Sixers 2017-2018 Season

[Lawman]

By all counts, team shot poorly and was defensively porous as well. This falls on both the coach to see what didn't work and make adjustments for Game 2 as well as the players to execute better and take advantage of the mismatches that are there

[LegoDoom]

Celtics are a very good team.

Was this true in game 1? The team was without its 3 best players. How many wins does that team get in the regular season? I feel like it is a very well coached team that shot very well and played good defense.

But I agree with the rest of your post.

[Philsmania]

Only one game, but hopefully this will cause the fans, media and maybe even the team to understand this will not be a cake walk and this team is not a juggernaut. It has been frustrating to hear the hyperbole being spouted when this team and organization has not done anything yet. Earn it and then celebrate.

Celtics are a very good team. Team has to play a lot better defensively and rebound more consistently. This is again where not having a good backup to Embiid hurts us.

Brown needs to show his coaching chops here and get his team back on track.

Agreed. For all their talent, the players on this team are young and impressionable. I can't help but think all the team of destiny talk that was being heaped on them was getting to them and not in a good way.

[zambonir]

I feel like this was just one of those "we weren't ready to play" type games, which is unfortunate but unsurprising. The Celtics are not the Heat, Boston is very much not Miami, and this was their true introduction to playoff pressure and playoff hype (including the self-inflicted hype). Time to adjust/respond.

[VoteForKalas]

Was this true in game 1? The team was without its 3 best players. How many wins does that team get in the regular season? I feel like it is a very well coached team that shot very well and played good defense.

But I agree with the rest of your post.

It is even more impressive being without 3 of their good players IMO. They are well coached and played well on both ends. I agree their shooting should cool off a bit, especially from the 3 pt line and the 76ers should shoot better than they showed.

[LegoDoom]

I'm not saying the Celtics weren't impressive. I am asking if they are still a very good team with the lineup they put out last night. They definitely defended the 3-point line well and the Sixers did not. The result was a lot of contested 3-pointers for the Sixers and not as many for the Celtics. Still, the Celtics shouldn't shoot that well and the Sixers should shoot better, but if the Sixers don't find more open shots, then they still may not shoot well enough to win the series. The Sixers defense was very uninspiring. And if Jaylen Brown can come back, then it definitely won't help the Sixers getting more open looks.

EDIT: Still, Embiid and Simmons have more talent than anyone on the Celtics roster right now. While the Celtics may be well coached, the Sixers are currently the more talented team. That was my whole point. If Brett Brown coached the Celtics last night and Brad Stevens coached the Sixers, then I have to believe that the Sixers win that game.

[LegoDoom]

I feel like this was just one of those "we weren't ready to play" type games, which is unfortunate but unsurprising.

I don't understand this. The Sixers had 6 days to get ready to play this game and the Celtics had a day? The Celtics were also very banged up. Why is it not surprising that the Sixers weren't ready to play this game?

[zambonir]

Now that you mention it sometimes a team can be flat with that much time off too. The Celtics had been tested, the Sixers hadn't been.

I just think it's a young team that has never experienced the playoffs before. Or a Game 1 on the road. I'm not saying it's okay, because it's the coach's job to avoid such pitfalls. But it happens. Sometimes you don't recover from it, sometimes you do.

[VoteForKalas]

I'm not saying the Celtics weren't impressive. I am asking if they are still a very good team with the lineup they put out last night. They definitely defended the 3-point line well and the Sixers did not. The result was a lot of contested 3-pointers for the Sixers and not as many for the Celtics. Still, the Celtics shouldn't shoot that well and the Sixers should shoot better, but if the Sixers don't find more open shots, then they still may not shoot well enough to win the series. The Sixers defense was very uninspiring. And if Jaylen Brown can come back, then it definitely won't help the Sixers getting more open looks.

EDIT: Still, Embiid and Simmons have more talent than anyone on the Celtics roster right now. While the Celtics may be well coached, the Sixers are currently the more talented team. That was my whole point. If Brett Brown coached the Celtics last night and Brad Stevens coached the Sixers, then I have to believe that the Sixers win that game.

Team sometimes trumps talent which is my point and the 76ers talent level is not much higher than the Celtics anyway IMO.

What helps is the 7 game series format, the 76ers should find a way to win the 4 games necessary to advance, but I think it is likely to go all 7.

[LegoDoom]

Team sometimes trumps talent which is my point and the 76ers talent level is not much higher than the Celtics anyway IMO.

This just doesn't seem correct. No one on the court for the Celtics is anywhere near Embiid's talent level. There is a good argument that no one is near Simmons talent level. Horford and Tatum are nice players, but I just don't see a scenario where Embiid and Simmons aren't superior by a good margin.

Rozier is slightly above average. Baynes and Smart are below average. Those players round out their starting 5. I mean, Larkin and Ojeleye got significant minutes and both are fairly awful.

If your point is that team trumps talent, then it means that Brad Stevens is a much better coach than Brett Brown because the talent level on the court should have favored the Sixers... and by a fair amount.

[Philsmania]

Now that you mention it sometimes a team can be flat with that much time off too. The Celtics had been tested, the Sixers hadn't been.

The 2007 World Series. Rockies came in on that 19-1 run and swept through both the Phillies and the Diamondbacks in the NLDS & NLCS. They had a week to spare between the NLCS clincher and WS game 1. Meanwhile, the Red Sox needed seven games to deal with the Indians and had only one day off before the WS started. The layoff cooled off the Rockies who got rolled in four by the Red Sox.

[bigegypt0417]

Only one game, but hopefully this will cause the fans, media and maybe even the team to understand this will not be a cake walk and this team is not a juggernaut. It has been frustrating to hear the hyperbole being spouted when this team and organization has not done anything yet. Earn it and then celebrate.

I mean...two months or so ago you were railing on this team and their lack of progress. I'm not sure if who you were listening to but almost every "basketball" person going in to the Miami series thought the sixers would lose or be stretched to the limit. They weren't and they also showed they can win playing different types of games. The sixers were beaten by a hot shooting team and their defense was a bit exposed.

You want to know what they did?

28
10
18
19

They went from a team that won that many games over a 3 year period to a team that won 52 games and won a playoff series. To really see this season as anything but a success seems odd to me. The sixers are playing the #2 seed and lost the first game on the road...is that uncommon or something?

[LegoDoom]

The sixers were beaten by a hot shooting team and their defense was a bit exposed.

This is such a simplistic take. The Celtics defended well and created open shots in order to even have the opportunity to be a hot shooting team. I think this is a reason to be worried. Now, the Sixers will shoot better even if they continue to take contested 3's, but it's still a reason to be worried if they can't generate open shots.

The Sixers were also a hot shooting team against the Heat, which you don't seem to acknowledge when you say that they won that series. And who was saying that the Sixers would lose to the Heat? I think Vegas odds had them favored in every game and has them as the best odds to win the eastern conference.

The sixers are playing the #2 seed and lost the first game on the road...is that uncommon or something?

It is when the Celtics are missing the players that they are. Would they be the #2 seed without Kyrie and Jaylen Brown? The Sixers were favored by 5 on the road.

[bigegypt0417]

The sixers were beaten by a hot shooting team and their defense was a bit exposed.

This is such a simplistic take. The Celtics defended well and created open shots in order to even have the opportunity to be a hot shooting team. I think this is a reason to be worried. Now, the Sixers will shoot better even if they continue to take contested 3's, but it's still a reason to be worried if they can't generate open shots.

So you call my take simplistic and then tell me if the sixers cant generate open shots they may be in trouble? I'm not sure I didn't anything about not being worried. I'm not going to be shocked if they lose this series but at the end of the day I'm very happy with the trajectory of this team.]

[el-pietro]

The schedule of this series seems strange to me. Maybe exacerbated by the time zones for me but Game One Monday night in Boston. Game Two Thursday night in Boston. Game Three Saturday afternoon in Philly. Surely if there's going to be a gap between games it should be when they travel (I realise its not an epic journey exactly but that eats into rest, recovery and tactical adjustment time for both teams). As I said it probably seems more extreme for me as I tend to watch the evening games first thing the following morning so its Tuesday, Friday Saturday for me but still.

[LegoDoom]

There are many different ways to generate open shots, so I kept it simplistic on purpose. The Sixers were taking contested shots because they couldn't find ways to get open. Your take was that the Celtics were running hot, but didn't acknowledge how they were even in a position to run hot. As such, I attributed your comment was more about luck than skill. Also, #2 > #3 is still very simplistic when you don't consider the current rosters of the teams or the fact that the Sixers are favored in this series.

Are there people that aren't happy with the trajectory of this team? I didn't like the trade up for Fultz and not only do I like the trajectory of this team, but think the team can make it to the finals this year. However, losing to the team that the Celtics put on the court the other night should be concerning to everyone. Especially when the team was fully rested and Boston was not. Being concerned over a game/series is not the same thing as being worried about the teams trajectory. Just being at the point in the playoffs is a huge win for this team. However, it should be a disappointment if they lose to the Celtics given the health of both teams.

[zambonir]

The NBA TV schedule has always been incredibly weird to me, but I"m a hockey fan.

I agree the Sixers are still in good shape. Get this thing to 2-2 and their greater youth/talent level should help them take the remaining best-of-three, even w/o home court. Of course winning Game 2 still pretty important.

[bigegypt0417]

There are many different ways to generate open shots, so I kept it simplistic on purpose.

Now, the Sixers will shoot better even if they continue to take contested 3's, **but it's still a reason to be worried if they can't generate open shots. **

Again...very hard to call something simplistic and then offer a simplistic response. I'm fairly certain if the sixers cant find a way to generate open shots it will not be as fun as the first round.

[LegoDoom]

Sorry. Obviously the Sixers were ice cold from 3. They should hit more going forward.
/sarcasm

My point was that there was a reason that the Sixers didn't shoot well and the Celtics did. Other than your hot/cold analysis.

It's not like the Sixers were hitting open shots against Miami all the time. They were hot while shooting off-balance shots. But hey, they won despite all of the experts saying they wouldn't!

[bigegypt0417]

Sorry. Obviously the Sixers were ice cold from 3. They should hit more going forward.
/sarcasm

My point was that there was a reason that the Sixers didn't shoot well and the Celtics did. Other than your hot/cold analysis.

It's not like the Sixers were hitting open shots against Miami all the time. They were hot while shooting off-balance shots. But hey, they won despite all of the experts saying they wouldn't!

I really do enjoy your posts...you seem to be a good mix of condescending and obvious...it's always a good combination.

Enjoy the rest of your day...perhaps next time give your point of view and leave out how "simplistic" my view is. I guess I should point out a hot take so you don't have to do some deep analysis of my words next time.