Sixers vs Celtics, Tuesday 8PM ET, TNT

[the_process]

Teams just run their regular season philosophies and sets on both ends. Just like us.

Celts is one of the few teams that change their gameplan on the other opponents

So it's almost like Brett should know that by now and do something about it...

Why show your cards in the regular season? Why not see what works or not for your team and see what the opponent may throw at you?

Well, if brett is playing 4D chess

Oh, and two other things: there's no guarantee you face off against Boston again in the playoffs; and this isn't football, you're not hiding plays for the playoffs.

[FireMorey]

I will say this about Brett though. While I think he’s a good coach, he isn’t very adaptable. He runs what he runs and it works the far majority of the time, but the few times it doesn’t work he won’t adjust and that’s gonna be that. I don’t think its really all that complicated, we are so much more talented, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out how to beat this team.

[gdog2004]

Brett Brown should be playing Bolden in the backup Center role against the Celtics. For this opponent, he is better. He switches, he hits open threes. I am not so sure he should not be taking all of Bobans minutes. I like Boban, but he can be hunted on D too easily.

[76ciology]

Watched the game the second time on replay. I got the impression that we would have won that game 70% of the time if these irregular circumstances didnt happen..
1.) jimmy butler missing 3 CRUCIAL free throws. He’s a great shooter
2.) horford called for a foul on biid (it was a 5 pt swing with hayward hitting the 3 on the other end)
3.) tobias didn’t miss the open 3 off a JJ screen
4.) biid didnt opt to score off the rebound and decide to kick out to open JJ or Tobias

[NoDopeOnSundays]

This game and matchup are why the Sixers should have gone after Patrick McCaw, not sure why he wasn't on their radar after the Cavs released him. A big 6'7 PG that can switch onto multiple positions, you see him playing with the Raptors and he would have immediately replaced McConnell as the backup PG.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

[sixers4real]

I’ve said it 1000 times, we are Boston’s Achilles' heel.
Especially without Kyrie. They slow down the pace, the defend better without him. And, oh boy, Hayward has his best offensive game of the season.

What we need is, take that F 3rd seed, and avoid Cs until potential conference Finals. I worry less about Bucks and Raptors, then the playoffs Celtics. And oh yeah, it was the playoffs display by the Celtics today after all they have been thought.

[Hipster Doofus]

I used to like Horford on the Hawks. Now he's one of my most hated players only because he wears green, is so durable, and is so effective against us. Too bad because he's a nice guy. Sooooo petty, but I don't care.

We play right into their gameplan every. single. time.

[Kobblehead]

This game and matchup are why the Sixers should have gone after Patrick McCaw, not sure why he wasn't on their radar after the Cavs released him. A big 6'7 PG that can switch onto multiple positions, you see him playing with the Raptors and he would have immediately replaced McConnell as the backup PG.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

McCaw sucks, though.

I was big on him coming out of the draft that year, but he's done nothing in his NBA career. Also, he seems pretty selfish about the way he's handled his career. I don't like investing in people like that.

[FireMorey]

This game and matchup are why the Sixers should have gone after Patrick McCaw, not sure why he wasn't on their radar after the Cavs released him. A big 6'7 PG that can switch onto multiple positions, you see him playing with the Raptors and he would have immediately replaced McConnell as the backup PG.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

If Patrick freaking McCaw is the difference in any playoff series then something is seriously wrong. Our best talent should be enough to get the job done.

[DeMychal]

So,

I could not watch the 4th quarter last night now I feel better about the game. We got screwed on at least two calls on embiid that we would normally get but more importantly we are playing with about five new guys it's going to take time to implement everything. I would venture a guess if we meet them in the playoffs we will take them in a 7 game series.

[DeMychal]

I used to like Horford on the Hawks. Now he's one of my most hated players only because he wears green, is so durable, and is so effective against us. Too bad because he's a nice guy. Sooooo petty, but I don't care.

We play right into their gameplan every. single. time.

well I took the liberty and re-watching the game just now and he is hacking the s*** out of embiid about 10 times & it didn't get called.

[KrazySixersD]

what dont u guys get about horford being allowed to foul embiid on every post up

why do you guys ignore this? he fouls him literally every posession embiid posts up.. he sticks his knee between his legs which is not allowed and never gets called. THIS IS WHY EMBIID CAN NOT MOVE HIM IN THE POST.. hence why that is illegal to do

he also hacks him left n right and only gets called for it here and there

its an absolute joke and brown should be all over the league office about it

Ding ding ding!!!

This man gets it. Whenever Horford plays Embiid, his one leg and knee always sticks out in front and into Embiid with force and doesn't allow Embiid to get deeper into the paint, or to move for that matter.

Horford knows that Embiid is stronger, but Horford is smart. He uses the laws of physics against Embiid. If Horford plays Embiid like other normal NBA centers with both his legs spread normally, Embiid would just push him away. But Horford sticks that one leg and knee into Embiid like an anchor.

Not sure if this kind of play is allowed or not, but that's how Horford frustrates Embiid.

Similarly, the other thing Horford does is when he sets screens on offense. His one arm is always stuck to his body, but he sticks out his elbow very quickly like a chicken wing at the exact moment one of our players tries to go around the screen. So basically, everytime one of our players tries to go around Horford on a screen, that player gets a Horford elbow punch into their gut.

See if you can notice both of those things whenever you watch the Celtics play. Or better yet, go on youtube and watch the highlights of last night's game. That's what Horford does. Not sure if it's illegal or not, but if I'm the coaching staff of the Sixers, we need to do something about it.

it is illegal hence why I am making such a big deal about it.. it is 100% illegal to do.. yet he never gets called, and our moron coach does not bring it up to the refs

[NoDopeOnSundays]

McCaw sucks, though.

I was big on him coming out of the draft that year, but he's done nothing in his NBA career. Also, he seems pretty selfish about the way he's handled his career. I don't like investing in people like that.

He doesn't suck, he's a backup and fits a need that the Sixers currently have. The Warriors wanted to retain him for a reason, guys who can initiate offense and guard multiple positions are rare, even with his lack of shooting that is still a desired skillset for a winning team.

If Patrick freaking McCaw is the difference in any playoff series then something is seriously wrong. Our best talent should be enough to get the job done.

The best talent may not always win based on matchups, last year the Sixers had the best talent vs the Celtics and still lost. Just going by stats Marcus Smart "sucks" by most standards, but he can post up much weaker guards which causes the Sixers defense to collapse as though it was Shaq in the paint because Smart has also shown he can score from the post against those matchups.

[Hipster Doofus]

I used to like Horford on the Hawks. Now he's one of my most hated players only because he wears green, is so durable, and is so effective against us. Too bad because he's a nice guy. Sooooo petty, but I don't care.

We play right into their gameplan every. single. time.

well I took the liberty and re-watching the game just now and he is hacking the s*** out of embiid about 10 times & it didn't get called.

Of course he did. He does it every time and gets away with it. He's so crafty that the majority of the time it doesn't get called. That's basketball IQ to the highest level and referee laziness.

I wrote a detailed post a couple of pages back about the 2 things that Horford always does when we play the Celtics: 1) he defends Embiid in the post with his leg and knee sticking out in front of Embiid like a fire hydrant that won't move, and 2) he uses his elbows like a chicken wing and basically punches our players in the ribs when they try to get around him on a screen.

Never gets called for any of those things. It's so frustrating because he does it all the time.

[XtremeDunkz]

Ben Simmons in his current form should not be the main ball handler on this team. Plain and simple.

As I said on the GB you can't be a PG and at the same time absolutely suck at fundamental PG responsibilities.

Ben can't run PnR, score from outside the paint, beat his man off the dribble and collapse the defense, and even when he gets the ball in the paint his touch is mediocre at best.

Ben in theory with his size and strength and athleticism is great, but he isn't great right now. He is a liability for this team that makes everyones job harder in the halfcourt offense.

[FireMorey]

McCaw sucks, though.

I was big on him coming out of the draft that year, but he's done nothing in his NBA career. Also, he seems pretty selfish about the way he's handled his career. I don't like investing in people like that.

He doesn't suck, he's a backup and fits a need that the Sixers currently have. The Warriors wanted to retain him for a reason, guys who can initiate offense and guard multiple positions are rare, even with his lack of shooting that is still a desired skillset for a winning team.i

If Patrick freaking McCaw is the difference in any playoff series then something is seriously wrong. Our best talent should be enough to get the job done.

The best talent may not always win based on matchups, last year the Sixers had the best talent vs the Celtics and still lost. Just going by stats Marcus Smart "sucks" by most standards, but he can post up much weaker guards which causes the Sixers defense to collapse as though it was Shaq in the paint because Smart has also shown he can score from the post against those matchups.

Talent only doesn’t win based on matchups when it’s either not utilized properly or the talent doesn’t perform up to standard. For the Sixers to beat them in the series, it’s going to always come down to their best players playing up to their capabilities. If they don’t, they won’t win. I don’t care if it’s the Celtics or the Bucks or the pacers or whoever we play.

McCaw would just be putting a band aid over the bigger problem.

[VDT]

He is not a superstar. He is a star that struggles notably against certain centers. A superstar is a player that can't be stopped, or is very hard to stop.
To beat Horford, or atleast improve his success against him, he needs to abandon bully ball and stop trying to draw fouls against him, try to score by facing up, shoot over him or try to blow by him and use hooks, don't try to post him up. If there is a double team, kick it out.

That makes literally zero sense. Shooting contested mid range jumpers is the last thing you want to do. Trying to blow by players 3-4 inches shorter and 30 pounds lighter than him makes also not much sense. If he wants to become a dominant player he needs imo to embrace the post play. Which is why i dont get why people want him to lose weight. He should be as heavy and strong as is possible without being a defensive liability.

Weight does not equal strength, Horford gives him issues because he is strong and has a much lower center of gravity. What Bum is saying makes complete sense.

I am not contesting that not because i agree but it gets pointless. But saying that Embiid should shoot contested midrange jumpers and try as a go to move to blow by players that are shorter and lighter than him makes no sense imo.

[Kobblehead]

He doesn't suck, he's a backup and fits a need that the Sixers currently have. The Warriors wanted to retain him for a reason, guys who can initiate offense and guard multiple positions are rare, even with his lack of shooting that is still a desired skillset for a winning team.

He does suck, though. He's just a guy with a theoretical skillset that hasn't proven anything on the basketball court.

He's been a scrublord, shooting 28% from three and averaging 8.8 ppg per-36 minutes for his career. That's trash.

What makes you think this guy is capable of being inserted onto this team right now and have an impact? He hasn't developed at the NBA level at all yet. And who knows if he ever will, he's 23 and shown nothing, afterall.

[NoDopeOnSundays]

He doesn't suck, he's a backup and fits a need that the Sixers currently have. The Warriors wanted to retain him for a reason, guys who can initiate offense and guard multiple positions are rare, even with his lack of shooting that is still a desired skillset for a winning team.

He does suck, though. He's just a guy with a theoretical skillset that hasn't proven anything on the basketball court.

He's been a scrublord, shooting 28% from three and averaging 8.8 ppg per-36 minutes for his career. That's trash.

What makes you think this guy is capable of being inserted onto this team right now and have an impact? He hasn't developed at the NBA level at all yet. And who knows if he ever will, he's 23 and shown nothing, afterall.

What are you expecting from a backup PG?

Again, by most standards Marcus Smart sucks, 11.7ppg per 36 for his career and 36% FG and 30% from three for a STARTER, yet because he can defend and switch multiple positions he can play and contribute for a winning team.

I'm not talking about McCaw turning into an all-star, I'm saying having him play those 13 minutes instead of McConnell would have a more positive impact on defense. I don't know how you can watch a team hunt for a player like that because of his size and not think McCaw who is a much better defender wouldn't have helped some of that.

[Kobblehead]

If Brett was going to take T.J. out of the rotation, he would do it inhouse with Shake Milton. He wouldn't sign dude that had a little hype at the top of the 2nd round of the 2016 draft that hasn't done anything in the league yet.