Playoffs!?

76ciology · Post #741 » by **76ciology** » Tue May 9, 2023 4:57 am

Negrodamus · Post #742 » by **Negrodamus** » Tue May 9, 2023 12:16 pm

Lakers get a lot of praise for their defense, and rightly so, but I do think our defense has been near the top of the playoff teams (without looking at the stats). The game plan has actually been pretty good with the Celtics. Obviously the Nets were no real issue.

Jailblazers7 · Post #743 » by **Jailblazers7** » Tue May 9, 2023 12:42 pm

Davis & Embiid are the 2 remaining elite rim protectors & their impact on the game is pretty incredible to watch. Celtics had a layup line going in game 1 but Embiid has completely shut down the paint since returning.

hookshot199 · Post #744 » by **hookshot199** » Tue May 9, 2023 4:09 pm

eyeatoma wrote:
hookshot199 wrote:
eyeatoma wrote:

To be fair to Embiid, he's had 30 or over for 2 of the 3 games of this series. He was triple teamed against the Nets. He's brining it defensively, and his offense has gotten far better the last 2 games, even though he disappeared in the 4th.

But he's been terrible with his jump shot. He missed a total of 15 shots last night. Check the link below since I don't know how to attach a screen shot and use the filter for Embiid.

https://www.espn.com/nba/game/_/gameId/401545114

As Mik says he's still hurt. Even though he is probably playing at 80% of his MVP form, you do need your legs and knees to be in good shape to constantly jump up and down lol. Hopefully it continues to get better, he's progressed in every single game, so fingers crossed we see true MVP Embiid next game, or at some point this series.

I just think he's not in form, better to pass out and let someone else shoot. Except for threes, he's usually money in the bank for many of the shots he's missing. He's also been missing badly.

Skates · Post #745 » by **Skates** » Wed May 10, 2023 2:31 am

The defense on both sides is putrid in the Denver-Phoenix series.

M2J · Post #746 » by **M2J** » Wed May 10, 2023 3:55 pm

Skates wrote:The defense on both sides is putrid in the Denver-Phoenix series.

Completely

M2J · Post #747 » by **M2J** » Wed May 10, 2023 5:31 pm

So now the Lakers and Nuggets are the favorites to win it all.

I've always looked at the stat regarding head coaches generally winning their first title with that particular team within 3 years of being there. I guess you can expand it out to 4 years with 2 exceptions to the 3 year rule being Spo and Doc doing it in year 4 after taking over terrible teams and later getting an injection of talent.

If you go for the 4th year, then all coaches are in play to win a title except for Denver with Malone. Monte is in year 4 right now.

Lakers are scary, but I question their offense and shooting. Philly has to get this last win, and stay healthy...I like their chances

Arsenal · Post #748 » by **Arsenal** » Wed May 10, 2023 5:55 pm

M2J wrote:So now the Lakers and Nuggets are the favorites to win it all.

I've always looked at the stat regarding head coaches generally winning their first title with that particular team within 3 years of being there. I guess you can expand it out to 4 years with 2 exceptions to the 3 year rule being Spo and Doc doing it in year 4 after taking over terrible teams and later getting an injection of talent.

If you go for the 4th year, then all coaches are in play to win a title except for Denver with Malone. Monte is in year 4 right now.

Lakers are scary, but I question their offense and shooting. Philly has to get this last win, and stay healthy...I like their chances

If we beat the Celtics, we're the favorites to win it all.

GoSixersBro · Post #749 » by **GoSixersBro** » Wed May 10, 2023 6:51 pm

The Lakers performing well sadly doesn't surprise me. LeBron got his annual midseason month off to nurse a fake injury, the trade deadline completely replenished their awful depth and here we are. I still think they're pretenders though.

Negrodamus · Post #750 » by **Negrodamus** » Thu May 11, 2023 2:06 am

Big win for the Knicks (and for us if we can close it out tomorrow).

Negrodamus · Post #751 » by **Negrodamus** » Thu May 11, 2023 2:36 am

Who would have thought Moody was going to be a player for the Warriors under zero stress situations? He was an easy pick to make after the stats he put up at Arkansas.

76ciology · Post #752 » by **76ciology** » Thu May 11, 2023 5:04 am

What scares me about the Lakers is I think they have the personnel to neutralize our PnR, with LeBron-Ad switching the Harden-Biid 2 man game. They’re at their best playing their 3 guard unit, so that aspect make me more relaxed. I expect them to attack Biid then drop it to a cutter.

I find Warriors to be very similar with the Celtics but they’re more unpredictable down the stretch with their read and react offense, with variance playing a larger role with their play.

Warriors, like the Celts, play very good basketball for full 48. Its a battle of attrition. And if you can hang around, they have Steph down the stretch to make all these crazy shots where the game is not decided by a Marcus Smart open 3 but a Steph vs Tobias Harris 1v1. I expect them to pull Biid away from the paint then be relentless on those backdoor cuts.

Suns have a problem with cohesiveness. They’re gonna be scary next season, but most likely not this year. I think you need atleast a season to know what contenders will throw at you where you adjust and scheme it during the offseason.

Nuggets is easiest to beat among the western conference teams for me, but NBA will drag it to 6-7 games.

76ciology · Post #753 » by **76ciology** » Thu May 11, 2023 12:08 pm

My favorite basketball player on this team

Watch on YouTube

mjkvol · Post #754 » by **mjkvol** » Thu May 11, 2023 12:51 pm

76ciology wrote:My favorite basketball player on this team

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Last year was needed as a tuneup, but I haven't gotten the criticism he still gets from so many Sixers fans, and how quickly so many are to let him walk after the season - I just hope he wants to stay.

The acquisition of Harden is by far the biggest reason we are even in this position today. He has completely changed this offense from the herky-jerky slog it's been as long as Embiid has been here into one that when all cylinders are running is virtually indefensible.

Do we get 'Houston Harden' or max effort Harden every night during a season. No, but once the lights got bright he has been the guy, whether by scoring or facilitating, that has been the engine of this team. Embiid is certainly the MVP, but he doesn't sniff that award without Harden.

The biggest mistake that Morey made was not securing a legit backup PG before the season, or at least at the deadline, to mitigate the non-Harden minutes, allowing Maxey to play off-ball all game long. I hope that doesn't come back to haunt us at some point.

Mik317 · Post #755 » by **Mik317** » Thu May 11, 2023 1:12 pm

Sixers...or rather Philly fans have always been very "what have you done for me lately" lol.

There are people who will go to war for Embiid over Jokic and then turn around and call him a bum who should be traded the very moment he has a bad game.

Bryce Harper was a fraud ass bum...but then was Jesus because he led them to the championship game.

Jalen Hurts throws an interception and there was people calling for Minshew lol.

I personally don't get it but its how it goes around here. IMO it should be continual failure before I sour on someone and even then...

76ciology · Post #756 » by **76ciology** » Thu May 11, 2023 5:32 pm

NBA. AD fake injury. Now everyone is 3-2.

Jailblazers7 · Post #757 » by **Jailblazers7** » Thu May 11, 2023 5:52 pm

Harden had a fairly lengthy resume of disappointing playoff moments and we got our off to a rough start with the Miami series last year & Nets series this year. The criticism & skepticism of him was totally understandable imo.

But he looks like a totally different player in the Boston series. I think what we’re seeing is a culmination of the tweaks he’s made to his game over the past couple years. He’s figured out how to age into his Chris Paul era where he leverages the midrange to manipulate defenders. And the lack of a midrange was holding him back in the playoffs so now he’s flourishing.

mjkvol · Post #758 » by **mjkvol** » Thu May 11, 2023 6:50 pm

Jailblazers7 wrote:Harden had a fairly lengthy resume of disappointing playoff moments and we got our off to a rough start with the Miami series last year & Nets series this year. The criticism & skepticism of him was totally understandable imo.

But he looks like a totally different player in the Boston series. I think what we’re seeing is a culmination of the tweaks he’s made to his game over the past couple years. He’s figured out how to age into his Chris Paul era where he leverages the midrange to manipulate defenders. And the lack of a midrange was holding him back in the playoffs so now he’s flourishing.

I can't agree regarding last season. Much like Durant with the Suns, he was here too late to get any kind of cohesion with that team, and Glenn was clueless how to maximize what he could do. I believed then that it was unrealistic to expect anything beyond the second round.

mjkvol · Post #759 » by **mjkvol** » Thu May 11, 2023 6:55 pm

Mik317 wrote:Sixers...or rather Philly fans have always been very "what have you done for me lately" lol.

There are people who will go to war for Embiid over Jokic and then turn around and call him a bum who should be traded the very moment he has a bad game.

Bryce Harper was a fraud ass bum...but then was Jesus because he led them to the championship game.

Jalen Hurts throws an interception and there was people calling for Minshew lol.

I personally don't get it but its how it goes around here. IMO it should be continual failure before I sour on someone and even then...

You're right on about the way Philly fans turn on a dime with players, and I've never gotten it. They booed the greatest 3rd baseman who ever played virtually his entire career until it was nearly over. Only certain players got love here their entire careers - World B. Free, Brian Dawkins, Jeremiah Trotter, Julius, even Darryl Dawkins, and Iverson was mostly beloved.

Negrodamus · Post #760 » by **Negrodamus** » Fri May 12, 2023 3:20 am

Well it seems Denver will get some rest in.