2019-2020 Sixers Season/Offseason

bigegypt0417 2020-02-06 19:58:32 UTC #323

Ennis traded to the magic for a second

phillychuck 2020-02-06 20:19:32 UTC #324

Lakers 2020 second, which is going to be close to last.

bigegypt0417 2020-02-06 20:42:52 UTC #325

Sixer fans are unhappy that they are waiving Trey Burke and keeping Neto...I'm having trouble understanding that too.

VoteForKalas 2020-02-06 21:26:18 UTC #326

Me too, Burke actually made plays. Oh well, one knew Brand could not make 3 good moves in a row lol

phillychuck 2020-02-06 21:26:45 UTC #327

Burke and Ennis made Brett's doghouse somehow. Probably we will never know exactly why. It might be serious, who knows.

In terms of basketball reasons Neto is a passable defender while Burke....just isn't.

I'll miss Ennis, but he clearly transgressed some boundary sometime in the middle of January with only single-digit minutes (average) since then minus the garbage minutes last game.

When does buy-out season start?

bigegypt0417 2020-02-06 22:58:12 UTC #328

Normally the minute the deadline passes.

I just dont see any names on there that would be very helpful.

zambonir 2020-02-07 17:55:48 UTC #329

Part of the story of this season is what went wrong for the Sixers but another part is how much went right for other teams (which is not to say it was luck). Toronto didn't get worse. Miami has gotten a LOT better than expected - partly with our help - and just got better again. And the gap between the Bucks and everyone else is also bigger than it was last year. It's almost like the last two years didn't happen - good chance the Sixers aren't going anywhere if they can't get past Boston (or Miami), except with no first-round warm-up series. Doesn't bode well for Joel either.

bkeich 2020-02-07 18:31:32 UTC #330

It is hard to imagine anyone beating Milwaukee at this point in a 7 game series in the East if they stay healthy. The difference between them and the rest of the conference is pretty extreme.

The west is much closer I think. Both LA teams look to be on some type of collision course. Houston is taking a very interesting, dangerous approach. Basically just saying we are going to run and shoot past you, possibly forcing their opponents to go small also if it works.

zambonir 2020-02-07 18:38:50 UTC #331

We were built to beat Milwaukee and seem capable of doing so but a lot would have to go right, now including just surviving the first round (both as the winner and health-wise).

Opinions seems really split on what the Rockets are actually doing - or at least, that they wouldn't be doing it if they weren't also watching their $ - but it worked last night.

bkeich 2020-02-07 18:46:09 UTC #332

It isnt a bad risk and it might be fun to watch. If they just stayed with a standard lineup they are going to lose to the Lakers for sure, so take a crazy chance and see if you can run Lebron and AD off the floor. Nothing really to lose and any offense with the beard in it can work assuming you arent counting him to play defense or pass the ball (he does actually get a fair number of assists, but I get the idea it is begrudgingly) . As a fan who honestly doesnt really care about Houston or the West this year, I like the potential for a different approach. Of course somehow Houston also has to get out of the first round also.

The Sixers still have time to find themselves. I have to think that Brett Brown knows he is coaching for his job at this point and the odds are long. I am not even sure just making it to the Eastern Finals is enough, he almost has to win them to be retained as I think it is becoming clear that either a) he can't bring this team together or b) he is the victim of players that are just not a match.

zambonir 2020-02-08 03:32:50 UTC #333

Brand declines to guarantee Brown's job for the rest of the season (though in some ways would be worse if he gave the full "dreaded vote of confidence").

Seems very unlikely it would fix anything but maybe as a shake-up/wake-up, if things stays bad.

Good win tonight. Richardson back, Korkmaz doing his Reddick imitation. Embiid just 16 minutes. Hopefully we'll actually get to see a full, healthy team four four or five weeks before April comes.

phillychuck 2020-02-08 04:03:52 UTC #334

Nice win. The home Sixers are pretty tough...

bigegypt0417 2020-02-10 15:30:35 UTC #335

That's the part that is so strange...I went to see them play the Bucks on Thursday and they really looked bad. Embiid played disinterested for 3 quarters and Simmons wasn't very effective either. Watching Embiid and Horford shoot bad thee after three was so frustrating.

I can't believe they are the same team when they play at home.

VoteForKalas 2020-02-10 16:29:19 UTC #336

Confidence can be a big factor; they are more comfortable at home and that allows them to play more effectively as individuals and also as a team. Like we all know, that confidence comes from winning games together and instills the mental toughness needed to overcome obstacles consistently. This shows up on offense, but even more so on defense.

On the road, even against bad teams, that confidence vanishes and they play tentative, without mental toughness and the teamwork breaks down as each player seems to embark on their own separate game plan. Defensively, they really seem to struggle to perform cohesively and offensively they are lost.

I think this is one reason why Brown is on, or should be on, thin ice job-wise. A head coach has to figure out how to get his team to perform at a high level consistently. If he cannot, which I think is becoming clear, then he needs to be replaced with someone who can. I see zero accountability being established by Brown; players are speaking out publicly about the team, their roles and ignore his direction. Not positive developments if I'm Brand and Harris.

zambonir 2020-02-10 18:26:22 UTC #337

I gather the Sixers weren't even especially good yesterday, at home against a bad team. Horford, 0 points, not one of the (putative) starting five had a positive +/-, Korkmaz basically saved their bacon.

Brown is obviously gone unless they make a run (both now and in the playoffs). Doesn't mean a new coach will fix it though. The Sixers have ownership issues and front office issues and roster/fit issues. And it's a player's league, but our players haven't earned the right to pick their coach yet. We're also never going to be the Warriors or the Spurs of old (with an impeccable franchise culture and great GMs/coaches as well as stars). Can they do what Toronto managed to do last year? Is Brown actually a worse coach than Budenholzer, or does he just have a worse team (above and below him)?

bigegypt0417 2020-02-10 21:31:07 UTC #338

Simmons had a triple double and embiid went for 28 and 12.

They shot 50% from the field and hit 11 3's.

I'm not sure saying they weren't that good is accurate.

What are the front office issues?

The ownership team has essentially taken a backseat.

We have a coaching issue but we are also a very talented team.

At the end of the day we may need to see a new coach before this front office does anything drastic.

zambonir 2020-02-10 21:43:27 UTC #339

They should beat the Bulls at home by 20 points. They trailed early in the third and didn't even win by double-digits. Embiid obviously delivered and is also still hurt, but:

Embiid finished with 28 points and four blocks and six offensive rebounds and was one of the primary reasons the Sixers were able to pull away down the stretch. But he was also one of the main reasons that there was pulling away to be done. After that early basket against Kornet, he spent much of the next three quarters operating at a distant remove as the Bulls outscored the Sixers, 58-45, in the second and third. As good as he was in the fourth quarter, Kornet nearly outplayed him on the night, scoring 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting, including six buckets within six feet of the rim. By contrast, Embiid finished with only three buckets inside six feet.

And while I'm not a huge Marcus Hayes fan, someone (Brand? Brown?) is clearly whispering in his ear here. Today he ripped Joel, which is basically Stephen A. Smith type nonsense, but the second column was more interesting to me.

It always starts with ownership. Doesn't matter whether they are hand-on or hands-off. And this ownership has not accomplished one thing yet. The fact that Brand and Brown originally directly reported to Harris and now Brown is reporting to Brand is no big deal in and of itself, but only further highlights the instability. And I find Hayes' premise - that Jo and Ben are not accountable to the front office, just ownership - plausible (and also not that unusual. The difference is Jo and Ben aren't LeBron or MJ).

I imagine after this season, if it all goes bad, we'll finally hear how and why the Sixers really made the moves they did this past off-season.

VoteForKalas 2020-02-11 00:49:14 UTC #340

How many jump shots did Simmons take? That is the issue he has blatantly ignored Brown's direction on.
Embiid played better, glad the neck issue was minor, but can he sustain it?

50% is quite good, but again the Bulls D is horrible. It does seem like the 76ers are pretty dependent on hitting 3's. If they hit them a lot, they beat the Bucks on Christmas and could beat any team. If they do not, they really struggle offensively especially if Embiid is not on the post and Simmons is doing nothing but passing.

I agree, but they are a Jekyll and Hyde team that do not even seem to know themselves which team is going to show up each game.

Brand has put together a roster with serious flaws plus he has capped us out which hurts our flexibility. Is he better than BC? Yea, but so would Rich Kotite or any warm body.. Most believe Brand is over his head; I tend to agree, but will give him more time to see what happens.

Harris is the guy who caved to the NBA and fired Hinkie. Then he hired JC who brought his son, BC, in as GM in a sweetheart nepotism deal with predictable results - it ruined the Process. Being forced to fire BC because of his unethical conduct (not because of his terrible job performance) and finally getting rid of JC as well, he allowed the 76ers to not have any GM for a full critical off-season(!) and then eventually brought in Brand. His ownership has been pretty bad so far IMO.

The roster is flawed, but talented yes due to Embiid and Simmons who were products of the Process. The rest are fungible and expensive.

Firing the coach is likely needed, but the problems are deeper than Brown all the way to to the top and all the way through the roster. It may be a "player's league", but if they cannot take any criticism or any coaching or a benching here and there, then they will never win anything anyway.

zambonir 2020-02-11 05:02:54 UTC #341

It'd be fine if the Sixers were overly dependent on threes if they had people who could get open for and make them every night!

I would add that while I didn't watch the game myself, the generally even-keeled Murphy also said this:

bigegypt0417 2020-02-11 14:34:59 UTC #342

Seriously...either you have decided to ignore the level which Simmons is playing or you have decided this one factor is all you need as a counter argument.

If you were the coach...what would you do?

Did you really respond to a triple double by asking me how many jumpers he took?

lol