VDT wrote:NoDopeOnSundays wrote:VDT wrote:
Isaak is a good defender but other than that they are not particularly big nor good defenders. If that's what it takes to turn the team into jump shooters then the team might not go very far in the postseason. Getting into a shooting contest when you have Simmons, Embiid and Horford in your starting lineup is not very wise nor very sustainable, and if the teams can force us to abandon our gameplan so easily thats a real issue. We lost to the Magic while shooting 34.5% from 3, for every game like the Bucks, shooting wise, there will be many more like against Orlando and there will be some even worse.
Part of it is of course roster construction, because packing the paint works against most Sixers starters, but part of it is Embiid not getting deeper position and the team lacking a more structured offense where everyone knows his role and where he should be.
Their forwards are big/long, athletic and defensively versatile, Gordon is a capable defender when he puts his mind to it and has the size to switch onto everyone but Embiid. The paint is clogged against a team like the Magic because Isaac is on Simmons, that has a trickle down affect on everything, and Embiid getting deeper post position is difficult when the lane is so crowded & Isaac is able to bring help defense.
I don't even think it's roster construction, it's Simmons unwillingness to space to the corner and how that impacts other players on the floor. They can beat a lot of teams because of their size, but on the nights where the size can be neutralized you see the warts in Simmons game pop up. This is why I think the Sixers are a bad matchup for the Bucks, because Giannis can only guard Simmons or Horford, they don't have the other forward that can do it.
Gordon is 6'8", he is not particularly tall for a small forward. Vucevic is not a good defender and is a soft player. If the Magic can force the Sixers to become a jump shooting team then most playoff teams can also do that, which is obviously an issue.
It is also hard for the team to get easy wins against worse teams because there is no system in place like the Bucks have nor is there a playmaker that is the system like Lebron. This also makes it hard to improve with time.
Their forwards are 6'8" 235 and 6'11" 230lbs, they have excellent size for their positions and most importantly both can defend the 4 which gives them the option to use either on Simmons, Harris or Horford. Putting Isaac on Simmons takes away his drives & posts ups, he cannot score on Isaac, and Gordon can defend what Horford has become which is just a faceup 4.
I don't think every playoff team can do that to the Sixers, and the Magic aren't a threat to the Sixers, more of a nuisance, but the blueprint they use really isn't any different from the Celtics who would put Baynes on Embiid and Horford on Simmons at times which grinded the offense to a halt.
