Game 29: Heat @ Sixers - 7 pm EST

[Kolkmania]

Our P&R defense was really bad in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Every slipped screen by Adebayo led to a free 2 versus 1 at the rim. Neto did a terrible job at the POA.
Offensively we do not have the personnel to beat a zone defense easily, at least not when Ben refuses to shoot corner threes.

However, we'll figure something out against a zone defense in a 7-game series and/or the shooting will regress to the mean.
Despite those flaws, we were in the game and they hit some really, really wild shots and we missed a ton of open looks.

Fun game. Not that worried about the Heat though.

[ProcessDoctor]

Amen. Suggestions how we get this done?

Short-term I don't think there are a ton of options. D Rose might become available, but Detroit is vying for a playoff spot so I doubt they give him up. Patty Mills is an option, but matching his $14 mil salary would be difficult.

Long-term, plenty of options IMO. Lavine, DLO, CJ, Beal, and J Murray. Booker is off the table unless he demands a trade. I don't imagine us targeting any of them until the offseason. If we fall short of a Finals appearance, I think we get a new coach and they help dictate who we target and who we trade between Tobi, Al, or Ben.

I think what eventually gets us over the hump is acquiring a new coach and lead guard. As things stand, I think we're close to our ceiling with BB and the current roster.

I highly doubt Brett wants to add a scoring guard unless he's a positive on defense, a la Butler. Purely scoring guards doesn't feel like Brett's MO, especially given how seldom we see Trey Burke. I agree, it's going to take a new coach for this to happen.

Yea, it's frustrating as a fan to have to wait it out but I guess things could be worse. My worry is we get to the Finals, keep Brett, and therefore don't address the need for a lead guard.

In the event we do replace Brett, I hope it's someone who won't take Ben's **** and can better utilize him. I still believe we can win with a core of Embiid + Simmons + lead guard + Harris or Horford.

[Sixercise]

I cant stop watching the last 12 seconds, been replaying it over and over and over. A Horford semi contested three?? Would of rather went for the tie, literally nobody was underneath the basket on that play. Coulda been an easy 2 points but whatever

Richardson has a open cut lane. Disappointing he didn’t take it.

Kinda indicative of Richardson's overall approach - he has serious potential to go off when given the green light, but has been quite hesitant all season.

[TTP]

Our P&R defense was really bad in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Every slipped screen by Adebayo led to a free 2 versus 1 at the rim. Neto did a terrible job at the POA.
Offensively we do not have the personnel to beat a zone defense easily, at least not when Ben refuses to shoot corner threes.

However, we'll figure something out against a zone defense in a 7-game series and/or the shooting will regress to the mean.
Despite those flaws, we were in the game and they hit some really, really wild shots and we missed a ton of open looks.

Fun game. Not that worried about the Heat though.

I thought we handled the zone well and just missed a ton of spots. Bodner made a video about it:

Watch on YouTube

JVG was just glowing over the zone with some lazy analysis and I think it stuck with a lot of fans. Miami went zone for a good portion of the first quarter while we were dominating, and then went back to it in the second when they came back, but they came back because we got good shots against the zone but missed them, rather than their defense forcing us into sub-optimal results.

I think if we play the way we played last night against other teams running the zone, we'll be fine. If you re-watch our offensive possessions against the zone but paused each before the ball went into the basket and just judged the possession on execution and quality of shot generated, it was a pretty encouraging performance.

[phillynative]

Our P&R defense was really bad in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Every slipped screen by Adebayo led to a free 2 versus 1 at the rim. Neto did a terrible job at the POA.
Offensively we do not have the personnel to beat a zone defense easily, at least not when Ben refuses to shoot corner threes.

However, we'll figure something out against a zone defense in a 7-game series and/or the shooting will regress to the mean.
Despite those flaws, we were in the game and they hit some really, really wild shots and we missed a ton of open looks.

Fun game. Not that worried about the Heat though.

I thought we handled the zone well and just missed a ton of spots. Bodner made a video about it:

Watch on YouTube

JVG was just glowing over the zone with some lazy analysis and I think it stuck with a lot of fans. Miami went zone for a good portion of the first quarter while we were dominating, and then went back to it in the second when they came back, but they came back because we got good shots against the zone but missed them, rather than their defense forcing us into sub-optimal results.

I think if we play the way we played last night against other teams running the zone, we'll be fine. If you re-watch our offensive possessions against the zone but paused each before the ball went into the basket and just judged the possession on execution and quality of shot generated, it was a pretty encouraging performance.

That was some nice ball movement but i guess that is where we miss a knock down shooter. We have some pretty good shooters but they can be hot and cold we could use a zone buster( korver, jj reddick, landry ect.).

[Ferry Avenue]

Don't get carried away paying attention to the zone defense played against the Sixers when the clear problem in the game was that on the two key possessions down the stretch, the players the team is built around had 1) an immediate turnover when double-teamed (Embiid), and 2) didn't attack the rim when he had the ball and the lane was wide open (Simmons).

This team has some serious leadership and identity problems.

[Eyeamok]

I love it when opposing teams draw up new defenses to limit Embiid and the team's effectiveness. It gives Coach Brown a lot of time to figure out a defense and counteract what they are doing. In game situations Brown is usually not the fastest to respond to a new scheme. But give him time and he will figure it out. So in a sense a lot of these teams are showing their hand too early. And they are just helping the 76ers get ready for their playoff run.

[phillynative]

Don't get carried away paying attention to the zone defense played against the Sixers when the clear problem in the game was that on the two key possessions down the stretch, the players the team is built around had 1) an immediate turnover when double-teamed (Embiid), and 2) didn't attack the rim when he had the ball and the lane was wide open (Simmons).

This team has some serious leadership and identity problems.

I agree to us having leadership issues, spacing issues and peremiter scoring issues. Does one defer to the next???

[ivysixer2000]

I love it when opposing teams draw up new defenses to limit Embiid and the team's effectiveness. It gives Coach Brown a lot of time to figure out a defense and counteract what they are doing. In game situations Brown is usually not the fastest to respond to a new scheme. But give him time and he will figure it out. So in a sense a lot of these teams are showing their hand too early. And they are just helping the 76ers get ready for their playoff run.

Can't say this is a good thing although I understand what your saying, we need someone who can adjust immediately....something BB has never been real good at doing.

Waiting on him to figure it out and adjust can cost you a playoff series.