Regular Degular Redux - 2019-20 NBA Season thread 2

The truth; it hurts.

they signed horford b/c elton brand is obsessed with big men. there was a theory to it, horf wanted to play more at the 4 and they figured he could space the floor from there and they would be huge defensively. what a lot of people missed (including me) is that horf does so much of his damage off the pick and pop, a play the sixers never run. they just had him standing out there, it was a waste of his talent and clearly didn't work for him. meanwhile, he's slowing down and is a pure 5 at this point on defense.

if he doesn't start in the playoffs they're paying $30m for a center who plays like 15 minutes a game. that won't be tenable even if they have to move him at a loss.

i don't think it was crazy to pick the sixers to go far but it was based on them being a sick defensive team, like one of the best ever.

i think they are on the rockets level, one step below LAL, LAC, MIL. they could hang with any team in a series and who knows with this weird season and upcoming offs.

they just dont have anyone who can dribble past a guy, which makes it tough

i don't think it was crazy to pick the sixers to go far but it was based on them being a sick defensive team, like one of the best ever.

The problem with that was, like you pointed out, Horford is too slow to defend anything but the 5 now. Harris is not really a 3; his game is more predicated on being a fast 4; same with Richardson as being a 3, not a 2. Their defense wasn't really that great this year.

mccollum really would fit so perfectly but there's just no way it happens as things are currently constructed

I love bol bol

from the jump the horford signing never made sense to me and i said as much on this board, it was always weird to me that NBA writers could cover a league where teams go small and play 1 big in the playoffs -- and talk about this very fact -- but then turn around and be like, well the sixers are the team to beat in the east.

also supposedly he provided "embiid insurance" but you can find decent big minutes for... considerably less than $30 mill. as cad alludes to the whole thing always to me screamed in blinking letters "THE GM OF THIS TEAM IS AN EX NBA BIG FROM THE 2000S" and still there doesn't seem to be much question in the media over whether elton brand should be the GM of an NBA team based on how he appears to view the game. perhaps that will change if they bomb out of the bubble idk

zach lowe is just one writer but he's said, and i basically agree, that any sixers optimism is based on embiid being the best player in a series. it's just tough to say if that will ever happen.

hes has the talent but prefers to just do whatever

relatable tbh

lol

zach lowe is just one writer but he's said, and i basically agree, that any sixers optimism is based on embiid being the best player in a series. it's just tough to say if that will ever happen.

― call all destroyer, Monday, July 27, 2020 9:36 PM (yesterday)bookmarkflaglink

my prob w/ this is that while embiid is amazing but it's not 1995. the idea that a post oriented center is going to take a team to the finals w/o much perimeter help flies in the face of basically every NBA trend of the last 15 years

if simmons wasnt around to clog things up they cld but joel in the pick and roll all the time and he would be unstoppable

also i guess they would need someone who can be the ball handler too lol

*the aristocrats voice* ...the process!

so much about embiids game points towards the fact that he just not that driven he hasnt really gotten better since he came in to the league he has no idea what basketball things hes good at hes never in great shape he thinks hes cute etc etc

too bad hes gotta be one of the most talented players ever considering he went from not playing basketball to being a perennial allstar in like 7 years without really trying

tbf im sure he tries harder at basketball than like i try at anything but as far as the psycho nba levels of competitive trying seems like hes on the low end

brett brown may bare some of the responsibility for this

it would be so hard to try if you had even just 5 million dollars.

most guys who make it to the nba level are just compulsive triers, 7 footers seem to be the exception

selection etc

they can only try to steal some of sugarfree drew's try hard

I wonder if winning every game of 1-on-1 ever distorts their meter for professional accomplishment.

Sorry, I was confusing. I meant that Simmons is better than Brown straight up. Hayward might be better than Horford at this point, but not enough to make me want to trade Simmons.

I would probably trade Embiid before I traded Simmons. Simmons wants to be better and has worked on his game in subtle ways (not saying he doesn't need to work on some not so subtle things as well). Embiid is great, but is immature. I'm not sure he actually likes basketball.

Another issue I see with simmons and embiid being your stars is that they both belong in the post. And unless Phil Jackson is coming back there’s not really a coach out there who knows how to make that work.

What makes you think Simmons doesn't like basketball? I've never gotten that vibe from him.

some serious galaxy-braining going on with the pro-lou williams takes

Horf was legitimately very good in the playoffs vs. the Bucks a couple years ago, that probably factored into it

it’s really just a question of resource allocation... there’s no other team in the NBA paying $60m in salary to two centers (with good reason). they’re both good players but that’s not really the point.

its too bad we never really got to see the boogie/brow pairing in full health and in the playoffs.

there are pro-lou williams takes? like it should not be a big deal that he went into a club to order food during the pandemic?

you should get a pass if its a place that has a dish named after you

come get the "can you believe this dipshit" wings while they last!

What makes you think Simmons doesn't like basketball? I've never gotten that vibe from him.

Simmons is a reserved guy. I don't think that means he doesn't care. I might agree he cares more about perception of himself than the team, but that doesn't mean he doesn't like basketball.

he seems pretty aloof which is maybe not that great for team sports but who knows thats just what he looks like on tv

i think the aussie guys in general put themselves at a little bit of a remove but i don't think it really matters much.

i have not followed any insider gossip re ben simmons

aron baynes wears his heart on his huge sleeve mate

ya and patty mils is always like, game day bala and yelling and shit

that sixers team is def a case of 2k-itis

simmons was regarded as putting himself at a remove from the other australians, partly because hes not very aussie

they are a very racialist folk tbf

When simmons was in college he treated those games like tech demos

Anyway, very impressed by Jonathan Isaac in these scrimmages

He was having a great season before the injury.

watching the grizzlies/heat scrimmage from earlier today. man, i love how the grizz play on offense. such a young team but they really move the ball and play with rhythm and tempo. super unselfish. with so many athletes sharing the ball it's a very fun style to watch. and ja is amazing which helps.