2024-2025 Sixers Season

[Docs]

Not sure if he is healthy but PG reinjured his knee last night

[zambonir]

Is he ever healthy? Is anyone? I think it's like Bryce Harper this past year or Chase Utley later in his career, except Joel is a lot less well-conditioned and a much more difficult machine to keep tuned up. Let's hope for now it's just that he simply isn't fully recovered and in game shape from this most recent issue or setback. I don't know how he looked last night but at least the points were there.

It's getting late early in any case.

[zambonir]

The team seems to have moved past it already but this is the real drama about the meeting I think. Who talked, and why?

Joel Embiid sounds off after details of Sixers’ team meeting emerge: ‘Whoever...

“whoever leaked that is a real piece of [expletive].”

“We talked about a lot of things [during the meeting],” Embiid said Wednesday after the Sixers’ 117-111 loss to the Grizzlies. “I don’t want to get into the details, but that whole thing [with Maxey] probably took 30 seconds. But then again, it’s Joel Embiid, so we’ve got to make everything blown out of proportion.

“It’s whatever. I’ll take it all. I’m the reason for everything, so I’ll take the blame for everything.”

[VoteForKalas]

To take a break from our horrible current season with dysfunctional stars, here is a fantastic article on Dr. J and his legacy as a NBA great. It is an Athletic article so for those who cannot read it, I'll try to post some excerpts later.

The Doctor is In

[zambonir]

Is is actually a book excerpt, so that's another way to read it (and a lot more).

I'm amazed Athletic still doesn't have gift links like the rest of the NYT.

[bkeich]

Well, we are at the 20% mark of the season and getting crushed in game 17. Pace of 15-67.

Do we talk about how to get out of the George contract? 38% from the field, 28% from 3pt (only 8 games). If he also only plays 30 games do they bring him back for another try?

Everyone disagreed with my Embiid will only plays 30 games statement, seem as far off now? He is on a pace to barely break double digits.

Maxey’s stats are atrocious, it is clear he cannot be the #1 player on a team, at least yet.

Caleb Martin is what he is. A forward that doesn’t shoot well, doesn’t rebound much and, well, doesn’t earn his contract. This guy is still a total mystery to me why anyone was excited to waste what little cap space we had on him.

McCain is a great pickup. It is just unfortunate that having him and Maxey on the court at the same time is a big problem (other team will bring in a big guard and neither of them can guard him).

[zambonir]

Hey, they are a lot more in this than they were the Clippers game!

I think the issue at this point is not how many games Joel plays this year but how many games plays the rest of his career (or at least his Sixers career). It may have been you who also brought up the name Andrew Bynum.

But there's clearly more going on here than just the age and health of these two guys.

Not that the franchise hasn't been dysfunctional or cursed or both for the entire Process. Only Joel exceeded expectations/stayed healthy compared to everything else, even if he's not doing either of those things now (and we never would have gotten him in the first place if he was perfectly healthy). But it is starting to seem like Joel himself is the thing that is going on now. The weird way this has all played out, and also the suggestion that he wanted the team to get Jimmy (who wasn't even really available) and didn't want George.

[bkeich]

Yea, there are issues here for sure. Some player leaked the players only meeting and Embiid is very mad. The issue more may be is that he isn’t upset at the criticisms levied to him, but is mad at the leak. I have a feeling this leak needs to be determined, and if is obvious that no one has owned up to it yet. I can’t help but fear that Embiid missed the points of the meeting.

Embiid may not be the all effort guy I thought he was, or the lead by example guy. He may not have support on the team, like I thought he did.

This may get exceptionally ugly, like McNabb/Owens ugly.

Unless I am mistaken Embiid/ George and Maxey have yet to be on the floor together. I am starting to fear it may never happen.

[zambonir]

I'm not sure the meeting was that big a deal as far as what Maxey said, but yes, the leak was. And it wasn't necessarily a player who leaked it! Though, if it was, hard to know if they really did it with intent or just couldn't stop themselves from answering Shams' texts.

[bkeich]

I'm not sure the meeting was that big a deal as far as what Maxey said, but yes, the leak was. And it wasn't necessarily a player who leaked it! Though, if it was, hard to know if they really did it with intent or just couldn't stop themselves from answering Shams' texts.

Yea, if it was that they couldn’t stop themselves I think they would have owned up by now. Of course no way to know that, I am just worried that this locker room will be a disaster until it is figured out.

When you look at the stats this year, basically no one is playing well except McCain and (the French guy). Even MCain is not necessarily that efficient as just getting more shots than expected.

I can’t help but wonder if there isn’t a need for a PJ Tucker-type leader. Doesn’t seem like this is any more than a bunch of guys playing a pickup game together.

Obviously I am not in the locker room and my statements are just speculation. Nurse is a good coach, if it is as bad as I fear he obviously would know, but is there a way to fix it?

[zambonir]

Nurse does not seem to have a handle on things either which is presumably a product of the dysfunction both above him and in the locker room. We know he's a great tactical coach but he's never had to manage multiple "personalities." Obviously the one year he had Kawhi everybody knew that was a short-term arrangement and Kawhi was happy to be there instead of Texas.

[phillychuck]

Nurse had a handle on everything last year, and last year wasn't smooth sailing either. I don't understand why he's not managing the situation better this season. Toxic mix of personalities?

[zambonir]

Well, like I said, the problems, speculatively, seem to be things he can't control this year. Last season he and Morey were on the same page and united in gutting out the Harden situation. This season started with the coach seemingly having no idea what was going on with his best player, whether that was something Joel decided or the front office decided. But it wasn't Nurse.

Perhaps the difference (and maybe even the leak) is George? Joel is used to be being the alpha on the team. Butler wasn't around very long (and they got on). Simmons was still a kid and not a leader. Harden was certainly not going to be someone to call Joel out on bad work habits. But, chemistry is also something you have to develop and they haven't had a chance to do it. But will they?

[bkeich]

Sixers win 2 in a row against (other) really bad teams.

If we can get the big 3 on the court for more than the 6 minutes they have played together so far, maybe we can get this turned around. At least to a degree to make the extended playoffs, but being in the play in should not be the goal, it is just too “sketchy” to continue out of it.

This really is going to be a disaster as George and Embiid age, they are both already on the downside. Maybe this season and next and they have to dump one of them?

It doesn’t look like we will ever win the bizzarre / stupid NBA Cup. Oh, wait, maybe there was another goal also.

[phillychuck]

Maxey has been playing very badly this year. He has not figured out his role on this team as constituted. George played at an all-star level last night, and McCain was good off the bench.
Tonight will be interesting. They could really use Embiid since I expect George will sit. Bona has been really good in short bursts, too.

They really have to figure out if Embiid is coming back at some point this season. If not, they should either completely tank, or try to figure out what they are doing as a team that is not centered around an elite big man and still trying to win. For them to have any success, Maxey has to get back to shooting 40% on 3s and being an efficient scorer. I don't know if he can do that without Embiid to draw coverage.

I want to precede what I'm about to say by flat out stating that I love Embiid as a player and as a man, but I would really like to know if he is chronically injured now, is pissed off at the team and lacking motivation, or is on some path to short-term recovery from the knee injury. It's pretty hard on fans (and I'm sure on the coaches and other players) to have his situation so much up in the air. He doesn't owe us anything, but, just the same, I'd really like to know.

[zambonir]

It's all rather mysterious, especially since the Sixers supposedly consulted six different medical opinions before finalizing the extension. And that was in September, long after any post-Olympics issues might have surfaced.

But I think there is probably less drama than it seems. "Chronically injured" or "on some path to short-term recovery" remains the Occam's Razor explanation.

[zambonir]

It doesn’t look like we will ever win the bizzarre / stupid NBA Cup. Oh, wait, maybe there was another goal also.

I can't believe we've already been eliminated. This season is such a disappointment.

[bigegypt0417]

Might as well be...you aren't going to win enough with your two best players never playing.

Embiid and paul might be lucky to play 80 combined games.

[zambonir]

I meant from the NBA Cup. Like, I actually didn't know.

[bigegypt0417]

Yeah...sorry.

My frustration level is really high. No way the fools running this didn't see this coming?