The MVP Vs. Da Real MVP, Nuggets @ Sixers 3/14 7:30pm EST

[snoop88]

As we stand we are not close to a championship contender. It’s a combo of having the worst bench in the playoffs/no depth, no defense, no shooting, Doc Rivers, Tobias Harris.

It just feels like another wasted season of Embiid’s career/inevitable 2nd round exit. Especially with a relatively weak East open for the taking.

Just not really sure how many more cracks at this we’re going to get before Embiid’s body collapses.

I guess we can fire Glen in the offseason and dump Tobi and add as many bench pieces as possible. Just not sure if it’s ever meant to be with this franchise.

[Jailblazers7]

I lol’d rewatching Embiid eurostep around a 6’ Bones Hyland. Impressive that Embiid has that in his bag but I feel like he needlessly increases the degree of difficulty way too often. He want to be a guard so bad that sometimes it seems like he forgets how big he is.

[Stanford]

Impressive that Embiid has that in his bag but I feel like he needlessly increases the degree of difficulty way too often.

lol, this is definitely true. That dastardly Drew Hanlen is partially to blame, I'm certain of it.

[Ferry Avenue]

I lol’d rewatching Embiid eurostep around a 6’ Bones Hyland. Impressive that Embiid has that in his bag but I feel like he needlessly increases the degree of difficulty way too often. He want to be a guard so bad that sometimes it seems like he forgets how big he is.

And he needs to get out of the business of dribbling the ball up court. There is nothing of benefit for the team of that, and far too often it results in a turnover.

[Mik317]

I don't agree.

We often struggle to get into offense and the Biid fastbreaks have generally worked better than our half court offense at times lol

[Ferry Avenue]

I don't agree.

We often struggle to get into offense and the Biid fastbreaks have generally worked better than our half court offense at times lol

Whatever benefit for the team there has been of that can easily be accomplished by a better ball-handler, minus the frequency of turnovers.

[Ferry Avenue]

As we stand we are not close to a championship contender. It’s a combo of having the worst bench in the playoffs/no depth, no defense, no shooting, Doc Rivers, Tobias Harris.

If the team simply had the identity of a tough defensive team and played consistently in that manner, the effect of that could be great enough to outweigh the weaknesses in shooting and depth, to the degree that the team could be competitive for the conference championship. I mean if you replace this defensive complacency with something consistently tenacious in that area of the game, you're naturally talking about decreasing other teams' scoring, and then things like shooting and depth become less important.

This team needs to take some stock in itself and realize that it isn't getting anywhere without becoming far better defensively.

[GoSixersBro]

No more trolling game thread titles. Bad juju.

[ankle420breaker]

Man does everyone hate Philly. This consensus matter-of-fact MVP crowning of Jokic after this game is remarkable.

Jokic played a great game as he always does. Embiid turned in an amazing performance as well on the 2nd of a back-to-back. Neither created separation over the other with regards to their respective rankings.

The bench disparity clearly defined the outcome.

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[Ferry Avenue]

Watch on YouTube

For context on my previous two posts

Start the above video at the 4:45 mark and watch the play on the final shot unfold.

Please tell me what good it does to have Embiid set a pick for Harden that far out on the court? If Embiid's man then doubles Harden -- which is how teams are very frequently defending the Sixers in the half court now -- where does that have Embiid getting the ball on the roll when Harden inevitably has to give the ball up immediately? The top of the arc? Is that really where you want Embiid receiving the ball on a pick and roll?

What the hell good does setting a pick that far out on the court do, other than to take the ball out of Harden's hands and give it to a player in a disadvantageous position? The team would be better off simply having Harden set up at the top of the arc and not picking his man and letting him have an ISO play where he could actually keep the ball! If they doubled him then, at least it would be with a player who would leave someone open in an advantageous position, rather than Embiid 30 feet from the basket.

[Ferry Avenue]

The bench disparity clearly defined the outcome.

The Sixers' starters outscored Denver's starters by 30 points (96 to 66). If the Sixers change their starting lineup and transfer 30 of their starters' points to those of bench players, the outcome is the same. You could easily make the argument here that Denver's starters are weak and they're simply bringing people off the bench who could also be starters in the league, while the Sixers are not.

And when starters and bench players often comingle on the floor throughout games, what does the "starters versus bench players" distinction mean anyway?

[GoSixersBro]

Don't go to the GB thread for the sake of your own mental wellness. I read a post by a Celtics fan and could actually feel the tears streaming down his face through the computer screen.

[Jailblazers7]

Man does everyone hate Philly. This consensus matter-of-fact MVP crowning of Jokic after this game is remarkable.

Jokic played a great game as he always does. Embiid turned in an amazing performance as well on the 2nd of a back-to-back. Neither created separation over the other with regards to their respective rankings.

The bench disparity clearly defined the outcome.

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It is kinda funny that we kicked ass in the Jokic minutes and lost due to the bench when the narrative has been about how Jokic’s is carry a bad team. Not that one game makes that narrative untrue but Denver has more depth & better coaching. Kind ironic too that Embiid picked up a few iffy fouls guarding Jokic which swung the game because normally Embiid is the one benefitting from that.

Either way, I think Embiid won the individual matchup when they were going against each other and Jokic was fortunate that Embiid was in foul trouble.

[Jailblazers7]

I do wonder how much of us walking into Harden getting trapped near half court on those PnR is bad coaching (surely some of it is) versus the unit being so new together and not having a full playbook ready to make adjustments in game. If we don’t have a full portfolio of offensive sets that we’re comfortable with it makes in game adjustments a lot harder to make, not that Doc is known for his ability to adjust anyway lol.

[Ferry Avenue]

I do wonder how much of us walking into Harden getting trapped near half court on those PnR is bad coaching (surely some of it is) versus the unit being so new together and not having a full playbook ready to make adjustments in game. If we don’t have a full portfolio of offensive sets that we’re comfortable with it makes in game adjustments a lot harder to make, not that Doc is known for his ability to adjust anyway lol.

I think they're sort of stuck rigidly believing that Embiid has to be intimately involved in any situation of that nature. I'd rather them simply play a five-out scheme in that instance and let Harden set up at the top of the arc in an ISO situation and either shoot the three or find the open man if they double. Embiid doesn't have to be an integral part of a must-shoot three-point situation like that.

[ankle420breaker]

The bench disparity clearly defined the outcome.

The Sixers' starters outscored Denver's starters by 30 points (96 to 66). If the Sixers change their starting lineup and transfer 30 of their starters' points to those of bench players, the outcome is the same. You could easily make the argument here that Denver's starters are weak and they're simply bringing people off the bench who could also be starters in the league, while the Sixers are not.

And when starters and bench players often comingle on the floor throughout games, what does the "starters versus bench players" distinction mean anyway?

Don't see the point in over-analyzing. Our starters played well, especially on a B2B. Our perimeter defense fell asleep on Hyland & Cousins and we gave up too many fast break points.

Regardless, had one of Green, Shake, Niang, Jordan contributed/cashed in on their collective open looks we likely escape this contest with a win. Lack of overall bench production has been a common denominating plague in several of our losses. Last night just exposed it further.

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[Ferry Avenue]

The bench disparity clearly defined the outcome.

The Sixers' starters outscored Denver's starters by 30 points (96 to 66). If the Sixers change their starting lineup and transfer 30 of their starters' points to those of bench players, the outcome is the same. You could easily make the argument here that Denver's starters are weak and they're simply bringing people off the bench who could also be starters in the league, while the Sixers are not.

And when starters and bench players often comingle on the floor throughout games, what does the "starters versus bench players" distinction mean anyway?

Don't see the point in over-analyzing. Our starters played well, especially on a B2B. Our perimeter defense fell asleep on Hyland & Cousins and we gave up too many fast break points.

Regardless, had one of Green, Shake, Niang, Jordan contributed/cashed in on their collective open looks we likely escape this contest with a win. Lack of overall bench production has been a common denominating plague in several of our losses. Last night just exposed it further.

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The point is that if you make your best players your starters, and some percentage of the league is keeping some percentage of its starter-caliber players on the bench, then it'll always look like your bench is "weak" in comparison to those teams. However, if your starters are outscoring your opponents' starters by a significant enough margin, which is entirely possible given the above scenario, you'll be a better team than your opponents nonetheless.

In other words, the "starters versus bench" distinction can be arbitrary and not necessarily indicative of a team's ability to win. If this team suddenly put Maxey and Harris on the bench and replaced them with Green and Niang as starters, their starting lineup would be just as good as that of many teams, with a huge shot in the arm in bench production, with no greater ability to win necessarily.

[Murray_17]

I don't agree.

We often struggle to get into offense and the Biid fastbreaks have generally worked better than our half court offense at times lol

Whatever benefit for the team there has been of that can easily be accomplished by a better ball-handler, minus the frequency of turnovers.

Which is the point, we're staggering Harden and Embiid. Without Harden we don't have a better ball-handler than Joel on fastbreaks. Bad as it sounds

The only exception is Maxey when he's ahead of the rest of the offense

[FireMorey]

I think with the way the Sixers are playing they're going to be 5th seed by this time next week. Not that it's the end of the world, getting into the dance with Embiid and Harden fresh is far more important than seeding IMO.

[Murray_17]

Biid gave up 2 open 3s of DMC, 2 open 3s of hyland and 2 baseline jumpers of Jamychal Green. These are off pick and pops (DMC), not stepping out (hyland) and cross match (green).

You want Cousins taking those shots. Guy has no legs and is a bad shooter. You give him those shots instead of allowing him to get on the lane or making a play

The baseline jumpers were missed Tobias rotations too.

Embiid has not been amazing on defense, but it's difficult to be when he's basically guarding guards because of the drop coverage. Our dfense is so bad he's often having to drop already on the top of the key.

Some teams are also switching their shooters on Maxey, which is an issue because of Tyrese's size. It's the Seth/Huerter conundrum all over again