaker 1: him obviously, but his second year with the Knicks. How
Speaker 1: has it been to see him from last year to
Speaker 1: this year? Every day?
Speaker 3: It's incredible. I can't believe how good of a player
Speaker 3: he is. You know, Knicks fans rightfully so were excited
Speaker 3: when they got when the Knicks got him, just you know,
Speaker 3: for what he had done in Dallas, especially in the
Speaker 3: playoffs the year before, the fact that he was bringing
Speaker 3: stability to a position in New York that had not
Speaker 3: been there in nearly two decades. It took him, and
Speaker 3: I've referred to this a lot, it took him probably
Speaker 3: fifteen or twenty games his first season in New York
Speaker 3: to find his footing. You know, was Randall's team. Randall
Speaker 3: was the All NBA player, and Randall was the All Star.
Speaker 3: Runson't the kind of guy who's not going to walk
Speaker 3: into a situation and say, Okay, it's my team now.
Speaker 3: By the way, he still doesn't do that. It's even
Speaker 3: though it's clear to everybody that it is his team
Speaker 3: right now. So it took him a little while to
Speaker 3: fine his footing in New York. It probably cost him
Speaker 3: an All Star appearance his first year, even though he
Speaker 3: was under consideration, just missed out on being All NBA.
Speaker 3: But by the end of year one for Brunson, when
Speaker 3: the Knicks lost in the second round to the Heat
Speaker 3: in six games, I mean, Brunson had a couple of
Speaker 3: forty point performances at the end of that series, and
Speaker 3: it was clear that he had elevated to a different
Speaker 3: stratosphere in the NBA and where he ended last season,
Speaker 3: he is so far and away above that this year.
Speaker 3: It's simply incredible. And you don't even hear the conversations
Speaker 3: anymore where where the Knicks need a superstar, or you know,
Speaker 3: it used to be the Knicks need a star. Clearly
Speaker 3: they have one, and they have two All Stars on
Speaker 3: their roster, even though one of them is not able
Speaker 3: to play in this series. But this is a guy
Speaker 3: who I think is going to be top five and
Speaker 3: MVP voting. Maybe he won't be First team All NBA,
Speaker 3: but if he's not, he's certainly going to be second
Speaker 3: team All NBA in an extremely deep year for that
Speaker 3: type of voting. When you consider your guys like Shay Gilders,
Speaker 3: Alexander and Luka Doncic that he's competing with for those spots.
Speaker 3: I mean, he's among this season one of the top
Speaker 3: five to eight players in the NBA, so he's reached
Speaker 3: I mean, that superstar status in this era. This is
Speaker 3: such a fun team to cover to call because they're
Speaker 3: good guys and I know it's kind of cliche to
Speaker 3: say when you're around them all the time, but they're
Speaker 3: very easy to root for. You know, they obviously have
Speaker 3: the strong Villanova connection, Jalen and Josh Hard and Dante
Speaker 3: Divinceanzo especially, you know Hart and Brunson with the Roommates
Speaker 3: podcast and all that. They're kind of goofballs in a
Speaker 3: very endearing way. They don't take themselves too seriously at all.
Speaker 3: It's very challenging to in a postgame interview ask Josh
Speaker 3: Hard a question. Let's if Brunson has sixty points and
Speaker 3: you asked Josh Hard a question about Brunson's performance, He's
Speaker 3: gonna go negative because that's just the relationship that they
Speaker 3: have it's completely tongue in cheek, but you know it's
Speaker 3: coming that he's gonna be like, yeah, he had sixty one,
Speaker 3: but if he hit those you know, three shots in
Speaker 3: the second quarter, he could have had sixty seven points.
Speaker 3: That's just the nature of their relationship. And that's the
Speaker 3: tone that they've set on this team. So and that
Speaker 3: comes from Brunson. I mean, he's the tone center on
Speaker 3: this team.
Speaker 2: It's funny that you share that story, Pat, because that's
Speaker 2: very much the relationship that Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey
Speaker 2: have developed. If one of them has fifty or sixty,
Speaker 2: it's well, why didn't you have sixty or seventy? And
Speaker 2: if one of them has fifty but two turnovers, it's
Speaker 2: all about the turnovers. And so that like likability factor
Speaker 2: that is sort of on both sides of this series,
Speaker 2: especially when you talk about the way that the series
Speaker 2: is being positioned nationally, it is going to be this tough,
Speaker 2: like knock him down, drag them out type series. You
Speaker 2: pull back the curtain and these guys are pretty deeply delightful,
Speaker 2: which I think is going to be exciting to chart through.
Speaker 2: My last one for you that I like to ask
Speaker 2: anyone that's covering the opposition. You mentioned it a little
Speaker 2: bit with X factors. Could be a Bogdanovich, could be
Speaker 2: an Ananobi. But when you look at this team for
Speaker 2: the past eighty two games, are there any storylines that
Speaker 2: you don't feel got enough shine, any like fun anecdote
Speaker 2: or just something that people who obviously we're talking mostly
Speaker 2: to Sixers fans, but anything that would make the Knicks
Speaker 2: a little bit more sticky, a little bit more exciting
Speaker 2: to root for.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, there's a couple of things that come
Speaker 3: to mind, you know, not super exciting, but it's worth
Speaker 3: mentioning the development of Isaiah Hartenstein. You know, the Knicks
Speaker 3: signed him before last season as a backup center, a
Speaker 3: moderately priced backup center, played really well, actually played all
Speaker 3: eighty two games last year, and then this year, Mitchell Robinson,
Speaker 3: their starting center, who is playing the best basketball of
Speaker 3: his career, injures his ankle on December eighth in Boston
Speaker 3: and misses the next fifty games. And now all of
Speaker 3: a sudden, Hartenstein is thrust into the role of starting center.
Speaker 3: And in fact, he wasn't initially moved into the starting lineup.
Speaker 3: Tom Thibodau liked him coming off the bench. That the
Speaker 3: first four or five games after Robinson got hurt, the
Speaker 3: Knicks started Jericho Simms until Simms injured his ankle, and
Speaker 3: then Hartenstein went into the starting lineup and has never left,
Speaker 3: and he has elevated himself to a guy that's getting
Speaker 3: all defense conversation about him. I mean, he's clearly had
Speaker 3: the best season of his career and just an interesting,
Speaker 3: you know, spin off of that. The relationship between the
Speaker 3: two Nick centers is something that I've always gotten a
Speaker 3: kick out of Hartenstein and Mitchell Robinson, and it just
Speaker 3: kind of shows because it could be a sticky thing,
Speaker 3: right Mitchell Robinson's the starting sen He's playing the best
Speaker 3: basketball of his career. Hartenstein takes over that spot, He's
Speaker 3: playing the best basketball of his career. Robinson is now back,
Speaker 3: you know, is he one hundred percent healthy? I don't
Speaker 3: know if anybody is this point the season, but Robinson's
Speaker 3: an important guy now coming off the bench, and especially
Speaker 3: in a series like this when you're facing Joel Embiid,
Speaker 3: Mitchell Robinson and Hartenstein are going to be very very important.
Speaker 3: But they have this kind of brotherly friendship that has
Speaker 3: developed over their two years together in New York. And
Speaker 3: they're obviously completely different. I mean, Mitchell Robinson is a
Speaker 3: country boy from Louisiana. You know, he likes his fishing,
Speaker 3: he likes his country music. Isaiah Hartenstein grew up in Germany.
Speaker 3: Father was a professional basketball player, So they come from
Speaker 3: you know, completely, you know, different parts of the world.
Speaker 3: But this wonderful friendship and relationship has developed between the
Speaker 3: two of them. And now you know, you have Brunson,
Speaker 3: and you have an Andobe, you have Deevencenzo. Those are
Speaker 3: all the big names that you discuss when talk about
Speaker 3: the Knicks. But let's be honest, when you're facing this
Speaker 3: Philadelphia team with this MVP in the middle, Isaiah Hartenstein
Speaker 3: and Mitchell Robinson are going to be as important as
Speaker 3: anybody over the course of the series.
Speaker 1: They'll have their hands full, of course with Joel Embiid
Speaker 1: as you said, and it should be a It feels
Speaker 1: it's the most second round feeling first round series maybe
Speaker 1: of all time. But Pat O'Keefe, thank you so much.
Speaker 1: We'll see you in New York.
Speaker 3: I can't wait. It's going to be so much fun.
Speaker 3: Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: Guys, first playoff meeting between the Sixers and the Knicks
Speaker 1: since nineteen eighty nine. Thanks again to Pat O'Keefe. It
Speaker 1: was great to chat with him ahead of this series,
Speaker 1: which begins at the mecca, Madison Square Garden off a
Speaker 1: play in game where it was intense and that's only
Speaker 1: going to rise at a place like MSG.
Speaker 2: Yeah, call me corny, but there's a theatrical component to
Speaker 2: this whole thing so far, not just going to New York,
Speaker 2: so close to Broadway at the mecca of basketball, in
Speaker 2: my opinion, one of the best, if not the best
Speaker 2: viewing experiences watching a basketball game. Just the way that
Speaker 2: it's so dark in the crowd and it's so bright
Speaker 2: on the floor, like it is truly a beautiful place
Speaker 2: to watch basketball is MSG. But you think back to
Speaker 2: the play in how this all started, right, the fact
Speaker 2: that the Sixers close the season eight no still have
Speaker 2: to play that game, go down big in the first half,
Speaker 2: find a way to get back into it and then
Speaker 2: win it. Then you look at the season series play
Speaker 2: in game included against the Miami Heat, five full games played,
Speaker 2: one point separates both teams, and the Sixers get that
Speaker 2: one point edge. Speaking Matt of single possession game, single
Speaker 2: points means so much, meant so much, will mean so
Speaker 2: much in this series with the New York Knicks. I'm
Speaker 2: excited as a basketball fan. This This has got to
Speaker 2: be the number one see going into going into Round one.
Speaker 1: It feels like a four or five game or something
Speaker 1: more than a two seven. Not much. I mean, you
Speaker 1: could look at a variety of factors to tell you
Speaker 1: that not much separates the two seed from the seven
Speaker 1: seed in this situation. And we talked about with Pat
Speaker 1: them getting the two seed classic TIBs to have every
Speaker 1: opportunity to not promoke that yep, and not just ducking
Speaker 1: the Sixers, but just not you know, just ease into
Speaker 1: the playoffs. You're going to overtime with the Bulls, you
Speaker 1: could just pack it. And he had every chance to
Speaker 1: take people out like the Cleveland Cavaliers did at times
Speaker 1: on the regular season finale. But now we're here with
Speaker 1: six Ers and Nicks. The three Villanova players. You feel
Speaker 1: for Ryan Archie Diacino who got traded to Detroit early
Speaker 1: at the trade deadline. It was four Villanova players on
Speaker 1: this Knicks team. It obviously starts with Jalen Brunson. Devincenzo
Speaker 1: has had a great year, especially from three point range
Speaker 1: after dealing with numerous injuries earlier in his professional career.
Speaker 1: I do feel like Josh Hart kind of has some
Speaker 1: of his best games of his career against the Sixers.
Speaker 1: He has five triple doubles in his career and including
Speaker 1: one against the Sixers. They're all this season, so players
Speaker 1: that the Sixers fans are familiar with, But it starts
Speaker 1: with Brunson maybe the most head of the snake type
Speaker 1: player that you hear that comment about the most leading
Speaker 1: into it now. And when it comes down to X factors,
Speaker 1: it's like, who's the X factor for the Sixers? We've
Speaker 1: had trouble with this. Can you include the Joel Embiids
Speaker 1: of the world. Can you include Tyreese Maxi's like they're
Speaker 1: big X factors in the series, But when it comes
Speaker 1: to some of the other players on the Sixers, it's
Speaker 1: kind of all of them, Like it's hard to pain point.
Speaker 3: Is the X factor?
Speaker 2: The fact that anyone could be the X factor in
Speaker 2: the series. Right, If Joel Embiid shows up the way
Speaker 2: that we know he can, if he is at his best,
Speaker 2: if he is even at eighty eighty five ninety percent
Speaker 2: of his The Knicks don't have an answer for him
Speaker 2: very clearly. Right, But we know that this is a
Speaker 2: Joel Embiid that is coming back from an injury.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 2: We know that the Knicks are going to throw everything
Speaker 2: they can at the reigning MVP.
Speaker 3: As Joel has.
Speaker 2: Earned, right, he earns the opportunity to be the focal
Speaker 2: point of every defense, including a very good New York
Speaker 2: Knicks defense. So, but Joel Embiid, I don't know if
Speaker 2: he can be an X factor. Tyres Maxie good enough
Speaker 2: to I don't really think be an X factor anymore.
Speaker 2: But I do look forward to the to the Brunson
Speaker 2: Maxi matchup.
Speaker 3: For sure.
Speaker 2: They're gonna get switched onto each other for sure, right.
Speaker 2: And I think that something that has gone a little
Speaker 2: bit underappreciated this season is the defensive improvement that Tyre's
Speaker 2: Maxey has made throughout the season. And as he gets
Speaker 2: most improved player buzz around the around the league. You
Speaker 2: can't just look at the jump from twenty points to
Speaker 2: twenty six ish points a game. You've got to look
Speaker 2: at what he's able to do on both ends. I
Speaker 2: think he defended Jimmy Butler really well a few times
Speaker 2: in the play in and obviously that is a huge
Speaker 2: defensive assignment. So listen, I think that Tyrese could be
Speaker 2: an X factor. You expect Jalen Brunson to be the
Speaker 2: best guard in this series, but Tyrese Maxi could be
Speaker 2: Matt the best guard in this series.
Speaker 1: They're both All Stars, both first time All Stars this year.
Speaker 1: Their SATs are remarkably similar if you put them up
Speaker 1: side by side, and obviously everything runs through Brunson. As
Speaker 1: I said, he actually missed the most shots in the
Speaker 1: NBA this year because he takes so many. And the
Speaker 1: reason that Maxi's able to compete stats wise is because
Speaker 1: Embiide missed so much time. Including in this Knicks series.
Speaker 2: They both play a load of minutes to the coaching
Speaker 2: style wise on one side, and then just Tyrese's ability
Speaker 2: to go, go go on the other side. A ton
Speaker 2: of minutes will be shared between the two of them
Speaker 2: in this series.
Speaker 1: And Tom Thibodeau, it's gonna look different at the beginning
Speaker 1: than the way Miami defended the Sixers with the zone.
Speaker 1: I think, now do they switch into his own Seeing
Speaker 1: the success Miami had with it we will see, but
Speaker 1: that's what prevented Maxi at times from getting going because
Speaker 1: he's having to drive into the zone kickout, whereas like
Speaker 1: Nick Nurse Toronto days when he played against Jowell Embid,
Speaker 1: You're going to see a lot of swarming embiid double teams,
Speaker 1: potential triple teams, and maybe that freeze Maxie up a
Speaker 1: little bit to be that type of factor.
Speaker 2: Speaking of X factors, Matt the opportunity to have already
Speaker 2: played a playoff game for these Sixers, a playoff game
Speaker 2: in which they faced a lot of adversity, had a
Speaker 2: really tough time in the first half.
Speaker 1: Officially a playoff game, but a.
Speaker 2: Playoff environment totally fair, a playoff environment, though Tyres Maxie
Speaker 2: said it was just as intense as the game sevens
Speaker 2: he's played in. Was the play in the Sixers have
Speaker 2: now had a rep under their belts of a single
Speaker 2: possession game where everything matters, where everything is on the line. Right,
Speaker 2: is playing that game midway through this week actually a
Speaker 2: competitive advantage because the Knicks haven't gone through something like
Speaker 2: that yet. Perhaps Right getting a playoff rep in on
Speaker 2: their home floor starting a series on the road could
Speaker 2: potentially be helpful. And then you look down the roster,
Speaker 2: Matt and any of the players who played in the
Speaker 2: play in could be X factors in this game. We
Speaker 2: talk about Tobias Harris on this program a lot. Tobias
Speaker 2: does not get enough credit for how solid he's been
Speaker 2: in the playoffs over the course of his career. Let's
Speaker 2: look at just the last few years as a sixer
Speaker 2: twenty twenty two to twenty three playoffs. The twenty twenty
Speaker 2: three playoffs fifteen point three points and seven point six
Speaker 2: rebounds per game, the twenty twenty two playoffs seventeen points
Speaker 2: and eight rebounds per game, the twenty twenty one playoffs
Speaker 2: twenty one points, and of course there were some injuries
Speaker 2: to consider there, but twenty one points and eight rebounds
Speaker 2: in that nine rebounds rather in that playoff run. He's
Speaker 2: been great throughout his career in the playoffs. That steadiness,
Speaker 2: that solidness, will he, though, be able to break away
Speaker 2: and have a couple of games that become Tobias games.
Speaker 2: I wonder the same about Kelly Oubray. Both of them,
Speaker 2: of course, have proven that there are times this season
Speaker 2: that they've been able to score twenty plus. If Joel
Speaker 2: or Tyrese is struggling, not even just struggling, but if
Speaker 2: they're being heavily defended, who's going to be the one
Speaker 2: that breaks away? Who's going to be the nick Batoom
Speaker 2: of games Hopefully won through at least four, if not
Speaker 2: seven in this series.
Speaker 1: He had the tomb the big bench game in the
Speaker 1: play in. Obviously Paul Reid in the rotation. Rebounding is
Speaker 1: important against the New York Knicks. Isaiah Hartenstein is one
Speaker 1: of the best in rebounding percentage in the NBA. So
Speaker 1: is Paul Reid, so his role will be mightily important.
Speaker 1: Spelling Joel Embiid. It's going to be physical. From one
Speaker 1: physical game, singular game against Miami to a best of
Speaker 1: seven of physicality against New York.
Speaker 2: Offensive rebounding two we got to talk about with Paul Reid.
Speaker 2: The way that he's been able to create extra possessions
Speaker 2: in limited minutes is going to be huge when we
Speaker 2: talk about single possession games, Every offensive rebound is an
Speaker 2: extra possession, and it's going to be massive for the
Speaker 2: six Ers. The only two guys that played in the
Speaker 2: play in that we have not talked about yet our
Speaker 2: buddy Healed, who will get his first play in or
Speaker 2: play off birth.
Speaker 3: Rather, there's three guys here, one hundred.
Speaker 1: And thirty plus career games of NBA regular season.
Speaker 2: Fact, he was beaming. He was so excited about the
Speaker 2: opportunity to play in the play eighty.
Speaker 1: Four plus this year officially eighty six, unofficially.
Speaker 2: Unbelievable, unbelievable amount of work has gone in for Buddy
Speaker 2: Heeld to finally get to play in the playoffs for
Speaker 2: the first time. Every single player that spoke post game
Speaker 2: shouted out Campaign, who only played three minutes but made
Speaker 2: a huge three in that second half. Is needed, come
Speaker 2: in cold, hit a three, bring the energy that he's
Speaker 2: promised he's going to.
Speaker 1: Break throughout the playoffs. By the way, he was so happy.
Speaker 1: Listen to our last podcast, episode four interviews one on
Speaker 1: one with Lauren and Buddy Heeald and myself and Campaign
Speaker 1: off court stuff get to know them after they came
Speaker 1: over in the trades.
Speaker 2: And just because we've gone through so many potential X factors,
Speaker 2: the only player who appeared in the play and that
Speaker 2: we have not spoken about yet is a fourth Villanova
Speaker 2: player on the floor in this series and Kyle Lowry.
Speaker 2: And Lowry was a little bit quieter stats wise in
Speaker 2: the play in game, but his steadiness, his calmness, his communication,
Speaker 2: the way that he was able to help this team
Speaker 2: prepare for the my Miami Heat absolutely massive. And having
Speaker 2: Kyle Lowry, having a veteran that is so battle tested
Speaker 2: in your huddles in a series like this, he's going
Speaker 2: to make a difference. Maybe that's why he wasn't the
Speaker 2: first X factor we named, because we already know he's
Speaker 2: going to be one expected or.
Speaker 1: Said he expected him to come back in at the
Speaker 1: end and make a play, make a defensive play. He
Speaker 1: had a diving touch pass to Kelly Ubra at one
Speaker 1: point down the stretch as well, and then a nitty
Speaker 1: gritty offensive rebounding stat to end on about Hartenstein and Reid,
Speaker 1: is that top three in the NBA Clint Capella offensive
Speaker 1: rebounding percentage two is Hartenstein? Three is Paul Reid on
Speaker 1: the offensive glass. To your earlier point, So it's in
Speaker 1: the words of Tyrese MAXI, they're grimy.
Speaker 2: They're grimy.
Speaker 1: That is a playoff word.
Speaker 2: If I've ever heard Kelly Ubray too talking about being
Speaker 2: the nastiness the dog fight.
Speaker 1: I mean, I thought the Heat were the nastiest team
Speaker 1: in the NBA.
Speaker 3: Well, he did talk.
Speaker 2: He spoke about the nastiness after playing the Heat, of course,
Speaker 2: but Kelly's been a while sound bite lately. I look
Speaker 2: forward to hearing more of what Kelly has to say.
Speaker 2: I remember, just to close things up here, that second
Speaker 2: to second game between these two teams this season, the
Speaker 2: low scoring seventies matchup. Kelly called it a nineties basketball game.
Speaker 2: He said that one was nasty. He was excited after
Speaker 2: that one played a big role in the victory, could
Speaker 2: play a big role throughout the rest of this playoff run.
Speaker 2: Really excited for the Kelly Oubres and the Buddy Heels
Speaker 2: of the world, who haven't had the playoff experience that
Speaker 2: they've wanted to in their career to this point, and
Speaker 2: they're so motivated and hyped up for this series, looking
Speaker 2: forward to seeing what they are able to.
Speaker 1: Do best of seven, the Knicks and the Sixers. It
Speaker 1: doesn't get much better than that when you think about
Speaker 1: NBA history. We can't wait, and we'll have more pod
Speaker 1: coverage throughout the series and throughout the playoffs right here
Speaker 1: on seventy six Ers Insiders. But for Lauren Rosen on
Speaker 1: Matt Murphy, thanks for listening,