76ciology wrote:This series has made me realize why Thibs likes to play his guys heavy minutes.
When comparing our team to the Knicks, we're more talented, but we lag behind in the effort department. And I've figured out why.
We can match the Knicks' effort, but we lack one crucial thing: endurance. A prime example is Embiid's rebounding. He had 7 rebounds in the first quarter but ended up with just 10 rebounds overall. He was exhausted in the last few minutes of the game, leading to a silly turnover and slow reaction time, which resulted in not boxing out Hartenstein.
So, most of our guys lack that endurance, except maybe for Maxey. However, most of these Knicks players thrive on it. Mitchell was supposed to miss the entire season, yet here he is. Most of their guys give their all every second they're on the court.
To be fair, I think that was our adjustment in Game 2. Lowry rebounded better, Tobi played great defense down the stretch, Maxey had an extra gear, and Oubre made it his mission to shut down Brunson.
But on that last possession, I felt that Maxey simply lacked the mental endurance to call the timeout when he fell to the floor. Although Embiid was tired, his mental processing was too slow, and he was caught watching Maxey while Hartenstein crashed for the offensive rebound.
We lag behind in the effort department because the face of the franchise is a guy who's regularly emotionally flat on the court. Whereas other teams have stars who are inspirational in their demeanor, functioning as a "rising tide that lifts all boats" for their teams, this one on the other hand has one who functions in the opposite manner for his team, as a ball and chain in that department. Embiid has been more animated and inspirational sitting on the bench injured in the past than he has been in these two games. That doesn't compute. If you're out there fighting to win, where is your spirit?
PJ Tucker had to get in his face during the playoffs for this reason. Where is the improvement? He should be getting in his teammates' faces -- as Tucker did with him -- and functioning to lift and inspire them emotionally. Instead he's the guy who needs the inspiration and lift from other people. When that's the fulcrum of your team it's going to teeter in the wrong direction unfortunately, and you're going to have rebounds, games, and ultimately your soul stolen from you by teams like the Knicks.