2021-22 NBA Season Discussion

[Doctor MJ]

I guess I am just confused on how exactly he quit on the Nets beyond not wanting to put up with Kyrie’s nonsense.

I’m talking about how Harden looked out there toward the end. It was Houston all over again.


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He was playing through hand and hamstring issues and had a stinker on the second half of a back to back.

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When we already know that you've purposefully played below your capacity to force a trade, and we know that in this new circumstances you appeared to be playing purposefully below capacity while forcing a trade, I'm not going to give you any benefit of the doubt.

I'm talking as a guy who had been cheering for Harden for a very long time because he's a local hero where I am, but I think at this point it's naive to assume anything but the worst of him in a situation like this.

[Krodis]

Not only do I not think Harden is in the wrong for this situation, I think everyone else in the Nets organization with any clout is in the wrong for putting up with Kyrie.

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[itsxtray]

How do we like the fit of Embiid & Harden? Or are they so good that it won't matter? Harden is best in the spread PnR dominating the ball and making all the decisions. Embiid is best out of the post and in isolation. The sixers have never been a high usage PnR team since Embiid's been there even going back to the Jimmy Butler season. It might be best to just stagger them most of the game and just start & finish them together.

If Harden's play this season is a result of effort and not decline then they can probably just get by on talent, but if he has declined im not so sure this version of Harden puts them over the edge.

[MartinToVaught]

Credit where credit is due, this is funny:

Read on Twitter

[Doctor MJ]

How do we like the fit of Embiid & Harden? Or are they so good that it won't matter? Harden is best in the spread PnR dominating the ball and making all the decisions. Embiid is best out of the post and in isolation. The sixers have never been a high usage PnR team since Embiid's been there even going back to the Jimmy Butler season. It might be best to just stagger them most of the game and just start & finish them together.

If Harden's play this season is a result of effort and not decline then they can probably just get by on talent, but if he has declined im not so sure this version of Harden puts them over the edge.

There are certainly questions. How will Harden function off-ball given that he's been so stagnant off-ball for so long? On defense, will Harden be forced to be more of a perimeter man defender given that the 76ers already have Harden to take care of the interior?

There's enough doubt there that I still think the Bucks are the favorites in the East if healthy, but I feel like I'd probably put the 76ers as the 2nd favorite.

(On the Nets, to me so long as Irving is a part-time player, it's hard for me to see them winning a championship.)

[MartinToVaught]

I see Embiid and Harden running into the exact same issues that Harden's had with everybody else. When push comes to shove, Harden won't make the sacrifices to his game and his statistics that he has to make in order for this to work.

[falcolombardi]

assuming that the east has only 4 "real contenders" (unless cavs or hawks or bulls surprise us)

how do we see nets, bucks, sixers and miami matching up at full strenght?

[sp6r=underrated]

Credit where credit is due, this is funny:

Read on Twitter

It is a gem of a quote.

[LukaTheGOAT]

Analyzing players' psyche just doesn't seem very feasible to me when all we do get media relayed through biased formats, but so be it I guess.

[falcolombardi]

i want to believe russ made a somewhat self depreciating joke and not a passive agressive comment about vogel benching him

so i will chose to believe that

[AussieBuck]

How do we like the fit of Embiid & Harden? Or are they so good that it won't matter? Harden is best in the spread PnR dominating the ball and making all the decisions. Embiid is best out of the post and in isolation. The sixers have never been a high usage PnR team since Embiid's been there even going back to the Jimmy Butler season. It might be best to just stagger them most of the game and just start & finish them together.

If Harden's play this season is a result of effort and not decline then they can probably just get by on talent, but if he has declined im not so sure this version of Harden puts them over the edge.

There are certainly questions. How will Harden function off-ball given that he's been so stagnant off-ball for so long? On defense, will Harden be forced to be more of a perimeter man defender given that the 76ers already have Harden to take care of the interior?

There's enough doubt there that I still think the Bucks are the favorites in the East if healthy, but I feel like I'd probably put the 76ers as the 2nd favorite.

(On the Nets, to me so long as Irving is a part-time player, it's hard for me to see them winning a championship.)

Feels like Miami aren't being talked about enough, this version is the strongest yet quite comfortably IMO.

[70sFan]

Am I the only one who hates Philly-Nets trade from 76ers perspective? I was prepared for Simmons-Harden exchange, but losing Curry is massive in my opinion. Seth was extremely important for Embiid on offense.

Do I overreact?

[Fadeaway_J]

Am I the only one who hates Philly-Nets trade from 76ers perspective? I was prepared for Simmons-Harden exchange, but losing Curry is massive in my opinion. Seth was extremely important for Embiid on offense.

Do I overreact?

I'm generally not loving the offensive setup the Sixers have around Embiid and Harden at the moment. The spacing is quite iffy, especially if Thybulle is still starting.

[70sFan]

Am I the only one who hates Philly-Nets trade from 76ers perspective? I was prepared for Simmons-Harden exchange, but losing Curry is massive in my opinion. Seth was extremely important for Embiid on offense.

Do I overreact?

I'm generally not loving the offensive setup the Sixers have around Embiid and Harden at the moment. The spacing is quite iffy, especially if Thybulle is still starting.

Yeah and I don't know what to do with Harris in this case. Maxey also loses most of his value next to Harden. I want Philly to succeed, but I find it very unlikely to be honest.

[falcolombardi]

Am I the only one who hates Philly-Nets trade from 76ers perspective? I was prepared for Simmons-Harden exchange, but losing Curry is massive in my opinion. Seth was extremely important for Embiid on offense.

Do I overreact?

i mean, sixers essentially traded seth curry for james harden since ben simmons was a sunk cost for them

it would have been ideal to keep seth of course but you have to give somethingh to get somethingh back

i get the fit is worse but the talent is better, harden spaces the floor too even if passively, and is a better scorer and playmaker than maxey who still can have a important role as a third option and second ball handler

do you think seth gives sixers a better shot at a ring than harden or that there was a better trade to make? i mean is possible, but it seems unlikely unless harden declines quickly

[Doctor MJ]

How do we like the fit of Embiid & Harden? Or are they so good that it won't matter? Harden is best in the spread PnR dominating the ball and making all the decisions. Embiid is best out of the post and in isolation. The sixers have never been a high usage PnR team since Embiid's been there even going back to the Jimmy Butler season. It might be best to just stagger them most of the game and just start & finish them together.

If Harden's play this season is a result of effort and not decline then they can probably just get by on talent, but if he has declined im not so sure this version of Harden puts them over the edge.

There are certainly questions. How will Harden function off-ball given that he's been so stagnant off-ball for so long? On defense, will Harden be forced to be more of a perimeter man defender given that the 76ers already have Harden to take care of the interior?

There's enough doubt there that I still think the Bucks are the favorites in the East if healthy, but I feel like I'd probably put the 76ers as the 2nd favorite.

(On the Nets, to me so long as Irving is a part-time player, it's hard for me to see them winning a championship.)

Feels like Miami aren't being talked about enough, this version is the strongest yet quite comfortably IMO.

For the record, I’ll probably be cheering for Heat Culture against any of the other teams I mentioned (Bucks I’ll have to see how I feel in the moment). Tons of respect for them, won’t be surprised if the get to ECF, but I have a hard time seeing them have the same ceiling as the other teams. Seems like one of those others will probably be playing well enough to stop the Heat, but I’d enjoy being wrong.

Also would really enjoy if some team not in this group takes it as long as it’s because that team is playing super-well. If the Cavs (or Raptors or…) look like a juggernaut in the PS that would be exciting as hell.


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[CKRT]

I see Embiid and Harden running into the exact same issues that Harden's had with everybody else. When push comes to shove, Harden won't make the sacrifices to his game and his statistics that he has to make in order for this to work.

I’ve seen you make this same comment multiple times without really saying anything. Out of his star teammates he’s had issues with:

Howard because he demanded to post up and was objectively the lesser player demanding touches for something he was not good at.

Paul is absolutely notorious for being a toxic teammate that wears on people until the relationship sours. I personally feel like people forget how absolutely washed Paul was in 2019 when their relationship soured before he rehabbed his body (and image) in OKC.

Kyrie is an antivax moron with a documented history of destroying locker rooms with his drama.


Also Harden’s OKC and Nets tenure flies completely in the face of “Harden won’t change his game” because he absolutely did with both teams. The PR stuff that the Nets are running with right now is hilarious because they are clearly the sources for a lot of the negative stuff out about Harden right now and people are applying about zero critical thinking about it because they don’t like Harden.

[LukaTheGOAT]

assuming that the east has only 4 "real contenders" (unless cavs or hawks or bulls surprise us)

how do we see nets, bucks, sixers and miami matching up at full strenght?

Bucks

Miami

Nets

Sixers

out of those guys.

[70sFan]

Am I the only one who hates Philly-Nets trade from 76ers perspective? I was prepared for Simmons-Harden exchange, but losing Curry is massive in my opinion. Seth was extremely important for Embiid on offense.

Do I overreact?

i mean, sixers essentially traded seth curry for james harden since ben simmons was a sunk cost for them

it would have been ideal to keep seth of course but you have to give somethingh to get somethingh back

i get the fit is worse but the talent is better, harden spaces the floor too even if passively, and is a better scorer and playmaker than maxey who still can have a important role as a third option and second ball handler

do you think seth gives sixers a better shot at a ring than harden or that there was a better trade to make? i mean is possible, but it seems unlikely unless harden declines quickly

Simmons didn't have any value for Sixers, but he did have value for Nets though. It was Curry for Harden for them, but it wasn't that for Nets.

I didn't mean that Curry would give them better shot than Harden. The problem I have is that Sixers lost extremely valuable player next to Joel. I wouldn't be that concerned if they had lost Tobias to be honest. There were many possibilites of getting Harden and I think that losing Curry is the worst one possible.

I have to see Harden in Philly to see how much motivation he still has. Let's be honest, his season with Nets wasn't pretty. He's been horrible defensively and he doesn't fit that well next to Joel. I want him to prove me wrong, maybe they'll become 2022 version of Kobe-Shaq pair after all

[Krodis]

If looking for reasons to be optimistic about Harden playing off of Embiid, one could look at his two-man game with Nick Collison. The obvious problem with that is that it was 10 years ago. Harden hasn't really played with a big with any ball skills recently though, so it's hard to say for sure, guess we'll see.