G2 4/22 730PM Sixers @ Knicks

[Wilfried]

This was a tough one to swallow, but we should get too emotional.
We have 2 must-win games in front of us. I'm both optimistic and a bit pessimistic tbh..

Optimistic because:
- we should have won this one, seems like we figured it out and they shot their best shot already
- we gotta get some production from 3-8 players, we're getting nothing from Hield, we need to find ways to get him involved
- we still need to get some buckets from Oubre
- josh hart and DiVincenzo can't be that good of a 3pt shooters throughout the whole series, can they

Pessimistic because:
- well, we're already 0-2 down, and there's no room for errors. We still need to get one in NY and it's always going to be hostile there
- Maxey and Embiid are getting the numbers you expect from them. Unless one of them has 50, I don't see how we can expect more from those two and still win. I don't know if our supporting cast is capable of showing up when it matters
- not sure we're able to keep up with their intensity throughout 48 minutes, we get leads, but then blow them and play catch up.

All in all, I believe...
But in reality, we are not built to win this year and you can't win in the playoffs with the amount of different rotations and injuries we had in the regular season. This is a different game now.

Joel is not getting his points efficiënt, that's a problem

Like we've seen in the RS, we get killed by Josh Hart (especially on the boards) and a guy like McBride.
On the other hand, we get nothing from our guys (except Lowry).
We can only try to start Reed at the 4 imo

Tobias is a real problem but (finally) an ending one.

This summer is about:
- Solving rebounding/athleticism at the 4
- Find a big guard who can defend and distribute a bit

[Zumramania]

I didn't watch the game but I see that Tobias played 41 minutes and Ricky Council played 0 minutes. This is all I need to see.

[phillynative]

Some people say Nick Nurse did not call a proper timeout some people say he did. But all season long this team has had issues getting the ball inbound, today it really came back to bite them in their behind.

Good news is Joel played better than I thought he would, bad knee and all. And Thursday seems like a week away. More time for him to heal and for Nurse to work his magic. Step 1 Nurse work on inbound plays. Right now as a 76ers fan it seems like the end of the basketball world but it's not. We lost 2 close games away from home. Now the 76ers need to come home and win the next two and we have a brand new series.

Maxey is really having a baptism by fire type of season. Asked to step in and fill the shoes that James Harden wore, then be the team leader when Joel goes down. Then in the playoffs game 1 have several critical turnovers at the end of the game. Then in game 2 get the ball snatched away from you like a little kid and they score. Then at the end of the game maybe he gets fouled maybe he didn't but it was a rough way to end your night Maxey. But it's all part of his growth process.

[i]
We have a harder time imbounding the ball then any good team in the league. [/i]Its like sweating blood every time last in the 4th in close games.

The two smartest players on the team **** the bed too. Old a** Batum stood around and guarded no one in the last possesion and also didn't put a body on anyone. Why as the best inbound passer om the team was he not inbounding the ball instead of 5ft8 Lowry. I think Batum would of done a better job surveying the floor and getting the ball to the open player.

Lowry not only missed two crucial free throws but him rushing to get the ball out to Maxey who was covered by two knicks was a killer too.

Disappointed in the seniors this game especially with them being so heavily relyed on.

[mjkvol]

To be fair to the players, who had Jontay Porter suspended, these refs should also get some accountability.

Yeah, like that has a chance of ever happening. It would look something like this.

Watch on YouTube

[EmbiidRocks]

Disappointed, but what can you do, onto G3.

[mjkvol]

Some people say Nick Nurse did not call a proper timeout some people say he did. But all season long this team has had issues getting the ball inbound, today it really came back to bite them in their behind.

Good news is Joel played better than I thought he would, bad knee and all. And Thursday seems like a week away. More time for him to heal and for Nurse to work his magic. Step 1 Nurse work on inbound plays. Right now as a 76ers fan it seems like the end of the basketball world but it's not. We lost 2 close games away from home. Now the 76ers need to come home and win the next two and we have a brand new series.

Maxey is really having a baptism by fire type of season. Asked to step in and fill the shoes that James Harden wore, then be the team leader when Joel goes down. Then in the playoffs game 1 have several critical turnovers at the end of the game. Then in game 2 get the ball snatched away from you like a little kid and they score. Then at the end of the game maybe he gets fouled maybe he didn't but it was a rough way to end your night Maxey. But it's all part of his growth process.

[i]
We have a harder time imbounding the ball then any good team in the league. [/i]Its like sweating blood every time last in the 4th in close games.

The two smartest players on the team **** the bed too. Old a** Batum stood around and guarded no one in the last possesion and also didn't put a body on anyone. Why as the best inbound passer om the team was he not inbounding the ball instead of 5ft8 Lowry. I think Batum would of done a better job surveying the floor and getting the ball to the open player.

Lowry not only missed two crucial free throws but him rushing to get the ball out to Maxey who was covered by two knicks was a killer too.

Disappointed in the seniors this game especially with them being so heavily relyed on.

Agree, but I'm much harder here on Lowry, who missed a couple of key FT's and just lost his head on the inbound play. That situation had timeout written all over it, and a vet like him should damn well have known that. Nick was frantically signaling for a TO - how does Lowry not see that but instead panic like a rookie?

I expect nothing from Harris, but Oubre disappearing on offense has been a disappointment, although he's done great work defensively on Brunson. I think Hield is just lost right now - unless we can get him some open looks from 3, he serves no purpose on the floor. The offense needs to be less Embiid-dominant if we're going to have any shot at winning the series, because this with kind of usage in heavy minutes, he isn't lasting the series.

[76ciology]

Honestly, seven hours later, I'm still in disbelief that we lost that game. I had to clear my head, so I went for a run outside.

I think part of the reason why I'm feeling this way is that I don't really have someone to blame for the loss. I'm really upset with the refs, but it also made me realize how important it is to secure a high seed in the playoffs. If we had a higher seed last year, we could have had the crowd behind us in Game 7. If we had a higher seed in this series, we wouldn't be facing biased officiating.

In the last seven hours, I spent most of my time scrolling through Twitter and listening to Sixers podcasts. I came to the conclusion that I don't think the refs can be blamed for not calling the timeout for Nurse during the inbound. Nurse himself said he was trying to see if we could inbound the ball, which is why he hesitated to call the timeout. But when Maxey fumbled the ball after we successfully inbounded, Nurse was quick to call the timeout.

That said, I can't blame Lowry for not calling the timeout because it seems like our plan was to try to inbound the ball first and use the timeout as a backup to avoid a 5-second violation.

But man, when Maxey fumbled and fell on the floor, I think he should have also called the timeout instead of just letting the ball roll on the floor. And thats also when the refs probably should have called time out, if Maxey really had possession while Nurse was at the baseline calling for it.

[Eyeamok]

Honestly, seven hours later, I'm still in disbelief that we lost that game. I had to clear my head, so I went for a run outside.

I think part of the reason why I'm feeling this way is that I don't really have someone to blame for the loss. I'm really upset with the refs, but it also made me realize how important it is to secure a high seed in the playoffs. If we had a higher seed last year, we could have had the crowd behind us in Game 7. If we had a higher seed in this series, we wouldn't be facing biased officiating.

In the last seven hours, I spent most of my time scrolling through Twitter and listening to Sixers podcasts. I came to the conclusion that I don't think the refs can be blamed for not calling the timeout for Nurse. Nurse himself said he was trying to see if we could inbound the ball, which is why he hesitated to call the timeout. But when Maxey fumbled the ball after we successfully inbounded, Nurse was quick to call the timeout.

That said, I can't blame Lowry for not calling the timeout because it seems like our plan was to try to inbound the ball first and use the timeout as a backup to avoid a 5-second violation.

But man, when Maxey fumbled and fell on the floor, I think he should have also called the timeout instead of just letting the ball roll on the floor.

Good post. I hate typing this but the inbound play falls on Nurse. The team did not know how to execute it properly, And as I have said in a previous post it's a play that has hurt this team in the past. Shoot look at the Miami game both Embiid and Maxey went for the final inbound play and knocked it out of bounds. Luckily there was no time left on the clock. But man it was a problem then and it was a problem last night and it cost this team. Secondly it's hard to believe that a championship coach wiffed on making a complete TO signal, but he did. I would expect that of Doc not Nurse but it happens. These non Embiid minutes especially in the 3rd going into the 4th quarter are galvanizing the Knicks and taking the wind out of the 76ers sails. I don't know if that can be fixed this season, but it is a big problem now.

Can someone on the coaching staff please get Batum and Embiid to bury the hatchet. It's quite obvious since Embiid said no to representing France in the olympics Batum has been in his feelings. It's obvious and it's hurting the team.

[Jailblazers7]

Yeah those inbound struggles were a theme all season & it’s only fitting that it comes back to haunt us at the worst time. You can’t be an NBA team who somehow can’t beat a press, it’s absurd.

Love Maxey & he played great but you absolutely cannot let that ball get loose on the floor while you have a TO.

Refs are a whole other story but they are an uncontrollable factor. We f*cked up all the things within our control & the refs pushed us over the edge.

[Ferry Avenue]

Read on Twitter

Let's see if he takes the court with the kind of spirit and emotionality consistent with that quote. You don't give quotes like that and then take the court looking like a corpse emotionally.

[76ciology]

It comes back to my point: we lack endurance. When you're tired, your reaction time and decision-making are slow. And when faced with the choice between fighting and giving up, there's a bias towards the latter.

[Stanford]

I mean, they should have played better but they obviously got screwed.

[mjkvol]

Honestly, seven hours later, I'm still in disbelief that we lost that game. I had to clear my head, so I went for a run outside.

I think part of the reason why I'm feeling this way is that I don't really have someone to blame for the loss. I'm really upset with the refs, but it also made me realize how important it is to secure a high seed in the playoffs. If we had a higher seed last year, we could have had the crowd behind us in Game 7. If we had a higher seed in this series, we wouldn't be facing biased officiating.

In the last seven hours, I spent most of my time scrolling through Twitter and listening to Sixers podcasts. I came to the conclusion that I don't think the refs can be blamed for not calling the timeout for Nurse during the inbound. Nurse himself said he was trying to see if we could inbound the ball, which is why he hesitated to call the timeout. But when Maxey fumbled the ball after we successfully inbounded, Nurse was quick to call the timeout.

That said, I can't blame Lowry for not calling the timeout because it seems like our plan was to try to inbound the ball first and use the timeout as a backup to avoid a 5-second violation.

But man, when Maxey fumbled and fell on the floor, I think he should have also called the timeout instead of just letting the ball roll on the floor. And thats also when the refs probably should have called time out, if Maxey really had possession while Nurse was at the baseline calling for it.

In watching that sequence over and over, fault primarily goes to Lowry IMO. He's in the game in those spots as much for his experience as anything else - why did he grab the ball right away and look to inbound with all that chaos going on? He panicked and rushed like a rookie.

If you're not going to call TO, at least let the ball sit for a few seconds while an inbound set can be established. Sixers players were all over the place, with no rhyme or reason - call TO and get the ball to half court. Maxey should never have been put in that situation.

[mjkvol]

It comes back to my point: we lack endurance. When you're tired, your reaction time and decision-making are slow. And when faced with the choice between fighting and giving up, there's a bias towards the latter.

Nobody "gave up". Please don't take an idiot troll who parachutes in conveniently after losses seriously.

[seventy6ers]

The whole problem with this series is that the bench, outside of Batum, has not shown up. Hield can't hit a 3 for his life and that is what he was brought here to do. Reed is just meh, and there is a significant drop in production when Embiid is on the bench. Don't really see where Bamba or Martin can help. Payne is meh also, and we already have Maxey and Lowry as two smaller guards. Maybe its time to give Council some minutes.

[76ciology]

Watch on YouTube

[76ciology]

The whole problem with this series is that the bench, outside of Batum, has not shown up. Hield can't hit a 3 for his life and that is what he was brought here to do. Reed is just meh, and there is a significant drop in production when Embiid is on the bench. Don't really see where Bamba or Martin can help. Payne is meh also, and we already have Maxey and Lowry as two smaller guards. Maybe its time to give Council some minutes.

One significant adjustment I'd like to see us make is playing Ricky Council over Buddy Hield.

My reasoning is that I find most of our guys have defined roles on our team, and they're performing OK to great in them—except for Buddy Hield.

Hield's role was to provide scoring off the bench, but we've been lacking in this department with only around 20 points in the last two games.

Council is averaging 21 points per 36 minutes compared to Hield's 17 points per 36 minutes, indicating that Council might have the potential to be a better scorer.

Furthermore, Hield isn't getting good looks anyway, and most of his opportunities come from attacking closeouts, which Council could handle better, in addition to being a better defender.

So, Council over Hield—not Payne over Hield.

[phillynative]

The whole problem with this series is that the bench, outside of Batum, has not shown up. Hield can't hit a 3 for his life and that is what he was brought here to do. Reed is just meh, and there is a significant drop in production when Embiid is on the bench. Don't really see where Bamba or Martin can help. Payne is meh also, and we already have Maxey and Lowry as two smaller guards. Maybe its time to give Council some minutes.

Pretty much shows that Morey is meh as well

[Tony Franciosa]

Did this get posted yet? Cuz it's embarrassing as $ht. Need a whole new broadcast team next year... even postgame, but keep Amy Fadool.

Read on Twitter

[EmbiidRocks]

I don't understand how it's possible Hield cannot make 3s, he has always been great at that part of the game, like what happened?
Checking his stats, they are good for the most part most years, so idk honestly, I think it's just lack of confidence.
I may be delusional, but I think he is the one that can help us the most outside of Embiid and Maxey in terms of scoring if he gets into his groove. Abandoning him too early could be a mistake based on overreaction from a recent poor patch of games.

It may sound like a good idea to mostly keep doing the same thing we have been doing while just improving a bit on the boards and in focus, and hope their role players miss more shots, but then again, Maxey had great shooting in both games and Embiid has at least been decent, while Brunson has been poor in both games. So I don't know, we need someone else to step up, because Maxey will probably not be great all games, Brunson will have a great game or two at some point probably.