Speaker 1: This podcast is part of the seventy Sixers podcast network
Speaker 1: search seventy Sixers podcast wherever you get your pods. The
Speaker 1: seventy Sixers haven't played a game at full strength since
Speaker 1: the All Star break, but guess what, they don't seem
Speaker 1: to care. Here's a steel by Green. Danny Green's got
Speaker 1: my taste la play Yeah two damn time out. Gag.
Speaker 1: This doesn't bo this is Philly. This team just keeps
Speaker 1: getting it done. There's six and one in the second
Speaker 1: half of this season and are tied for the most
Speaker 1: wins in the league. Bild has the seventh footer on
Speaker 1: him and he takes them all the way to the
Speaker 1: cup for two. Did you see the left handed reverse
Speaker 1: layup using Narrima's protection. Oh my goodness. We focus on
Speaker 1: the Sixers depth and respond to your calls, DMS and
Speaker 1: mentions right here, as we always do. On mail Bag Monday,
Speaker 1: we got a street going on for the second Monday
Speaker 1: in a row. We can say, Lauren Rosen, this is
Speaker 1: a Victor mail Bag Monday. It's the morning after. My
Speaker 1: brain's a little bit foggy because it was a later
Speaker 1: game that expected on Sunday at the Garden. But I
Speaker 1: am still trying to piece together how in the heck
Speaker 1: did the seventy sixers pull out that one o one,
Speaker 1: one hundred overtime dub against the Knicks. Well, Celts, I
Speaker 1: look at the Sixers through similar lenses. We talk about
Speaker 1: sort of who pays the bills on these podcasts, and
Speaker 1: so I'm always prone to look for the positives. But
Speaker 1: you say, how did they pull out the victory? I
Speaker 1: gotta say, how did they have to pull out the
Speaker 1: victory the way that they did? There were just a
Speaker 1: few things that didn't have to happen. And that's what
Speaker 1: Doc said afterwards, that's what Danny said, That's what Tobias said.
Speaker 1: That was the general vibe. But a win is a
Speaker 1: win when I look at it, it's sort of like, Okay,
Speaker 1: let's cut down on a couple of those sort of
Speaker 1: egregious errors that you might not make ever again in
Speaker 1: the rest of the season, and then it's a more traditional,
Speaker 1: close but not as wacky victory that was a little
Speaker 1: bit too wacky for my taste and too wacky for
Speaker 1: their tastes as well. Clearly, when Matissa's three pointer went
Speaker 1: down to get a four point game eighty six eighty
Speaker 1: two with under two minutes to go. I thought, listen,
Speaker 1: if Matisse, with all due respect to his offensive game,
Speaker 1: if Matisse is knocking down a potential dagger, three sixers
Speaker 1: are in good shape, that was not the case. I
Speaker 1: do think that we all sort of breathe the sigh
Speaker 1: of relief that three seemed like clockwise and momentum wise
Speaker 1: and possessions left wise, that that was going to be
Speaker 1: the end. That was not the end. You got to
Speaker 1: feel for Tobias Harris on those free throws where he
Speaker 1: had the opportunity to ice the game to Bias is
Speaker 1: not someone that usually makes excuses. So if he says
Speaker 1: after the game that his hand was really hurting and
Speaker 1: that he was genuinely having a really hard time putting
Speaker 1: those shots up, I totally believe him, and he must
Speaker 1: be just kicking himself that it could have ended there
Speaker 1: and it just didn't. So good for him for making
Speaker 1: sure that he made that right at the line at
Speaker 1: the end of overtime. Then Danny Green, coming right out
Speaker 1: of the gate an ot bang answered the Burks three
Speaker 1: with one comes back down another go ahead three, answering
Speaker 1: another Alec Burke's bucket. That speaks to vet value right there.
Speaker 1: He was tremendous for sure. Selton, you mentioned Danny and
Speaker 1: Matisse as guys that had sort of the big shots
Speaker 1: down the stretch, at least from the field, absent Tobias
Speaker 1: Harris's free throws at the end of overtime. But I
Speaker 1: think it's interesting when you look back over the game
Speaker 1: since the All Star Break, almost every sixer, if not
Speaker 1: every sixer that's played rotation basketball since the break, has
Speaker 1: had a really big, meaningful moment at some point along
Speaker 1: the road. These guys have all stepped up really on
Speaker 1: both ends of the floor to make these victories happen.
Speaker 1: For concorcmus is the one I'm thinking of, and he
Speaker 1: had a big moment and sadly it wasn't in a win.
Speaker 1: But everybody that's played has really proved that they can
Speaker 1: make things happen late in games, and I think that
Speaker 1: that's really exciting that Danny and Matisse were the ones
Speaker 1: that were able to take everybody home last night on
Speaker 1: the offensive end. And I did think it was fitting
Speaker 1: that there we were with five point three seconds left,
Speaker 1: moments after Tobias Harris hit a three over Julius Randall.
Speaker 1: After Randall hit a single joint three over him the
Speaker 1: corner to send the game overtime. There was the loose
Speaker 1: ball foul Randall to shove in the back of Tobias.
Speaker 1: Tobias goes to the line five point three seconds left,
Speaker 1: he knocks down the free throws because I think, you
Speaker 1: know what, his offensive game was not the type of
Speaker 1: offensive game we've come to expect from Tobias this year.
Speaker 1: The three turnovers in the final minutes of the game,
Speaker 1: it was like, I'm not saying it was just on him.
Speaker 1: It seemed like he and Ben were not on the
Speaker 1: same page, and it was just like, what the heck
Speaker 1: is going on with that? But for him to hang
Speaker 1: in there, I thought he did play as good a
Speaker 1: defense as he could have on Randall pretty much throughout
Speaker 1: the night. Made it tough for him. That was a
Speaker 1: great shot that Randall made to send the game to overtime.
Speaker 1: I thought it was nice for Tobias to be there
Speaker 1: at the end and clinch the win for sure. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's found ways to make it happen in tight games
Speaker 1: twice this week against the same team, but all season long,
Speaker 1: he's found ways to win tight games, to make it
Speaker 1: happen when it matters most so props to Tobias for
Speaker 1: stepping up. I mean, I can't imagine a more nerve
Speaker 1: racking way to try to win a game then at
Speaker 1: the line in overtime. I mean, that's just a lot
Speaker 1: of crush yourselves fittingly and talking about fitting themes, the
Speaker 1: theme for this episode of mail Bag Monday is going
Speaker 1: to be how are you feeling? Primarily the primary theme.
Speaker 1: We're going to touch some of the topics, but we
Speaker 1: really wanted to zero in on in this what we
Speaker 1: put on the at Sixers ig story sticker on Sunday.
Speaker 1: We do that every week to call out a question
Speaker 1: for your responses for every mail Bag Monday is how
Speaker 1: do you feel about the seventy sixers depth heading into
Speaker 1: this stretch of the season based on how the team
Speaker 1: has come out of the All Star breaks. We're gonna
Speaker 1: run through some of those responses, but I thought that
Speaker 1: it was timely the way the game went down on
Speaker 1: Sunday for that to be our main focus point for
Speaker 1: this week, because not only do you have Matise doing
Speaker 1: some good stuff and obviously Danny Green, but I think
Speaker 1: shake Milton, just based upon the game going into overtime,
Speaker 1: if the game and ended regulation. I think a lot
Speaker 1: more people would have been talking about Shake Milton and
Speaker 1: the boost he gave the Sixers with his twenty one points.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I thought it was a great another great
Speaker 1: effort in a testament to the seventy sixers. Six and
Speaker 1: one now without stretches of both Joel Embiid and Simmons
Speaker 1: since the All Star break, and noteworthy, the team has
Speaker 1: only lost once since Tobias Harris was not named an
Speaker 1: All Star in twenty twenty one. These are facts, and
Speaker 1: it was closed. These are facts. We cannot dispute them.
Speaker 1: We can also not dispute the ways that you can
Speaker 1: get in touch with us for mail Bag Monday each week.
Speaker 1: We already reference one way every Sunday on at Sexers
Speaker 1: on their Instagram story, look for the mail Bag Monday
Speaker 1: question respond and we'll start running through some of those.
Speaker 1: We get a ton of responses through that. We can't
Speaker 1: get them all, literally, like a couple hundred. So thank you,
Speaker 1: thank you, thank you. Please do not take offense if
Speaker 1: we do not get to your prompt response on Instagram.
Speaker 1: You can get Laurena and I in the mansions on
Speaker 1: Twitter at Brian Seltzer at Lauren m Rosen, And of course,
Speaker 1: our preferred method of communication is always the voicemail two
Speaker 1: five four zero three seven six three seven two on
Speaker 1: five four zero three pods. Leave a message. Whenever you
Speaker 1: could just wake up in the middle of night, can't
Speaker 1: go back to sleep, call us, leave us a thought
Speaker 1: about the seventy six ers. Do it. We will gladly
Speaker 1: play just about every and all voicemail that you send in.
Speaker 1: We're here for you during times of insomnia. We're here
Speaker 1: for you. If you stayed up last night to watch
Speaker 1: that game, I mean, my goodness, that was really something.
Speaker 1: All right with that, let us open up the mail
Speaker 1: bag talking about the seventy sixers depth. You have one
Speaker 1: new message. Yes, the Sixers with the most wins in
Speaker 1: the NBA since the All Star Break with six of them.
Speaker 1: The bench has been a big part of that. We
Speaker 1: asked you what encourages you the most about the seventy
Speaker 1: sixers depth Daddy Underscore bills on Instagram. Seventy sixers winning
Speaker 1: without key players. This team is tough. I agree. Listen
Speaker 1: to me. The bottom line is this, I don't care
Speaker 1: how the Sixers and winning games. Just win as much
Speaker 1: as you can, right now without Choellenbiid, they were without
Speaker 1: Ben Simmons, without one of the best shooters in the league,
Speaker 1: Seth Curry. They've got the Gnats and the Bucks right
Speaker 1: on their heels. They're playing Lauren. I think like they
Speaker 1: really do want that number one seed. I just think
Speaker 1: that's talk that they throw out there. Yeah, they certainly are.
Speaker 1: They're winning winnable games, and they're also winning losable games.
Speaker 1: You have to think about the fact that this team
Speaker 1: is built around Joel Embiid and he has not been
Speaker 1: available over these last few games where the Sixers have
Speaker 1: found ways to win. It doesn't matter if the wins
Speaker 1: are pretty like you said, but I think the more
Speaker 1: losable games you can win. And keep in mind, this
Speaker 1: is a team that's now above five hundred on the road,
Speaker 1: So as they head into a few more road games,
Speaker 1: let's give them a little bit of space to maybe
Speaker 1: struggle a little bit. Maybe they won't. I think it's
Speaker 1: been really interesting to watch them sort of exceed expectations
Speaker 1: without Joel, without Ben, without Seth, without any combination of
Speaker 1: those three, because we've seen all the combinations of without
Speaker 1: those three guys, who, like we said yesterday, are three
Speaker 1: of the four primary offensive options for this team, and
Speaker 1: they're finding ways to get wins even if they're not pretty.
Speaker 1: They're still wins and I'm down with them. Nuggie Underscore
Speaker 1: Fresh It's encouraging to see that Sixers can still win
Speaker 1: games without Embiid or Simmons. They play well as a
Speaker 1: team all Caps and team. Yeah. I think from me, Lauren,
Speaker 1: to speak to your point, I'm done even thinking about
Speaker 1: the well they can't win on the I was done
Speaker 1: with it they can't win on the road thing a
Speaker 1: while ago, but I'm also now done with it. They
Speaker 1: can't find ways to win without Ben and Joel. I
Speaker 1: think if we get later into the year, right we
Speaker 1: know Doc Rivers said as much. To get to where
Speaker 1: they want to go, they got to have their best players.
Speaker 1: But I think that for right now, they've shown that
Speaker 1: they can tread water in the regular season. They have
Speaker 1: enough talents. Nate Underscore Dog three gs for seven on Instagram.
Speaker 1: The versatility and how quickly players can adapt to different
Speaker 1: roles and being very efficient, I would say yes. Eighteenth
Speaker 1: different starting lineup used by Doc Rivers on Sunday against
Speaker 1: the Knicks. The seventy Sixers have played what forty three games.
Speaker 1: I mean that is an ever changing ecosystem, and yes,
Speaker 1: the Sixers have adapted. I think that's a great point. Well,
Speaker 1: they're really playing as a team, and I love that
Speaker 1: the fans have sort of started to recognize what they've
Speaker 1: been at least telling us in media, but also showing
Speaker 1: us on the core. This is a team that's developed
Speaker 1: a winning culture and they're willing to do whatever it takes.
Speaker 1: Nobody cares who starts, who comes off the bench. That's
Speaker 1: become something that's genuinely very clear. Doc Rivers told us
Speaker 1: he sort of tells the guys right before the game
Speaker 1: who's going to be starting. He doesn't do say anything extra,
Speaker 1: he doesn't ask for anything extra, because the guys understand that,
Speaker 1: regardless of where they're playing or who they're playing with,
Speaker 1: the goal is to win. Tobias Harris has actually set
Speaker 1: it a couple games in a row now that he
Speaker 1: really believes in the system that the team has created,
Speaker 1: and clearly his teammates believe in it as well. He says,
Speaker 1: they've built a winning culture and we're now starting to
Speaker 1: see that culture seep into let's say, any lineup that
Speaker 1: the team throws out there move it on. You have
Speaker 1: one new message. What encourages you about the seventy six
Speaker 1: ers depth Scott underscore w lufc. I don't know how
Speaker 1: to pronounce that, says Matisse, Thybal's efficiency batist thible. I'll
Speaker 1: be honest. I don't like making bold proclamations, but so far,
Speaker 1: when I go back to my sneaky second half of
Speaker 1: the season prediction I did through out there, I would
Speaker 1: expect Ematise to knocked down a couple more threes. Hey,
Speaker 1: our man is doing it, Matisse against the Knicks, two
Speaker 1: for five from three. He is now ten for nineteen
Speaker 1: from the outside since the All Star break, and perhaps
Speaker 1: even more than that, he kept on firing after an
Speaker 1: early miss Lauren in Sunday's game against the Knicks, and
Speaker 1: the ball found him in the final minutes and eat
Speaker 1: a big one, as we said, to make it a
Speaker 1: four point game. Yeah. To me, the willingness to take
Speaker 1: that late shot is maybe the most important of all
Speaker 1: because he has struggled offensively this season because he has
Speaker 1: been prone to defer to his teammates, which makes sense
Speaker 1: when your teammates are Seth Curry and Tobias Harris and
Speaker 1: Shake Milton when those are your options, it makes sense
Speaker 1: that you might not want to be selfish with the basketball.
Speaker 1: But to see him take that confidence, take that shot
Speaker 1: and have it go in, I think is really huge.
Speaker 1: And I'm glad that he kept shooting after having a
Speaker 1: little bit of a tough stretch because that confidence can
Speaker 1: be really key or really detrimental for a young player.
Speaker 1: So to see him keep going and then to see
Speaker 1: him keep it up on the defensive end two, which
Speaker 1: is where he makes his money, incredible. It's been really
Speaker 1: awesome to see him come back from the break the
Speaker 1: way that he has. I mean, the blocks of Matisse.
Speaker 1: I know we always talk about his steels and his ballhawking,
Speaker 1: some of these blocks the last couple of games have
Speaker 1: been off the charts. I mean, I'm thinking, I think
Speaker 1: we're probably both thinking of Darren Fox that block from behind,
Speaker 1: and then he saved his own block and got it
Speaker 1: to a teammate. And I think that that sort of
Speaker 1: getting it back to a teammate was luck because he
Speaker 1: was lucky that his teammates were behind him where that
Speaker 1: pass was. But the instincts. Doc Rivers was asked about
Speaker 1: that play and called him inspector gadgets. It's really funny
Speaker 1: to see the way that Doc has has started admiring
Speaker 1: Matis's game, and the way that Matis is finding new
Speaker 1: things to do, new things to add it does seem
Speaker 1: like he's continuing to get better, which is cool. Did
Speaker 1: you get the Inspector gadget reference? Sort of? I was
Speaker 1: down with it, but were you familiar with inspector gadget.
Speaker 1: I'm asking you this. You get a little bit younger
Speaker 1: than I am, and I just I was curious if
Speaker 1: the masses understood the reference. I understood the reference. It's
Speaker 1: not the one that I would have jumped to immediately,
Speaker 1: but I understood it. Once he said it, I had
Speaker 1: a chuckle and I admired the little spinney like I
Speaker 1: could see it in my head. I understand, love it,
Speaker 1: love it. Sticking with our igs, roll call, you have
Speaker 1: one new message, Nolan J forty five. I feel that
Speaker 1: seeing Tobias playing such good basketball shows that the Sixers
Speaker 1: have more than just two stars. Listen. I don't think
Speaker 1: you can make I don't think it's any coincidence. Why
Speaker 1: don't I say this that Tobias in two games against
Speaker 1: the Knicks has played particularly aggressive and I know that
Speaker 1: it wasn't the cleanest game for him on Sunday, but
Speaker 1: you could tell that he did have a little bit
Speaker 1: extra to him. I think in both those games against
Speaker 1: the Knicks, I mean no doubt about it. He says
Speaker 1: that he takes these things personally. He's the one that's
Speaker 1: he's said it, so I don't have a problem echoing
Speaker 1: what he's said. I think at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: his teammates have also expressed the fact that if Tobias
Speaker 1: was putting up is putting up the numbers that he
Speaker 1: is as maybe a third option on this team, a
Speaker 1: second or a third option on this team, he would
Speaker 1: be putting up better numbers as a primary option on
Speaker 1: another team, like, for example, a Julius Randall type of player.
Speaker 1: And I think that Tobias knows that, and I think
Speaker 1: he goes into matchups understanding that he has an opportunity
Speaker 1: to prove who really is the best player. And I
Speaker 1: think that this week has shown us despite the struggles
Speaker 1: from the second matchup between the two teams, we got
Speaker 1: a few voicemails we gotta get to you have one
Speaker 1: new message. Two voicemails that came in building on that
Speaker 1: theme Tobias Harris appreciation for him. We got these that
Speaker 1: rolled in Lauren after the first game against the Knicks
Speaker 1: last Tuesday, the I'm an All Star proclamation game from
Speaker 1: Tobias Harris. As you put that game away, let's roll
Speaker 1: the tape. Hey, I'll tell you what. Watching tonight, Tobias
Speaker 1: Harris sent a message to the league and especially the
Speaker 1: Julius Randall. He should have been an All Star, not Randall.
Speaker 1: The way this team is playing right now, he's gonna
Speaker 1: lead this team to high place along with Ben and Joe. Well,
Speaker 1: thank height, Yes, love that reading the matchup. Within the matchup,
Speaker 1: Tobias should have been an All Star ahead of Julius Randall.
Speaker 1: And yeah, I think that along with Ben and Joel,
Speaker 1: he does have the opportunity to lead the seventy six
Speaker 1: ers on a long, healthy run. I think, especially when
Speaker 1: you look at the way he's been playing late in
Speaker 1: games and again there we're coming off of what was
Speaker 1: not the prettiest win. We know this, but he still
Speaker 1: was able to get to the line and make the
Speaker 1: win happen in a very high pressure situation in overtime
Speaker 1: on the second night of a back to back, when
Speaker 1: he had been struggling when he had just missed a
Speaker 1: pair of free throws. And I think that that's really impressive.
Speaker 1: It speaks to his mental strength. And then when we
Speaker 1: talk about his physical strength and the way that his
Speaker 1: game has grown, we've seen that in fourth quarters and
Speaker 1: in overtime periods all season long. It's been really cool
Speaker 1: to watch his evolution. It's been really cool to watch
Speaker 1: him and become a primary option in crunch time. It's
Speaker 1: been really cool to watch Tobias Harris this year. Some
Speaker 1: more love for Tobias on the podline. Yeah, I'm watching
Speaker 1: The Dark Night right now, because that's how Tobias has
Speaker 1: has been playing. He's playing like The Dark Night. He
Speaker 1: is an all Star. Billy knows he's an all Star.
Speaker 1: He doesn't have to prove anything to anybody. Just know
Speaker 1: we level and he's all, fuck you, we come up
Speaker 1: with a chip, let's go sixers. Tobias has kind of
Speaker 1: become a bucket. I think, Lauren, when the man shoots
Speaker 1: the basketball at any level, I'm expecting it more often
Speaker 1: than not to go in. And I think that's sort
Speaker 1: of the ultimate intangible test, Right when it leaves someone's hand,
Speaker 1: do you think it's going in yes or no. To me,
Speaker 1: it's almost always yes with Tobias, and especially honestly late
Speaker 1: in games. Late in games, I feel very at peace
Speaker 1: when the ball is in his hands. And I don't
Speaker 1: know that that's a quality that he's always had, or
Speaker 1: in fairness, that he's always had an opportunity to develop,
Speaker 1: and this year he has had the opportunity to develop
Speaker 1: as a closer, and he's done it pretty brilliantly. Tobias
Speaker 1: is a starter. We're talking about depth. Death can be
Speaker 1: found all around. You have one new message Ethan Sip
Speaker 1: on Instagram. What does he love about the seventy six
Speaker 1: ers depth Shake Darum Milton. I like that twist on
Speaker 1: Shake's nickname, Shake de room Milton. That's funny. I gave him.
Speaker 1: I gave him the Shake Curry tag last night when
Speaker 1: he took that really depthy three. That was something that
Speaker 1: Shake has been shooting well from three since we've known
Speaker 1: him and his entire career, but really taking a few
Speaker 1: feet back from the line and just going for it
Speaker 1: and seeing it go in with confidence like that was
Speaker 1: a little bit Curry esque to me. I was really
Speaker 1: impressed with Shake's confidence over the last couple of games.
Speaker 1: Another player that has struggled a little bit over the
Speaker 1: few games before that and has found a way to
Speaker 1: continue shooting with confidence, playing with confidence, and it paid
Speaker 1: dividends in this back to back. It's funny because on
Speaker 1: March first, he had the big game against Indian the
Speaker 1: seventy six ers win, he dropped twenty six, and the
Speaker 1: same date that he went for thirty nine against Doc
Speaker 1: and the Clippers last year. And then right like you
Speaker 1: just said a little bit, Wyatt for shake a couple
Speaker 1: single digit games coming back from the All Star break
Speaker 1: against the Spurs in the first game against the Knicks,
Speaker 1: and you're kind of thinking, you know, maybe shakes do
Speaker 1: for a bounce back a couple of games, and lo
Speaker 1: and behold, it could not have come in a better
Speaker 1: time because without Seth Curry, the need for Shake and
Speaker 1: what he does and what he brings that much more important.
Speaker 1: And here he's been the last two games. He's combined
Speaker 1: for forty nine points, get into the foul line, and
Speaker 1: he shot eighteen for thirty two from the field and
Speaker 1: two for five on threes. Really impressive stuff and always
Speaker 1: excited to see a young player that really puts in
Speaker 1: the work and really puts in the time you have
Speaker 1: one new message being into wind down the mail bag.
Speaker 1: Sammy Saheen Underscore loves fur cons confidence. Yes, I think
Speaker 1: that fur Coon's confidence has been on full display these
Speaker 1: last couple games. The world is a better place when
Speaker 1: we have a fur con core Cupas who is firing
Speaker 1: on all cylinders and confident. His efficiency has gone up
Speaker 1: a bit. And even though he didn't, you know, win
Speaker 1: the game against the Bucks a few games ago, loved
Speaker 1: seeing him knock down that corner three to help send
Speaker 1: the game to ot And he just plays with so
Speaker 1: much joy celts. When Furkon is doing well, you can tell.
Speaker 1: You can see it on his face, you can see
Speaker 1: it on the faces of his teammates. So those guys
Speaker 1: love him. They love watching him succeed. When he hit
Speaker 1: those first few threes last night in New York, you
Speaker 1: saw the bench erupt. He got the bench involved in
Speaker 1: the first minutes of that game. And it's really cool
Speaker 1: to see the way that they all sort of rally
Speaker 1: together and rally behind one another's success and support each
Speaker 1: other when they need those confidence boosts. Furkon Cork was
Speaker 1: another one who had a little bit of a tough stretch,
Speaker 1: he got hurt. He wasn't playing the way that we've
Speaker 1: become accustomed to seeing him play, and now he's sort
Speaker 1: of back doing that old furkon corks buzzer beater three situation.
Speaker 1: It's been great to watch him the last few games.
Speaker 1: One more from the bag for this week. You have
Speaker 1: one new message. Mark Rothbart on Twitter says, I'm saying
Speaker 1: it again. Dwight Howard is my favorite Sixer, setting an
Speaker 1: example of how hard you have to play to be
Speaker 1: a winner. He is my Sixers MVP. A couple great
Speaker 1: points within that comment. Number one, This has nothing to
Speaker 1: do with what Mark said specifically, but just in a
Speaker 1: general sense. When will we start seeing number thirty nine
Speaker 1: seventy Sixers jerseys at the center. I think we're due
Speaker 1: for it. I think it's coming right up. Seltz. Fans
Speaker 1: have so rallied around Dwight, and Dwight has embraced the fans.
Speaker 1: It's been one of my favorite things to watch since
Speaker 1: fans came back into the building. It's just the constant
Speaker 1: interaction between Dwight and the fans. He loves them, he
Speaker 1: wants to hear from them, good or bad. He's ready
Speaker 1: to engage with them. He's embraced them wholeheartedly. He's all
Speaker 1: about the frost he freeze out and the way he's
Speaker 1: embraced the fans. He's also clearly embraced his teammates. He's
Speaker 1: been such an interesting acquisition for the Sixers this year,
Speaker 1: and it's been a pleasure to get to know him
Speaker 1: as a someone that's talking to media, as someone that's playing,
Speaker 1: as someone that's getting to know the fans. Dwight has
Speaker 1: been a true unexpected delight all season long. Listen, we've
Speaker 1: got passover coming up. We've got Easter coming up. Put
Speaker 1: it on your list for Elijah. Put it on your
Speaker 1: list for the Easter Bunny. The number thirty nine Dwight Howard,
Speaker 1: seventy Sixers Jersey City Edition, earned edition, statement icons, whatever
Speaker 1: you want, Number thirty nine Jersey He's earned it. He's
Speaker 1: earned this support and he is not just a great
Speaker 1: vibes guy. He is playing an essential role right now
Speaker 1: without Joel Embiid and also there were a few games
Speaker 1: without Ben Simmons. He is the second leading rebounder in
Speaker 1: the NBA since the All Star Break. That's in total rebounds,
Speaker 1: behind Rudy Gobert. If I'm not mistaken, No, I'm sorry
Speaker 1: behind Yonis Valanciunis of the Grizzlies. So Dwight has the
Speaker 1: second most rebounds, he has three double doubles since the break.
Speaker 1: He has been phenomenal just crashing those boards. The Sixers
Speaker 1: have needed that, and this is all coming off the
Speaker 1: bench playing fewer minutes. It's something we talk about with
Speaker 1: Matisse a lot as well. Some of these guys on
Speaker 1: the bench for the Sixers are beating out starters on
Speaker 1: other teams, being more productive, more efficient than guys that
Speaker 1: are playing heavier minutes on other teams. It's really cool
Speaker 1: to see the way that this bench has rallied together,
Speaker 1: and Dwight Howard is no doubt a huge part of that.
Speaker 1: And to bring this Lauren all full circle. Coincidentally, the
Speaker 1: seventy Sixers will be at the Lakers later this week
Speaker 1: on Thursday night. I think that what you see from
Speaker 1: Dwight Howard and Danny Green in particular, these are veterans
Speaker 1: that have come in and I know it's cliche and
Speaker 1: easy to say, well, they want a title last year
Speaker 1: and they've been around a while. They know how to win.
Speaker 1: If you've watched the Sixers this year. I think that
Speaker 1: you can see a direct connection between how the Sixers
Speaker 1: have handled certain situations and the tone that these two
Speaker 1: players have set, whether it's Dwight being goofy or being
Speaker 1: aggressive on the floor, filling a role despite being a
Speaker 1: future Hall of Famer coming off the bench, Danny Green
Speaker 1: knowing when to insert himself all that stuff, when to
Speaker 1: throw a postgame party after a win or a loss.
Speaker 1: I think these veterans know what they're doing, and I
Speaker 1: don't think it's by accident that they were on winning
Speaker 1: teams last year, especially for someone like Danny Green. The
Speaker 1: guy hasn't been on three title teams by accident, doubt about.
Speaker 1: It was really interesting to hear from Doc Rivers that
Speaker 1: in that win over New York on Sunday night, Danny
Speaker 1: was the most vocal Sixer in the huddles. He was
Speaker 1: talking about how they weren't going to let this one
Speaker 1: get away from them. He was in all of his
Speaker 1: teammates ears. He was playing sort of maybe even an
Speaker 1: assistant coach role for the group. And that's something that
Speaker 1: you need from your veteran leaders, especially the ones that
Speaker 1: have been through a lot, that have seen it all,
Speaker 1: like a Danny Green, like a Dwight Howard, and even
Speaker 1: like a Tobias Harris. The three of them, I think
Speaker 1: all bring really interesting perspectives, different skill sets, different strengths,
Speaker 1: and their young teammates have been praising their leadership all
Speaker 1: season long. It's been cool to see that sort of
Speaker 1: leadership veteran triumvirate grow over time, and Danny Green no
Speaker 1: doubt a huge part of that good stuff. On this
Speaker 1: week's mailbag, thanks to everyone who chimed in on Instagram,
Speaker 1: on the pod line on Twitter. We love it Mailbag
Speaker 1: Monday for you, and we love hearing from you, so
Speaker 1: thanks so much for submitting all that stuff. We got
Speaker 1: what we got coming up this week. We got a
Speaker 1: deep dive on Friday with the Von Gibbs. Per usual,
Speaker 1: we'll all be sleep because are watching these late games
Speaker 1: that we'll be able to react to, not only a
Speaker 1: Lakers game that will feature perhaps no Lebron, no a
Speaker 1: d maybe no Marcusol. Trade deadline is also on Thursday,
Speaker 1: so there will be things to discuss Lauren later this week.
Speaker 1: It'll be an interesting one. Looking forward to talking to
Speaker 1: you through it also, and if you missed it over
Speaker 1: the weekend, New episode of Tom's Talks dropped on the feed.
Speaker 1: He chats with the one only fur Concorkmas, So give
Speaker 1: it a listen and one final shout out before we
Speaker 1: say so long for this week on the mailbag, Congratulations
Speaker 1: be Ball Paul Paul Read named the NBA G League
Speaker 1: Rookie of the Year for his great performance inside the
Speaker 1: Bubble in Orlando. That news came down earlier this afternoon.
Speaker 1: Awesome stuff from the Bluecoats and Paul Read. All right,
Speaker 1: give the look out in your DMS if you're the
Speaker 1: swag Bag winner for this week. Thanks is always. We'll
Speaker 1: talk to you next time. See you