1st Round : #3 Sixers - #6 Nets

mjkvol · Post #41 » by **mjkvol** » Tue Apr 11, 2023 1:04 am

It's hard to imagine this going beyond five games, with the Nets perhaps getting one at home to avoid the sweep. I don't think one series dictates how the rest of the playoffs will go, and if the Sixers come out flat and this one goes six games, it means very little with regard to Boston. Just get out of this one healthy and sharp.

JordanMars · Post #42 » by **JordanMars** » Tue Apr 11, 2023 2:03 am

Sixers in 4, maybe 5. Should be light work.

GoSixersBro · Post #43 » by **GoSixersBro** » Tue Apr 11, 2023 12:39 pm

The 2019 Nets were the ones to be lowkey sweating. They had a better coach and better core of young players.

GoSixersBro · Post #44 » by **GoSixersBro** » Tue Apr 11, 2023 12:59 pm

Murray_17 wrote:I mean, the Spurs that won the title demolishing the Heatles and had one of the best Playoffs runs ever went 7 games against the Mavs in the first round.

Not that we are on the level of that team but weird things happen on the playoffs because of matchups and adjustments.

Maybe the Nets put a fight, they don't have enough halfcourt scoring or ball handling to be a real threat on the playoffs IMO, but at the end of the day you have to play the games.

Should we beat them on 5 games max? sure, last year we went 6 with the Raptors after having them ready for a clean sheet.

The 2022 Raps and 2022 Sixers were way closer than this year's Sixers and Nets (and I'm not just saying that because it was a 4 vs 5 match-up compared to a 3 v 6). The Raptors had length, experience, more seasoned leaders in FVV and Siakam. This Nets squad would've likely been the 10 seed at best if they didn't sit at 32-20 when the fire sale had begun.

Wilfried · Post #45 » by **Wilfried** » Tue Apr 11, 2023 1:17 pm

Interested to see if Doc will manage not to squander a 3-1 lead this series

Murray_17 · Post #46 » by **Murray_17** » Tue Apr 11, 2023 11:56 pm

GoSixersBro wrote:
Murray_17 wrote:I mean, the Spurs that won the title demolishing the Heatles and had one of the best Playoffs runs ever went 7 games against the Mavs in the first round.

Not that we are on the level of that team but weird things happen on the playoffs because of matchups and adjustments.

Maybe the Nets put a fight, they don't have enough halfcourt scoring or ball handling to be a real threat on the playoffs IMO, but at the end of the day you have to play the games.

Should we beat them on 5 games max? sure, last year we went 6 with the Raptors after having them ready for a clean sheet.

The 2022 Raps and 2022 Sixers were way closer than this year's Sixers and Nets (and I'm not just saying that because it was a 4 vs 5 match-up compared to a 3 v 6). The Raptors had length, experience, more seasoned leaders in FVV and Siakam. This Nets squad would've likely been the 10 seed at best if they didn't sit at 32-20 when the fire sale had begun.

My point was about how series are sometimes weird, we won that series with a +9 net rating, we should have sweep or won in 5

SixthStreet · Post #47 » by **SixthStreet** » Wed Apr 12, 2023 5:58 am

The Sixers are a team that doesn't count effort amongst it's A-grade talents, so I wouldn't expect a sweep. But 5 games is reasonable. The Nets are pretty tooth-less. It would be embarrassing to require 6 games here.

I'm mainly interested in seeing if the moment is not too big for Reed and if Tucker is allowed to get away with more playoff like off-ball screening/holding so he's more useful on offense.

76ciology · Post #48 » by **76ciology** » Wed Apr 12, 2023 7:51 am

Based on what Ive watched from guys who cover the Nets. They think Nets have two ways to beat us.

1- Push the pace
2- Zone us up

I dont disagree with that.

I also want to know what you guys think on why we struggle against the Zone, this is despite having the best shooting team in % and have a 4.5 out offense. I think its partly because we dont have anyone cutting to the paint?

eyeatoma · Post #49 » by **eyeatoma** » Wed Apr 12, 2023 9:35 am

76ciology wrote:Based on what Ive watched from guys who cover the Nets. They think Nets have two ways to beat us.

1- Push the pace
2- Zone us up

I dont disagree with that.

I also want to know what you guys think on why we struggle against the Zone, this is despite having the best shooting team in % and have a 4.5 out offense. I think its partly because we dont have anyone cutting to the paint?

Breaking the zone requires quick decisive passes with good cuts.

We are horrible at quick passes apart form Harden, and our cuts are usually non existant.

Jailblazers7 · Post #50 » by **Jailblazers7** » Wed Apr 12, 2023 12:25 pm

We better see some incredible PJ Tucker games now. I’ve mostly ignored him all year because he was signed for the playoffs. Now that it’s here I’ll be watching him like a hawk lol.

Post #51 » by **Sixerscan** » Wed Apr 12, 2023 1:10 pm

Just get through the series healthy

Mik317 · Post #52 » by **Mik317** » Wed Apr 12, 2023 1:10 pm

we suck against the zone for the above reasons Eyetoma mentioned and the fact that we don't practice like that lol Hopefully they do have some hidden strats ready to go. I hate Doc but to his credit before he goes down with the ship on a poor decision he has added new wrinkles and adjustments in the last two playoff runs that we didn't run during the regular seasons.

Post #53 » by **Sixerscan** » Wed Apr 12, 2023 1:15 pm

I’m not sure how much we actually struggle against the zone, doesn’t seem like there’s leaguewide data on that.

Part of it just is that Embiid iso/post ups and Harden/Embiid P&Rs are close to unstoppable staples of the offense and you can’t really run those things against zone so maybe we’re comparatively worse against it.

mjkvol · Post #54 » by **mjkvol** » Wed Apr 12, 2023 7:55 pm

Sixerscan wrote:Just get through the series healthy

That's it. 4,5,6 games, I don't really care, just get out of there at full strength.

mjkvol · Post #55 » by **mjkvol** » Wed Apr 12, 2023 7:59 pm

Honestly, I would throw different zones at the Sixers every minute that Embiid and Harden are both on the court. My strategy would be if we're going to lose, it won't be because of that P&R.

ExplosionsInDaSky · Post #56 » by **ExplosionsInDaSky** » Wed Apr 12, 2023 9:48 pm

Zone and full court press have been problems for us throughout the season. Expect Brooklyn to employ both of those strategies against us and expect the situation to get intense. We're not sweeping them...You can forget it. I think it'll take six games.

Jailblazers7 · Post #57 » by **Jailblazers7** » Wed Apr 12, 2023 10:19 pm

I think zone is theoretically effective against us because it’s the easiest way to crowd Embiid at the elbow without compromising your defensive rotations. PJ should provide some help as a pest on offensive rebounds & we have the shooters to beat a zone pretty easily tho.

Sixteen · Post #58 » by **Sixteen** » Wed Apr 12, 2023 10:21 pm

Man we're in trouble if we're going to have issues with a team that doesn't have a true #1 in the playoffs. They have a bunch of role players, including Mikal Bridges. He's a super role player, nothing more. Dude was scoring a ton but he was also taking a ton of shots. We have the 3rd best record in the NBA and presumptive MVP on our team. Anything more than 5 games would be embarrassing

Sixteen · Post #59 » by **Sixteen** » Wed Apr 12, 2023 10:23 pm

I can't think of a 1st round opponent that we have played in the Embiid era that has had worse talent than this Nets team.

mjkvol · Post #60 » by **mjkvol** » Wed Apr 12, 2023 11:20 pm

Phila Tough wrote:Man we're in trouble if we're going to have issues with a team that doesn't have a true #1 in the playoffs. They have a bunch of role players, including Mikal Bridges. He's a super role player, nothing more. Dude was scoring a ton but he was also taking a ton of shots. We have the 3rd best record in the NBA and presumptive MVP on our team. Anything more than 5 games would be embarrassing

So if the Nets take us seven games, then we beat the Celtics in six, exactly how embarrassed will you be?

Each series is its own entity, and really each game in a series is the same way. Momentum lasts until the ball is thrown up in the next game. Just take them one at a time, and don't come to conclusions after every game, win or loss.

Sounds like a bunch of cliches, but watching the NBA playoffs for the last 50 years bears all those cliches out.