Speaker 1: This podcast is part of the seventy six Ers podcast
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Speaker 1: Everybody up, Yeah, seventy six All right, I think we're
Speaker 1: good to get started. Hello, Hello, Welcome everyone to another
Speaker 1: Sixers Twitter spaces. Matt Murphy and Lauren Rosen here with
Speaker 1: you after a one thirty three one oh two win
Speaker 1: for the Philadelphia seventy Sixers in Minnesota, James Harden's debut.
Speaker 1: We will run through his stat line and the stat
Speaker 1: line of some of his Sixers teammates. It was a debut, Lauren,
Speaker 1: that really could not have gone any better. There is
Speaker 1: no doubt about that. It was a tremendous day. Debut
Speaker 1: for James Harden. Could not have gone better. Welcome everybody
Speaker 1: into another edition of Sixers Twitter Spaces. So happy to
Speaker 1: have you all here. We are going to start I
Speaker 1: guess how we always do. I can run through the
Speaker 1: box score and as you guys start to have questions, comments, concerns,
Speaker 1: please send those to us. You could hit my avatar
Speaker 1: or Matt's avatar, send us a DM ask us anything
Speaker 1: about last night's Sixers game, about the road ahead, anything
Speaker 1: you want to know about the way that the guys
Speaker 1: looked together. Anything you want to know about what's going
Speaker 1: on around the league or anything unsixers related. Send us
Speaker 1: your questions and we will get to them sequentially. So, Matt,
Speaker 1: let's dive into the box score. You mentioned some of
Speaker 1: it already, but Joel Embiid the team's leading score thirty
Speaker 1: four points, ten rebounds, three assists, and a steal. James Harden,
Speaker 1: in his debut as a seventy sixer, flirts with a
Speaker 1: triple double twenty seven points, eight rebounds, twelve assists. He
Speaker 1: shot seven for twelve from the field, five for seven
Speaker 1: from three point territory, eight for nine from the free
Speaker 1: throw line. Tyrese Maxie finished with twenty eight points, two rebounds,
Speaker 1: two assists, at a career high for steals. Tyres shot
Speaker 1: a very efficient twelve for sixteen from the field, two
Speaker 1: for three from deep Matisse Thyble finished in double figures
Speaker 1: eleven points, seven rebounds, two assists, and three steals. More
Speaker 1: on him in a little bit end. Let's see where
Speaker 1: are we going next. Tobias Hair six points, three rebounds,
Speaker 1: four assists. Stock Rivers said afterwards that that didn't really
Speaker 1: tell the whole story of what Tobias was able to do. Obviously,
Speaker 1: he shot more from three. He was two for three
Speaker 1: from three point range, but that's slightly under his usual
Speaker 1: shooting split there, so good to see him get more
Speaker 1: shots up from deep. Danny Green finished with a bench
Speaker 1: high six points. But we can go into some more
Speaker 1: advanced stats. Matt, where do you want a head first?
Speaker 1: It's a great question you said we would talk about
Speaker 1: Matisse Thyble was part of the starting lineup. We have
Speaker 1: to stay with the leading scorers from last night's game,
Speaker 1: with Embid and Harden and Maxie. Actually Maxie had twenty eight,
Speaker 1: Harden had twenty seven. I want to focus on them
Speaker 1: at the top. I think something that a lot of
Speaker 1: people were impressed with was James Harden's impact on how
Speaker 1: Tyrese Maxi played last night, his drives, his floaters, how
Speaker 1: he was able to get down hill. Felt like the
Speaker 1: Timberwolves defense was just scrambling and scrambling and scrambling, and
Speaker 1: Harden was always making the right pass in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: I mean in the game, Harden had multiple four point plays,
Speaker 1: a bunch of three pointers, but the way that they
Speaker 1: were rotating around the perimeter with him and others and
Speaker 1: the way that Maxie was driving was notable. And for
Speaker 1: him to play that well, and for all three of
Speaker 1: them plus some others to play that well without having
Speaker 1: played a game together before, was outstanding. And I think
Speaker 1: Tyrese Maxie in a game where the team exceeded expectations
Speaker 1: as a whole, Tyrese Maxie exceeded individual expectations. Shot twelve
Speaker 1: of sixteen, like you were saying with the twenty eight
Speaker 1: points as a starter alongside James Harden, I was really
Speaker 1: impressed with Tyrese. Yeah, early days of that duo, Matt,
Speaker 1: but I really enjoyed what James Harden had to say
Speaker 1: about Tyrese Maxie during his first interview as a seventy
Speaker 1: six er. I'm going to pull up that quote that
Speaker 1: turn energy. He's got that the turned energy, correct. So
Speaker 1: James Harden really excited to play alongside Tyrese Maxie before
Speaker 1: he ever did. He said, you love that young turn
Speaker 1: energy that Tyrese has. I can't wait to have that pace.
Speaker 1: I feel like we will compliment each other. And we
Speaker 1: saw that pace right away, the two of them on
Speaker 1: the break together in the second quarter. That's something some
Speaker 1: speed that Doc rivers has expressed he really wants the
Speaker 1: Sixers to improve with Tyrese getting out ahead of James,
Speaker 1: James finding Tyres up ahead of him for the finish,
Speaker 1: and that one, I think was about halfway through the
Speaker 1: second quarter. Great to see that early chemistry coming along,
Speaker 1: and Tyrese just one of many who felt that same
Speaker 1: effect in their first game with James Harden. Joel Embiid,
Speaker 1: of course, in a now viral quote, said that he's
Speaker 1: never been that open in his career. The guy's almost
Speaker 1: surprised with how open James is able to find them
Speaker 1: out on the floor. And so again, if this is
Speaker 1: just the debut, if this is the first time they're
Speaker 1: playing at game pace together, and James Harden is finding
Speaker 1: his new teammates at such an efficient and such an
Speaker 1: impressive rate, it's going to be really scary when he's
Speaker 1: able to do it in a way that he knows
Speaker 1: these guys, he knows their spots, they're used to each other. Matt,
Speaker 1: this was just the first time. That's something that I
Speaker 1: really can't believe, and I am really excited to see
Speaker 1: unfold over these next few weeks and months. And when
Speaker 1: you ask me what stands out from the number. We'll
Speaker 1: talk just general feeling about the game and the team
Speaker 1: and answer questions shortly. But the free throw numbers we
Speaker 1: expected them to be high for these players, for specifically
Speaker 1: Joel and Beat and James Harden and Beat eleven of
Speaker 1: thirteen and hard Night of nine. It's incredible and for
Speaker 1: it to be the first game, and for Joel to
Speaker 1: say that he's never been more open, and for him
Speaker 1: to say things along the lines of how he was
Speaker 1: even surprised sometimes by the passes that Harden was making.
Speaker 1: They can get even better, which is which is scary,
Speaker 1: because they played a fantastic game together and as a
Speaker 1: group and overall but some of them, Joel still scored
Speaker 1: on so I don't think their numbers are gonna drastically
Speaker 1: skyrocket because Joel, even if he wasn't expecting a pass
Speaker 1: or two from Harden, he would bobble, collect and score.
Speaker 1: But they are superstars and that's what great players do
Speaker 1: as they adapt quickly, and Joel is so good at
Speaker 1: learning new things and just adapting his game to whatever
Speaker 1: is needed that if Harden could play like that and
Speaker 1: be that efficient he only took twelve shots and make
Speaker 1: such great passes him and Joel. Their chemistry knowing where
Speaker 1: each other is on the court and finding each other
Speaker 1: and scoring is going to get even better. It's going
Speaker 1: to get even smoother. So I don't know that the
Speaker 1: numbers will increase all that much, but Joel bobbled a
Speaker 1: couple in scored. I think it will get even cleaner,
Speaker 1: which is a scary thought for the rest of the NBA. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I liked what you said the first time babble, collect
Speaker 1: and score. That babble is what we're talking about, right
Speaker 1: The guy's not quite expecting to the ball to find
Speaker 1: their hands as quickly and as perfectly as it did,
Speaker 1: and sort of watching them realize what's happening in real time.
Speaker 1: We certainly saw that from Joel, and of course, with
Speaker 1: how skilled he is, even when he's not expecting a
Speaker 1: play to run a certain way, he's able to recover
Speaker 1: at a really high level. But again, once he's expecting
Speaker 1: those passes and expecting those spots, things are going to
Speaker 1: get pretty scary for the rest of the league. We
Speaker 1: talked a little bit about free throws, but I think
Speaker 1: it's worth discussing further. The Houston Rockets this season leave
Speaker 1: the NBA in free throws attempted twenty four point nine
Speaker 1: free throw attempts per game. James Harden and Joe lmb
Speaker 1: the last night, just the two of them attempted twenty two,
Speaker 1: which would be good for tenth in the NBA. Just
Speaker 1: the two of them twenty two free throws attempted, and
Speaker 1: of course they made nineteen of those twenty two, which
Speaker 1: is an efficiency higher than some of these other teams
Speaker 1: that I'm going that I would mention in the list
Speaker 1: of top free throw attempting teams. The Sixers attempt thirty
Speaker 1: six last night, thirty for thirty six from the free
Speaker 1: throw line, and there were some jokes made about how
Speaker 1: that was going to affect the length of the game.
Speaker 1: Matt to me, I didn't really notice it made that
Speaker 1: might be famous last words, but I didn't really notice
Speaker 1: it making too much of an impact on the tie game. Obviously,
Speaker 1: there were a lot of whistles in last night's contest,
Speaker 1: but again, the fact that those guys are going to
Speaker 1: get to the line at that rate that competes with
Speaker 1: the best rerethrow shooting teams in the NBA is again
Speaker 1: very scary, very exciting, and looking forward to seeing what
Speaker 1: the two of them are able to do as they
Speaker 1: continue to manipulate defenses even further. Hey, it's Joe Conklin,
Speaker 1: joined me for Conklin's comedy. United. Parks Casino, the number
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Speaker 1: Combo Gambler. As we pull up our first question or
Speaker 1: to some other notable team stats. Thirty six for the
Speaker 1: Philadelphia seventy Sixers, as they're now thirty six and twenty
Speaker 1: three overall after beating the Timberwolves by thirty one on
Speaker 1: the road, thirty assists, fifth time they've had at least thirty,
Speaker 1: they're five and zero in those games. The ball movement
Speaker 1: can't be talked about enough. Hardened with twelve of those
Speaker 1: thirty assists for the Sixers. The nineteen made threes are
Speaker 1: a new season high. They took thirty nine threes, they
Speaker 1: made nineteen. James Harden had the most threes made on
Speaker 1: the team with five. Joel was three for five from
Speaker 1: beyond the arc. But let's get into it with the people.
Speaker 1: Thanks for being with us. We can't wait to keep
Speaker 1: talking about this one, keep talking about James Harden and
Speaker 1: this version of the seventy sixers. Matt as you bring
Speaker 1: up that first question one more time for twenty seven
Speaker 1: points on twelve shots in James Harden's debut. Twenty seven
Speaker 1: points on twelve shots. That's pretty phenomenal. Five for seven
Speaker 1: from three eight nine from the line, twenty seven points
Speaker 1: on twelve shots in his first time working with this offense.
Speaker 1: I thought you had the first question, Lauren, but it's okay, no, no, no.
Speaker 1: You looking at the ones that came in last night
Speaker 1: to the tweet, um, A lot of them are just
Speaker 1: the feelings are great all around right now and a
Speaker 1: lot of them are Is this real life? Is this
Speaker 1: a dream? What were your reactions? And I think in
Speaker 1: the open we sort of by including some stats and
Speaker 1: how great of a game it was maybe we addressed
Speaker 1: some of that, but the fan base can't seem to
Speaker 1: believe it. And then there was the social media reaction
Speaker 1: from the players themselves as well, even Joel. He doesn't
Speaker 1: always go to Instagram, but he does on big occasions,
Speaker 1: and Joel posted a photo as well and says, can't
Speaker 1: believe this, can't believe this is my life? Right? We
Speaker 1: love a truly online NBA player. Joel's references to some
Speaker 1: iconic memes have been absolutely on point over the last
Speaker 1: couple months. Matt Rod from The BX says, Harden and
Speaker 1: Harden bringing Maxie under his wing is probably the best
Speaker 1: thing to happen for Maxie's career going forward. I think
Speaker 1: that that's a really interesting point. And Matt, a point
Speaker 1: that I know you're probably sick of hearing me make
Speaker 1: is that Tyrese Maxie has had some really incredible role
Speaker 1: models already since he joined the seventy six ers. He
Speaker 1: credits Tobias Harris with teaching him to be a pro.
Speaker 1: He credits Joel Embiid with challenging him to do more,
Speaker 1: be more, stretch himself, get out of his comfort zone
Speaker 1: on the floor, and what we talked about upon the
Speaker 1: acquisition of James Harden is now Tyrese Maxie actually has
Speaker 1: a role model in the fold that plays his position.
Speaker 1: Tyrese has improved so so much as a shooter, as
Speaker 1: a distributor, as a floor general, and now he has
Speaker 1: someone one of the best to ever do all three
Speaker 1: of those things playing alongside him. I loved the way
Speaker 1: that James Harden was cheering him on in James's second
Speaker 1: game on the bed, second game with the team, the
Speaker 1: Sixers win over the Milwaukee Bucks in Milwaukee ahead of
Speaker 1: the All Star Game. So having someone like that in
Speaker 1: his head and now having someone like that on the
Speaker 1: court with young Tyrese Maxie, I couldn't agree more and
Speaker 1: very much looking forward to seeing how that partnership continues
Speaker 1: to develop. Continuing with the feelings from people out there,
Speaker 1: Terrell says, I really think that they're ready for the playoffs.
Speaker 1: A sap. I believe they're going to the finals. Mark says, hey, Matt,
Speaker 1: I'm so hyped. Keep the comments coming, questions if you
Speaker 1: have them, we will answer them and acknowledge them throughout
Speaker 1: the show. Looking for anything, I like, go ahead. I
Speaker 1: like how aligned everyone is. Mark Spencer says Lauren James
Speaker 1: made it look so easy. Annie said, the passing last
Speaker 1: night was incredible. Terrell added, how I was surprised how
Speaker 1: well Maxie and Harden were able to play with each other.
Speaker 1: So again, I think we're all sort of on the
Speaker 1: same page as a Sixer nation when we wake up
Speaker 1: in the morning after something like that. Chad asked, what
Speaker 1: was Maxie's Steele's career high? That was his steal's career
Speaker 1: high last night. He had hit three a couple of times.
Speaker 1: Last night he grabbed a team high game high four steals.
Speaker 1: Matisse Thybel shortly behind him with three, but Tyrese Maxie
Speaker 1: out stole the Minnesota Timberwolves last night. The Wolves well
Speaker 1: rather matched the Timberwolves total. The Timberwolves altogether four steals,
Speaker 1: Tyrese Maxie four steals. Matt, you know I love those
Speaker 1: weird team versus player stats have already brought up a
Speaker 1: couple today, but really impressive to see what they were
Speaker 1: able to do. And Matt, remember, this is a team
Speaker 1: that the Sixers lost to earlier in the season in
Speaker 1: dramatic overtime fashion at home. Incredible to see them then
Speaker 1: go out there in the first game with a new
Speaker 1: starter and finish with a thirty one point very lopsided victory,
Speaker 1: double overtime fashion at home. Actually that was a crazy game,
Speaker 1: and you brought up Matisse's name again. He was in
Speaker 1: the starting lineup. That's a question that a lot of
Speaker 1: people have, is what's the starting lineup going to look like?
Speaker 1: What are these rotations going to look like? And Matisse
Speaker 1: got the start. He was the fourth sixer in double
Speaker 1: figures with the eleven points and the recipient of some
Speaker 1: of the great ball movement. So what did you think
Speaker 1: about Matisse's overall play in the starting lineup? Yeah, I
Speaker 1: got a question from Gwen about Matisse. Gwen said, how
Speaker 1: do you think Matisse is going to benefit from James
Speaker 1: Harden on the floor? I mean, I think we already
Speaker 1: saw a lot of it last night. It of course
Speaker 1: takes some of the offensive pressure off of Matisse when
Speaker 1: there's someone that's going to demand as much attention as
Speaker 1: James Harden does, but it also puts a little bit
Speaker 1: more pressure on him to take and make open looks.
Speaker 1: But last night Matise extremely efficient four for seven from
Speaker 1: the field, that emphatic dunk at the end of the
Speaker 1: second quarter. I had a question about that one. I
Speaker 1: want to make sure I shout out the person's name,
Speaker 1: Sean Jay. Sean Jay says, how about the end of
Speaker 1: the first half, The vibes have never been higher. For
Speaker 1: those of you who might not have watched the game,
Speaker 1: Matisse had put back at the buzzer of the first
Speaker 1: half to bias. Harris got extremely excited, as did the
Speaker 1: rest of the team on the bench. Matisa's athleticism something
Speaker 1: that maybe we don't give him quite enough credit for
Speaker 1: as a as a collective, so really good to see
Speaker 1: him blending in and then Matt, sorry to address the
Speaker 1: original question, how will James Harden change Matissa's role? I
Speaker 1: think his defensive role only becomes more important, and that's
Speaker 1: something we've seen Matisse I will thrive as as a
Speaker 1: primary perimeter, primary on ball defender all season long. In
Speaker 1: the absence of Ben Simmons, He's had to take on
Speaker 1: a lot more defensively, as much as he was taking
Speaker 1: on last season in which he became an all defenseman. Matt,
Speaker 1: He's taken on even more this season, so that will continue.
Speaker 1: And of course, as people speculated about who would enter
Speaker 1: the starting lineup, this is one that made a lot
Speaker 1: of sense to me, you have someone like DeAngelo Russell
Speaker 1: on the other side of the ball who will not
Speaker 1: be stopped if you do not stop him. So having
Speaker 1: a primary stopper option in Matis when the other four
Speaker 1: weapons in that starting lineup are so potent offensively, I
Speaker 1: think made a lot of sense. And then it was
Speaker 1: cool to see him, of course, embrace a little bit
Speaker 1: more of an offensive role and get the same looks
Speaker 1: that his teammates were getting. Last thing, I'd add seven
Speaker 1: rebounds for Batis. I don't know if that's I think
Speaker 1: that ties his season high for this season. I will
Speaker 1: go ahead in fact check that for you in just
Speaker 1: a second. But interesting to hear Doc Rivers post game
Speaker 1: talking about the fact that they gave him the green
Speaker 1: light to grab offensive rebounds, of which he got three,
Speaker 1: to crash the boards as much as he could, and
Speaker 1: that's not something that Matisse traditionally does, but Doc said
Speaker 1: that when he sees the opportunity, he should go for it.
Speaker 1: To seeing him grow as a rebounder, there were three
Speaker 1: six ers that finished with at least seven rebounds, Bible,
Speaker 1: Harden and Embad. That's an interesting thing to watch for
Speaker 1: for sure. As he continues to discover more about his
Speaker 1: own game. Yeah, they're rebounding another column or area that
Speaker 1: a lot of people have focused on with this year's
Speaker 1: Sixers team. Our friend Winona says, good morning, I'm still
Speaker 1: screaming impressed with how Harden looked. Sixers basketball iq just
Speaker 1: went up one hundred emoji one hundred percent and Harden's
Speaker 1: basketball IQ was on full display. We know embiid is
Speaker 1: very very smart as well. Just a great game, just
Speaker 1: a great performance. Some people asking about if we're talking
Speaker 1: about Thible, others asking about Tobias Harris. NFT Basketball says,
Speaker 1: yesterday was very efficient for James, especially five of seven
Speaker 1: won't be a normal thing. I would ask, how do
Speaker 1: you get Tobias involved? Keeping him happy? Is key? Tobias Harris.
Speaker 1: His game, even though it doesn't jump off the box score,
Speaker 1: did stand out to me. I thought taking six threes
Speaker 1: was encouraging. It's probably going to be more than that
Speaker 1: on a lot of nights. The two that he made
Speaker 1: early were both off great passes from James Harden. James
Speaker 1: Harden is going to find you in good spots to
Speaker 1: shoot the ball. Tobias also had four assists in this game.
Speaker 1: But I thought the way he moved out there, especially early,
Speaker 1: was encouraging. I think he knows that that three point
Speaker 1: number is going to increase just by the nature of
Speaker 1: playing with Harden. He made a couple early. I think
Speaker 1: that both of those numbers makes and attempts from beyond
Speaker 1: the arc can go even higher. So I think, just
Speaker 1: sort of feeling it out, I think he's going to
Speaker 1: look better and quick. Yeah. I think it's actually an
Speaker 1: interestingly worded question because whoever submitted it talked about the
Speaker 1: fact that that James Harden won't necessarily shoot five for
Speaker 1: seven from three every night, and of course that's efficiency
Speaker 1: that you can't expect on a nightly basis. But I
Speaker 1: don't think Tobias Harris will continue to shoot two of
Speaker 1: six two of six, of course, fine, but I think
Speaker 1: he'll get into three of six, four or six, four
Speaker 1: of seven. Tobias is a really good three point shooter,
Speaker 1: so as long as he's getting those looks and he's
Speaker 1: putting them up. Secondarily to the point where I think
Speaker 1: that he's going to shoot better from three, he forces
Speaker 1: the floor to spread in a way that only really
Speaker 1: good offensive players can. You can't leave Tobias Harris open.
Speaker 1: You can't leave him unattended because he will make you
Speaker 1: pay for it. So if nothing else, keeping him on
Speaker 1: the floor as a threat will continue to be something
Speaker 1: that the Sixers will continue to do and do well.
Speaker 1: And then of course I don't think he's going to
Speaker 1: have any problems raising those scoring numbers. Two for nine
Speaker 1: from the field is not the efficiency that we're accustomed
Speaker 1: to from Tobias Harris. So really, to me a chalk
Speaker 1: last night up to an off shooting night, especially considering
Speaker 1: how well he was playing headed into the All Star break.
Speaker 1: There will always be growing pains, but there's a lot
Speaker 1: to like to me and Tobias's line, those six threes,
Speaker 1: of course really stand out. Like you said, Matt, he
Speaker 1: finished out a plus twenty four, which I think is
Speaker 1: also noteworthy talking about what he was able to impact
Speaker 1: while he was on the floor. I had a question
Speaker 1: from Danna, sorry if I mispronounced Dana, about what Doc
Speaker 1: Rivers set out to do rotations wise, and the way
Speaker 1: that he discussed ahead of a head of Friday's game
Speaker 1: that it was his intention to make sure that a
Speaker 1: pair of Joel and b Tyrese, Maxie, James Harden and
Speaker 1: Tobias Harris. At least two of those four are always
Speaker 1: on the floor, and for the vast majority of the
Speaker 1: game last night that was the case. Tobias has played
Speaker 1: a lot of minutes this season with an all bench lineup.
Speaker 1: It was really cool to see him play those minutes
Speaker 1: with a James Harden, to play those minutes with someone
Speaker 1: who's extremely threatening in a way that when he was
Speaker 1: shouldering most of the offensive load with those units, now
Speaker 1: there's someone to share that with. And then of course
Speaker 1: at the end of the game they no longer needed
Speaker 1: two starters on the floor at any given time, some
Speaker 1: opportunity for the bench in the fourth quarter. So anytime
Speaker 1: that you can remove your starters, it means something's going
Speaker 1: really well. And I thought that that rotation change from
Speaker 1: Doc Verse was really interesting and obviously very effective. And
Speaker 1: in the first half, Doc said something postgame about how
Speaker 1: their field goal percentage was forty percent, but that he
Speaker 1: thought that the looks were good and then the more
Speaker 1: makes started happening as the game progressed. But I thought
Speaker 1: even when Harden came out early, they were still getting
Speaker 1: the great looks because the team just had an extra
Speaker 1: pep in their step with whatever it was I mean,
Speaker 1: if it was all because of James Harden's debut, the great,
Speaker 1: you hope that keeps going. But even when Harden wasn't
Speaker 1: out there, the ball movement with the other group that
Speaker 1: came in was really strong as well. The ball movement
Speaker 1: throughout the game was great, and it happened early, it
Speaker 1: happened late. Joel and James kind of took over at
Speaker 1: the start of the fourth quarter when they did score
Speaker 1: the forty one points total. I know some bench guys
Speaker 1: contributed towards the very end, but the start of the
Speaker 1: fourth quarter it was the second of James Harden's four
Speaker 1: point plays. All of that, they had a pretty much
Speaker 1: all night and it didn't really matter who was out there.
Speaker 1: I think communication has a lot to do with that.
Speaker 1: They praised Harden's communication on both ends of the floor.
Speaker 1: Chelsea from Australia wants us to talk about defense, specifically
Speaker 1: Harden's defense and how he was playing on that side
Speaker 1: of the floor pretty well. I think overall, as this
Speaker 1: group gets going, they have an energy about them. They're
Speaker 1: excited to play together, they're excited to learn how to
Speaker 1: play together on both ends of the floor, and James
Speaker 1: Harden's a guy that's been around, So he's going to
Speaker 1: call guys out, he's going to encourage guys. And it's
Speaker 1: not just on the offensive end as a basketball genius,
Speaker 1: as so many describe him, it's on the defensive end
Speaker 1: because he knows what needs to be done by which
Speaker 1: players at which times. So I thought that was also
Speaker 1: on display in the Timberwolves game. Yeah, the energy boost
Speaker 1: is actually a really interesting thing to discuss because when
Speaker 1: you think about the way that the NBA season is constructed,
Speaker 1: the All Star break always comes at a good time
Speaker 1: when players coaches need a little bit of a break.
Speaker 1: So they get it, but then they come back and
Speaker 1: they have to find their rhythm for about two months
Speaker 1: before the playoffs can even begin. And once the playoffs began,
Speaker 1: obviously things start to pick up steam. But this sort
Speaker 1: of dog days of the season period where sometimes players
Speaker 1: struggle to get up for games, Sometimes games don't feel
Speaker 1: as exciting as they did at the beginning of the
Speaker 1: season and as they will in the playoffs. I think
Speaker 1: it's really interesting. Joel Abid said this last night after
Speaker 1: the game. He said, as he heads into a challenging
Speaker 1: stretch in the Sixers schedule, which we will get to
Speaker 1: in just a second, but the challenging stretch in the
Speaker 1: Sixer schedule ahead. Joel says he's excited to integrate James
Speaker 1: Harden into the mix amid a challenging schedule because, as
Speaker 1: he's the case, in these sort of dog days of
Speaker 1: the season, when players struggle a little bit to get
Speaker 1: up for matchups, when teams aren't necessarily as exciting, viewers
Speaker 1: aren't as excited, people start thirsting for the playoffs to
Speaker 1: come along. The Sixers instead now have the huge injection
Speaker 1: of quality of energy, a challenge to figure out how
Speaker 1: they can integrate this ten time MVP as quickly and
Speaker 1: as efficiently as possible, so it almost saves them from
Speaker 1: the sort of down slump in the season that all
Speaker 1: teams deal with because it's understandable. But I liked that
Speaker 1: Joel is so excited about this challenge, and I like
Speaker 1: that they're able to use this moment in the season
Speaker 1: where other teams, by the way, I could be caught
Speaker 1: slipping based on what time in the season it is.
Speaker 1: In order to assimilate James Harden to the group, GD said,
Speaker 1: I jumped and celebrated Matissa's put back as though I
Speaker 1: was on the team. I don't think she was alone.
Speaker 1: A lot of comments about that play. Isaiah Joe comments
Speaker 1: talking about Isaiah Joe in the fourth quarter fair we
Speaker 1: should discuss though he only played four minutes. He shot
Speaker 1: three for four from the field, two for three from three,
Speaker 1: finished with eight points. Really good minutes. I mean eight
Speaker 1: points in four minutes. That's big time stuff from Isaiah Joe.
Speaker 1: So I stand corrected. If I didn't give him a
Speaker 1: shout out at the beginning, I should have a bench
Speaker 1: high eight points for Isaiah Joe. Love that shout out
Speaker 1: from both. Chelsea Reckless also gives a shout out to
Speaker 1: Isaiah Joe. A lot of questions, Yeah, yeah, okay, thank
Speaker 1: you guys. See this is what we like. Towards the
Speaker 1: end of the space, Chris also asks about Isaiah Joe.
Speaker 1: Will he get more minutes? It's a good question. This
Speaker 1: is a team that hasn't struggled with depth at all
Speaker 1: this season, Matt. So when a guy like Isaiah Joe
Speaker 1: shows that he's ready, shows that he's able, shows that
Speaker 1: he's been working and is able to take a four
Speaker 1: minute stretch and turn it into eight points. All it
Speaker 1: shows is that should there be injuries, and of course
Speaker 1: that's not something you hope for, but should there be
Speaker 1: injuries or struggles, that's someone that's ready and threatening to
Speaker 1: come off the bench. Fat I know you followed Isaiah
Speaker 1: pretty closely. What did you think about his stint there
Speaker 1: at the end of the game. Yeah, he's a guy
Speaker 1: that can definitely get going quickly. He never and this
Speaker 1: is a good thing for any shooter, but he never
Speaker 1: thinks about missus and that's exactly what you want in
Speaker 1: a shooter. That's exactly what you want in a young shooter.
Speaker 1: I didn't see him all that much in Delaware. He
Speaker 1: played a little bit kind of the playoff run, and
Speaker 1: it wasn't even in Delaware. It was during the bubble
Speaker 1: season for the G League. But a guy that I
Speaker 1: have seen develop over his couple years in the league now,
Speaker 1: and I think he is someone who can get going quickly.
Speaker 1: And I think the depth is a good point. Someone asked,
Speaker 1: it was Mark about Willie cally Stein. He just asked
Speaker 1: about that today. Someone else asked postgame last night about
Speaker 1: Willie colly Stein. So I think that's an interesting player
Speaker 1: to bring up on a ten day contract. The most
Speaker 1: recent Sixers acquisition Willie colly Stein, a former top ten
Speaker 1: pick in the NBA draft, a big man, adding to
Speaker 1: the front court depth, because all of these roles are
Speaker 1: going to be important as the season progresses and the
Speaker 1: team tries to solidify their playoff spot or where they
Speaker 1: are in the playoff picture right now at thirty six
Speaker 1: and twenty three, third in the East, two and a
Speaker 1: half games back of both the Heat and the Bulls,
Speaker 1: who are thirty nine and twenty one. But an example
Speaker 1: there is that Charles Bassie went to the Bluecoats had
Speaker 1: a double double with eight blocks as well the other
Speaker 1: night because Willie Calli Steins picked up Paul Reid stays
Speaker 1: with the Sixers. So there are bodies, There are players
Speaker 1: that are competing four minutes down the stretch of these games,
Speaker 1: or whenever someone needs a quick break here or there.
Speaker 1: I think we'll see a little bit more Willie Calli
Speaker 1: Stein on his ten day as he tries to inject
Speaker 1: some energy off the Sixers bench. Paul Millsap played twelve
Speaker 1: minutes against the Timberwolves, Willie cally Stein played four, Paul
Speaker 1: Reid played three at the very end, But we'll see
Speaker 1: how that shakes out. Because Bassi goes to the G League,
Speaker 1: but there's now a group of front court players in
Speaker 1: that mix as well, when you shift away from looking
Speaker 1: at someone like Isaiah Joe on the perimeter. I got
Speaker 1: a funny question from Kiki says you put too many
Speaker 1: underrated stats in your underrated stats tweet. If you had
Speaker 1: to pick the most underrated, which would they be? Do
Speaker 1: you want to pull this one up? I think it's
Speaker 1: a fair point. There were many underrated stats last night,
Speaker 1: As is the case with any good game, I try
Speaker 1: to go through the stat sheet and find sort of
Speaker 1: like the second level of statistics. Some of my favorites
Speaker 1: were the team sharing thirty assists on forty two buckets.
Speaker 1: We talked about the free throw shooting from the combo
Speaker 1: of Joel Embiid and James Harden, Tobias Harris being a
Speaker 1: plus twenty four, Danny Green being a plus seventeen, and
Speaker 1: then I think the fast break points disparity twenty three
Speaker 1: six or fast point fast break points and four Timberwolves
Speaker 1: fast breakpoints. That obviously a credit to both the Sixers
Speaker 1: defense and their ability to get out on the break
Speaker 1: and speed is something that the team has been working on. Transition,
Speaker 1: something they've been working on in putting an emphasis into
Speaker 1: so that I think might be the biggest one that
Speaker 1: twenty three to four fast breakpoint disparity. Matt, you're fla.
Speaker 1: I think the Tobias Harris plus twenty four plus minus
Speaker 1: is probably one of, if not the most underrated thing
Speaker 1: from last night's game that won't be talked about a ton,
Speaker 1: but made an impact beyond some of the main box
Speaker 1: score columns that if you didn't watch the game, that
Speaker 1: you would look at. But that probably jumps off as
Speaker 1: the most surprising from last night's game, But maybe it
Speaker 1: shouldn't be if you really paid close attention. So that's
Speaker 1: what I'll go with there. There was one that came
Speaker 1: in from FPL as a reply to the tweet last night,
Speaker 1: how well did James Harden play? I don't know if
Speaker 1: that's rhetorical or not, but will repeat James Harden's final
Speaker 1: stat line if you're just joining us, perhaps twenty seven points,
Speaker 1: eight rebounds, twelve assists in thirty five minutes plus thirty
Speaker 1: five James Harden a game high seven of twelve, shooting
Speaker 1: five for seven from three and eight for nine at
Speaker 1: the line. So the answer very very very well James
Speaker 1: Harden played very, very very well. I agree with you.
Speaker 1: This one was interesting. Matt question from Tea or rather
Speaker 1: t sends me a tweet that says, has someone already
Speaker 1: made the point that Paul Millsap and Beball Paul on
Speaker 1: the court together would form the Paul Wall, And that
Speaker 1: is a really good question. I think that it will
Speaker 1: now come up against the Paul Patrol as sort of
Speaker 1: dueling nicknames, because the Paul Wall is actually really but
Speaker 1: the Paul Patrol offense. I'm team Paul Patrol a thousand
Speaker 1: percent there over Paul Wall. And it's not just because
Speaker 1: I had sent the tweet, but I love the Paul
Speaker 1: Patrol a nickname. And I don't believe that they played
Speaker 1: together last night. I was waiting, I was, I had
Speaker 1: it ready to go. I could be wrong, but I
Speaker 1: don't think they overlapped at all, Paul Millsap and Paul Reid,
Speaker 1: and I'm team Paul Patrol a thousand percent. Okay, noted.
Speaker 1: I appreciate that, And as is often the cases, we
Speaker 1: get deeper into these spaces, we start getting a little
Speaker 1: bit funkier. An He's asked a couple of questions about
Speaker 1: my solicitation of a nickname for Matisse Thybal the seventy
Speaker 1: six ers starting lineup last night, and I think maybe
Speaker 1: actually this deserves a little bit of our time. Matt Murphy,
Speaker 1: The Process, Joel Embiid the franchise is what Joel calls
Speaker 1: Tyrese Maxie. The machine is what Doc Rivers and Tyrese
Speaker 1: Maxie called Tobias Harris. The Beard obviously speaks for itself,
Speaker 1: but Matisse Thyble didn't have a nickname. I posed a
Speaker 1: question as I was waiting for the game to start.
Speaker 1: I got some awesome responses. Matt. Darryl Morey believes that
Speaker 1: Matisse and for Concorkmas should share a duo nickname of
Speaker 1: make It, take It, make It for Concorkmas, take It.
Speaker 1: Being Matise Thible. Annie thinks that it should be the Swiper.
Speaker 1: I appreciate that this debate has now has now come
Speaker 1: into the second day. My favorite, Matt, I think, was
Speaker 1: Steven Steelberg, but I'm open to all sorts of nicknames.
Speaker 1: My preference would have been for it to be a
Speaker 1: the nickname because we have the Beard, the Process, the franchise,
Speaker 1: the machine. I wanted to be nickname. Stephen Steelberg got
Speaker 1: me though, Matt, you don't have to weigh in on this.
Speaker 1: This feels pretty trivial. But as we get towards the
Speaker 1: end of a space, we always go into these types
Speaker 1: of places. Your thoughts, Matt Murphy, Now I want to
Speaker 1: weigh in. I do find myself thinking that I wish
Speaker 1: it was something with the at the front to match everything.
Speaker 1: But if the lineup changes at all and Matisse comes
Speaker 1: off the bench for certain matchups, whatever it is, we're
Speaker 1: not the coaching staff, then I don't think he's someone
Speaker 1: that it's entirely necessary for it to match up with
Speaker 1: those other four. I think he's such a unique person
Speaker 1: and like we see his personality come out in the
Speaker 1: way that we see it on social media and the
Speaker 1: vlogs and everything. Matist does that maybe if he likes it,
Speaker 1: the Steven Spielberg one fits Matisse thiable more. But I
Speaker 1: don't know. I want to hear his thoughts. It's it's
Speaker 1: so unique of a nickname spelled st he a ste Gel.
Speaker 1: It's morning for us ste a l Berg. I like
Speaker 1: that if if he responds and says that he likes it,
Speaker 1: or gives us any indication that he likes it, maybe
Speaker 1: that's the one that sticks because of it's unique and
Speaker 1: funny nature. Well, mattis indicated on social media last night
Speaker 1: that he does like make it, take it, which of
Speaker 1: course is what Daryl Morey suggested for he and for
Speaker 1: Cork Moss, which makes sense. But when they all start together,
Speaker 1: like I need something different. The Disruptor, Amber says, was
Speaker 1: Matisse's nickname in college. Good. That certainly works. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: don't I don't mind that whatsoever. Maybe I'll cast my
Speaker 1: vote as when Matisse is in the that starting lineup.
Speaker 1: The Disruptor is very official. It's a strong nickname in
Speaker 1: combination with that group. All Right, something else that we
Speaker 1: do towards the end of these Twitter spaces. We are
Speaker 1: so so appreciative of everybody that tunes in internationally. Thank
Speaker 1: you guys so much for telling me where you're from.
Speaker 1: More love from this morning from Nairobi, from Ireland. That
Speaker 1: might be New Matt Murphy fans in Turkey, fans in
Speaker 1: New Jersey, fans in California. Those are the ones that
Speaker 1: I pulled aside, Matt, I don't know if you had
Speaker 1: other ones. Oh from Kingston, Jamaica. That's a really good one.
Speaker 1: I don't know if we've had that one before, Matt.
Speaker 1: We love doing these and part of why I love
Speaker 1: it so much is when we look at and here
Speaker 1: we go down one of my tangents. But when we
Speaker 1: look at modern technology, this isn't like a radio show
Speaker 1: where we can only reach folks in the Philadelphia area.
Speaker 1: It warms my heart to be able to reach Sixers
Speaker 1: fans around the world. And I love when you guys
Speaker 1: tell me where you're listening from. So thank you guys
Speaker 1: as always. If you have any feedback about what you
Speaker 1: do and don't want to hear on these Twitter spaces,
Speaker 1: let us know. But shout out to Sixers fans around
Speaker 1: the world. You guys were up late last night. A
Speaker 1: lot of noise from the Perth crew during the game
Speaker 1: last night. I always appreciate your notes and dms from
Speaker 1: the folks watching from Perth. Matt, what else do you
Speaker 1: have before we wrap this one up? Sure, that's all
Speaker 1: I have. I'm scrolling through to try to catch anything
Speaker 1: at the very end. But you know, a lot of
Speaker 1: what came in was just everyone in good spirits. Are
Speaker 1: we dreaming? Is this real life? So the next Sixers
Speaker 1: game cannot get here soon? Enough for everyone, and it's
Speaker 1: a couple against the New York Knicks. It will be interesting, fun, exciting,
Speaker 1: all the good adjectives to watch them play at Madison
Speaker 1: Square Garden against the Knicks afternoon game on Sunday Eastern time,
Speaker 1: one pm Eastern, and they'll try to keep it going
Speaker 1: because they really set the bar high for a debut
Speaker 1: as a group playing together for the first time. James
Speaker 1: Harden his debut individually, great stats, great energy that he
Speaker 1: brought to the team. Everyone was energized by him, and
Speaker 1: he delivered. It cannot be said. You couldn't have drawn
Speaker 1: it up any better. It can't be said enough. How
Speaker 1: they performed. They met expectations and beyond in Harden's debut
Speaker 1: and their first outing together. In this version of the Sixers,
Speaker 1: Harden calls it scary hours. Joel Embiid thought it would
Speaker 1: be scary minutes forty eight scary minutes indeed for the
Speaker 1: seventy six ers last night in James Harden's debut at Minnesota.
Speaker 1: Seventy six Ers back tomorrow at New York at one pm.
Speaker 1: That's a Sunday matinee. Hopefully a little better for those
Speaker 1: of you watching in Birth and then, as Joel discussed
Speaker 1: last night, the schedule gets a little bit tough. It's
Speaker 1: an absolute slog through the month of March. I'll go
Speaker 1: through really quickly too, against New York week, said then Cleveland, Miami, Chicago, Brooklyn, Orlando, Denver,
Speaker 1: Cleveland again, Dallas, Toronto, Miami, the Lakers, the Clippers, the Suns,
Speaker 1: the Bucks, and then finishing the month at the Pistons.
Speaker 1: But Matt, that's a heck of a month of March.
Speaker 1: I like that Joel Embiid is ready to embrace the challenge.
Speaker 1: I like that the reinforcements have arrived in such a
Speaker 1: sup way last night, Matt, I'm looking forward to doing
Speaker 1: hopefully a lot more of these with you. James asks
Speaker 1: how often are we doing these? That is a great question, James,
Speaker 1: and we usually say it about now. Anyway, we do
Speaker 1: these after every Sixers win. Matt Murphy and I will
Speaker 1: be with you to answer any questions that you have.
Speaker 1: If you come up with questions during the game, comments
Speaker 1: during the game, Sixers related Sixers, adjacent, non Sixers questions, comments,
Speaker 1: send those through in the DMS to meet at Lauren
Speaker 1: m Rosen too, Matt at Matt Underscore Murphy four. We
Speaker 1: will try to get to as many as we can
Speaker 1: after every Sixers win, and Matt tomorrow we might be
Speaker 1: able to do this in the evening. I guess if
Speaker 1: you're still listening, we'd love to hear your thoughts. Would
Speaker 1: you prefer to do this tomorrow evening after a day
Speaker 1: game or Monday morning as has become our usual cadence.
Speaker 1: Either way, we'll hope to be with you following tomorrow's game,
Speaker 1: after New York Knicks and throughout this exciting month of March. Matt,
Speaker 1: I will let you shut it down. One of our
Speaker 1: most consistent or top listeners, mat Thief, was happy that
Speaker 1: we were all gathered back together again after a Sixers
Speaker 1: win here on spaces. You can listen to these on
Speaker 1: demand at these seventy Sixers Insiders podcast feed. Just searched
Speaker 1: seventy Sixers Insiders. Mary Is Team Paul Patrol as well.
Speaker 1: Love that Winona's going to Sixers Knicks at MSG, so
Speaker 1: that's great to enjoy the game. That's pretty much all
Speaker 1: we've got for today. The Sixers now thirty six and
Speaker 1: twenty three after a one thirty three one oh two
Speaker 1: win in Minnesota against the Timberwolves and be Maxi Harden
Speaker 1: combined for eighty nine points in James Harden's debut. He
Speaker 1: had twelve assists as well. The team had thirty phenomenal
Speaker 1: showing and they've got the Knicks for a couple up next.
Speaker 1: We hope to be talking with you all again soon.
Speaker 1: Until then, For my partner Lauren Rosen, I'm Matt Murphy.
Speaker 1: Thanks as always for listening.