Joel: unchained.

[Mik317]

idk if one game is going to make much of a difference.

same w/ Harden.

the fact that the team goes to sleep when they are off the floor shows that. You wanna know the best way to be "healthy" for the playoffs? Make it so your stars don't lead the league in mpg maybe lol. Giannis is a freak of nature and only plays 32 minutes a night...because his team has depth and said depth allows for it and also keeps leads. Our bench has been buns all year. We have a **** coach who can't wait to put in the slowest men alive to get cooked. This in turn means that Harden, Biid and even dudes like Maxey and Tobias and hell old ass PJ all have to be overextended and thus tired as **** come playoff time and beat up to boot. Resting them a game or two is meaningless because the next time they play...they will play 40 minutes and have to do everything because of how the team is built and coached...negating any of that rest. Not to mention you get a week off pre playoffs anyway IIRC..

AND even if that was the case...you rest the last two games. It makes Biid look weak as **** and it was a layup of a decision and yet again they fumbled the bag.

just pure stupidity.

[phillynative]

They have a great shot to win a title and this game has zero impact on MVP voting. This is a team that hasn’t gotten out of the 2nd round. The regular season is meaningless and everyone knows it. Going into the playoffs healthy is all that matters.

An organization that hasn’t made it out of the second round & endlessly whines about regular season awards does not get to use “the regular season doesn’t matter” excuse.

That Embiid Athletic interview is a massive red flag imo. Just loser energy top to bottom in this organization.

The organization didn't use the excuse. I did. I don't play for the team.

But who uses the "excuse" is irrelevant. It's true. The playoffs are the only thing that matters. This team has been a 1 seed, a 3 seed, and their end results have been all the same. The only thing that matters is getting to the Finals and winning it. And it's not going to happen when your best player is playing with a bad calf. We saw what happened last year with an injured Embiid. You play tougher teams who defend you better, it makes playing with the injury all the more pronounced, then Embiid struggles because the calf is bothering him and he's not as explosive and he wants to be, he starts moping. We know how that story ends.

I'd much rather deal with some made up BS narrative because a bunch of dorks are butt hurt they don't get to see a matchup they wanted on a random Monday night than deal with the whole "Embiid is soft, is always injured, and they'll never win with him" for another entire summer because he tried to gut out the regular season with a calf injury and didn't allow it to heal for the playoff run.

Good point . It's just the optics look bad. I dont see why he should of played against Pheonix where he obviously was hobbled and tired. Did they not realize he was hobbled and tired until the Suns game started.

[FireMorey]

I agree that it is dumb he played vs the Suns. Calf injuries if not managed properly can either get worse... they're some of the easiest soft tissue injuries to make worse... or sometimes they can lead to achilles injuries. You often see in sports when players play through calf strains, they end up rupturing their achilles. Both are in the same area of the leg, and playing with a bad calf causes players to subconsciously alter their planting and pushing movements in their legs, which can lead to issues.

You don't want Embiid going into the playoffs with calf issues.

[mjkvol]

Team played itself. Embarrassing.

Why? Cause Embiid won't play?

Choosing to play him Friday and Saturday and not tonight is quite possibly the most baffling decision this team has made considering how the team has handled his playing time and scheduling over the past 6 seasons.

Exactly. You're going to play him both ends of a BtB, making it, what, 33 out of the last 35 games? You run him and Harden 36-38 minutes a night? Then you sit him in this game of all games? Bizarre.

[phillynative]

Why? Cause Embiid won't play?

Choosing to play him Friday and Saturday and not tonight is quite possibly the most baffling decision this team has made considering how the team has handled his playing time and scheduling over the past 6 seasons.

Exactly. You're going to play him both ends of a BtB, making it, what, 33 out of the last 35 games? You run him and Harden 36-38 minutes a night? Then you sit him in this game of all games? Bizarre.

Doc during the pregame presser said Joel didn't like the way he was moving during shootaround. "So it was an easy decision" Said Doc (on him not playing 2nite).
He wasn't moving well during the Suns game either right!? And that was the 2nd nite of a back to back. That should of been an easy decision as well....


Wondering if Embiid prefers Duck or Chicken








J/k but yea I won't be defending him this time around.

[phillynative]

Keith Pompey tried to bring up the fact that he played the back to back but ofcourse Doc pushed back and tried to bring up the fact that everyone wants to see the two guys matchup... blah blah blah

[mjkvol]

Keith Pompey tried to bring up the fact that he played the back to back but ofcourse Doc pushed back and tried to bring up the fact that everyone wants to see the two guys matchup... blah blah blah

I'm sorry (not actually), but Rivers is an a$$hole. I'm not blaming Embiid for this, Glenn has succeeded in doing the one thing he couldn't do, running his two stars into the ground chasing regular season wins and a higher seed. And then, when challenged, he reverts to form and throws the player under the bus.

I only hope we get a chance to see the Embiid-Harden pairing with a real bench and especially a coach from this century next season so we can really see if they can succeed in the post season, but I fear that the usual second round exit replete with injury excuses will be enough to buy Glenn another year.

[Bum Adebayo]

Come on guys, if it only was this time it would be credible, but when Embiid hasn't played in Denver since 2019, this cannot be a coincidence FFS.
A more plausible and valid theory has to be the altitude, he has also missed like half the games or more in Utah, which is high altitude but less than Denver.

[Negrodamus]

Who cares? Let's just start the playoffs already.

[Bum Adebayo]

Who cares? Let's just start the playoffs already.

Well, Regular season is the only thing that we've done reasonably well these years, I'm not thrilled to see another 2nd round fodder beatdown against Celtics, but to each their own I guess

[Murray_17]

Who cares? Let's just start the playoffs already.

tbh i only care because i'm tired of having this same discussion every season

[GoSixersBro]

I just think it's funny how all I've read in this forum the past 5 months is "this team is built for the playoffs" but with Doc Rivers and other coaches/management making decisions it doesn't matter.

[Jailblazers7]

I’m personally more bothered by that Embiid interview. It was just him airing grievances with media voters & throwing shade at Jokic. Weak sh*t regardless of the decision to play or not yesterday.

It really seemed like Embiid & the team had matured over the past 2 months & were prepping for a real playoff run. But here we are, back on our bullsh*t.

[mjkvol]

I’m personally more bothered by that Embiid interview. It was just him airing grievances with media voters & throwing shade at Jokic. Weak sh*t regardless of the decision to play or not yesterday.

It really seemed like Embiid & the team had matured over the past 2 months & were prepping for a real playoff run. But here we are, back on our bullsh*t.

I shouldn't be, but I'm a bit surprised he would take the bait at this point and actually take veiled shots at Jokic, who from all accounts has never said or done a thing that might anger Embiid.

Embiid is seen as a loose cannon anyway who is probably not especially well liked nationally, so taking a poke at voters might not be the best way to ingratiate himself with them. And I say that as someone who despises the media intensely. Or, perhaps he is assuming he will get shafted again and just doesn't give a f***k at this point.

[eyeatoma]

Let's go boys!!!!!!!!!

Embiid leading the straw poll by 2 points hahahah!

He has more 2nd place than Jokic, so he leads. The good news, is that he's only behind Jokic on first place votes by 2 points.

Meanwhile Giannis is in third, he had over 60 3rd place votes, which puts him firmly there. It's a clear 2 man race.

Not only did Embiid edge Jokic in total points -- 790 to 788 -- but Jokic actually had more first-place votes (42 for Jokic, 40 for Embiid). The difference: Embiid finished in second place on 45 ballots -- six more than Jokic -- to give the Sixers big man a slight lead over his rival.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/35983235/nba-mvp-straw-poll-30-why-margin-joel-embiid-nikola-jokic-become-razor-thin

[Murray_17]

Let's go boys!!!!!!!!!

Embiid leading the straw poll by 2 points hahahah!

He has more 2nd place than Jokic, so he leads. The good news, is that he's only behind Jokic on first place votes by 2 points.

Meanwhile Giannis is in third, he had over 60 3rd place votes, which puts him firmly there. It's a clear 2 man race.

Not only did Embiid edge Jokic in total points -- 790 to 788 -- but Jokic actually had more first-place votes (42 for Jokic, 40 for Embiid). The difference: Embiid finished in second place on 45 ballots -- six more than Jokic -- to give the Sixers big man a slight lead over his rival.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/35983235/nba-mvp-straw-poll-30-why-margin-joel-embiid-nikola-jokic-become-razor-thin

The straw poll was conducted before Embiid sitting the Denver game tho.

Not that it matter but just so you have precaution

[eyeatoma]

Let's go boys!!!!!!!!!

Embiid leading the straw poll by 2 points hahahah!

He has more 2nd place than Jokic, so he leads. The good news, is that he's only behind Jokic on first place votes by 2 points.

Meanwhile Giannis is in third, he had over 60 3rd place votes, which puts him firmly there. It's a clear 2 man race.

Not only did Embiid edge Jokic in total points -- 790 to 788 -- but Jokic actually had more first-place votes (42 for Jokic, 40 for Embiid). The difference: Embiid finished in second place on 45 ballots -- six more than Jokic -- to give the Sixers big man a slight lead over his rival.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/35983235/nba-mvp-straw-poll-30-why-margin-joel-embiid-nikola-jokic-become-razor-thin

The straw poll was conducted before Embiid sitting the Denver game tho.

Not that it matter but just so you have precaution

Between Monday and Tuesday so many did it after finding out that he wouldn't play:

The biggest takeaway from the poll -- conducted in a 36-hour period from Monday afternoon through Tuesday night in the wake of Embiid missing Monday's highly anticipated showdown with Jokic in Denver due to a right calf injury -- is that an already contentious MVP race will truly be in doubt up until the league announces the winner during the early portion of this year's playoffs.

[Bum Adebayo]

Congratulations Joker on your MVP. That's some ducking bs that even i can't defend lol.

Sent from my SM-S918B using Tapatalk

Nothing to see here, let's move on guys.

[Stanford]

Watch on YouTube

This bull is why Joel should win MVP.

[Murray_17]

Watch on YouTube

This bull is why Joel should win MVP.

The fact Chris Ryan is in this is shameful