Official 2020-21 Season Thread #1: To Beard or not To Beard?

[M2J]

https://www.nba.com/news/powerrankings-2020-21-week-3?hidenav=true&adobe_mc=TS%3D1609782727%7CMCMID%3D18200551277723446156122996629579397936%7CMCORGID%3D248F210755B762187F000101%40AdobeOrg

#2
Philadelphia 76ers
Last Week: 15 ↑

Record: 5-1
Pace: 102.3 (11) OffRtg: 107.2 (16) DefRtg: 99.7 (1) NetRtg: +7.5 (3)

Joel Embiid’s numbers (21 points, nine rebounds, two blocks) weren’t that staggering when the Sixers handed the Magic their first loss of the season (with a 35-point, halftime deficit) on Thursday. But Embiid’s intention to get into the post (turning perimeter catches into back-downs) early and often was both evident and important. It did result in one mean spin move and dunk on Nikola Vucevic’s head, but the Magic mostly doubled Embiid in the post, and that mostly resulted in open shots (one, two, three) for his teammates. When they fronted him, they got the same result. The Sixers rank second in the league in ball movement (375 passes per 24 minutes of possession), having seen the biggest jump from last season (333, 14th).

And they’re 5-0 with Embiid, having outscored their opponents by 19.2 points per 100 possessions in his 167 minutes on the floor. He still has more field goal attempts from outside the paint (41) than he does in the paint (35), but he’s 14-for-26 (54%) from mid-range, his free throw rate (60.5 attempts per 100 shots from the field) is the highest of his career, and he’s shooting 80% from the line for the third straight season. Sixers-Nets on Thursday (7:30 ET, TNT) should be fun.

Week 3: vs. CHA, vs. WAS, @ BKN, vs. DEN

[76ciology]

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[Arsenal]

Tobias Harris EC Player of the Week for Week 2!

[Black Mage]

Tobias Harris EC Player of the Week for Week 2!

I believe that converts his contract to a super duper max worth 43 million per year.
He can now be traded straight up dollar for dollar for Harden.

[Arsenal]

Tobias Harris EC Player of the Week for Week 2!

I believe that converts his contract to a super duper max worth 43 million per year.
He can now be traded straight up dollar for dollar for Harden.

Rockets have to add. I don't see any Player of the Week trophies on Harden's mantle this year.

[Arsenal]

Kevin Durant OUT for the next week due to COVID quarantine. So he misses the game against us on Thursday. We've now got a good chance to win that one.

Perhaps sit Jo the night before vs. Washington at home since its a B2B?

[Skates]

Tobias Harris EC Player of the Week for Week 2!

This alone gives Doc the lead in Coach of the Year race so far. He and Morey have definitely unlocked Tobias.

[76ciology]

Sometimes at night, I wonder if Tobias is tired of carrying this team.

[76ciology]

Would you rather have Tobias Harris or D’Angelo Russell?

[76ciology]

Kevin Durant OUT for the next week due to COVID quarantine. So he misses the game against us on Thursday. We've now got a good chance to win that one.

Perhaps sit Jo the night before vs. Washington at home since its a B2B?

He should have sat this game against the Hornets.

Hornets is doubling anything at the post. They’d also probably double Poirier

[ProcessDoctor]

With this current roster — Embiid sits = we lose. Simple as that.

[Kobblehead]

Would you rather have Tobias Harris or D’Angelo Russell?

Russell, even though he's not great.

Better shotcreator and he adds passing and steal generation to the mix.

Plus, there's always someone out there that may want him through trade.

[M2J]

With this current roster — Embiid sits = we lose. Simple as that.

I don't know if I go that far. I think the Cleveland situation had a lot to do with the fact that Joel was a very late scratch. Not everyone knew that Cleveland was as good as they have been during this stretch.

With that said,. They do need to get a better 3rd center or prepare Ben to play small ball center more if they think that Joel will miss games. Bradley was gawd awful that game

[76ciology]

Would you rather have Tobias Harris or D’Angelo Russell?

Russell, even though he's not great.

Better shotcreator and he adds passing and steal generation to the mix.

Plus, there's always someone out there that may want him through trade.

Taking everything into consideration, DLo is better by a small margin. (P.s. surprised that DLo scores 1.2ppp in ISO last season)

Taking only 7 games into consideration, Tobias is Carmelo Anthony with defense of Kawhi Leonard.

[agiaco]

With this current roster — Embiid sits = we lose. Simple as that.

I agree. He's the main cog in the machine by a long shot. Without Embiid this team struggles quite a bit.

[76ciology]

With this current roster — Embiid sits = we lose. Simple as that.

I agree. He's the main cog in the machine by a long shot. Without Embiid this team struggles quite a bit.

Yes. Because the starting unit relies so much on Biid. And we run heavy minutes with our starting unit.

If we want to win without Biid, we have to increase the playmaking roles of Milton, Seth, Maxey and Tobi then decrease the role of Ben. If you look at the numbers those guys are good to very good PnR players. They even run the offense when we need baskets in crunch time.

The only reason why the halfcourt offense is working with Ben is because our shooters and Biid are bailing him out. While we play elite defense and Ben is good on transition.

*disclaimer, statement above is based on 7 game sample size

[76ciology]

DRtg: 99
Ben On Court: 102
Ben Offcourt: 91

I think Ben playing smallball C messed it up

[HardenToSixers]

Do we think Embiid rests tomorrow?

[Arsenal]

Patty Mills is blowing up in LA against the Clips right now. He's a guy who might make sense as the final piece to get us over the hump, assuming we're not interested in gutting the team for a guy like Harden. 32 years old, last year of his deal at $13M. We could possibly get him w/just spare parts and picks.

[Arsenal]

Do we think Embiid rests tomorrow?

I'm thinking no. Guessing they'll want to bank the sure win against the Wiz, then take their chances against the Nets w/out him if needed.