2020-21-22 Sixers Season

[xogfog]

And he also clinched a 30 point average for the season, the first center to do that since Moses, yet he won't be the MVP

[zambonir]

It's not like the other two guys aren't deserving. But the fact that there's two of them in the same conference might be why Jokic wins. If you go by the really strict "what would his team be without him?" definition Joel certainly gets the edge this year.

Hope they can pass the Celtics tomorrow.

[phillychuck]

Memphis has nothing to play for. Celts will win by 30.

[zambonir]

And I'm not so sure the Sixers are gonna try that hard either, though with the play-in, plenty of time to rest.

[phillychuck]

No real reason for the Sixers to risk older players on a back-to-back today. 4 seed is worse in round 1, but probably better in round 2 than the 3 seed.

[zambonir]

True, but a dangerous game to play either way, seed-shopping. Especially if you don't win the first round.

And "older" should really only apply to Harden and Green, not Joel. I'm assuming he plays, just not for very long. Scoring title is pretty much locked even if he scores 0 points (but not playing at all would also look a little funny).

[zambonir]

Well now Giannis isn't playing so Joel has clinched the scoring title either way.

[zambonir]

So, Harden inactive, Joel has yet to play. Both games are close though.

[bigegypt0417]

This is why I'm hopeful the Doc Rivers era will be over soon...i don't see a world where Deandre Jirdan should get playoff minutes over younger and better players...

Doc Rivers shoots down ‘Paul Reed victory tour’ with condescending lecture

[zambonir]

You gotta put that on Morey some too. He made the moves, and he should also be perfectly capable of dictating the rotation if he has to (like all analytics-minded front offices, including the Sixers before he came along). I don't think back-up center is ultimately gonna be the issue for this team (especially if it's Thybulle's absence first) but Morey definitely gave the Nets Drummond without a real plan (but that plan could have just been to go with what they had instead of giving a veteran-loving coach a flawed veteran for the second year in a row).

That is not to say I think Doc should stick around. He has not been an upgrade at all, whether in terms of Xs and Os or team chemistry. And what's described in the post above sounds like a coach who knows he's in trouble already, since the the threat of a first-round exit looms so large.

[xogfog]

Sixers first playoff game is scheduled for Saturday at 6:00pm.

[bigegypt0417]

Those are valid points.

At the end of the day...this team needs a coach that will give minutes to the younger players at a time in the season where they can develop while not being to risky of the outcome. We gave a coach who is clearly against playing younger players a young bench...one thing or the other thing has to change.

[bigegypt0417]

Sixers stink against Toronto.

I'm not very optimistic.

[xogfog]

Can't base that opinion of regular season vs. playoffs.

[bkeich]

I almost think that it is a forgon conclusion that Doc is going to the Lakers, but who knows.

I havent been as down on him as you are, but clearly he was not the fix we hoped. I think he did do some good things and at least he has the respect of the players, but he didnt solve the Embiid / Simmons mess and he has not been a great X/O coach. The problem with letting him walk is that just having the respect of the players is something, and D'Antoni has been a good regular season, pretty poor postseason coach. He might get us further in the playoffs, but he has had some very, very good teams and seems to always find a way to not succeed in the playoffs, he isnt really the answer either.

Sadly, I think it might be hard to find players that really work with Embiid. Embiid is a tough guy to combine with, he is best playing on the inside, but he wants to extend out and he isnt bad at it. He wants to get the ball at the 3pt line sometimes and create, which he can do to a great degree. I dont know what types of players you add to a guy like that, they are pretty much always going to be in his way. Maybe a coach that can convince him to reduce his offensive game to the best parts, but that is pretty tough "convince" to a guy who really can create his own shot.

I would hate to be the next coach, honestly, I think the only two possibilities are title(s) and failure. That is a very, very hard yardstick to measure up to given the number of teams out there that are just as good and players that are as physically gifted as guys like Jokic, Giannis, etc.

[xogfog]

I only think Doc is gone if they lose the first series. The roster has been in upheaval every year of his tenure so far. Even if they lost in the 2nd round, I think they will give him the benefit of a doubt to see what a full season of whatever roster the Sixers will have besides Embiid, Harden and Maxey. The fact that Morey had to trade Curry and Drummond and there weren't any worthwhile buy-out players resulting in a weak bench is not Doc's fault and I think the ownership and front office know that.

They will have a bunch of other moves to make to improve the team, especially if they can move Harris. Harden has not signed his extension yet, because if the Sixers can move Harris, they might be able to acquire someone like Beal or Lillard and then sign them to an extension, then they can then sign Harden's extention and still be cap compliant, albeit way into the luxury tax. I think more role players will want to come to the Sixers with core of Embiid, Harden, a third star and Maxey.

[zambonir]

Lakers supposedly want Nurse. Hope that distracts the Raptors. Or wait, can we get him?

Would be nice to find the next Nurse. I suppose that's what Brown was supposed to be, though he had more NBA pedigree.

I would hope Morey is past his D'Antoni fixation. Can Harden even play in that offense like he used to.

The coach isn't the biggest thing here though. Roster will change again this off-season. Ironically the Sixers still have the exact same problem as ever. Harden is more of a scorer and second star than Ben was, but he's not the scorer he once was and is defaulting more to playmaker, and the team is worse on defense and still lacks distance shooters to boot. Maybe Maxey is the third star but you know they would still like to move Tobias, whether they get that third star or just focus on defense and shooting.

I think Doc could still go with a second-round loss. The main thing is, Morey didn't hire him. I'm not saying he really deserves to get fired either way, each of his three seasons have had many other issues that aren't entirely on him, but if you have championship expectation (or pretend you do) those are still failures.

[xogfog]

I don't count either of the last two seasons as failures because the second star on the team was a non-shooting, playoff failure. I can't ding them too hard this season either because this roster has barely had time to gel and is incredibly thin. I think the players really like Doc, so I don't think he's going anywhere.

[bigegypt0417]

It does lend to how the playoffs could go...it doesn't help that the best defensive player on the team is also going to miss 3 games of the series.

We are not a great match-up against the Raptors. Also...there is no way Harden is 100%...Right now he's just barely a better offensive version of...he who I won't name.

[zambonir]

Well, I think Doc's main job was to coach up Ben better than Brown did. Instead he did very little differently... until it was too late and then he just made it worse (not that you can blame him for being honest).

But there is also no excuse for last year's loss to Atlanta. That one was about 50% Doc, 50% the other factors (Ben, Joel's health, the bench).

For sure, saying Doc deserves one more year and one more shot at a revamped roster is perfectly reasonable. He's also not cheap to fire. And as Doc himself proves, the next guy might not actually be better.

Match-ups are everything in the playoffs and this is the worst possible one, especially if they don't take a 2-0 lead.