2019-2020 Sixers Season/Offseason

[Dirk41]

He doesn't need to shoot threes to score as much as he needs to keep defenses from leaving him wide open and effectively making possessions 5 on 4 in their favor. It's happening again this season despite the record. No one believes he will shoot.

[LegoDoom]

We should care if he ever shoots a 3 as that is what will make him an elite player.

And while I understand that he needs to shoot a 3 in order to spread out the defense, but if his true percentage is 25%, then the defense still shouldn't cover him. He needs to hit some (not just shoot) before it makes any sense for the other team to care if he even attempts a 3.

[teabag259]

Yes he doesn’t have to be even a good 3 point shooter but moving forward everything he does offensively can’t be layups, dunks, and drives to the rim where he can utilize his passing ability. He has to at least start taking some mid range jumpers or teams will simply start playing 3 feet or more off him. I really can’t believe opponents haven’t done that yet.

[bigegypt0417]

Unbelievable win for the sixers tonight. 129-128

Kormaz with a 3 with .4 seconds on the clock...sixers were down 21 in the 3rd quarter.

[xogfog]

Wow, the Sixers just stole a game in Portland, without Embid, amazing comeback win.trailed by 10 going into the 4th, goes down at the end with Portland hitting a 3 to take a two point lead with 2.2 seconds left. Sixers had a time out and from the side out inbound, Simmons finds Korkmaz in the corner who buries a 3 to win it with ,04 seconds left. Sixers still unbeaten, only team in the league that is.

[frylock]

That was unbelievable!!!! I'm still shaking!!!

I've never been a Brett Brown guy, but great start to the season! There's been about three games I'd call ugly and could've easily been losses, but been grinding it out, making adjustments, and making some nice comebacks. Love the fight in these guys, and a few of the comebacks have been minus Joel.

I fully expected a loss tonight as Portland is no slouch. WOW!!!

[phillychuck]

And Dame Lillard was hot as a firecracker tonight, too. Hood and Hezonja also played well. And we still came back down 21 at one point.

[zambonir]

Not sure they win that game if Hood doesn't leave, but wow. Big finish from Simmons after a rough middle. The other Simmons is a lot of fun too, was almost his night.

[xogfog]

The other Simmons is actually a Simons

[phillychuck]

Portland is a very good team. CJ might be their third-best guard. He was tonight. I'd love to see them knock off the Clippers in the playoffs this year.

[zambonir]

Ah, indeed.

People in Portland think they are finals material this year and maybe they are with a diminished GS and a full roster. Last night Whiteside, Gasol and Collins were all out, as well as Nurkic of course.

I thought the Sixers were unwatchable for a good chunk of the middle of the game but they got everything they could have possibly wanted out of a night without Joel - Harris stepped up, Horford was the difference, Simmons came back around and made those free throws and for a team that wasn't supposed to have a bench they sure looked deep last night. And for one big play at least, they had their gunner.

Last time I saw them in person here was a few weeks after the AI trade.

[bkeich]

Really nice to see Simmons calmly make 2 free throws in the clutch. Both were perfect. Kid has the demeanor to be a great player, if he can just take some 15 foot jumpers he is unstoppable. He doesn’t need to make 3s.

Sizers are going to be a rough watch, they are a very good defensive team and just an above average offensive. The more open they can keep the game the better, they will score more often than their opponent in a fairly fast paced game.

[bigegypt0417]

Absolutely brutal loss.

Up 21 and blow it.

[Philsmania]

All of the sudden, this doesn't look like a championship team.

[phillychuck]

For three quarters they killed them. Then in the 4th they blew foul shots, airballed open 3's, Embiid became a turnover machine, and they couldn't defend the pick and roll (again). Brett pushed every correct button for three quarters, then totally screwed up the rotations in the 4th.

They have a long way to go.

[xogfog]

They have 3 losses, all on the road, one game without Embid, one game without Simmons, and one game with only 1 quarter with Simmons and they lost those games by 5 points, 2 points and 3 points. Let's not push the panic button just yet.

[kmc1019]

Xogfog, for the sake of balance I'll take the opposing view from your rosy to the point of wearing blinders outlook. They are one Korkmaz 3-pointer away from an 0-4 road trip and being a .500 team. Simmons has again shown no willingness to even attempt an outside shot, which will be an Achilles heel for the team's playoff hopes. Embiid has been far from a superstar, caring more about making fun of opponents' moms on social media than about working to win games. This is a team that believes its own press clippings a little too much.

[zambonir]

I think it's a little early to be overly negative or overly positive. To me baseball teams kind of are what they are on day 1 (though obviously they still evolve and change). Basketball teams take a couple of months. Last year the Sixers kind of had to go through that twice.

But even if they had gone 0-4 on the road, given missing players, not a disaster. Especially since they've only played two home games total.

And did anyone really think it was a championship team at the start of the season? That's the hope and the ceiling yeah, but I think most people have them as a mere toss-up to get out of the Eastern finals.

[bigegypt0417]

Watching the offensive foul call on embiid you realize how bad the referees are. Jokic was hooking embiid the whole time...if you arent calling that then you should swallow the whistle.

[Dirk41]

Jokic shut down Embiid. How this is possible when you look at them next to one another is amazing