2024-2025 Sixers Season

[zambonir]

Joel's already been ruled out for Friday and Sunday. So yeah that seems more like his knee hurts/is swelling than caution/load management. But you said you didn't understand it, what part did you mean?

[phillychuck]

I don't understand how he was playing in the Olympics, did not have a setback, and is not ready now. Did he have a setback and the team is covering? Is this part of a long-term load management plan they are not sharing with us or the league? Are they just messing with the fans? I don't understand it, but I'm not real upset about it, either.

[dicemen99]

I don't understand how he was playing in the Olympics, did not have a setback, and is not ready now. Did he have a setback and the team is covering? Is this part of a long-term load management plan they are not sharing with us or the league? Are they just messing with the fans? I don't understand it, but I'm not real upset about it, either.

He was wearing a bulky knee brace in the Olympics and didn't look great at times - like not 100%. So odds are he's still making his way back from there.

If you want to complain about him playing there, have at it, but I don't see how the Sixers could have nixed that without causing a huge schism. It seemed as if this was pretty important to Joel, getting the gold, playing with the other superstars.

Of course, there is always this quote out there from this summer:

“As soon as we lost last year,” he said, “I texted [Daryl Morey] and I was like, ‘We’ve got to do whatever it takes to make sure that, in the postseason, I’m healthy.’ This year, there’s no agenda — All-Star, All-NBA, there’s none of that. It’s whatever it takes to make sure that I get to that point and I’m ready to go.”

Doesn't seem like playing in the Olympics jives with that statement, but that's pretty much what I expect from Joel. Not that there is anything wrong with that - that's 98% of the guys in the NBA now.

We shall see what happens during the regular season. To me it really doesn't matter. I don't see him ever being able to complete an entire condensed-game playoff run unscathed and in-condition no matter what they do with him in terms of playing games in the regular season.

If he's using this time to get himself in the best condition of his life, then I'll be happily wrong.

[Docs]

i honestly wouldn't care if he sat out until January and i have no problem with him playing in the olympics - what an amazing experience. the regular season is too long and doesn't mean much as long as you make the playoffs. i thought it was silly that the league forced the spurs to play tim duncan, i loved when he was DNP-old (although the fans that paid to see him didn't chuckle as much as I did).

[zambonir]

Well yeah it's just not clear if "left knee injury management" is supposed to be code for "he's injured" or code for "we're not calling it load management but that's what is." I'm not sure there has to have been a setback per se for there to still be real soreness or swelling. Possibly any time all season, just like Bryce was never not suffering from a sore back all season.

[bigegypt0417]

Shams reporting the NBA will be looking in to Embiid's Plan.

[Docs]

Pay the fine whatever it is. The nba forcing players to play 82 games is crazy.

[phillychuck]

It's certainly crazy on their stupid schedule with the crazy back-to-backs and 3 games in 4 nights.

[bigegypt0417]

I understand it from the perspective of those who buy tickets to see a pkayer miss out due to the need for rest. I'd still pay the fine!

[zambonir]

I mean, if the Sixers are just playing games with load management that's fine by me. Certainly not how the local media sees it. Hayes column today rips him (perhaps wrongly) for being out of shape as usual while Murphy column just talks about how it's always something with this team.

[phillychuck]

Hayes is a talentless muckraker. He's like the best compass ever for ideas. Whatever he thinks, the opposite is reliably true.

[zambonir]

I wouldn't say he's talentless. But yeah, he's the heir to Stephen A.

[bkeich]

Tonight is the first game of a fear will be many that the Sixers lose because they cannot rebound. On their offensive end they are being out rebounded 34-10, on their defensive end they have only gotten 16 of 31 rebounds.

That is with only Drummond working on the boards. He is a great per minute rebounder, but he is alone because we don’t have a Power Forward.

[zambonir]

or a starting center!

supposedly Sixers are trying to get Tucker back

[phillychuck]

Regardless of who is around him, the Sixers won't win when Maxey shoots 20%, which is approximately what he has shot in the first two games. It's a make or miss league, and when you miss a lot of shots you lose.

[phillychuck]

That Tucker rumor was denied, he's not a power forward, either, he's like 6'4".

[zambonir]

I mean, if Maxey was supposed to carry a team they wouldn't have needed George (and would have done better w/o Joel last year).

Any granular issues will surely be addressed by the deadline, they have the assets. Clearly it is more a question of whether Joel's load management and George's health will get them a good seed or not.

[phillychuck]

They are good enough without George and Embiid to beat a pretty terrible, injured Toronto team. But they have to shoot a lot better.

[bkeich]

or a starting center!

supposedly Sixers are trying to get Tucker back

Yea, putting in Embiid for Drummond actually makes the problem worse. Drummond is a very good rebounder, it is really the best part of his game. With Embiid on the floor instead obviously everything gets better, EXCEPT rebounding.

As it is, when Embiid shoots we have no one to even compete for an offensive rebound unless Embiid follows up his shot.

This is a fatal flaw for this team. You can’t be out rebounded by 20+ and have any chance at winning. Maxey had a terrible game which is unusual, but giving up nearly 50% of the rebounds as offensive rebounds to the other team is almost impossible to compensate for.

Caleb Martin simply is not a Power Forward. He was a bad signing because there is no room for him on the court with George, and playing 3 guards and him is even worse (as we proved last night). If he can’t play 3-and-D he can’t be on the court.

[phillychuck]

Let's not be myopic here and overvalue the evidence from one game.

They out-rebounded the bucks by 18 boards. The common problem in both losses wasn't rebounding or defense, it was shot-making and shot-creation (to enable easier shots). Embiid and George will help with that.

I'm also really disappointed with the effort over the first two games--maybe the team is getting the message that winning isn't important since the star and leader of the team is not on the court, and all the conversation has been about staying healthy, not winning. I think they are taking a very risky psychological approach with the team. This is where Nurse needs to earn his money, honestly.