The Wing King Vs. The Plant-God, Sixers @ Suns 3/27 6:00pm EST

[Ferry Avenue]

So you can’t win just by surrounding Harden, Embiid and Maxey with 3&D shooters like Roco and Danny Green?

Not unless you're running the offense through Maxey in the clutch and he's proving effective in that regard. Embiid and Harden -- at least this version of Harden -- can't do it.

What you're describing is of course the optimal roster configuration around Embiid, Harden, and Maxey, but if none of the three of them can have an offense run through him effectively in the clutch, it won't matter much when facing the best teams in the league.

Somebody has to be the "QB" in the clutch, and an effective one. The surrounding pieces won't make that happen in and of themselves, just by virtue of their presence on the court.

[stormi]

Not feeling too fussed about this game after sleeping on it. Harden isn't 100% and Harden and Jo need better fitting players around them. Our transition defense is concerning. Our athleticism in general sucks too. You have to pay Harden, that's the bed that was made and he's still a player you can win with, but not in this sub-optimal situation. And even if things go south in two years, the Rockets are rebuilding around John Wall's vacant 45 million just fine.

I'd consider getting another playmaker for the half-court. You can't run all your creation through James Harden - and this form of Tyrese Maxey is way too inconsistent on the ball against set defenses.

Harris, Korkmaz, DAJ and Thybulle especially need to be binned. His offense actually does outweigh his defense. And his man defensive prowess was is overrated to begin with. He was the worst starter for either team yesterday by far.

[76ciology]

There’s not much need for the Suns to play hard unless it’s a close game.

Good thing we were able to play the Suns on a close game. This will prepare us for the playoffs.

[Ferry Avenue]

There’s not much need for the Suns to play hard unless it’s a close game.

Good thing we were able to play the Suns on a close game. This will prepare us for the playoffs.

I certainly felt far better about that game than I did the Nets game. And what was admirable as well was how they were down 101-90 late and then made it 101-100. Then you had a questionable and-1 call that shifted the momentum and got the Suns up 104-100. From then on the momentum never returned.

[DO_Sixers]

Not feeling too fussed about this game after sleeping on it. Harden isn't 100% and Harden and Jo need better fitting players around them. Our transition defense is concerning. Our athleticism in general sucks too. You have to pay Harden, that's the bed that was made and he's still a player you can win with, but not in this sub-optimal situation. And even if things go south in two years, the Rockets are rebuilding around John Wall's vacant 45 million just fine.

I'd consider getting another playmaker for the half-court. You can't run all your creation through James Harden - and this form of Tyrese Maxey is way too inconsistent on the ball against set defenses.

Harris, Korkmaz, DAJ and Thybulle especially need to be binned. His offense actually does outweigh his defense. And his man defensive prowess was is overrated to begin with. He was the worst starter for either team yesterday by far.

6 teams can win it all:
Phoenix
Memphis
Philly
Boston
Milwaukee
Brooklyn

Miami & GS - ish too old and it’s showing

[Mik317]

IMO Memphis may be too young to truly run the table.

GS just need to get healthy...and if they do, then they have a championship core that has been there before....thats a big if tho.

The Nets offense is tough to stop 4 games IMO so they always have a shot even if they put themselves in a hole so far.

The others mention yeah....except us. I am obviously too close but this team seems so predictable so its the opposite of the Nets in that regard...I still worry about what we do if plan A is stopped...as it seems option two is flail in hopes of getting calls...which I do not like.

[Bum Adebayo]

Let's be honest, most of us knew Harden was washed up with Nets but decided to ignore all the red flags, we were DESPERATE to have a player as good as he was in the past, we needed so badly a player that can score on the ball and distribute. It was a bet and we failed miserably, oh well, still better than having to watch Bum Simmons anymore.

[DO_Sixers]

IMO Memphis may be too young to truly run the table.

GS just need to get healthy...and if they do, then they have a championship core that has been there before....thats a big if tho.

The Nets offense is tough to stop 4 games IMO so they always have a shot even if they put themselves in a hole so far.

The others mention yeah....except us. I am obviously too close but this team seems so predictable so its the opposite of the Nets in that regard...I still worry about what we do if plan A is stopped...as it seems option two is flail in hopes of getting calls...which I do not like.

lol

I forgot the Nets! My bad.

[stormi]

Not feeling too fussed about this game after sleeping on it. Harden isn't 100% and Harden and Jo need better fitting players around them. Our transition defense is concerning. Our athleticism in general sucks too. You have to pay Harden, that's the bed that was made and he's still a player you can win with, but not in this sub-optimal situation. And even if things go south in two years, the Rockets are rebuilding around John Wall's vacant 45 million just fine.

I'd consider getting another playmaker for the half-court. You can't run all your creation through James Harden - and this form of Tyrese Maxey is way too inconsistent on the ball against set defenses.

Harris, Korkmaz, DAJ and Thybulle especially need to be binned. His offense actually does outweigh his defense. And his man defensive prowess was is overrated to begin with. He was the worst starter for either team yesterday by far.

6 teams can win it all:
Phoenix
Memphis
Philly
Boston
Milwaukee
Brooklyn

Miami & GS - ish too old and it’s showing

Wouldn't count out Klay/Steph/Dray in a series if they're all on the floor. Their surrounding cast is decent too with Poole, Wigs, OPJ, Looney and then some young guys.

Miami is def not a championship caliber team, they have no scoring star power.

[FireMorey]

Harden and all his “washed up ness. Is still averaging 23/10/5 as a Sixer. I don’t believe he’s washed at all, I think he’s hurt. He looked like the Harden of old in his first couple games here then he had some tough spills and since then hasn’t been the same. Once he heals up, I don’t think he’ll ever be the 36 ppg guy again, but I think he can be the 2020 Harden that carried the Nets for weeks and was in the running for MVP last year. Probably won’t heal til the off-season though. And Morey is gonna have to level with him and come into next season in better shape and not just better shape with weight, but do some workouts and stretches in the summer so his legs can handle the physicality at his age.

[DO_Sixers]

Harden and all his “washed up ness. Is still averaging 23/10/5 as a Sixer. I don’t believe he’s washed at all, I think he’s hurt. He looked like the Harden of old in his first couple games here then he had some tough spills and since then hasn’t been the same. Once he heals up, I don’t think he’ll ever be the 36 ppg guy again, but I think he can be the 2020 Harden that carried the Nets for weeks and was in the running for MVP last year. Probably won’t heal til the off-season though. And Morey is gonna have to level with him and come into next season in better shape and not just better shape with weight, but do some workouts and stretches in the summer so his legs can handle the physicality at his age.

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[M2J]

I think it's clear that the medical staff feel that Harden's injury can't get much better with rest. Perhaps needs to strengthen it? I hope he takes the right path to get it to where he needs to be.

[Embiid P]

If Harden plays this way, do we need a better scoring guard than Maxey? A better scoring forward than Tobias?

So can we just improve our role players or should we worry about adding more scoring in the offseason?

The few times I've seen Harden play this way, I automatically think about Bradley Beal. If not him, we definitely need a 3rd guard who can score when it matters.

On a related note, it surprises me we've maintained our top-10 DRTG (9th) but have fallen in ORTG (14th) since acquiring Harden.

Unless you plan on letting Harden walk in free agency, it makes little sense to acquire Beal given that we have enough small guards, one of which can already do much of what Beal does at a fraction of the cost along with our other glaring needs namely at the forward positions and bench.

[mjkvol]

Not feeling too fussed about this game after sleeping on it. Harden isn't 100% and Harden and Jo need better fitting players around them. Our transition defense is concerning. Our athleticism in general sucks too. You have to pay Harden, that's the bed that was made and he's still a player you can win with, but not in this sub-optimal situation. And even if things go south in two years, the Rockets are rebuilding around John Wall's vacant 45 million just fine.

I'd consider getting another playmaker for the half-court. You can't run all your creation through James Harden - and this form of Tyrese Maxey is way too inconsistent on the ball against set defenses.

Harris, Korkmaz, DAJ and Thybulle especially need to be binned. His offense actually does outweigh his defense. And his man defensive prowess was is overrated to begin with. He was the worst starter for either team yesterday by far.

6 teams can win it all:
Phoenix
Memphis
Philly
Boston
Milwaukee
Brooklyn

Miami & GS - ish too old and it’s showing

Memphis is too young at this point to weather the grind of winning four playoff series, and there's no way I would count out the experience of GS if they get everyone healthy.

The only other real question mark on your list is the Sixers. We have some serious flaws (defense, rebounding, consistent bench production) that are only going to be exacerbated against good competition, and we have one of the worst big game coaches who ever lived.

I've felt all along that this was going to be about the next 2-3 years once we get the roster set and have been able to fully work the scheme to maximize Harden, Embiid, and Maxey, and nothing I've seen has made me feel any different.

[Stanford]

6 teams can win it all:
Phoenix
Memphis
Philly
Boston
Milwaukee
Brooklyn

Miami & GS - ish too old and it’s showing

Oh, please. We run a thousand simulations on these playoffs and we might make the finals 5 times. Get real, bro.

[FireMorey]

I think it's clear that the medical staff feel that Harden's injury can't get much better with rest. Perhaps needs to strengthen it? I hope he takes the right path to get it to where he needs to be.

Depends on what type of hamstring injury it is. I think rest would heal any hamstring injury sans the kind that require surgery - which he wouldn't be playing on if he had that. I think it's more likely they don't think he'd get the required rest to heal it. Probably is a several week rest type of deal and anything short of that he might as well play on it.

[Embiid-MVP]

Harden and all his “washed up ness. Is still averaging 23/10/5 as a Sixer. I don’t believe he’s washed at all, I think he’s hurt. He looked like the Harden of old in his first couple games here then he had some tough spills and since then hasn’t been the same. Once he heals up, I don’t think he’ll ever be the 36 ppg guy again, but I think he can be the 2020 Harden that carried the Nets for weeks and was in the running for MVP last year. Probably won’t heal til the off-season though. And Morey is gonna have to level with him and come into next season in better shape and not just better shape with weight, but do some workouts and stretches in the summer so his legs can handle the physicality at his age.

Yeah the washed stuff is very funny. Guess box score watchers know everything. He's not gonna be harden from 3+ years ago. Everyone knows that. We got exactly what we thought we were gonna get. Anyone shocked must not watch it closely

[Jailblazers7]

I honestly think the Suns are the prohibitive favorite if healthy. They have the talent, depth, leadership, consistency, and coaching of a championship team. Other teams can theoretically get to their level but that’ll require massive performances from stars like Giannis or KD.

I think it’s a Suns vs. Bucks or Nets finals with Suns winning it. Miami doesn’t have the juice, Boston is banged up now, Memphis is young, Steph is coming off an injury (& Warriors seem kinda cursed now lol), and the Sixers are absolutely not a legit championship threat right now.

As for Harden being washed, he’s obviously still very good but his iso scoring days are largely in the past imo. He needs to get his body right, we reconstruct the roster a bit, and Embiid/Harden need to build more PnR chemistry for us to have a title shot next year. Regardless of roster moves, I expect us to be really good next year as chemistry improves and I have no doubt Maxey will develop even further. I think he’ll come back stronger & better on defense + develop a deeper bag in iso/PnR situations.

[phillynative]

Harden is a shooter, he does not need to rely too much on driving to the rim. And honesly, its not healthy for him to keep driving because of Embiid camping around the mid range and not being a lob threat.

Or maybe its not healthy for him to constantly bulldoze into the players in front of him because he has no burst or lift . Has nothing to do with Embiid.

Its his diminishing athleticism and learning on the fly when to be aggresive and when to be the playmaker.

[DCasey91]

So you can’t win just by surrounding Harden, Embiid and Maxey with 3&D shooters like Roco and Danny Green?

I think some posters here are getting too antsy and not thinking long term.

Beal or Lillard? Seriously get real. Lillard would be more of a issue than Harden fwiw looking at the season he had.

We aren’t going to win the chip this year and it has nothing to do with Harden, the whole list is flawed.

He gets fit, we trade Thybulle + Harris together and upgrade those 2 spots (SF/PF) with better fitting players as you said 3&D players and we are good to go.

Josh Hart is literally the perfect player to fit imo. Would solve our huge rebounding issues overnight. Monster on the boards