Speaker 1: This podcast is part of the seventy Sixers podcast Network
Speaker 1: search seventy sixers podcast wherever you get your pods. Welcome
Speaker 1: back to the seventy sixers podcast Network. We are back
Speaker 1: to check in and recap Matisse Thible's strong start in
Speaker 1: international play with Team Australia as well as set the
Speaker 1: table for the upcoming Olympics, alongside Lauren Rosen. I'm Matt Murphy. Lauren,
Speaker 1: you have been all over not just the Sixers beat,
Speaker 1: but also the Boomers beat. Now that Matisse Thible is
Speaker 1: playing with Team Australia, what's that been like so far?
Speaker 1: I know it's just exhibition games and we're gonna start
Speaker 1: with that, but what has it been like covering a
Speaker 1: new team, the Green and Yellow, Golden Gold. Come on, Matt,
Speaker 1: get it together. No, I'm just kidding. It was actually
Speaker 1: really fun. I'll be honest. I think, well, so the
Speaker 1: Sixers have more of an international presence than just Matisse,
Speaker 1: but it just so happens that where we're at right
Speaker 1: now July twenty twenty one, he's the only one that's
Speaker 1: playing in the Olympics. So I have become a temporary
Speaker 1: Australian Boomers account on my Twitter. You wouldn't know what
Speaker 1: team I cover if you went and checked these days.
Speaker 1: But it's been a lot of fun and it's it's
Speaker 1: cool to watch a different team get exposed to some
Speaker 1: different players. You know, we're so in the weeds with
Speaker 1: this group of seventy sixers that we don't have the
Speaker 1: opportunity to watch guys like Patty Mills and Joe Ingalls
Speaker 1: and some of their young guys that are coming up
Speaker 1: in the draft, which I know is something you're excited about.
Speaker 1: So it's just been cool to watch other players excel
Speaker 1: and then to watch one of our seventy sixers excel
Speaker 1: with a new group. I'll also, in case anyone happens
Speaker 1: to be listening, shout out the Australian basketball Twitter community
Speaker 1: because they've been very welcoming, very good to me, and
Speaker 1: I've really enjoyed getting to know some folks from not
Speaker 1: across the pond down under right right. And I will
Speaker 1: take some fault for the green and gold mishap, but
Speaker 1: the color itself, even if they say green and gold
Speaker 1: on the uniforms, it's more it's a yellow so they
Speaker 1: look sharp. It's just it's a new colorway, new color
Speaker 1: set for Matisse to don his uniform, and the Boomers
Speaker 1: have looked great so far, and we are, as I said,
Speaker 1: going to start with exhibition play, which a bunch of
Speaker 1: the teams went out to Vegas and played each other
Speaker 1: for a few weeks. Three and oh Australia. The fourth
Speaker 1: game against Team USA, which was a rematch, was canceled.
Speaker 1: They did beat Team USA in that three and oh
Speaker 1: timeline of exhibition games. So what were your takeaways from
Speaker 1: not just Team Australia but Matisse Thyble International edition. Well,
Speaker 1: first of all, credit to all the players that are
Speaker 1: out there hustling, grinding, playing right after a really long season.
Speaker 1: It's been cool to watch guys come together on new
Speaker 1: teams so quickly, and I think that this Australian group
Speaker 1: is a perfect example. Of course, some of the guys
Speaker 1: on this team have been playing together for a year,
Speaker 1: and so that's been a really cool thing to watch,
Speaker 1: is they have this existing chemistry even though they're not
Speaker 1: playing together regularly during the regular season. The chemistry. It
Speaker 1: was cool to watch a team that clearly has an
Speaker 1: identity already and then to see matissee get folded into
Speaker 1: that existing identity so quickly. It seems like he fills
Speaker 1: a role that this team needs in such a versatile,
Speaker 1: agile wing defender, and it just looks like from Afar
Speaker 1: that the guys have really embraced him, which I think
Speaker 1: is a great thing for any young player to get
Speaker 1: some experience in the offseason with a new team, with
Speaker 1: a different group that plays a different style. But as
Speaker 1: we'll talk about in a little bit, I think there
Speaker 1: are a lot of takeaways that Matisse can bring to
Speaker 1: his game in his third year as a sixer. Right,
Speaker 1: we're going to tie this into his young sixer's career,
Speaker 1: what that has looked like, what it might look like
Speaker 1: in the future, and how this international experience can play
Speaker 1: a role. Statistically, he scored the ball really well in
Speaker 1: the games where he saw normal minutes outside of the
Speaker 1: third game, where the starters were arrested for the most
Speaker 1: part and the regular rotation players for Australia were rested.
Speaker 1: But he scored double figures in the first two, nine steals,
Speaker 1: five blocks overall between the three games, and he also
Speaker 1: shot it well from deep, five for seven from three,
Speaker 1: so not just the defense, also the scoring touch. I
Speaker 1: liked what I've seen from him in terms of aggressiveness
Speaker 1: on the offensive end and shooting the ball with some confidence.
Speaker 1: I think the debut was a lot of fun. He
Speaker 1: finished with fifteen points, four steals, three blocks in his
Speaker 1: first time playing at least competitive minutes with a new team,
Speaker 1: three for three from three in that game over Argentina,
Speaker 1: and I liked the key offensive role that it seems
Speaker 1: Matisse might play for this team. Whether he's in the
Speaker 1: starting lineup as he was in that third game when
Speaker 1: people were resting, or he's coming off the bench, which
Speaker 1: he's accustomed to doing with the Sixers, he is going
Speaker 1: to be relied upon more for offensive contributions, and I
Speaker 1: think Matisse doesn't have to participate as much in the
Speaker 1: offense on his Sixers team, where he's not a primary
Speaker 1: offense option. He's not a secondary offensive option, and it's
Speaker 1: great when he contributes with the Sixers, but it's not
Speaker 1: really what he does with this team. So now to
Speaker 1: have an opportunity where not only is he getting the
Speaker 1: chance to contribute offensively, but he's also going to be
Speaker 1: relied upon to contribute offensively regularly, I think is a
Speaker 1: really cool growth opportunity. Great to see that confidence shooting
Speaker 1: from three, which we started to see in the playoffs
Speaker 1: prior to the season's end, of course, but but really
Speaker 1: cool opportunities for him all around it and cool to
Speaker 1: see him embrace it so quickly, going into a new
Speaker 1: environment and really not skipping a beat putting a bow
Speaker 1: for the most part. On exhibition play, something we are
Speaker 1: used to seeing Batist do is everything on the defensive end,
Speaker 1: and there highlights galore on that end. One that stood
Speaker 1: out to me and virtually everyone else was the block
Speaker 1: of Kevin Durant, because if we're used to seeing him
Speaker 1: excel defensively, not many players ken block Kevin Durant on
Speaker 1: that type of shot in the lane with Durant's length.
Speaker 1: He also blocked Damian Lillard in the Team USA in
Speaker 1: For me, that's like the most notable highlights so far,
Speaker 1: but there were a lot. I mean, you were a
Speaker 1: part of the social media presence sharing these highlights. The
Speaker 1: Durant one made a lot of waves. Yeah, he was
Speaker 1: all over the place, even the charge he drew in
Speaker 1: the third game. Like, there's been so many opportunities to
Speaker 1: see Matisse do what he does well at a high level.
Speaker 1: I do think that the rule changes and the slight
Speaker 1: differences with officiating in international play, fever rules honestly play
Speaker 1: well into Matissa's style on defense. There have been a
Speaker 1: lot of no calls that might have been calls during
Speaker 1: an NBA season. So cool to see him get to
Speaker 1: experiment with things that he does well and sometimes gets
Speaker 1: maybe unfairly penalized. Again, maybe I'm not one to comment
Speaker 1: on officiating, but cool to see these guys just get
Speaker 1: to play sort of seamless and obviously exhibition play. Maybe
Speaker 1: they're letting those games happen a little bit quicker, But
Speaker 1: I agree with you that block on KD was really special.
Speaker 1: I know Sixers fans got really excited about that one,
Speaker 1: and I think folks watching as t USA fans that
Speaker 1: might be the first time that Matiss has really been
Speaker 1: on their radar in a major way, unless you're a
Speaker 1: fan of a team that played a longer series with
Speaker 1: the Sixers this year or last year. Really cool to
Speaker 1: see him get credit for the stuff that he does
Speaker 1: so well, and I think that's only going to continue
Speaker 1: as this international run develops. They are a lot of
Speaker 1: fun to watch as a team team Australia. And before
Speaker 1: we get to how Matisse can build off of this,
Speaker 1: experience and what the Olympics might look like. When we
Speaker 1: talk about his role, there's obviously a whole new set
Speaker 1: of coaches that are coaching him, so he's getting some
Speaker 1: different perspectives. And I'm going to use this space to
Speaker 1: interject my own Boomer's story in the sense that please
Speaker 1: I was in the G League Bubble with the Delaware Bluecoats,
Speaker 1: the Sixers G League affiliate, and one of the assistant
Speaker 1: coaches for Australia is Matt Nielsen, who is the head
Speaker 1: coach of the Austin Spurs. And one thing that stands
Speaker 1: out from my time in the bubble, the Austin Spurs
Speaker 1: were the first playoff opponent for the Delaware Blue Coats,
Speaker 1: so they played against Matt Nielsen's Spurs team, and this
Speaker 1: just speaks to the type of culture that Matisse is
Speaker 1: now a part of. The Bluecoats beat the Spurs pretty
Speaker 1: good in the first playoff game. Every team in the
Speaker 1: Bubble had their own team room, so it was a
Speaker 1: few hours after the game and there's a knock on
Speaker 1: the door and it's Matt Nielsen, and he comes around
Speaker 1: and individually congratulates every Bluecoats staff member for the playoff
Speaker 1: win and wishes everyone the best going forward in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: So that is someone who now Matisse Thyble is learning
Speaker 1: from with the whole staff and a chance to just
Speaker 1: learn more and grow in different ways. But that was
Speaker 1: something I was like, that is so very like international basketball.
Speaker 1: To congratulate the winning team afterwards. Well, it's such a
Speaker 1: cool community. You know, if you listen to our programming,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm a sucker for wholesome content. To me,
Speaker 1: that is like the pinnacle of wholesome content. Those of
Speaker 1: you listening if you're in the mood for some more
Speaker 1: whole content. Credit to the folks that run the Australian
Speaker 1: Boomers Instagram feed. Make sure you're following them if you
Speaker 1: want to continue to see some wholesome content. But this
Speaker 1: is the type of team where clearly these guys have
Speaker 1: great relationships, meaningful relationships, guys that are playing in their
Speaker 1: fourth Olympics together, but are also welcoming in a new
Speaker 1: cast of characters into that family. And it's been really
Speaker 1: cool to watch from afar. International basketball is awesome. I've
Speaker 1: missed it. It's been well, I guess at least since
Speaker 1: the elast Olympics five years since we've gotten a chance
Speaker 1: to watch teams do this, but yeah, I'd love to
Speaker 1: love to hear those anecdotes from the gubble, So thank
Speaker 1: you for that one and cool to see the wholesome
Speaker 1: content continue to roll through. And when it comes to
Speaker 1: Matisse's sophomore NBA season with the six years, of course,
Speaker 1: All defensive second team at the NBA level one point
Speaker 1: six steals per game, over a block per game this
Speaker 1: year in his second season, which was way up. How
Speaker 1: do you think he can continue to build off of
Speaker 1: the success he just had at the NBA level that
Speaker 1: included more playoff experience in his second season, a couple
Speaker 1: of rounds worth of playoff experience. How does he build
Speaker 1: off that here? Well, to me, it's all about that
Speaker 1: three point shooting that he got so comfortable within that
Speaker 1: second round series with the Hawks. He was really really
Speaker 1: strong from three during that stretch of seven games. And
Speaker 1: then to see him continue to be as strong, if
Speaker 1: not stronger from three, obviously he's barely missed any not
Speaker 1: just started catch and shoot either. There was one going
Speaker 1: back to the highlights, one pull up off the dribble
Speaker 1: transition three. Well, that's the thing, right like on this
Speaker 1: Sixers team. Matisse isn't relied upon to create for himself,
Speaker 1: understandably so, but maybe on this Boomers squad he is
Speaker 1: going to be relied upon to create for himself. And
Speaker 1: that's never going to be a bad thing to know
Speaker 1: how to do, even if you're not going to do
Speaker 1: it as frequently when you come back into the NBA
Speaker 1: and join your teammates with the Sixers, it's a great
Speaker 1: skill to have in your back pocket. You never know
Speaker 1: when you're going to be needed or called upon to create.
Speaker 1: More offensively, we've seen throughout Matisse's career, I think little
Speaker 1: flashes of him being a really good creator. He can
Speaker 1: make some nifty passes, obviously, his reflexes are pretty tremendous.
Speaker 1: So cool to see him get to hone in on
Speaker 1: an area where he can grow because the defense is
Speaker 1: already so elite. But then again, to be relied upon
Speaker 1: it not just given infrequent opportunities, to really be asked
Speaker 1: to contribute there and to rise to the occasion and
Speaker 1: answer the call. So we saw more of it in
Speaker 1: the playoffs in his sophomore season, We're seeing more of
Speaker 1: it in international play, and of course as he continues
Speaker 1: to grow with this team. We're going to see more
Speaker 1: of it with the seventy sixers. So love that he's
Speaker 1: getting this opportunity and then something else when it comes
Speaker 1: to returning to MBA games next season and with the Sixers,
Speaker 1: it seems like he came in and played himself into
Speaker 1: even more of a role than some people knew. He
Speaker 1: had to prove himself a little bit. It is an
Speaker 1: established group that he's playing with, but from what I've gathered,
Speaker 1: it seems like even if he starts or not, he's
Speaker 1: a part of the group that might close the game.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to ask you to play coach, but
Speaker 1: experiences like that, if he's on the floor at the
Speaker 1: most critical times of high level games, when there's something
Speaker 1: on the line in the form of medals this time around,
Speaker 1: that could bode well for coming back to Philly. Just
Speaker 1: getting important minutes at the end of games, being a
Speaker 1: part of the closing lineup perhaps such a good point.
Speaker 1: It's like almost getting a bonus playoff run. And as
Speaker 1: a young player. We talked about this throughout Matisa's career.
Speaker 1: We talked about it with Tyrese as well. When you're
Speaker 1: a young player that comes into a good team the
Speaker 1: room for error. There's there's no margin for error. He's
Speaker 1: only played two NBA seasons, both have continued to have
Speaker 1: included playoff runs in which he's been relied upon to
Speaker 1: not make mistakes, and there aren't that many chances to
Speaker 1: learn to do that at a high level. Of course,
Speaker 1: if things continue the way they're going, he's going to
Speaker 1: have a lot more playoff runs in his future. So
Speaker 1: to have this Olympic experience where every game is going
Speaker 1: to count things down the stretch are going to be meaningful.
Speaker 1: It's just it's a bonus playoffs and it'll almost be like,
Speaker 1: should the Sixers find themselves in the playoffs once again
Speaker 1: next season, it would be kind of like his fourth playoffs,
Speaker 1: not his third. So absolutely love the competition that's ahead
Speaker 1: for our guy, and let's go there. Because what is
Speaker 1: ahead is the Olympic Games in Tokyo, and Australia is
Speaker 1: expected to be in the mix metal contention. Perhaps I
Speaker 1: know I'm not extremely well versed in Australian basketball history,
Speaker 1: but they suffered a tough loss and missed out on
Speaker 1: a metal the last time around. Many of those players
Speaker 1: a part of this team as well, so their group
Speaker 1: is Germany, Italy and Nigeria. They're not in a group
Speaker 1: with Team USA, but just overall, as the games will count,
Speaker 1: what excites you the most for that Well, as you
Speaker 1: know if you follow me on Twitter, I'm now officially
Speaker 1: an Australian Boomers band. Look like I'm American. I'll always
Speaker 1: root for Team USA, but in this Olympics, I'm going
Speaker 1: all in on the Boomers. It's a perfect opportunity for
Speaker 1: them to get that metal that they've so openly been
Speaker 1: chasing and will cove it and will appreciate and the
Speaker 1: way that the bracket has broke, the way that they've
Speaker 1: played obviously in these exhibition games, it really does feel
Speaker 1: like a good opportunity for a team that's been working
Speaker 1: so hard towards this goal to aulish it. And how
Speaker 1: cool to get to watch one of our sixers potentially
Speaker 1: be a part of that run. So for me, like
Speaker 1: I'm all in on the Boomers. Their games are their
Speaker 1: exhibition games are going to be at four thirty am
Speaker 1: Eastern time. That question, I'm not committing to watching all
Speaker 1: of them live. I maybe on this podcast I'll commit
Speaker 1: to watching at least one of them live. Well, there's
Speaker 1: a whole series of steps that you have to take
Speaker 1: if you're not going to watch them live. You have
Speaker 1: to mute all the keywords, you have to maybe mute
Speaker 1: accounts for certain periods of time so that notifications from
Speaker 1: certain apps so that you don't spoil the result for
Speaker 1: yourself if you were going to wait, wake up and
Speaker 1: watch the game in its entirety true, Look, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: be honest, I'm gonna try. I'm gonna do my best.
Speaker 1: I can commit to doing my best. I'm just saying
Speaker 1: that the game, the results of the games might be
Speaker 1: spoiled for you if you don't watch them live. But
Speaker 1: I'm also not committing to watching them live. So yeah, look,
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna commit, but I'm gonna say I'm gonna
Speaker 1: do my best. Obviously, as the Olympics continue on those
Speaker 1: that timing for Philly fans will get a little bit
Speaker 1: more friendly as primetime shifts to try to accommodate for
Speaker 1: folks watching over on this side of the world. But yeah,
Speaker 1: just really looking forward to watching them, and of course
Speaker 1: international basketball in general, Like it's so cool to watch
Speaker 1: NBA players that you're so accustomed to seeing in their
Speaker 1: NBA colors play for a different team, excel on an
Speaker 1: international scale. Great to I mean, obviously we know a
Speaker 1: lot of these guys are friends off the court, so
Speaker 1: cool to see them developing bonds playing against their own teammates.
Speaker 1: That's something I always like to watch for regular season
Speaker 1: teammates clashing against one another in international play, and there's
Speaker 1: gonna be a whole lot of that to come. I'm
Speaker 1: a huge Olympics fan. I don't know if people don't
Speaker 1: know my background. I was a gymnast all throughout my
Speaker 1: growing up years, and so the Olympics is sort of
Speaker 1: like the calendar that I lived on for a really
Speaker 1: long time. So every time the Olympics rolls around, like
Speaker 1: my TV is going to be on twenty four seven,
Speaker 1: Like the last time my TV was on twenty four seven,
Speaker 1: it was during the election, And so now I think
Speaker 1: we're going to do that same sort of model where
Speaker 1: it's muted at night, but it's on to make sure
Speaker 1: that I don't miss out on any Olympic content. I'm pupped.
Speaker 1: Matt Murphy, I am also pumped. And for those that
Speaker 1: we'll be watching from Australia, the time slots for the
Speaker 1: games are much better obviously, but congratulations to you, because
Speaker 1: in fairness, the Sixers have a lot of Australian fans
Speaker 1: and those folks are staying up at weird hours to
Speaker 1: watch the Sixers. Now it's their time, you know what.
Speaker 1: It's the least we can do is to deal with
Speaker 1: this obscure timing and I'm going to embrace it. Last thing,
Speaker 1: their first game, Australia's first game Sunday, July twenty fifth
Speaker 1: against Nigeria. In that group I mentioned with Germany and
Speaker 1: Italy as well, Nigeria is the only opponent that was
Speaker 1: a common opponent from the exhibition games in Vegas, so
Speaker 1: what did you learn there? And Nigeria has a lot
Speaker 1: of NBA players, that's going to be an interesting first
Speaker 1: matchup to watch. It's going to be interesting. However, I'll
Speaker 1: be honest, Australia didn't have a lot of trouble and
Speaker 1: they didn't play their best players, So looking forward to
Speaker 1: sort of seeing them clash a new with their best
Speaker 1: guys available to face Nigeria, knowing that they did a
Speaker 1: good job against Nigeria without their best guy is available.
Speaker 1: Even Matisse didn't play very much in that one, so
Speaker 1: really looking forward to it and if you're still listening,
Speaker 1: I can continue to tell you guys about my personal life.
Speaker 1: I will be on the West coast actually for that
Speaker 1: first one, which means that it'll be at one thirty,
Speaker 1: which means that maybe I'll stay up for it. I
Speaker 1: don't know, Matt Murphy that too much. I mean, that
Speaker 1: is much better, I think, because I don't know. I'm
Speaker 1: an early riser here in Philadelphia. I like to I
Speaker 1: like to get up around six six thirty, So I
Speaker 1: don't know, Man, you have a few days between all
Speaker 1: of these games to recover as well, unless it might
Speaker 1: be better. It might be more favorable if they were
Speaker 1: all together, so you could just stay on the same
Speaker 1: sleep schedule and not have to alternate back and forth.
Speaker 1: But we have a little bit of time to plan
Speaker 1: for that. One other notable event coming up just about
Speaker 1: ten days from this recording. Ten days to be exact
Speaker 1: as we talk right now. The NBA Draft Thursday, July
Speaker 1: twenty ninth, and the Sixers have picks twenty eight and fifty.
Speaker 1: The last few years the team has done well in
Speaker 1: the twenties, so I'm also excited not just for the Olympics,
Speaker 1: but for the NBA Draft coming up. We'll have plenty
Speaker 1: of coverage surrounding the draft here on our seventy six
Speaker 1: Ers podcast network feed as well. But Lettis Thibel, Tyrese Maxie.
Speaker 1: What do the twenties hold this time around? We will
Speaker 1: find out soon enough. It should be fun to watch
Speaker 1: that as well, no doubt about it. The Sixers have,
Speaker 1: in my humble and biased opinion, struck gold in the
Speaker 1: twenties for two seasons straight, so let's see what happens
Speaker 1: this year. I am looking forward to it. As always.
Speaker 1: My last note on these Olympics. I think I'm more
Speaker 1: likely to stay up for them if the same group
Speaker 1: of like devoted fans are watching that we're watching these
Speaker 1: exhibition games with me, because there were some obscure times
Speaker 1: on those, and if that group is staying up, I
Speaker 1: feel it is my job to serve. So if you're listening,
Speaker 1: if you want to let me know if you're planning
Speaker 1: to stay up, that will greatly influence my coverage plan.
Speaker 1: Please hit the DM DM. Sorry, and that was a
Speaker 1: great plug there, but or an engagement tactic, But I
Speaker 1: think there's something to be said for watching a game
Speaker 1: after everyone's seen it, Like there's great real time engagement,
Speaker 1: but they might be interested in hearing your takes when
Speaker 1: you're the only one on the feed talking are the
Speaker 1: timeline talking about it after the fact, when everyone's seen
Speaker 1: it already, you can offer It'll be You'll be unique.
Speaker 1: You'll be the only one out there talking about it
Speaker 1: at a certain time. So we're gonna have to deal
Speaker 1: with the choice between figuring out who's interested in what
Speaker 1: I have to say in the middle of the night,
Speaker 1: versus figuring out who's interested in what I have to
Speaker 1: say after the game has already ended. It's going to
Speaker 1: be interesting. Maybe I'll experiment with both. If you're along
Speaker 1: for the ride, make sure you're following us at Lauren
Speaker 1: m Rosen on Twitter and on Instagram. Matt Murphy is
Speaker 1: at Matt Underscore Murphy. Oh four very common names, So
Speaker 1: I had to throw an underscore in and a number
Speaker 1: because there's a lot of people with my name And
Speaker 1: to the devoted Sixers fans and Matifes, but wow, how
Speaker 1: many times if I said matiese Thible and I can't
Speaker 1: do it now the Matifs Bible fans, please make sure
Speaker 1: you are letting us know what time content you would
Speaker 1: like to see as we move forward. Thanks Matt, this
Speaker 1: was fun absolutely, and anyone listening here on the seventy
Speaker 1: six Ers podcast network that's not already following our other feed,
Speaker 1: the Scoop, make sure you check that out as well, because,
Speaker 1: in addition to the Olympics and the Draft coming up,
Speaker 1: we also have a series going over there, So follow
Speaker 1: the Scoop search seventy six Ers Scoop wherever you listen
Speaker 1: to your podcasts, and you can get new installments in
Speaker 1: our exit interview series talking about Sixers from the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one NBA season. That will do it for
Speaker 1: this episode for Lauren Rosen, I'm Matt Murphy. As always,
Speaker 1: thanks for listening.