2019-2020 Sixers Season/Offseason

[zambonir]

Time will tell. A team with both of them is always going to be one of top teams in the league. But will it be the best? Third-best, even (and is that good enough)? They don't work well together in that their skill sets are in conflict (and so is playing time if Simmons should be more of a big).

A different supporting cast (for what would be the fifth time, if you count last year twice) or coach is certainly the other option.

Or this year will all work out. They'll fight their way back to a better seed and the Horford signing will work perfectly against the Bucks and everyone will be happy.

[VoteForKalas]

Ben Simmons may never develop a long range shot but we're also seeing he may not need to. His defense is close to elite and when embiid isn't on the floor, they can match him up against bigger guys that can't cover him. he HAS to get better from the foul line.

Again, he needs to use his outside shot and develop better foul shooting. For this team to win a ring, he needs to absolutely do both.

Otherwise, the 76ers will continue playing 4 against 5 in the half court offense and, at the end of games, Ben will continue to avoid the ball.

We need him to be effective in the half court offense and take over in the crunch time of games which includes punishing teams for fouling him and getting free points at the line.

[bigegypt0417]

Ben Simmons may never develop a long range shot but we're also seeing he may not need to. His defense is close to elite and when embiid isn't on the floor, they can match him up against bigger guys that can't cover him. he HAS to get better from the foul line.

Again, he needs to use his outside shot and develop better foul shooting. For this team to win a ring, he needs to absolutely do both.

Foul shooting I'll agree with but with the shooters around him, an outside shot isn't as important. Ben Simmons is a star in this league and that is without an outside shot.

[frylock]

"Again, he needs to use his outside shot and develop better foul shooting. For this team to win a ring, he needs to absolutely do both.

Otherwise, the 76ers will continue playing 4 against 5 in the half court offense and, at the end of games, Ben will continue to avoid the ball."

^ This x1000

Simmons is a good, all-star level player; however, all he's proven thus far in his career is that he's a playoff liability against the upper echelon teams. We'll see if this changes this year.

[VoteForKalas]

Foul shooting I'll agree with but with the shooters around him, an outside shot isn't as important. Ben Simmons is a star in this league and that is without an outside shot.

The goal is not for Simmons to be a star in the league, it is for the 76ers to win championships.

The 76ers will not do that until Simmons uses his outside shot and improves his foul shooting.

I think that is the big disconnect for Simmons and fans that give him a pass on developing his offensive game.

Many players can be stars, but few lead their team to championships and that is the difference between being good and great.

If Simmons, and Embiid too, are never expected to continue developing their skill set to help the team (and themselves) to win, that would be a great shame and big loss of an opportunity.

If the Process never leads to a championship, it will hammer home a final nail into the 76ers coffin of failure.

[phillychuck]

Richardson hurt in Toronto tonight. Looks like the same hamstring that kept him out for 6 games earlier in the season.

[zambonir]

I don't think anyone expects them to stop developing. It's just that they are still developing. No, they are not championship caliber stars yet. No, the Sixers are not a championship team. Yes, the Process has failed, at least for now.

It's been one misery after another, truth to be told - draft miscues, trade miscues, firing Hinkie, hiring Colangelo, Colangelo's nonsense, Fultz, having no GM. Compared to all that Brand's attempts to remake the team just seem like normal basketball stuff, and yet it's still a good team (that probably would have made the finals last year with a little better luck).

Even at the time Simmons was drafted it was known that Embiid and Simmons (to say nothing of Okafor) weren't going to be an easy fit. But it wasn't even clear if Embiid would ever have a career back then, and you take the BPA.

Are these two guys not The Guys (at least not together) or have they been failed by the coach and GM? We're still gonna find out.

Is Brett Brown the Right Coach to Lead Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid to a...

[bigegypt0417]

Are these two guys not The Guys (at least not together) or have they been failed by the coach and GM? We're still gonna find out.

I've soured on BB but I think to make a fair assessment the sixers need to add pieces to their second unit. Other than Korkmaz/Thybulle, the bench is a weak spot.

They really aren't going anywhere if they have such a steep fall off when their starters sit.

[Dirk41]

The Mavs are "contenders", but Delon Wright is a player I wish the Sixers would look at for some energy off the bench. Not the shooter they need, but would be a nice fit with Korkmaz and Thybulle.

[zambonir]

Nobody knows anything about this Sixers team really.

[bigegypt0417]

Ben Simmons with another tremendous game on both ends of the court.

Nice win against the Lakers.

108-91

[phillychuck]

Sixers dominated most of the night. About as good as they can play, really. Shake Milton looked like a valuable bench piece. Good on the offensive end, passable defensively. It's pretty clear right now that Brett is not giving Ennis or Scott significant minutes and is trying to move away from them in the projected playoff rotation. That means the healthy playoff bench is Furkan and Matisse. They need a big player off the bench (buy-out pick-up?) and a shot creator (trade? Burke?).

When they play like they did last night v. the Lakers or on Christmas v. the Bucks or in every game v. the Celtics you can see why they are contenders. Love to see them get the 2 or 3 seed--they play so much better at home.

They are such a good match-up for the Lakers if they meet them in the finals they have a good shot...Simmons defends LeBron well, and Embiid can handle Davis as well as anyone.

[bkeich]

Sixers with what can only be called a low effort game against a bad team (Warriors) last night. I can't think of a game when we only had 2 offensive rebounds, they seemed to sleep walk to victory, but the game was way too close too long.

On the upside Embiid is back and had a decent game and Simmons made 9-10 FT. Win. Easy win, that should have been easier, but there are always games like this, at least they did win.

[bigegypt0417]

Over the last fews days I'm not really sure I've seen much high energy basketball.

I think it feels like players are going through the motions.

[bkeich]

Over the last fews days I'm not really sure I've seen much high energy basketball.

I think it feels like players are going through the motions.

Yea, despite the Lakers being my 2nd favorite team (from the Magic / Kareem days) I was not really that big of a fan of Kobe (but a huge fan of Shaq). That said, 41 is very sad and his 13 year old daughter (not to mention the 3 other young ladies and their parents) is just heart breaking. I saw the interview with Shaq this morning and you could tell that despite all the things they may have said about each other over the years and friction, he really did still think of him as his (little) brother and that he is just completely heart broken (along with losing his sister a few months ago).

The fact that this many players are clearly affected says something about what they thought of Kobe the person. You dont see this kind of reaction all the time, and just because he was one of the best 20 or so basketball players of all time isnt exactly what these guys are reacting too.

[Philsmania]

Over the last fews days I'm not really sure I've seen much high energy basketball.

I think it feels like players are going through the motions.

Yea, despite the Lakers being my 2nd favorite team (from the Magic / Kareem days) I was not really that big of a fan of Kobe (but a huge fan of Shaq). That said, 41 is very sad and his 13 year old daughter (not to mention the 3 other young ladies and their parents) is just heart breaking. I saw the interview with Shaq this morning and you could tell that despite all the things they may have said about each other over the years and friction, he really did still think of him as his (little) brother and that he is just completely heart broken (along with losing his sister a few months ago).

The fact that this many players are clearly affected says something about what they thought of Kobe the person. You dont see this kind of reaction all the time, and just because he was one of the best 20 or so basketball players of all time isnt exactly what these guys are reacting too.

Some people just take on a larger than life persona and when they die young, it has a big effect. I remember when Darryl Kile died in 2002. Players all around baseball mourned intensely. Yet, five years later when another Cardinal, Josh Hancock died in a car crash, it seemingly caused barely a ripple throughout the game.

[zambonir]

Some people just take on a larger than life persona and when they die young, it has a big effect. I remember when Darryl Kile died in 2002. Players all around baseball mourned intensely. Yet, five years later when another Cardinal, Josh Hancock died in a car crash, it seemingly caused barely a ripple throughout the game.

And I don't think anyone in our actual Kobe thread has even mentioned Cory Lidle.

Barely aware of the game or the score from last night, clearly it was more about the memorials. Even Embiid being back took a backseat to his uniform.

[zambonir]

Rich Hofmann on Twitter

[el-pietro]

Hey do you know what would be nice? If the Sixers could beat bad teams on the road? Is that too much to ask?

[VoteForKalas]

The Jekyll and Hyde routine continues....it really is bizarre how this team just cannot maintain their focus and work ethic from game to game and how poorly they play on the road compared to home.

The Hawks are the worst team in the EC and one we should beat by 20. The defense was horrible all night and outside of a good showing by Simmons in the first half, some signs of life from Scott and a career game from Milton, the offense was total blah. Embiid seemed exhausted and disinterested all night.

I am pleased with how Simmons over the last 5 games has improved at the foul line and is more aggressive going to the rim, but unfortunately down the stretch he vanished again.