Speaker 1: This podcast is part of the seventy Sixers podcast network
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Speaker 1: Everybody up, Yeah, seventy six I'll take it away right now.
Speaker 1: A one twenty one, one oh six win for the
Speaker 1: Philadelphia seventy Sixers on Monday at home against the Chicago Bulls.
Speaker 1: The Sixers are forty and twenty four now and their
Speaker 1: second in the Eastern Conference. Welcome back to another Sixers
Speaker 1: Twitter spaces. I'm Matt Murphy with Lauren Rosen. Can't wait
Speaker 1: to break things down and hear from everyone out there.
Speaker 1: A big Joe LMBAD game in this one before we
Speaker 1: dive into the full box score, how about mbiads ten
Speaker 1: forty point ten rebound game, forty plus points, ten plus
Speaker 1: redound game of the current season, and the Sixers sweep
Speaker 1: the Bulls. A Bulls team that yes shorthanded at times,
Speaker 1: shorthanded in this most recent matchup as well, but one
Speaker 1: of the surprises of the season, one of the better
Speaker 1: teams in the Eastern Conference, and the Sixers took all
Speaker 1: four meetings from the Bulls this year. Very impressive and
Speaker 1: bead and hardened leading the way Lauren for the Sixers
Speaker 1: on Monday. Yeah, it's tough to win all four. The
Speaker 1: Sixers managed to get it done. Matt. You mentioned Joe
Speaker 1: ellen Beads ten forty plus point double doubles this season.
Speaker 1: The last player to have such a season his teammate
Speaker 1: James Harden in the twenty eighteen nineteen season. Harden also
Speaker 1: a strong performance last night. The Sixers now undefeated in
Speaker 1: games in which James Harden plays. There have only been five,
Speaker 1: but all five strong victories. And as you mentioned, this
Speaker 1: is the part where we jump in to the box score.
Speaker 1: My hope is that this box score will spark some
Speaker 1: questions or comments from you guys. So as I run through,
Speaker 1: think about what you'd like to discuss. Continue sending us
Speaker 1: your DM's comment on the tweet. Make sure you're engaging
Speaker 1: there and we'll try to get to you as many
Speaker 1: questions and comments as we can. So five Sixers finish
Speaker 1: in double figures last night, let's talk through all five.
Speaker 1: Joelmbad finished with forty three points, fourteen rebounds, two assists,
Speaker 1: two steals, and three blocks. Let's do that again. Forty
Speaker 1: three points, fourteen rebounds, two assists, two steals, and three
Speaker 1: blocks and bead shot fifteen for seven for twenty seven
Speaker 1: from the field, twelve for sixteen from the free throw line,
Speaker 1: and then you work your way to the sixers next
Speaker 1: leading score. And a reminder, by the way, some of
Speaker 1: these numbers down for some of the other Sixers, but
Speaker 1: when someone goes out there and gets you forty three
Speaker 1: and fourteen, productivity might skew a little bit lower, but
Speaker 1: let's talk about it anyway. Tyrese Maxie had a great
Speaker 1: second half. He finished with seventeen points, four assists, and
Speaker 1: a steal. James Harden's a sixteen point, fourteen assist double
Speaker 1: double plus eight rebounds two rebounds, shy of another triple
Speaker 1: double as a seventy six er. Matisse Thible twelve points
Speaker 1: and a rebound, four for five from the field, three
Speaker 1: for four from the free throw line, one for one
Speaker 1: from long range, and yes, the Sixers remain undefeated when
Speaker 1: Matisse Thival scores in double figures this season. George Niang
Speaker 1: led the way off the bench fourteen points, three assists
Speaker 1: and two steals. He shot four for seven from the field,
Speaker 1: all shots from three, four for seven from long range.
Speaker 1: So if any of those jump out to you, send
Speaker 1: us a DM, let us know what you think. The
Speaker 1: team shot overall forty eight point eight percent from the field,
Speaker 1: forty percent from three, and seventy nine point four percent
Speaker 1: from the line, So that free throw shooting number goes
Speaker 1: down a little bit, but very nearly. A fifty forty
Speaker 1: nine from the seventy six ers from the field an
Speaker 1: exciting one. The center was absolutely rock in. There were
Speaker 1: more than a few times where it felt like the
Speaker 1: ceiling was going to burst off that place. And the
Speaker 1: best is yet to come, as we had down the
Speaker 1: stretch this season end into the playoffs. So, Matt, what
Speaker 1: stood out most to you among those performances? Of course
Speaker 1: we have to talk about Joel Embiid, but what else
Speaker 1: did you like? And Bead kind of engaging, not kind
Speaker 1: of and Bead engaging with the crowd towards the end
Speaker 1: of his forty point night, All business throughout a lot
Speaker 1: of it. Tyrese Maxie, you said was the second leading scorer.
Speaker 1: Most of his points came in the fourth quarter. We
Speaker 1: do need to talk about James Harden and the assists
Speaker 1: and the passing, and that ties into George Niang who
Speaker 1: stayed hot from three point range. But let's not move
Speaker 1: away from embiid just yet, Lauren. I think lost in
Speaker 1: this is that he scored his eight thousandth career point
Speaker 1: last night. But there were so many stats and streaks
Speaker 1: and Sixers Bulls related things and the seasons sweep, and
Speaker 1: it happened towards the very end of the game that
Speaker 1: Joel got to eight thousand. So I think we need
Speaker 1: to look into that a little bit more in the
Speaker 1: coming days and kind of contextualize that. But we were
Speaker 1: sort of waiting the last couple games for this type
Speaker 1: of performance from Mbiad, and it always happened seemingly against
Speaker 1: the Bulls. He's had their number, not just this season.
Speaker 1: Two of his forty ten games have come against the
Speaker 1: Bulls this season, but he's had fifty in the past,
Speaker 1: and his averages are very good. Against the Chicago Bulls,
Speaker 1: He's never lost. He's eleven and oh against the Bulls.
Speaker 1: The Sixers have beaten the Bulls now eleven straight times
Speaker 1: as well. But a really good MBAD game and a
Speaker 1: lot we can talk about with Joel. Afterwards, both Harden
Speaker 1: and Doc Rivers talked about Joel's big night, and Harden
Speaker 1: said he recognized early that Joel kind of had it going,
Speaker 1: and Doc was pleased with how Joel had it going
Speaker 1: in a lot of ways, finding him in the post,
Speaker 1: in transition, those types of things. So it was clear
Speaker 1: from the start that Joel was going to bounce back
Speaker 1: in a big way, and he really carried this team
Speaker 1: to victory. Although strong contributions all around. What did you
Speaker 1: see from Joel or what did you like? Well, we
Speaker 1: talk a lot about Joel Embiid refusing to have two
Speaker 1: bad games in a row, but by his estimation, he
Speaker 1: did have a tough back to back on Friday and Saturday.
Speaker 1: He did not like what he was able to do.
Speaker 1: But that being said, twenty two points both nights, a
Speaker 1: twenty two point fifteen rebound double double Saturday in Miami.
Speaker 1: But Joel not happy with either of those performances, and
Speaker 1: he came back in a big way. I really like
Speaker 1: what Doc Rivers had to say about what Joel was
Speaker 1: able to do tonight. Doc post game said, quote, he
Speaker 1: just got into a rhythm. He didn't force it. We
Speaker 1: got him to the right spot. I thought the cutting
Speaker 1: and the spacing what he did early, he passed a couple,
Speaker 1: got a couple of threes, they pulled off. Did some
Speaker 1: trapp and then Joel one on one is very difficult.
Speaker 1: I also like that he got a lot of it
Speaker 1: in transition in the post I liked that a lot.
Speaker 1: So Joel embiid by his head coach's estimation, doing a
Speaker 1: little bit of everything and making it happen for his teammates,
Speaker 1: continuing to engage. I've loved watching him and James Harden
Speaker 1: start to get along, two MVP caliber players that again
Speaker 1: have only played in five games together and have won
Speaker 1: all five, but both feel that there is still a
Speaker 1: long way to go. James said of Joel post game,
Speaker 1: I'm just happy. All I needed to do was go
Speaker 1: out there and be a playmaker tonight, and from the
Speaker 1: beginning you saw that I was there to help him,
Speaker 1: get out there to help him. But forty plus points
Speaker 1: is still a pretty good game. I agree with James Harden, who,
Speaker 1: by the way, post game immediately following a pretty hard
Speaker 1: fought victory is out in the stadium running stadiums and
Speaker 1: you absolutely love to see it. For those who are unaware,
Speaker 1: James Harden has been working out post game following games
Speaker 1: four a bulk the bulk, if not all of his career,
Speaker 1: but he's been certainly doing that since joining the seventy
Speaker 1: six ers, some really great photos of him doing so
Speaker 1: following their first game together in Minnesota, and then of
Speaker 1: course that trend continuing last night into a little cardio
Speaker 1: on the steps, which if you ran that cardio loop, Matt,
Speaker 1: you know that's a tough one to do. But James Harden,
Speaker 1: even after playing a solid night's work, did a really
Speaker 1: good thing by the estimation of most fans and his dumates,
Speaker 1: I know, do I know? Though? Was the question you
Speaker 1: said you never run stadiums about Murphy. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: been years, but maybe in high school play sports at
Speaker 1: even close to a high level. So well, I had
Speaker 1: to run a lot of stadiums. I was a college athlete.
Speaker 1: I had to run a lot of stadiums in college.
Speaker 1: They're really not fun outside inside. Once you've run stadiums
Speaker 1: outside inside, it's a little bit more fun. But what
Speaker 1: I've never had to do was play in an NBA
Speaker 1: game thirty six minutes as hard in thirty eight minutes,
Speaker 1: rather as Harden did last night, and then get out
Speaker 1: there and do just that. Shout out of course to
Speaker 1: James Harden also for tying Reggie Miller on the all
Speaker 1: time at three point list. He now, of course, just
Speaker 1: needs one to move ahead of the great Reggie Miller
Speaker 1: on the all time three point list. I've actually never
Speaker 1: heard someone refer to them as stadiums. I don't think either. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's what we call it doing welliums. I disagree in
Speaker 1: this context because it's an arena, not a stadium, like
Speaker 1: an outdoor stadium, So he's not technically in a stadium.
Speaker 1: So I'm going to disagree with you on that. I
Speaker 1: don't think it applies. No, I think that's what it's called, Matt.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's like my opinion on the matter.
Speaker 1: But we can do some we can do some digging.
Speaker 1: If you guys ever had to run up and down
Speaker 1: the steps of a stadium or an arena, let us
Speaker 1: know what you called it in the comments or in
Speaker 1: the dms, like bleachers, bleachers maybe in for high school athletes,
Speaker 1: or stairs or steps bleachers. I think I think running bleachers.
Speaker 1: I'm ready to move on. Hey, it's Joe Conklin joined
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Speaker 1: Game Pubo Gambler. Let's talk about George Niang. A lot
Speaker 1: of people in the comments want to discuss George Niang, who,
Speaker 1: by the way, was excellent last night. We mentioned at
Speaker 1: fourteen points four for seven from the field. Joe from
Speaker 1: Consho Hacken Matt Murphy shout out to Concho Hocken. Joe
Speaker 1: from Concho Hacken says, George Niang is exactly what the
Speaker 1: Sixers have needed this season. Love watching he and Harden
Speaker 1: work together out there. There were a couple things I
Speaker 1: want to address on that one. George Niang, one of
Speaker 1: his signature celebrations is smacking his head, making the three
Speaker 1: sign with his hand and then smacking the top of
Speaker 1: his head. James Harden found him for three last night,
Speaker 1: and then the two of them smacked their heads in Unison,
Speaker 1: which is something that you absolutely love to see from
Speaker 1: a team building perspective. I love what Doc Rivers had
Speaker 1: to say about George Niang and James Harden ahead of
Speaker 1: Friday's game against the Cavaliers, talking about the way that
Speaker 1: they are such a perfect pair together. It's a perfect
Speaker 1: marriage because of what James Harden is able to do
Speaker 1: as a passer and what George Niang is able to
Speaker 1: do as a shooter. George, of course, has such a
Speaker 1: quick trigger. Whenever he's open, he's going to shoot. If
Speaker 1: he's not open, he's also probably going to shoot. And
Speaker 1: if James Harden has been great at one thing since
Speaker 1: arriving at the seventy six ers, he's been great at
Speaker 1: finding his shooters. So the two of them, of course
Speaker 1: have skills that perfectly highlight one another. And it's been
Speaker 1: a pleasure to watch that now game after game and
Speaker 1: watch George and James rejoice in one another's success. I've
Speaker 1: loved watching that pairing. Matt, what have you seen? We've
Speaker 1: got to reference the one staff that comes from the
Speaker 1: Elias Sports Bureau Bureau. Excuse me, relayed by Sixers stats.
Speaker 1: First of all, this is not the stat, but the
Speaker 1: Sixers are five and oh with Harden playing. And then
Speaker 1: here's the stat. One hundred and twenty three points and
Speaker 1: sixty two assists in those five games. The first player
Speaker 1: to post such totals within their first five games with
Speaker 1: a franchise, So any franchise first player to do it
Speaker 1: couldn't have asked for a better start. For James Harden
Speaker 1: in a six Ers uniform, fourteen assists. The connection with
Speaker 1: George Niang, It's incredible to watch the behind the back
Speaker 1: passes and other types of nifty passes from Harden to shooters,
Speaker 1: and Niang has been the most ready for all of
Speaker 1: these to start and hitting the most probably, George said
Speaker 1: afterwards in part of an answer when I'm out there
Speaker 1: on the court, the fact that he draws so much
Speaker 1: attention as a scorer and then he just has an
Speaker 1: ability to make quick passes or no look passes and
Speaker 1: hit me right on the hands. I mean, it's like
Speaker 1: a dream come true. I think the key phrase there
Speaker 1: is hit me right on the hands, because people players
Speaker 1: shouldn't be able to make accurate passes in the effortless
Speaker 1: way that James Harden does, and he racked up the
Speaker 1: fourteen assist. He was finding George for three. He was
Speaker 1: finding Matisse Thyble for cuts throughout a lot of this game.
Speaker 1: Matissa is someone we should also talk about as we
Speaker 1: go forward, because he had a very strong game and
Speaker 1: efficient game. But I'm continually impressed by Harden's ability to
Speaker 1: make accurate passes that are difficult, like the degree of
Speaker 1: difficulty on the passes is high, and he hits the
Speaker 1: shooters right in the shooting pocket. And Niang has been
Speaker 1: making a ton and I love that they've they both
Speaker 1: had the celebration going. George does it right when he's
Speaker 1: off the bench. If he makes one, most times he's
Speaker 1: gonna celebrate, and you need that. We've talked, not even
Speaker 1: just on this show, about different lineups and such, and
Speaker 1: we kind of kind of agreed that the spark that
Speaker 1: George gives you coming off the bench and the energy
Speaker 1: that he brings just by making one shot is very
Speaker 1: important to this team, and it played out that way
Speaker 1: against the Bulls. In this final meeting, Annie writes to
Speaker 1: us Matt and says, do you think George coming off
Speaker 1: the bench and scoring the way that he does gives
Speaker 1: the other bench player's energy. Sounds like you and Annie,
Speaker 1: who is a loyal listener, are right on the same page,
Speaker 1: and I think the answer is absolutely gives the other
Speaker 1: players energy. When George was the first sub last night,
Speaker 1: when he comes in and he gives a boost to
Speaker 1: the guys that have been playing, that are already feeling
Speaker 1: it a little bit, a little bit tired out there,
Speaker 1: certainly certainly inject energy into that lineup, and then is
Speaker 1: always engaging the bench those that haven't even checked in yet.
Speaker 1: George and Eang certainly an energy giver on this team.
Speaker 1: Uncle Craig says George was feeding and bead last night too.
Speaker 1: True enough. We've loved watching the chemistry developed between those
Speaker 1: two as well. Embad of course, had a iconic now
Speaker 1: quote about George following just the second matchup between the
Speaker 1: Sixers and the Bowls this season. I believe that was
Speaker 1: November sixth in Chicago, talking about what Joel's perception of
Speaker 1: George Niang was ahead of becoming teammates versus what George
Speaker 1: has been like as a teammate. Joel said, I thought
Speaker 1: that he sucked, honestly, but now I'm just happy to
Speaker 1: have him. That, of course, is a paraphras version of
Speaker 1: the longer quote that began with talking about Joel's initial
Speaker 1: feelings about George Niang, But an absolute pleasure to watch
Speaker 1: that group get to know each other and for George
Speaker 1: a role player in this league, to be such a
Speaker 1: starring role player, especially when it comes to playing alongside
Speaker 1: at Joel Embiid and now a James Harden, been an
Speaker 1: absolute pleasure to watch, for sure, Matt where to next?
Speaker 1: More on Harden when he has somebody set up for
Speaker 1: just crossing them over. He had a step back three,
Speaker 1: but he also beat his defender a couple times to
Speaker 1: the rim, especially early in this game. The energy in
Speaker 1: the building is real, like it you're watching something special.
Speaker 1: When he kind of has somebody on an island and
Speaker 1: he's going between his legs and you're anticipating either the
Speaker 1: step back or a drive or one of those behind
Speaker 1: the back passes. It is special and you feel it
Speaker 1: and the energy. A lot of people in the first half,
Speaker 1: a lot of Sixers fans around where I was sitting
Speaker 1: across from me, were like, who's going to stop him?
Speaker 1: Not just in that bulls game, but who is going
Speaker 1: to stop him from doing what he wants with the basketball,
Speaker 1: or getting where he wants to go, or taking the
Speaker 1: shots that he wants to take. And that's a great
Speaker 1: question because the Eastern Conference playoffs are going to be
Speaker 1: so exciting and these teams not only have to worry
Speaker 1: about Joel embi but now they have to worry about
Speaker 1: James Harden and Joel is an MVP candidate, James is
Speaker 1: a former MVP, and it just adds to the mix.
Speaker 1: It creates problems because who is going to stop James
Speaker 1: Harden and who's going to stop Joel embiid and how
Speaker 1: are you going to stop them? We'll see, We'll see
Speaker 1: teams try, but I don't know that they can. The
Speaker 1: Sixers have put together quite a one two punch, and that,
Speaker 1: of course surrounded by the likes of Tyrese Maxie. We're
Speaker 1: going to talk about Matisse, Thyble. Tobias Harris still has
Speaker 1: plenty left to show within this new grouping, but threats abound.
Speaker 1: We saw it from George Niang last night and I've
Speaker 1: absolutely thoroughly enjoyed watching dunks and dunk one another. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Tobias Harris, Big dunk Matisse, Thyble, Big Dunk Matise, postgame,
Speaker 1: talking about Joel's performance, said I like when he dunks.
Speaker 1: My favorite quote of the night. We both missed a
Speaker 1: layup earlier on in this space is Lauren. We each
Speaker 1: kind of asked each other what we liked about Joel's game,
Speaker 1: and we could have taken the Matisse Thible route and
Speaker 1: just said that we like when he done. But there
Speaker 1: were a few big dunks from Joel and Tobias and
Speaker 1: Mattisse had huge dunks, maybe underrated and perhaps the biggest
Speaker 1: dunk of the year from either of them, both in
Speaker 1: the same night, in the same half. Really impressive stuff
Speaker 1: from the two of them. Didn't really I continue to
Speaker 1: be surprised by Matisse Thyble's athleticism and then continue to
Speaker 1: be surprised by the same with Tobias Harris, both of
Speaker 1: them I believe finishing through contact. So really impressive stuff
Speaker 1: or sorry, perhaps Tobias finishing through contact rather, but really
Speaker 1: impressive stuff from the two of them. They liked to
Speaker 1: read books, but they also liked dunk. Matt Murphy and
Speaker 1: both on full display last night. I love it. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna start sharing some more tweets at the top of
Speaker 1: the space. I've been slacking on that a little bit
Speaker 1: in the last couple, but I'm also going to pick
Speaker 1: out a couple questions or comments as well in between,
Speaker 1: So keep your thoughts coming. You can click on our
Speaker 1: photos at the top, myself or Lauren Rosen and send
Speaker 1: us a DM with your thoughts anything you want to
Speaker 1: talk about today. I've had a couple come in. Let's
Speaker 1: let's go to Mary's first. As I sort through some others,
Speaker 1: Mary asks if we know anything about Embiid's hand gester
Speaker 1: Embiad seems to be doing with just Maxie after free
Speaker 1: throws wholesome. I don't know if you know anything about that,
Speaker 1: but I told Mary that we would ask the next
Speaker 1: chance we get about Embiid and Maxi thing that we
Speaker 1: watch a little bit closer, but of course the two
Speaker 1: of them. That was one of the one of our
Speaker 1: biggest storylines in Twitter spaces ahead of the acquisition of
Speaker 1: James Harden, the way that Joel Embiad has really taken
Speaker 1: Tyrese Maxie under his wing challenge to Tyrese to become
Speaker 1: the player that he's become today. And of course every
Speaker 1: time Joel has has laid out a call or a
Speaker 1: challenge four Tyrese Tyres has answered it in a matter
Speaker 1: of days, if not hours. It's been really cool to
Speaker 1: watch the two of them get along, and then, of
Speaker 1: course really cool to watch the two of them sitting
Speaker 1: courtside together at the All Star Game. Really impressive on
Speaker 1: All Star weekend to watch their bond, but then really
Speaker 1: impressive now to watch them continue to adjust their partnership,
Speaker 1: incorporating one of the best scorers to ever do it.
Speaker 1: Matt I had a couple of questions about Matisse thyble.
Speaker 1: Mike Descano said, can we talk about Harden's past to
Speaker 1: Matisse's dunk and that's the head exploding emoji? I think
Speaker 1: we just talked about that, agreed, Mike, And then Ben
Speaker 1: Wiggins says, Mick Wiggins says, do you think Matise flybol
Speaker 1: will continue to grow offensively alongside James? This is a
Speaker 1: question coming from Melbourne, Australia, looking forward to coming to
Speaker 1: my first in person NBA game this week against Brooklyn.
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, But so if I am, if I
Speaker 1: am to read this in depth, I believe that means
Speaker 1: that you're going to be journeying from Melbourne to Philadelphia
Speaker 1: the next two days or so. Best of luck on
Speaker 1: your journey, and if we can give you any recommendations
Speaker 1: while you're here, just let us know. Love the question,
Speaker 1: it's a good one. Matisse had a quiet back to back,
Speaker 1: as did Joel Embiid, but then the last couple of
Speaker 1: games has been pretty outstanding for the third year player,
Speaker 1: or rather the two ahead and the one following have
Speaker 1: been pretty outstanding for the third year player. In his
Speaker 1: first game with James Harden, eleven points, seven rebounds, two
Speaker 1: assists and three steals. Second game with James Harden eight points,
Speaker 1: six rebounds, six rebounds, two assists and three steals for Matisse,
Speaker 1: Then they went to New York ten points, two assists,
Speaker 1: three blocks for Matisse. The back to back, Matisse goes scoreless,
Speaker 1: but then comes back with a vengeance against Chicago twelve
Speaker 1: points and a rebound four or five again from the field.
Speaker 1: So Matisse has talked a lot about the way that
Speaker 1: James Harden has unlocked more for him offensively, and one
Speaker 1: of my favorite quotes from last night's post game was
Speaker 1: actually talking about the way that he feels that James Harden,
Speaker 1: of course has unlocked him offensively, but Matisse has enjoyed
Speaker 1: helping James unlock defensively. There was a quote from last
Speaker 1: week James discussing the fact that Matisse's defense inspires him
Speaker 1: to be better defensively, and then Matisse says, obviously, it's
Speaker 1: really cool to inspire one of the greats that way.
Speaker 1: But he's been doing just as much, if not more,
Speaker 1: for Matise, So that is a pairing, of course, to
Speaker 1: watch as the season continues along. The quote was Matisse
Speaker 1: Thyble on James Harden last night quote, I'm continuing to
Speaker 1: learn how to play off of him. He's teaching me
Speaker 1: a lot on the fly. Some things I pick up,
Speaker 1: some of them I miss. It's really about me trying
Speaker 1: to compliment him as well, because he creates a lot
Speaker 1: of opportunities, not just for him, but for myself and
Speaker 1: the whole team. He sees a lot before it happens,
Speaker 1: and I'm just trying to keep up. That is a
Speaker 1: sentiment that we've heard from a lot of players, Matt
Speaker 1: the way that James Harden is sort of seeing the
Speaker 1: court in a different way and maybe faster than your
Speaker 1: average player. And of course these are some of the
Speaker 1: best players in the world. We don't have to talk
Speaker 1: about that when we talk about NBA players, but these
Speaker 1: are some of the best players in the world, and
Speaker 1: James Harden clearly has this skill to be just a
Speaker 1: couple seconds ahead of maybe everybody out there, and Matisse
Speaker 1: Thybele is one of the many that have that have
Speaker 1: reaped rewards from what James Harden is able to do
Speaker 1: and how he sees the floor and just the idea
Speaker 1: of Harden unlocking a little bit more from Matise offensively.
Speaker 1: Danny checks in with the sentiment that a lot of
Speaker 1: Sixers fans have Matis's offensive development since Harden's arrival has
Speaker 1: been great to watch. He even seems willing to shoot
Speaker 1: more three pointers due to how open he is now,
Speaker 1: and that kind of goes back to what we were
Speaker 1: talking about before. Harden's going to hit you in the
Speaker 1: hands and be ready to shoot it. And that's not
Speaker 1: the way the game played out for Matisse on Monday.
Speaker 1: He made his only three. A lot of his buckets
Speaker 1: came in different ways, and including the dunk that I
Speaker 1: threw in the top of the space. You can click
Speaker 1: on that and play that and still listen at the
Speaker 1: same time. Great call, by the way, by Kate Scott
Speaker 1: on the Sixers TV broadcast with flyball. The timing of
Speaker 1: Kate saying flyball and the dunk going down was a
Speaker 1: really good call, and that was one of the my
Speaker 1: favorite moments of the game, even though it happened right
Speaker 1: at the very end. There's some other messages I'm getting
Speaker 1: that talk about other that bring in some other moments.
Speaker 1: Earlier on Jersey Rain said five threes in three minutes.
Speaker 1: Can you remember the last time we had a barrage
Speaker 1: like that from multiple players? The place was feeling it
Speaker 1: around that time. I added that on to Jersey Rain's
Speaker 1: comment what else? And then the Maxie steal and breakaway
Speaker 1: late was another one. Mary at it on smiling and
Speaker 1: interacting with the floor fans after the crazy steel post
Speaker 1: steal from embiid bucket, Mike says, I continue to be
Speaker 1: blown away by how incredible Maxi is and seems to
Speaker 1: just take his talents to another level each game. To
Speaker 1: that point about the steel and bucket, Lauren Tyrese had
Speaker 1: sort of a slow night and then when that happened,
Speaker 1: his energy. I looked up at the scoreboard to see
Speaker 1: how many points he had because I thought he had
Speaker 1: way more the way that he was celebrating, but He
Speaker 1: doesn't seem to care about if he's getting his or
Speaker 1: continuing his twenty plus twenty five plus point streaks or
Speaker 1: any of that. He was still in single digits at
Speaker 1: the time, and it's not about his final scoring total.
Speaker 1: You really feel like he's a get the win at
Speaker 1: all costs type of guy. And when Mbiad's gonna have
Speaker 1: a forty point night, you know you don't. You don't
Speaker 1: need it every night from Tyrese to score that much.
Speaker 1: It's been it's been huge for the Sixers lately. But
Speaker 1: I was surprised at how much he was celebrating, but
Speaker 1: maybe I shouldn't have been, and he tacked on a
Speaker 1: bunch more points late to get to seventeen. Yeah, Tyrese,
Speaker 1: if there's one thing he loves, it's winning and helping
Speaker 1: the team win. It's sort of something that you hear
Speaker 1: players say in any sport. They just want to do
Speaker 1: what they can to help the team win. You hear
Speaker 1: it over and over again. I think most people probably
Speaker 1: mean it, but Tyrese Maxie certainly means it. The amount
Speaker 1: of work he puts in. We heard Joel Embiide last
Speaker 1: week say that Tyrese Maxie is the hardest worker he's
Speaker 1: ever been around. So for Tyrese, even if he's being
Speaker 1: threatening by having to be covered on offense but not
Speaker 1: scoring at a high rate, he feels that he's helping
Speaker 1: the team win, which is certainly what he was able
Speaker 1: to do last night. You said it, Matt. He went
Speaker 1: into halftime with just two points, finishes the game with seventeen, though,
Speaker 1: and most of those came in the fourth period. Tyrese
Speaker 1: Maxie in the fourth quarter, pulling it up right now,
Speaker 1: thirteen points in the fourth quarter alone four Tyrese. He
Speaker 1: was four or five from the field in the frame
Speaker 1: plus a rebound, and he was plus five in the
Speaker 1: frame as well. So Tyrese Maxie, big time, big time
Speaker 1: play down the stretch and love the way that he
Speaker 1: sort of made the runoff area his playground. There's now
Speaker 1: been more than a couple of times where Tyrese has
Speaker 1: had an extremely photograph photographic moment in that exact spot
Speaker 1: where he did last night. Shout out to our Alex
Speaker 1: Subers for getting the picture that night. And then, of
Speaker 1: course we remember his celebration at the end of the
Speaker 1: Memphis Grizzlies overtime win in that exact same spot so
Speaker 1: Tyrese might have to have a plaque made for him
Speaker 1: by when this is all said and done, right in
Speaker 1: that spot in the runoff area. It's been such a
Speaker 1: pleasure to watch him grow this season. Max asks, is
Speaker 1: Tyrese Maxie going to win Most Improved Player this season?
Speaker 1: I don't have a vote, but Tyrese has mine. I
Speaker 1: think there's certainly an argument to be made when you
Speaker 1: think about what was asked of him last season versus
Speaker 1: what has been asked of him this season. And of
Speaker 1: course we talk about the ten percent shooting three increase,
Speaker 1: we talk about the points per game, the assists per
Speaker 1: game increase, and Tyrese has gotten better across the board.
Speaker 1: But perhaps the most impressive thing he's done is learn
Speaker 1: to take sort of a backseat now in the backcourt
Speaker 1: to James Harden and continue to make an equally big,
Speaker 1: if not greater impact on this team. His adaptability, his
Speaker 1: willingness to answer the call for just a twenty one
Speaker 1: year old player. Second year players don't often win that
Speaker 1: most Improved Player award because of how many players traditionally
Speaker 1: do make a leap in that second season. But I
Speaker 1: think Tyrese Maxi's leap in this second season has been
Speaker 1: perhaps one of the most impressive I've ever seen, and
Speaker 1: I think that if we're not talking about him for
Speaker 1: most Improved, he's getting robbed because Tyrese Maxie's development this
Speaker 1: season and his three point shooting development, maybe specifically, I
Speaker 1: think are two of the most underrated storylines in the
Speaker 1: NBA this year. We're lucky to have him, Matt, we
Speaker 1: say it a lot, but we're lucky to have him.
Speaker 1: We have had a very close seat to see Tyrese's development,
Speaker 1: but there's him steep competition for the most improved player.
Speaker 1: We really haven't mentioned other names when we've talked about
Speaker 1: this a lot. And this is not saying that I
Speaker 1: don't think he should win. I think he should be
Speaker 1: further up a lot of people's lists than what we're
Speaker 1: seeing right now, and there's still a good amount of
Speaker 1: games left. But the fact that you can put John
Speaker 1: Rant in the conversation as the favorite for most improved
Speaker 1: player in a lot of people's view, that's tough. That's
Speaker 1: tough to compete with. And there's there's other all stars
Speaker 1: in the conversation, and of course Tyrese was a rising star,
Speaker 1: but Darius Garland's name is in the mix for that.
Speaker 1: De Jontay Murray, Jared Allen was recently he's now injured,
Speaker 1: but tough competition for that award either way. You're not
Speaker 1: going to complain about the leap that Tyrese Maxie has
Speaker 1: made an in just his second season with the Sixers.
Speaker 1: Maybe he'll get it the following year, who knows. We
Speaker 1: certainly think his case is stronger than a lot of
Speaker 1: people who don't watch the team every game probably realize
Speaker 1: a couple other players on the Sixers coming off the
Speaker 1: bench though, in the game against the Bulls, I want
Speaker 1: to talk about Isaiah Joe and Danny Green. First of all,
Speaker 1: Danny Green. A lot of people are asking about Danny
Speaker 1: Green's status. We don't have any updates there just yet.
Speaker 1: But left the game with a finger laceration and did
Speaker 1: not return, So we'll provide any updates when we can.
Speaker 1: But Chris sent a message saying it was great to
Speaker 1: see Isaiah Joe getting an opportunity to play, hoping to
Speaker 1: see him develop moving forward. A lot of people had
Speaker 1: been asking for it, and Isaiah Joe got some run
Speaker 1: in both halves, finishing the game with one three on
Speaker 1: four attempts. Played eleven minutes, so not really extended run,
Speaker 1: but was called upon earlier than he had been in
Speaker 1: recent games. What did you think about Isaiah Joe getting
Speaker 1: the nod and his performance. Well, to me, with Isaiah,
Speaker 1: it's all about the willingness to shoot, and it's something
Speaker 1: we talked about with George Niang, who's been so tremendously
Speaker 1: successful alongside James Harden. So I like those four attempts.
Speaker 1: He of course has not had tremendous run this season,
Speaker 1: So Isaiah someone met When when we have the opportunity
Speaker 1: to watch practice, to watch shoot around, he doesn't miss many.
Speaker 1: So to me, it's all about getting in game and
Speaker 1: live reps with elite defenders, which the Bulls do have
Speaker 1: a couple of, and figuring out how he can make
Speaker 1: those make those shots fall. But he did what he
Speaker 1: needed to. He took him when he had him, and
Speaker 1: I think Isaiah's numbers are only going to continue to rise.
Speaker 1: He's shown a lot of promise in his opportunities this season,
Speaker 1: and as has always been the case with this team,
Speaker 1: depths on the bench not one of the team's biggest problems.
Speaker 1: There are a lot of options when it comes to shooting,
Speaker 1: and those bench minutes so awesome opportunity, of course for
Speaker 1: Isaiah Joe last night, and I would imagine that that
Speaker 1: shooting clip is going to rise for him. And I
Speaker 1: feel like I'm higher on the addition of DeAndre Jordan
Speaker 1: than some people, and I don't he seemingly fit in perfectly. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And it's not to say that he came out and
Speaker 1: was putting up huge stats in his ten minutes, but
Speaker 1: he looked very comfortable out there, and his prior experience
Speaker 1: playing with James Harden was talked about by James afterward,
Speaker 1: and James kind of hinted at the idea of like
Speaker 1: they're being so much more that they can unlock together
Speaker 1: and in the backup minutes in the ten fifteen minutes
Speaker 1: that DeAndre Jordan's going to give you, I think he
Speaker 1: adds a lot more than maybe some are expecting to
Speaker 1: this bench unit. He's a pro's pro, a former gold medalist,
Speaker 1: and has been through a lot in his career, like
Speaker 1: so many of the six Ers bench players have been.
Speaker 1: I mean, you could have said the same about Andre Drummond.
Speaker 1: You could say the same about Andre Drummond, but I
Speaker 1: think DeAndre Jordan don't discount that pickup because I think
Speaker 1: the hardened thing is the relationship with Harden is one thing,
Speaker 1: but just his pedigree is another thought. He looked very good,
Speaker 1: very active, and in a first half where they struggle
Speaker 1: with rebounding, he had a couple of big rebounds throughout
Speaker 1: the game, blocked a shot, had a steel, was very
Speaker 1: active and Joel complimented those parts of his game afterwards too. Yeah,
Speaker 1: for the first time playing heavy ish minutes with a
Speaker 1: new team, I also thought he looked really good, as
Speaker 1: did Joel Embiid. I'll let Joel speak for me. He said,
Speaker 1: DeAndre was great. That's exactly what we're going to need
Speaker 1: him to do. Just come in and play ten or
Speaker 1: fifteen minutes every night. So he's got to come in, rebound, screen,
Speaker 1: rolled to the basket, catch lobs, and then he's a
Speaker 1: good defender too. He was calling out double teams, blocking
Speaker 1: shots and rebounding. So high praise from Joel Embiid, who's
Speaker 1: played with a host of backup centers in his career,
Speaker 1: so he knows what makes a good one. And it
Speaker 1: was cool to see DeAndre Jordan come in and show
Speaker 1: that he does, in fact have plenty left in the tank.
Speaker 1: Looking forward to watching that partnership of course, the big
Speaker 1: man big man partnership between DeAndre and Joel, but the
Speaker 1: one that you mentioned as well, between DeAndre and James
Speaker 1: who have played together before. Looking forward to watching that unfold. Matt,
Speaker 1: as we start to wrap this one up, what else
Speaker 1: do you have in the DMS? Anyone wants to get
Speaker 1: in last minute questions? We didn't get to you. It's
Speaker 1: probably because we got to a question that was similar
Speaker 1: to yours. But it's not too late to submit some
Speaker 1: more questions. But Matt, where do you want to head
Speaker 1: before we start to head out? Well? I know when
Speaker 1: I brought up the fly ball called Tina said, speaking
Speaker 1: of Kate Scott, She's amazing and I'd love to hear
Speaker 1: her with you and Lauren one morning, I said, I
Speaker 1: think we can make that happen, So we'll have to
Speaker 1: talk to Kate about that. Yeah, I would imagine that
Speaker 1: we could as well. I liked this one as well.
Speaker 1: This one came from Emily who said, I've loved watching
Speaker 1: the way that George brings up the collective vibe of
Speaker 1: the team. We do use the word vibe quite a bit,
Speaker 1: and that's an astute observation. I two have really enjoyed
Speaker 1: watching George rise into not necessarily a leadership role, but
Speaker 1: like a vibe leadership role. He really does bring up
Speaker 1: the energy regardless of who he's playing with or who's
Speaker 1: out on the floor or being on the bench, etc.
Speaker 1: So it's been awesome to watch George grow the way
Speaker 1: that he has and really cool to watch him succeed
Speaker 1: the way that he has alongside James Harden. Certainly, and
Speaker 1: shooters are rhythm players. A lot of shooters are, and
Speaker 1: George is in a good rhythm right now. He seems
Speaker 1: to be feeding off the confidence that his teammates, his
Speaker 1: new Sixers teammates in his first year with the team,
Speaker 1: have instilled in him throughout the season, and he's been
Speaker 1: on a nice run. So I don't know if you
Speaker 1: can expect four of seven every game, but probably not.
Speaker 1: But he's in that the right mind space, mindset of
Speaker 1: a shooter, and he's ready to shoot the ball and
Speaker 1: he's making them at a high level right now. Of course,
Speaker 1: another big game coming up. I said it earlier. The
Speaker 1: Sixers are forty and twenty four. They're second in the East,
Speaker 1: three games back of Miami. Half game up on Milwaukee
Speaker 1: right now as we record this on March eighth, if
Speaker 1: you're listening to the podcast, The fourth and final meeting
Speaker 1: with Brooklyn comes Thursday. Brooklyn's up two one in the
Speaker 1: season series. The Sixers did win the last game on
Speaker 1: December thirtieth, one h two. But they're gonna need a
Speaker 1: lot of George Niang energy in that game against Brooklyn.
Speaker 1: I think the atmosphere will provide much of it, but
Speaker 1: players like George will seem to shine in moments like that,
Speaker 1: and I think it will be even louder in that
Speaker 1: building on Thursday. Yeah, this isn't one that's going to
Speaker 1: require fans or or players to force themselves to get
Speaker 1: up for this. Of course, James Harden his first meeting
Speaker 1: against his former team last night. He said, of course,
Speaker 1: that he treats it just like any game. Joel Embiid
Speaker 1: said the same. But an exciting opportunity to come up
Speaker 1: against against the Brooklyn Nets for the first time since
Speaker 1: James Harden joined the seventy Sixers. That comes on Thursday,
Speaker 1: and then the road ahead is a challenging one. The
Speaker 1: Sixers will visit the Orlando Magic on Sunday, but then
Speaker 1: after that short of off to the racist Denver on
Speaker 1: the fourteenth, Cleveland on the sixteenth, Dallas on the eighteenth,
Speaker 1: then Toronto, Miami, both teamsy in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Milwaukee.
Speaker 1: It's a tough stretch for the seventy sixers, really going
Speaker 1: to learn what this team is made up. But if
Speaker 1: he early returns of what the team looks like with
Speaker 1: James Harden or any indication, it's going to be a
Speaker 1: very exciting road ahead. We look forward to having you
Speaker 1: guys along with us for the road ahead, hoping that
Speaker 1: there will be many post sixers win Twitter spaces and
Speaker 1: post seventy six Ers Insiders episodes on seventy six Ers
Speaker 1: podcast Network. Matt, I loved to these with you. Everyone's listening.
Speaker 1: I love having you here, and Matt, unless you have
Speaker 1: any other takes to get off, I think I'll let
Speaker 1: you shut it. It's always good to remind people that
Speaker 1: we do these after sixers wins. We've been on Sixer
Speaker 1: Twitter spaces a lot recently because this team has done
Speaker 1: a lot of winning, forty wins now in the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one twenty two season and a lot more to come.
Speaker 1: Jeanie checked in with a comment about DeAndre Jordan when
Speaker 1: we brought him up, says loved DeAndre four years. He's
Speaker 1: always worked hard. He came in last night and fit
Speaker 1: in well. I was also impressed he made both free throws,
Speaker 1: which hasn't always been his strong suit. Some of our
Speaker 1: co workers that I was sitting around were saying that
Speaker 1: he was making them in the morning at shoot around
Speaker 1: as well, and he knocked some down in the game.
Speaker 1: DeAndre Jordan two for two at the line and for
Speaker 1: both of his points, with the couple of other stats
Speaker 1: across the board as well in his Sixers debut. But
Speaker 1: you're right, that's gonna do it for us. Thanks to you,
Speaker 1: Lauren Rosen, Thanks to our whole team, Thanks to all
Speaker 1: the listeners. One twenty one, one oh six the Sixers
Speaker 1: beat the Bull. They've got the nets up next. We'll
Speaker 1: be back on Twitter faces after the next Sixers win.
Speaker 1: Appreciate everyone. As always, follow the seventy Sixers Insiders podcast
Speaker 1: speed and we will talk to you next time. Thanks everyone,