R1G2 - 76ers vs Nets - Apr 17 7:30pm ET TNT

[spikeslovechild]

Embiid almost has to flop because he's so big. He has to sell the calls, or teams will just be extra physical with him. His exaggerated reactions are usually from legitimate fouls. Hardens rip through move is baiting, but how often does he outright flop? Refs let the outside noise and fans who do not like our team & city (there's alot), tighten the whistles they give us.

I don't like exaggerating calls, but they have to do that in the NBA because everyone else is doing it so if they don't it won't appear as a foul otherwise. Honestly, I'd rather they didn't. Smart however is not skilled and that is the major difference to me.

Because as a Sixer fan, I still can root for other stuff Embiid and/or Harden do but not be thrilled by the flopping. You can't be a Celtic-Smart fan without liking his bogus charges and/or flopping because, without those two skills, he is at the end of someone's bench instead of starting in the NBA.

[Sixteen]

Embiid almost has to flop because he's so big. He has to sell the calls, or teams will just be extra physical with him. His exaggerated reactions are usually from legitimate fouls. Hardens rip through move is baiting, but how often does he outright flop? Refs let the outside noise and fans who do not like our team & city (there's alot), tighten the whistles they give us.

I don't like exaggerating calls, but they have to do that in the NBA because everyone else is doing it so if they don't it won't appear as a foul otherwise. Honestly, I'd rather they didn't. Smart however is not skilled and that is the major difference to me.

Because as a Sixer fan, I still can root for other stuff Embiid and/or Harden do but not be thrilled by the flopping. You can't be a Celtic-Smart fan without liking his bogus charges and/or flopping because, without those two skills, he is at the end of someone's bench instead of starting in the NBA.

Celtics fan are just different I guess. You'd think we was beating on them all these years with the way they parade anything Philly related on the GB with the same rhetoric. It's just not a good look.

[Sixerscan]

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[M2J]

The Sixers shot below their averages in game 2, if you give guys who shot close to 40% on 3 open shots it's normal they can shot 50% or even above that.

I don't know what game you're analyzing.

The Nets aren't doubling because they believe is THE way to stop Joel, they need to double because Claxton cannot go with Joel on single coverage. Boston doesn't need to double that aggressive with Horford and Williams nor the Bucks need to do so with Lopez and Giannis.

I'm more worried about stuff like clogging lines for the Embiid/Harden PnR, that's much more effective than doubling and it's something guys like Smart or Jrue can easily do.

"The Sixers shot below their averages in game 2..."

That's the point I'm making -- their performances have been largely non-replicable. Notice the three-point shooting effort in game 1 wasn't replicated in game 2. Neither was Maxey and Harris's 50+ points in game 2 exhibited in game 1. Two games, two wins via largely non-replicable means.

The most reliable thing this team has going for it is Embiid's scoring -- the Nets have taken a lot of that away, and so the team has been forced to win with less reliable (i.e., non-replicable) means.

When a team is making you win via non-replicable means, it isn't a good sign. Sooner or later the chickens are likely to come home to roost. And that may come against a different team that uses a similar defensive strategy but is better itself offensively.

With that extreme coverage, I think #2 is very possible. Maxey is a 20pt scorer and Harris essentially has been that until the Harden trade and his new role where he efficiently average gets 15 against normal defenses They're basically open and or attacking mismatches... This isn't even about jumpshots to they're getting layups off of this coverage too. I could see them both getting 40... And role players playing much better, hitting open shots. Harden probably never plays that poorly in this series again.

I hope teams continue this coverage. Joel also cleaned up his turnovers in the 2nd half until 2 garbage time ones with the clock running out