2021-22 NBA Season Discussion

[Colbinii]

Still floored by Embiids comments.............did Morey even consult him about Harden trade b/c it feels like he didnt from this

I am guessing the conversation went something like "We are going to be getting Harden for Simmons" but the addition of Curry/Andre, who were crucial to the 76ers, was never really brought up.

It is pretty wild.

[Peregrine01]

I said it the other day Embiid was the worst flopper in the league or one of the worst and today his flopping ended the career of Danny Green. Not a fan of this guy at all. Huge flopper and has 0 leadership skills.

Horrific knee injury for DG. Embiid has made it a habit of falling all over the floor and this time caved in his teammate's knee.

[MartinToVaught]

Many of Harden's issues feel more mental to me, when a guy like him only takes a couple shots in a half you know there is an issue upstairs in addition to something physical.

Yeah, I don't buy the hamstring as the main explanation either when this is how he's always played in the playoffs, especially in elimination games.

It could be mental, but does Harden even care enough about basketball to get anxious over potentially losing? Knowing him, he probably made a beeline to the strip club after last night's game and had forgotten all about the score by the end of the night. I think he's just not all that great of a player when his regular season flop calls are taken away and opposing defenses are allowed to guard him.

[jalengreen]

Many of Harden's issues feel more mental to me, when a guy like him only takes a couple shots in a half you know there is an issue upstairs in addition to something physical.

Yeah, I don't buy the hamstring as the main explanation either when this is how he's always played in the playoffs, especially in elimination games.

It could be mental, but does Harden even care enough about basketball to get anxious over potentially losing? Knowing him, he probably made a beeline to the strip club after last night's game and had forgotten all about the score by the end of the night. I think he's just not all that great of a player when his regular season flop calls are taken away and opposing defenses are allowed to guard him.

houston harden (2013-2020) averaged 28/7/6 in the playoffs on 58% TS%. i don't see how this is how he's always played when he's very clearly worse

[dcstanley]

Still floored by Embiids comments.............did Morey even consult him about Harden trade b/c it feels like he didnt from this

There were rumors that Embiid was angling for a Beal trade.

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[Doctor MJ]

Still floored by Embiids comments.............did Morey even consult him about Harden trade b/c it feels like he didnt from this

My feeling is that it's not so much that Embiid was against trading for Harden, so much as that he saw it as "not my job to decide right the move is", and that his assessment of the trade would simply be about how well it worked, and he's not happy with how it worked.

I think that general stance is quite reasonable.
I think it's quite reasonable for him to be discouraged now.
I think the fact that we know he's not happy because he's told us, is not.

76ers definitely in a rough spot right now. Not sure what I'd do next to be honest, but I think clearly giving Harden a max deal would be a big mistake, so no matter what, for Morey to do the right move next, he's going to have to have some not-so-happy conversations with Harden...and as far as I can tell, the entire basis of their relationship to this point has been Morey sucking up to him.

I don't want to pretend that the 76ers weren't in a tough position here after Simmons had his meltdown, or that they had some other offer that was absolutely a slam dunk that they turned down. But I find myself chewing on Morey's "Always get superstars!" mentality, and the fact that it did not seem like Morey was even thinking about the age gap between his franchise player and the guy he was acquiring.

A 5 year age gap obviously can work out, particularly in the short term, but Morey had to know that if he got Harden, there was going to be a question of what kind of contract you were going to have to sign Harden to, and he was obviously going to be hoping for a deal that paid him >$50 mill per year for multiple years after he was 35.

Makes me ask: What exactly did he think the best case scenario was here?

It feels like Morey was so focused on appearing victorious on the Simmons trade that he basically guaranteed the 76ers to be in a rough situation in the near future...which is not what you'd hope when your franchise player is 27 years old.

I say all of this as someone who considers Morey won of the top few GMs of the 2010s by his Houston performance (I don't blame him for acquiring Westbrook as I think that was forced upon him), but man, it really feels like as much as he was talking about holding out for years if he didn't get the offer for Simmons he wanted, he wasn't actually thinking long-term at all.

[Homer38]

Many of Harden's issues feel more mental to me, when a guy like him only takes a couple shots in a half you know there is an issue upstairs in addition to something physical.

Yeah, I don't buy the hamstring as the main explanation either when this is how he's always played in the playoffs, especially in elimination games.

It could be mental, but does Harden even care enough about basketball to get anxious over potentially losing? Knowing him, he probably made a beeline to the strip club after last night's game and had forgotten all about the score by the end of the night. I think he's just not all that great of a player when his regular season flop calls are taken away and opposing defenses are allowed to guard him.

houston harden (2013-2020) averaged 28/7/6 in the playoffs on 58% TS%. i don't see how this is how he's always played when he's very clearly worse

The overall stats have never been the problem for Harden.The problem he has way too many bad game especially in big moment

Look at the entire thread of this tweet

Read on Twitter

[eminence]

Almost read a GB thread, scary stuff out there for the Sixers right now. I thought my Jazz got dragged pretty rough, not even close.

Embiid with the second season in a row just going in on his #2 after a playoff loss. Can't be doing that.

[falcolombardi]

general board is pretty ruthless lol

i am really curious on the warriors game, warriors need to come out thinking this is their game 7, not fall back on the fact they got a second try if they lose or think being local will make memphis play worse

[Bergmaniac]

I usually defend Harden when people criticise him for never delivering in the playoffs, but this second half was inexcusable. Not shooting when you are at least driving and trying to get his teammates good looks is one thing, but he didn't even try to do that here. Just an inexplicably passive offensive performance and he quit on defense too on too many possessions and his refusal to box out led to several buckets for the Heat. He had 3 drives in 43 minutes according to the stats and from what I recall, exactly zero in the second half. If you are getting paid the big bucks you can't just play hot potato with the ball and refuse to do your job as a creator/scorer. If he wasn't up to it physically to even attempt a drive or a stepback 3, he should have asked to come out of the game.

[parsnips33]

Almost read a GB thread, scary stuff out there for the Sixers right now. I thought my Jazz got dragged pretty rough, not even close.

Embiid with the second season in a row just going in on his #2 after a playoff loss. Can't be doing that.

Yeah I like Embiid generally but the airing dirty laundry to the media stuff has to stop

[falcolombardi]

what do you guys expect to see from tonight games

any adjustments or changes in approach?

[Homer38]

what do you guys expect to see from tonight games

any adjustments or changes in approach?

2 very close games!

[parsnips33]

what do you guys expect to see from tonight games

any adjustments or changes in approach?

Need Steph to come out aggressive from the tip. I think he's been trying to set everybody else up first 3 quarters, and I'm just not sure that approach is gonna work. Need to target Adams early and often

[falcolombardi]

if i am warriors fan i want to see them exploit the lack of shot creators in grizzlies, play better defense against their ball movement amd force brooks or bane or tyus to beat you 1 on 1

if am grizzlies fan i need to see a huge effort in the boards, dont let warriors steal easy offensive rebounds, contest long off boards from 3's and need adams and co to fight for every missed shot and wear warriors down

if i am bucks fan...dunno, they are doing ok but i would like to see more creativity and variety in offense, too many possesions ending in hard giannis isos, or worse, hard jrue isos

if i am boston fan....this is hard, it feels like they are doing everythingh right and still losing, i am not sure what they should be doing better otjer than "tatum, play better"

[70sFan]

I just want Bucks and Grizzlies to win these games.

[sp6r=underrated]

Am I a hater for being still extremely skeptical about Kidd as a head coach?

[falcolombardi]

I just want Bucks and Grizzlies to win these games.

i agree, is hard not to root for the underdog grizzlies, and bucks are just a very likeable small market team

btw what was it you disliked about warriors?

[CKRT]

Almost read a GB thread, scary stuff out there for the Sixers right now. I thought my Jazz got dragged pretty rough, not even close.

Embiid with the second season in a row just going in on his #2 after a playoff loss. Can't be doing that.

The GB board is especially ruthless about a player like Harden. I would say it's more toxic than even LeBron most of the time.

Many of Harden's issues feel more mental to me, when a guy like him only takes a couple shots in a half you know there is an issue upstairs in addition to something physical.

Yeah, I don't buy the hamstring as the main explanation either when this is how he's always played in the playoffs, especially in elimination games.

It could be mental, but does Harden even care enough about basketball to get anxious over potentially losing? Knowing him, he probably made a beeline to the strip club after last night's game and had forgotten all about the score by the end of the night. I think he's just not all that great of a player when his regular season flop calls are taken away and opposing defenses are allowed to guard him.

houston harden (2013-2020) averaged 28/7/6 in the playoffs on 58% TS%. i don't see how this is how he's always played when he's very clearly worse

Martin/GSP both clearly have issues with Harden that go beyond basketball analysis. Wouldn't pay much attention to it IMO. They might take offense to me dismissing their posts but a lot of the time it's just the same stuff you can read on twitter or the GB and doesn't have a place on the PC board.

76ers definitely in a rough spot right now. Not sure what I'd do next to be honest, but I think clearly giving Harden a max deal would be a big mistake, so no matter what, for Morey to do the right move next, he's going to have to have some not-so-happy conversations with Harden...and as far as I can tell, the entire basis of their relationship to this point has been Morey sucking up to him.

I don't want to pretend that the 76ers weren't in a tough position here after Simmons had his meltdown, or that they had some other offer that was absolutely a slam dunk that they turned down. But I find myself chewing on Morey's "Always get superstars!" mentality, and the fact that it did not seem like Morey was even thinking about the age gap between his franchise player and the guy he was acquiring.

A 5 year age gap obviously can work out, particularly in the short term, but Morey had to know that if he got Harden, there was going to be a question of what kind of contract you were going to have to sign Harden to, and he was obviously going to be hoping for a deal that paid him >$50 mill per year for multiple years after he was 35.

Sixers are in a tough spot for sure. A lot of what they do next is going to almost entirely be defined by how Harden's hamstring recovers and if he can get back to his pre-Bucks level. Very similar to Chris Paul's situation post Houston re: contract value. Something not similar to Paul's injury recovery is that Harden needs to diversify his game to be more resilient, and I feel like at this point it's just not going to happen. Flip side is maybe that's overblown, he did great with the Nets playing more of a playmaker while still being aggressive about scoring. That could just be a lack of trust in his hamstring to do what he wants.

The tough part is I think you probably have to resign him due to their cap situation. Recent years have shown us that you can move these large contracts around without too much difficulty.

Also re: Harden's perception as a player - I feel like this season/playoffs have really shown that you shouldn't play through injury like he did against the Bucks. Dude got no quarter from anyone for potentially ruining the rest of his career trying to play through that tear. Same thing with the infamous Spurs series that he gets destroyed for constantly when he played through a concussion. Harden is notoriously quiet about any injury he has to his detriment I feel like.

[jalengreen]

if i am boston fan....this is hard, it feels like they are doing everythingh right and still losing, i am not sure what they should be doing better otjer than "tatum, play better"

getting back on defense is a huge issue for the celtics, bucks were looking to get out and push the pace because the celtics really just didnt get back with any urgency. has been a thing all series and udoka has talked about it

the celtics also have 9 offensive rebounds over the past two games versus... 30 for the bucks. that's resulted in the bucks having 10 more FGA in both G4 and G5.