Which team weakness has the most cause for concern?

[Kobblehead]

There are a handful of things we're pretty bad at. Which is most concerning and could spell the most trouble for us?

[TTP]

Turnovers for sure. I expect some of it will naturally improve as our players gain more experience together.

[Mrcrockpots]

Going with turnovers. Close second for me would be foul trouble for Ben and Joel. Those are the only real 2 weaknesses right now that would stop this team (minus injuries).

[CoreyGallagher]

Turnovers by far.

[LordCovington33]

Those turnovers are driving me insane.

[long range bomber]

Turnovers are killers for the team. I also think most of Embiid's TOs come when he is out of control and that increases the probability of an injury. He definitely needs to avoid situations where he is not fully balanced or forcing it against a crowd of defenders.

[Sixerscan]

Turnovers may the biggest issue this year, but long term im more concerned about the free throws.

TOs and fouls are things young guys struggle at and eventually improve. Struggling getting to the line/at the line could be an issue long term.

[Unbreakable99]

Turnovers.

[LloydFree]

Young team, highest number of passes in the league, high pace... but nobody expects high turnovers...

[HankTheTank]

None of these really bother me at this early stage in our ascension. What will likely cause us trouble as the year goes on, IMO, is bench production.

[76ciology]

Embiid and Ben's shooting. This is also why our TOs are high.

If Biid and Ben can shoot they'd take good looks from perimeter instead of trying to passing it out or dribbling it in traffic searching for higher percentage shots.

This also amplifies the gravity creating better spacing between Ben/Biid to our shooters. That translating to better passing lanes.

If both guys turns out to be a good shooters, it will also solve our problems of finding offense when time is running out. Honestly both guys are far from go to guys in clutch situations.

Honestly, we look like crap in crunch time. Its just that JJ has been bailing us out. Biid just tries to shoot over guys while Ben is predictable where he'd most time kick it out to Saric.

[PhilasFinest]

Im most concerned with the FT shooting and also lack of FTA.

Turnovers are a given with such a young team, still learning each others games/spots and the system. They will lower as the players mature, gel and grasp the offense.

The FT% is an issue. We need to just flat out shoot better at the line. Should be a major area of focus during practice/training.

[jbent87]

I went with fouls only bc I hate how careless Embiid is in using his. If he ever wants to be a full time player he has to know that he cant be committing stupid touch fouls after every bad turnover he makes. I wonder if/hope coaching is working with him in that area.

[smittybanton]

SG, PF, C2

I think our biggest weakness at the moment is not having a guard who can finish above the rim, create for himself and others, and defend. But it's not my biggest concern, because I believe in a healthy Fultz.

My biggest concern is Dario's shooting. I love his grit, his offensive rebounding. I want him to succeed. But if he can't play above the rim, he has to punish teams at the arc. He's not doing that.

When Joel and Ben are on the floor, Saric excels at offensive rebounding, but not at finishing or hitting open threes. Not the worst, but no one's afraid. With JoJo and Ben out there, his playmaking skills aren't really necessary, especially when JJ's on the floor as well. The same will be true if and when Markelle makes it into the starting lineup.

Soooo, I would replace Dario in the starting lineup with Richaun Holmes. Saric is a better basketball player, skills-wise. It's not even close. But Holmes can crash the boards and defend in half court as well as Dario.

Ben and Joel both pass well enough to throw him alley-oops cutting to the basket. It will be thunderous and demoralizing to the other team.

Most importantly, he's a natural rim-runner on both sides of the ball. Joel jogs up court. Richaun sprints, every time. With Ben's rebounding and vision, he'll get us a few extra easy shots a game. He'll also get back on defense faster than Dario.

His lack of ball skills is hidden by the fact that Joel and Ben dominate the rock. Just stand in the corner, then dive to the rim when your man leaves. The other teams big can't leave Joel to help. Richaun will also shoot it from three, although not successfully yet.

Ben Simmons, JJ Redick, Robert Covington, Richaun Holmes, Joel Embiid.

I would also instruct Richaun to be hyper aggressive defensively, since Dario can come in if/when he quickly gets two or three fouls in the first five minutes. Set the tone!

So Dario is the sixth man, and he also makes the second unit complete. TJ McConnell, Jerryd Bayless, Timothe Luwawu, Dario Saric, Amir Johnson. We can hit other teams in complete waves. No let up in pace.

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.
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In February, replace JJ Redick with Markelle Fultz.
In the offseason, replace Richaun Holmes with Paul George, LBJ, Aaron Gordon, Jonah Bolden, Michael Porter, Wilson Chandler...
In the draft, replace with Amir Johnson with Mohamed Bamba.

[KKell2507]

I voted FT% for a few reasons. To me, out of the choices, its the one stat that most correlates with winning games.

I see a lot of people chose Turnovers, and I can understand that. But turnovers don't necessarily translate to losing. The Warriors, for example, have been in the lower half in TOs per game each of the last 4 years. Turnovers also are subjective because of pace. We are 4th in the league in pace, so naturally more possessions=more opportunities for turnovers. But pace is more a reflection of winning than turnovers are to losing in my opinion. Turnovers also usually become less of a problem with experience. So less of a long term issue.

Personal fouls also become an experience thing. Joel and Ben and RoCo all have a tendency to over foul. That will come down with more experience.

FTA per game may be an issue and would be my 2nd choice for concern, but I think as our young guys get more respect around the league they'll get more of the "star" calls as we like to phrase it and that will help. Also experience in being more crafty and learning how to draw fouls will help. Markelle I think will help with this in his slashing ability and ability to keep defenders off balance. Too many strictly jump shooters in the rotation right now causing this number to be low.

FT% however is something that needs to be addressed. Hopefully the guys(especially Ben) can improve upon this, because its something that most good teams do well. Look at the Pistons and Andre Drummond, hes shooting much better from the FT line and look how much better they are playing(certainly not the only reason, but a factor). But also great teams close out games with FT shooting. Missing FTs down the stretch keeps teams in games when you have games won. The Warriors(2nd), Cavs(3rd), Blazers(4th), Rockets(5th), Spurs(9th), Raptors(10th) are all in the Top 10 in FT%. The Celtics at 16th and the Pistons at 19th are the only real exceptions to teams who are playing great so far this year, but arent highly rated in FT shooting. However the Pistons have been either 29th or 30th in the league each of the last 5 years and theyve been the epitome of an average team. A sudden jump in FT shooting, has correlated with a jump in their win%.

SO FT% to me is biggest cause for concern, because it most correlates with winning basketball to me out of those choices, and also is the one that will least likely be improved through our young guys just gaining experience.

[Sixerscan]

Would anyone like to revote?

[JojoSlimbiid]

I'm gonna vote FT% for some strange reason completely unrelated to anything that has happen recently.

[dorkestra]

Even after tonight, turnovers are the most immediate thing to address, IMO

[XDevilBoiX]

Can we pick a few? Lol Coaching, FT and TO

[Skates]

TO's are not going to go away really quickly given the number of passes and pace at which the Sixers play, GSW commits a fair number of TO's. What they need to do is keep playing this way and simply execute better, learn each other, what they are doing, where they are going, knowing each other. As they execute more efficiently and become a more precise team, they will benefit from going through the TO issues now.

Too many fouls committed tell me too much playing D with hands instead of feet, and leaving their feet too easily. That is something they have to clean up to be a truly top level defensive team.