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: irregular season has come and gone. There is a lot
Speaker 1: to look back on and appreciate. My favorite moment from
Speaker 1: the season was when John b went down for that tresh.
Speaker 1: That just showed that this team is ready to compete
Speaker 1: and that they can step up when someone goes down.
Speaker 1: But we also look ahead and take the pulse from
Speaker 1: you to fans on what to expect in the opening
Speaker 1: round of the playoffs. I would love to see us
Speaker 1: play the Celtics in the first round. I think we
Speaker 1: have some unfinished business. Your DMS, mentions and voicemails. We
Speaker 1: do it each and every week right here on mail
Speaker 1: Bag Monday. It is a moving on to the playoffs
Speaker 1: edition of mail Bag Monday. Yes, I'm fired up, Lauren Rosen.
Speaker 1: I'm ready. I've been looking forward to this for a
Speaker 1: long time. I'm gonna be honest. I hate to sound
Speaker 1: like this because what we do, it's not digging ditches.
Speaker 1: I've been ready for the playoffs for a long time,
Speaker 1: A long time, like maybe three weeks time. I know
Speaker 1: you have. I'm excited now you have, and I have
Speaker 1: kind of been savoring these last regular season moments. I
Speaker 1: think last night's game was a perfect example. I love
Speaker 1: this Sixer's bench and reserve unit and the vibes that
Speaker 1: they bring, and it was just nice to see them
Speaker 1: I'll get a chance to shine, and to have all
Speaker 1: of the starters who weren't playing on the bench just
Speaker 1: cheering for them, just like everybody was happy. It was
Speaker 1: really nice, and I too, am very much looking forward
Speaker 1: to seeing that situation sort of reversed again in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: But for me, last night just felt like a nice
Speaker 1: like I don't know how to explain it, Like there's
Speaker 1: something nostalgic about about these last couple of games, and
Speaker 1: I really enjoyed it. So I'm with you, but I'm
Speaker 1: also in a different I don't know, I'm mostly with you.
Speaker 1: It was a situation or five months ago, if you
Speaker 1: had looked at a game with those players starting, you
Speaker 1: might be like, you, well, what are we gonna get here?
Speaker 1: But with the benefit of five months time passing, you've
Speaker 1: gotten to see the maturation of my how Tyrese Maxie
Speaker 1: has grown up, my look at Paul Reid and how
Speaker 1: much he's developed Isaiah Joe the potential he has, so
Speaker 1: it was great. It was an awesome way for some
Speaker 1: of the younger guys on this team, some of who
Speaker 1: might have roles of substance in the postseason, some of
Speaker 1: who might not get a chance Rayjon Tucker two way player,
Speaker 1: have a chance to get out there, show what they've
Speaker 1: got and head into a time of year where playing
Speaker 1: time is going to be tighter on a really good note. So,
Speaker 1: for instance, if that's the last we see in extended
Speaker 1: minutes of Isaiah Joe for this season, he can go
Speaker 1: into the offseason on a great note because seventy six
Speaker 1: ers bench whooped up on the magic Anthony Tolliver three
Speaker 1: to four from three and ye sort of this not
Speaker 1: I don't want to say symbolic leader, but maybe just
Speaker 1: because we don't see them play together as much, it
Speaker 1: feels a little bit symbolic that he's the one it's
Speaker 1: leading that low minute group in practice. Because they are
Speaker 1: so young and he's such a veteran on eleven different
Speaker 1: NBA teams, he's really taken those guys under his wing
Speaker 1: in a way that we don't get to see as
Speaker 1: fans and a viewers. And so it was cool to
Speaker 1: see him succeed, cool to see that whole group succeed together.
Speaker 1: One nugget, And I'm sure that people that listen want
Speaker 1: to hear us talk about other things, but I want
Speaker 1: to do one nugget that I really appreciated from postgame
Speaker 1: last night, Doc Rivers explained that he went into the
Speaker 1: locker room and he explained to the guys that the
Speaker 1: starters were not going to be active absent Matis' thible
Speaker 1: as well, so there was a lot of opportunity for
Speaker 1: the guys in that low minute group. And he said,
Speaker 1: immediately they jumped to okay, like how can we win?
Speaker 1: Like they wanted to win the game. And I'll remind
Speaker 1: everybody that they did not need to win that game.
Speaker 1: The Sixers had locked up the one seed. That's why
Speaker 1: a lot of players were likely inactive, But they wanted
Speaker 1: to win that game, and they paid attention and they
Speaker 1: were really engaged in the huddles, and it was just
Speaker 1: really cool to watch them get as excited as they
Speaker 1: were about what was ultimately a meaningless game. It was
Speaker 1: so much fun. It was a very wholesome way to
Speaker 1: wrap up what has been a special season for the
Speaker 1: seventy six ers, forty nine, and twenty three, the eleventh
Speaker 1: best winning percentage for a season in franchise history. Number
Speaker 1: one seed obviously, a first since two thousand and one,
Speaker 1: first Atlantic Division title since two thousand and one. And
Speaker 1: I felt like once the game ended Lauren on Sunday night,
Speaker 1: in an unexpected way, I was kind of like, you
Speaker 1: know what, this was really cool. We got to see
Speaker 1: something special, memorable. I wasn't expecting to, in my hardened,
Speaker 1: jaded ways, as someone who's been doing this for a
Speaker 1: while now, I wasn't expecting to feel an uplifting sense
Speaker 1: of closure at the end of the regular season, like
Speaker 1: we got to witness something neat and now I'm just
Speaker 1: looking full speed ahead to what waits in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: Was interesting. Intensity obviously ratchets up in the playoffs, and
Speaker 1: I don't know if we're going to be wistful for
Speaker 1: the days where the games didn't quite mean as much
Speaker 1: and everybody was relaxed and enjoying themselves. But there was
Speaker 1: a group of us that spoke at the arena last
Speaker 1: night about not necessarily missing the time. I definitely wouldn't
Speaker 1: say that anyone misses the early days of the season
Speaker 1: where there were no fans, but there was a different
Speaker 1: vibe to that phase of just staff and players and
Speaker 1: just making it work and trying to create a home
Speaker 1: court environment that didn't quite exist to the way that
Speaker 1: anyone was used to. And of course I don't want
Speaker 1: to go back to that. I way prefer having fans
Speaker 1: and in the playoffs, I'm not going to want to
Speaker 1: go back to the regular season. But there have been
Speaker 1: some distinct phases of the season that have been uniquely delightful,
Speaker 1: and hopefully we're getting ready for another phase that could
Speaker 1: be uniquely delightful as well. We are going to jump
Speaker 1: into the mail bag in just a few moments some
Speaker 1: great voicemails for this week that I cannot wait to play,
Speaker 1: but thought long would be helpful to just set the
Speaker 1: scene for what couldn't lie ahead. For the seventy six ers.
Speaker 1: We don't really know. We know that the number one seed,
Speaker 1: we know they're going to be playing in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: As for who they face when we know where, we
Speaker 1: just don't know the who or the when. First round
Speaker 1: game opener for that series is either going to be
Speaker 1: Saturday or Sunday, and of course the first round opponent
Speaker 1: could be some combination of either the seven seed Boston Celtics,
Speaker 1: eight seed Washington Wizards, nine seed Indiana Pacers, or the
Speaker 1: ten seed Charlotte Hornets. The good news is the Sixers
Speaker 1: have gone to combined eleven and one against those four
Speaker 1: teams this year. And of course that one against the
Speaker 1: Pacers a couple weeks or how a couple days ago,
Speaker 1: I don't know. They all run together, could be years
Speaker 1: at this point. Yes, was it was a somewhat strange
Speaker 1: situation with I don't know that one was just a
Speaker 1: weird a weirdo game, I would say, And so I do.
Speaker 1: I do think that the way that the team has
Speaker 1: performed against these teams all season long should be heartening.
Speaker 1: I know that I didn't submit to the mail bag,
Speaker 1: and apparently I should have. Dare I ask, do you
Speaker 1: have a preference among those four teams of who you
Speaker 1: see in the playoffs, whether for matchup value or entertainment value.
Speaker 1: So that is a question we asked for the mail bag.
Speaker 1: Some people did chime in on that. I would say
Speaker 1: probably the Charlotte Hornets. If we're looking at most favorable matchup,
Speaker 1: I think, and I'm gonna be honest, I haven't done
Speaker 1: a full deep dive into all four teams yet. We
Speaker 1: recently saw the Pacers. I think that they can be
Speaker 1: challenging at times. I think a player like carrousel verdis
Speaker 1: shown that he can be a tricky matchup. Obviously, Demanta
Speaker 1: Sabonis is awesome. Celtics won't have Jaylen Brown, but they
Speaker 1: will have Jason Tatum and Kemba Walker. Got to respect
Speaker 1: those guys. Not really concerned about Tristan Thompson and the
Speaker 1: way that he would go up against Joel Embiid. I
Speaker 1: just look at the Hornets. You know, there's oh and
Speaker 1: then the Wizards. Obviously you have two veteran studs in
Speaker 1: the backcourt in Beale and Westbrook, and they're a team
Speaker 1: that I think could make things interesting and challenging and
Speaker 1: perhaps draw out a series. But Charlotte, I just think
Speaker 1: that's a team that Joe can dominate. And if Joe's dominating,
Speaker 1: look out. I'm with you, I think matchup wise, I agree.
Speaker 1: I would love to see the Hornets come out of
Speaker 1: this thing, purely from a poetic perspective, not my preference
Speaker 1: as someone that would like for the Sixers to win.
Speaker 1: How cool would it be to get Boston and just
Speaker 1: knock them out in the first round. That's what I
Speaker 1: want from a from a plot perspective, not what I
Speaker 1: want from like a realism person whose checks are cut
Speaker 1: by the sixers perspective. I like we your heads at
Speaker 1: and it happens to be in a similar space as
Speaker 1: one of our callers. So without further ado, let us
Speaker 1: get two the mailbag. You have one new message. How
Speaker 1: do you participate in mailbag Monday? A couple of ways.
Speaker 1: Our preferred method is you give us a call on
Speaker 1: the good old podline two five four zero three seven
Speaker 1: six three seven two on five four zero three pods.
Speaker 1: Leave us a message anytime day, night, weekday, weekend, in season,
Speaker 1: out a season with your seventy sixers thought, question or take.
Speaker 1: We respond and we send you swag. We're going to
Speaker 1: begin and tip off with this call. Hi, my name's Kara,
Speaker 1: and I would love to see us play the Celtics
Speaker 1: in the first round. I think we have some unfinished
Speaker 1: business and my favorite wins are the ones where we
Speaker 1: just dominate them. Kara and Lauren m Rosen on the
Speaker 1: same postseason wavelength, just as a person that's covered this
Speaker 1: league for a few years now, and without the sixers,
Speaker 1: it would be from a storytelling perspective, very strong. I
Speaker 1: will just clarify once again though, that it's not necessarily
Speaker 1: my preference if I was going to pick the matchup,
Speaker 1: which is a whole separate conversation Celts and again now
Speaker 1: I feel like I should have just been in the mailbag.
Speaker 1: But there's some chatter about potential changes to the postseason,
Speaker 1: as we continued beforeward, in the league continues to experiment,
Speaker 1: which they're doing with the play and tournament. What do
Speaker 1: you think about the one seed choosing their opponent between
Speaker 1: the seven and the eighth that comes out, because that's
Speaker 1: in the chattermill. I'm gonna stay out of that mill.
Speaker 1: I think it chalks up the way it chalks up. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know if I wouldn't, I don't know if
Speaker 1: I don't think so that's not for me. I think
Speaker 1: it's you travel the road that gets paved in front
Speaker 1: of you. I love the play in tournament. I love that.
Speaker 1: I think that's a tremendous wrinkle. Tom again is set
Speaker 1: on the broadcast on Sunday. It adds a little spice,
Speaker 1: and I agree choosing your own opponent. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I like choose your own adventure books, not choose your
Speaker 1: own playoff opponents. So I'm gonna go I'm gonna come
Speaker 1: up against you here, and I'll do it quickly because
Speaker 1: I know this isn't one of the topics that we
Speaker 1: planned to cover. But I think the fact that the
Speaker 1: Sixers have earned this one seed, but they have to
Speaker 1: wait out this week now of practice unaware of exactly
Speaker 1: who they're going to face, that almost feels like a
Speaker 1: like a like a weird disadvantage to having gotten the
Speaker 1: one seed. And I think that being able to choose
Speaker 1: your opponent once you get through the play and tournament
Speaker 1: and there are going to be two options be an
Speaker 1: interesting cherry on top of getting the one seed. Thanks
Speaker 1: for waiting for us to figure this out, mister one seed.
Speaker 1: Now you get to choose your own destiny. I think
Speaker 1: that it's an interesting wrinkle. I don't think it's going
Speaker 1: to happen, but if I had to vote, I would
Speaker 1: be down. I think it would be interesting and it
Speaker 1: would help obviously, Like the Sixers will prepare for all
Speaker 1: four opponents all week long, and there will be really
Speaker 1: really smart people in charge of scouting all four opponents
Speaker 1: who aren't me. But I like the idea of knowing
Speaker 1: that if we have to choose between A and B
Speaker 1: or B and C or C and D or DNA,
Speaker 1: this is who we would choose. And this is why
Speaker 1: like I just I don't know. I that's a wrinkle
Speaker 1: that I would be excited about. That's a little extra
Speaker 1: spice that I would put on my dish. I might
Speaker 1: have missed this. So are we still saying that the
Speaker 1: plane stipulation exists? You just get to choose the two
Speaker 1: teams that emerge, so they can between the two that emerge,
Speaker 1: the one seed gets to pick which one they want. Right,
Speaker 1: That's what I thought you So still there's still a
Speaker 1: certain degree of having to wait, right, Like, you won't
Speaker 1: really have to You won't really start to get a
Speaker 1: defined sense of who could be until after the first
Speaker 1: round of playing games on Tuesday, Right, So there's still
Speaker 1: a little bit of great day you could know that
Speaker 1: there's that there's one that you won't pick, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean, Because if you get down with who
Speaker 1: you there's one you don't have to prep for. No,
Speaker 1: it's a thought worthy it's a thought worthy point that
Speaker 1: you raise. I don't disagree with the with the line
Speaker 1: of thought on that, with a thinking behind it, I think, listen,
Speaker 1: you just I'm a I may plug the directions into Google,
Speaker 1: and I just I follow it. I follow what it
Speaker 1: spits out, and I trust her that she's going to
Speaker 1: give me the shortest and most efficient route. That the
Speaker 1: route that I take is the route that's meant to be.
Speaker 1: So I think that's where I fall on this. You
Speaker 1: might not be surprised to learn, but sometimes I ignore
Speaker 1: Google and I want to do it my way, and
Speaker 1: I take pride in not using her and just figuring
Speaker 1: it out. So yeah, anyway, I like that for those wondering,
Speaker 1: I can drive in Philadelphia without a GPS. Now. It
Speaker 1: only took me three years, but I can do it.
Speaker 1: I like this thought. I'm glad that you brought this up.
Speaker 1: This is a good postseason playing tournament format. Aside, I
Speaker 1: need to start calling into the mail bag apparently, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I want to. Can't. I can't just abuse my power
Speaker 1: like this just because I have the microphone. We can
Speaker 1: put a filter on your voice and then it'll sound
Speaker 1: like not host Lauren Rosen, but caller Lauren Roser. Okay, sorry,
Speaker 1: back to the more important callers. Continuing on with the podline,
Speaker 1: you have one new message. Hello, it's Alexia. I am
Speaker 1: a huge seventy six six fan. Twelve year old me
Speaker 1: is just so excited that the Sixers are the number
Speaker 1: one seed in the East. I can't wait to see
Speaker 1: what they do in the playoffs. I don't have one
Speaker 1: special favorite moment from the season. I'll just give five
Speaker 1: quick things. So One, I was excited about Tobias and
Speaker 1: his almost complete turnaround from previous previous season. He was
Speaker 1: amazing this year. Two, mattis being an absolute test in
Speaker 1: a hound on defense. I always was excited to see
Speaker 1: him on the floor. Three the addition of Maxie. I
Speaker 1: know he didn't get a lot of playing time just
Speaker 1: because of the starters that we have on the team,
Speaker 1: but I think he has been a great addition to
Speaker 1: the team. I'm excited to see what he does in
Speaker 1: the future. And then lastly, Ben just being Ben and
Speaker 1: being indeed, those two guys are amazing and proved why
Speaker 1: they can play together. Unlike when people say they can't
Speaker 1: play together, there are main thames. I can't wait to
Speaker 1: see what they do this this time in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: I think they're going to be amazing, and I'm hoping
Speaker 1: that Unlike in two thousand and one when we didn't
Speaker 1: win the championship, I'm hoping that we win this season.
Speaker 1: I have faith and I believe a sixer. No one
Speaker 1: can see me, but I am standing and applauding that voicemail.
Speaker 1: We've had amazing voicemails this season that might get top honors.
Speaker 1: What thoroughness, what comprehensive points made by Alexia? I had
Speaker 1: to take notes. I loved it. Yeah, woman after my
Speaker 1: own heart. With that analysis, she covered some key plot
Speaker 1: points she has. She's watching this team and she's watching closely,
Speaker 1: so I appreciate it. I don't even have anything to add.
Speaker 1: That was just a wonderful voicemail, and I believe that
Speaker 1: she's correct in all five of her assertions. Let's quickly
Speaker 1: hit upon the five points that Alexia brought up, because
Speaker 1: I think they're all topical, impertinent to the conversation surrounding
Speaker 1: this team. Do you take notes? I literally took notes.
Speaker 1: She led with Tobias his complete turnaround. Tobias had an
Speaker 1: amazing season. There was no one in the league this season,
Speaker 1: according to stat Head and Basketball Reference that put up
Speaker 1: the splits that he did in terms of points per game,
Speaker 1: rebounds per game, and assist per game while combined with
Speaker 1: his overall field goal shooting percentage, three point shooting percentage,
Speaker 1: and free throw percentage. No one in the entire league
Speaker 1: hit his stat minimums and the only players in league
Speaker 1: history to have done what he has done Kevin Durant,
Speaker 1: Dirk Navitsky, Larry Bird, Tobias Harris. Welcome to the club.
Speaker 1: Incredible Dare I say all star caliber levels of productivity
Speaker 1: and efficiency? Thank you? And then we have Natis Styble,
Speaker 1: absolute pest and hound. Yes, I think he's going to
Speaker 1: come up big in the playoffs. As far as a
Speaker 1: specialist role for the seventy six ers. Let's just hope
Speaker 1: that hand gets right and clearly need to get him
Speaker 1: back out on the court because he can't be sitting
Speaker 1: there covered in towels for any more games. That was
Speaker 1: what was? That was? It was okay. I will say
Speaker 1: as someone that was in the arena last night, it
Speaker 1: was so cold in there, so normally I'm not one
Speaker 1: to really promote all the meme making, but it was
Speaker 1: really really cold in there, Like I wish I could
Speaker 1: have run up and down the court a couple of times,
Speaker 1: just to like warm myself up a little bit. Did
Speaker 1: anyone on six or Twitter? Because I'll admit it in game,
Speaker 1: I kind of go back and forth as far as
Speaker 1: how much I'm following the timeline. Did anyone do a
Speaker 1: who wore it better? Tweet? Dario or Matisse? I saw
Speaker 1: like same energy, same vibes, But I don't know if
Speaker 1: anyone did like a poll. You could do it. It's
Speaker 1: not too late, Okay, I might do all We're done.
Speaker 1: Dario had an amazing one a few years back against
Speaker 1: the Indiana Pacers. What was the story there? He was
Speaker 1: cold as well? Or why? Yeah, he was playing in
Speaker 1: the game and he just he needed to stay warm. Okay, well,
Speaker 1: I think he has to win then because Matisse wasn't playing.
Speaker 1: He's an interesting dude, that Matisse. I'm going to say,
Speaker 1: as is Dario. It takes an interesting guy to get
Speaker 1: under the mountain of towels on the bench. I will say,
Speaker 1: it is freezing in that arena. It's so cold. I
Speaker 1: remember celts to just while we're feeling nostalgic. Back when
Speaker 1: JJ Reddick was on the team, he had a bone
Speaker 1: to pick with how cold it was in the arena,
Speaker 1: and after one of I believe it was a playoff
Speaker 1: game right in twenty nineteen, he explained that there was
Speaker 1: some study that said that the six Ers Arena was
Speaker 1: the coldest by like five degrees, and I kind of
Speaker 1: laughed at him, and I was like, yeah, it's not
Speaker 1: that bad. This season, it has been so cold in
Speaker 1: their selves. I don't know how to explain to you.
Speaker 1: You don't need to, because I thought it was cold before.
Speaker 1: I can't imagine another level of coldness well, and I think, honestly,
Speaker 1: it's probably been heightened this season because there's just fewer
Speaker 1: bodies in there and like the fact that they I
Speaker 1: don't know if they changed the thermostat, but there's certainly
Speaker 1: less human heat. It was. It was cold. We can
Speaker 1: move on, all right. Couple more points that Alexia brought
Speaker 1: up in her call edition of Maxie thirty Point Game
Speaker 1: is second thirty point games a pro on Sunday. Great
Speaker 1: note for him to go into the postseason on no
Speaker 1: doubt about it. He has seized every opportunity he's been given.
Speaker 1: And to be honest, there were a few times this
Speaker 1: season where you were surprised by how much he was
Speaker 1: able to deliver, how much lowed he could bear for
Speaker 1: the offense and for the defense. I was not even
Speaker 1: a little bit surprised with his productivity last night, and
Speaker 1: I think that speaks to the growth that he's had
Speaker 1: this season and the level of trust that folks already
Speaker 1: have in him to be as productive as he was
Speaker 1: in that final game of the regular season. He is
Speaker 1: going to be an exciting player four years to come.
Speaker 1: His teammates love him, His teammates say he's going to
Speaker 1: be one of the better guards in this league for
Speaker 1: a long time, and I am glad that he's a sixer.
Speaker 1: Final points, Alexia made Ben being Ben, Joe being Joe,
Speaker 1: and them playing together, two all stars really having fantastic seasons.
Speaker 1: Joe's season speaks for himself as far as the MVP race,
Speaker 1: and Ben obviously putting up his hand for Defensive Player
Speaker 1: of the Year honors. Facts on facts from Alexia loved it.
Speaker 1: Outstanding outstanding call. Continuing on in the good old mail
Speaker 1: bag two and five four zero three seven, six three seven,
Speaker 1: you have one new message case Seltz and Lore and them.
Speaker 1: This is cold link from Bethman, Pennsylvania calling and I
Speaker 1: just wanted to leave a message for your playoff episode.
Speaker 1: So my favorite moment from the season was when Joe
Speaker 1: Embid went down to that stretch. I want to say
Speaker 1: it was like ten games or so, and the Sixers went.
Speaker 1: If it was ten games, they went seven and three.
Speaker 1: That's what's coming to my mind, and that just showed
Speaker 1: that this team is ready to compete and that they
Speaker 1: can step up when someone goes down. Kind of expecting
Speaker 1: them to falter a bit, but they, you know, went
Speaker 1: against what I thought was going to happen and had
Speaker 1: a great stretched while Embiid was out, and they because
Speaker 1: of that. I want to say, that's why they got
Speaker 1: the number one seed. If they don't get that stretched,
Speaker 1: they don't have the number one seed. And then I'm
Speaker 1: not really sure who I want to see in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: I don't want to see if the Nets at any
Speaker 1: point for sure, but I mean, I feel like that's
Speaker 1: going to happen. Sorry, you can edit stuff out. I
Speaker 1: know you guys are professionally, so I don't know. I
Speaker 1: don't want to see Washington him with Westbrook. I feel
Speaker 1: like Westbrook's always given the Sixers trouble, so that's tough.
Speaker 1: I want to go. I'm gonna go with the Hornets,
Speaker 1: even though the Hornets that have been a little surprised
Speaker 1: to see. I want to see the horns because I
Speaker 1: know the Pacers always given the Sixers trouble, and I mean, well,
Speaker 1: six Ers did sweep the Celtics, but I have bad
Speaker 1: memories of the Celtics and I don't really want to
Speaker 1: see them as much in the first round. All right,
Speaker 1: thank you, another amazing voicemail. I'm not editing anything out
Speaker 1: of that. I thought it was great. Listen. It was
Speaker 1: off the cuff thinking through the matchups analysis. I thought
Speaker 1: the point about seventy six is going seven to three
Speaker 1: without Joel Embiid was an excellent point on the heels
Speaker 1: of that injury against Washington. This team, I think, regardless
Speaker 1: of whether or not it ended up with the one seed,
Speaker 1: it proved something to itself more than anyone else, the fans,
Speaker 1: the media. I think it proved something to itself by
Speaker 1: going through that stretch and knocking off some really good teams.
Speaker 1: I'm with you, Celts. That was a scary stretch when
Speaker 1: we looked at it, thinking that the team would be
Speaker 1: fully healthy, so to have to do that stretch, that
Speaker 1: included a lot of time on the road against good
Speaker 1: opponents without Joel Embiid and then still come out seven
Speaker 1: and three. I think we would have taken seven and
Speaker 1: three with Joel Embiid during that stretch. Maybe you wouldn't
Speaker 1: wanted to lose three, but I don't know. I agree.
Speaker 1: I think that's really really astute analysis. And it did
Speaker 1: come down to the wire there for the one seed,
Speaker 1: so I agree. I think another category that I would
Speaker 1: add to games that helped secure that one seed staying
Speaker 1: among the league leaders in clutch wins all season long.
Speaker 1: The Sixers won a lot of close games this season
Speaker 1: and they all ended up mattering. And I think the
Speaker 1: fact that they brought that spirit and they brought that
Speaker 1: determination to so many close games throughout the season not
Speaker 1: only paid off when it came to seeding, but is
Speaker 1: going to continue to pay off in the playoffs because
Speaker 1: of those experiences. I will build on that two stats
Speaker 1: that I am bullish on and buying for the seventy
Speaker 1: sixers finding ways to win games late, like you talked about,
Speaker 1: with the clutch wins, leading the league in that category,
Speaker 1: and then also their defense. They finished the season number
Speaker 1: two overall in defensive rating just two tenths of a
Speaker 1: point behind the Los Angeles Lakers. So two stats that
Speaker 1: I'm buying. Playing in the postseason and about Westbrook, I
Speaker 1: want to stay for the record. I think the Sixers
Speaker 1: should be able to handle whichever team emerges in the
Speaker 1: first round to be their opponent. I am fascinated to
Speaker 1: see Westbrook in the play in scenario. He and Steph
Speaker 1: I cannot wait. Cannot wait to see them in the
Speaker 1: play in dynamic. And don't forget about Bradley Beale, who
Speaker 1: was jockey with Steph for that scoring title this season
Speaker 1: and dropped sixty in a game that I remember quite well.
Speaker 1: He is a force to be reckoned with the dynamic
Speaker 1: between he and Westbrook seems to be that could be
Speaker 1: scary moving forward, not just in the play in I
Speaker 1: am very very excited. I am very excited about these
Speaker 1: play in games. And I love that some of the
Speaker 1: league's brightest stars are finding themselves in the play in tournament,
Speaker 1: like Lebron. There's that too. I think it's gonna be
Speaker 1: really exciting. Cannot Yeah, the West. The West play in
Speaker 1: might be a little bit more marquis than the East plan,
Speaker 1: but I as a Sixers fan. As a Sixers person,
Speaker 1: I am very excited to see how the East goes
Speaker 1: as well. I'm a huge playing tournament gal. I'm all in.
Speaker 1: I'm with you. I am with you. One more from
Speaker 1: the pod line two on five four zero three pods
Speaker 1: save it call us so we can send you some swag.
Speaker 1: You have one new message by why I listen? Listen?
Speaker 1: This is Wabby leeve Water. How kind about mister NBA
Speaker 1: mister Dwight Howard now watching the gamester who does happening?
Speaker 1: He was a breath he attacked mister Howard. I am
Speaker 1: so disappointed. But Howard is not going to be in
Speaker 1: the game on tonight. This souprofuding night How in the
Speaker 1: world could thank youive? Mister Howard? A tech? This was
Speaker 1: mister o'donna's hostland being the aggressor. Dwight children took out running,
Speaker 1: took out running dude. I don't know if they're gonna
Speaker 1: put a set on him, but night how I'm so disappointed.
Speaker 1: I got my gear. I'm ready to put my cap
Speaker 1: on and watch the game. Well, you know what, mister
Speaker 1: Dwight Howard, he is a trooper, he has true character,
Speaker 1: true ability, He's a team leader. He will write from this.
Speaker 1: They guys j thissters who Robbie Lee called once earlier
Speaker 1: this season about Dwight Howard the best, the best. This
Speaker 1: is the best group of callers. We've had some really
Speaker 1: good group We've had really good callers all season long,
Speaker 1: but this group together, how should we have five or four?
Speaker 1: I think we have four whatever I was going to say,
Speaker 1: I'd take this group of callers in a game of
Speaker 1: five on five. There's a lot of enthusiasm here. There's
Speaker 1: a lot of energy. Udatis Haslm was the aggressor. She
Speaker 1: is correct. We've heard from Doc Rivers, We've heard from
Speaker 1: Dwight Howard, We've heard from his teammates. Sometimes you get
Speaker 1: calls based on reputation or based on years and years
Speaker 1: of gathering a resume that suggests that you play really hard,
Speaker 1: which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I do. I
Speaker 1: totally understand the frustration there. He got really close to
Speaker 1: making it out of the regular season and getting that
Speaker 1: technical foul clock to I guess reset to zero for
Speaker 1: the postseason. Luckily the Sixers were able to pull it
Speaker 1: off in fact on Friday without him. But I love
Speaker 1: that enthusiasm Dwight Howard fans are awesome and I am
Speaker 1: among them, unquestionable and Robbie Lee, she brings it, brings
Speaker 1: it on the Dwight Howard calls. We might have to
Speaker 1: set up a specific Superman hotline something like that because
Speaker 1: the calls are that good, amazing job by everyone who
Speaker 1: called in left voice mails. The other way to get
Speaker 1: in touch with us is on social Leave us a
Speaker 1: DM or a mention at Brian Seltzer and at Lauren
Speaker 1: m Rosen on Twitter. That's Lawren's handle on Instagram, mine
Speaker 1: is at Seltzer six or snaps. We got one there
Speaker 1: and we'll go Lauren. This will be our final submission
Speaker 1: for this end of the regular season, looking ahead of
Speaker 1: the playoffs edition of the mail Bag doc Mellow two
Speaker 1: six seven at Melo MD ninety win or lose. I'm
Speaker 1: going to miss this team when the season ends. We
Speaker 1: haven't been a one seed in twenty years, so let's
Speaker 1: hope we're not missing this team until the end of July.
Speaker 1: But I think that speaks to the sentiment we talked
Speaker 1: about at the start of the show. Special things happen
Speaker 1: this season, special group. You know, no season is perfect
Speaker 1: without its bumps and its lumps, but on balance, a
Speaker 1: sixty eight winning percentage is outstanding. To do it while
Speaker 1: you're getting tested at eight o'clock every morning for five
Speaker 1: months and having players go in and out of the
Speaker 1: lineup unpredictably something we said for that agreed, So it's
Speaker 1: they went through a lot this year and came out
Speaker 1: of it on top. It's been really impressive to watch
Speaker 1: and such a pleasure to have. We forget where things
Speaker 1: were in the world when this all started, where things
Speaker 1: still are in the world now that the regular season
Speaker 1: has come to a close. I mean, I'm just very
Speaker 1: grateful that we were able to have this distraction and
Speaker 1: this opportunity to celebrate something, especially at this moment in time.
Speaker 1: We always give you some programming notes at the end
Speaker 1: of every episode, dropping soon if it's not at already.
Speaker 1: We have a bonus episode here on the seventy six
Speaker 1: ers podcast network, Inside the Process, narrated by the one
Speaker 1: and only Julius Irving, taking you inside dwell Embiid's mind,
Speaker 1: reflecting on an MVP caliber season. So check that out
Speaker 1: and then start later this week. I'm not smelling the
Speaker 1: means you out on what we're doing. I don't want
Speaker 1: to build it up too much, but we're gonna do
Speaker 1: something different. We'll still have Mailbag, Mondays and Friday deep
Speaker 1: dives during the postseason, but we're also going to fill
Speaker 1: the gaps in between with some other stuff as well,
Speaker 1: So we should pretty much have some new content coming
Speaker 1: away the morning of or the day of and the
Speaker 1: day after every game, so we will not leave you
Speaker 1: hanging during the playoffs at all. And then one last reminder,
Speaker 1: the Scoop, which we have put on this feed and
Speaker 1: its own feed throughout the regular season, that is now
Speaker 1: on its own feed only. If you want your Sixers
Speaker 1: news daily in five minutes, we get it. You're busy, folks,
Speaker 1: That's how I would want my Sixers news if I
Speaker 1: weren't doing this. Just search seventy Sixers Scoop wherever you
Speaker 1: get your pods, follow and you'll be hooked up with
Speaker 1: all the information, sound bites, and headlines and reports you need.
Speaker 1: All right, Lauren, great episode, great mail Bag. Yes, indeed,
Speaker 1: can't wait to keep doing this through the playoffs. Well put,
Speaker 1: thanks everyone for calling in. We will talk to you
Speaker 1: later in the week. Six h