[SlickBouncePassParticipant]

 Fall in love with Joel Embiid because he has it all.  The personality, the strength, the quickness, the skill, the social media, and the ability to connect with the Fans which is huge.  The "Trust the Process" and "MVP" chants on the guy’s debut are just reflective of how much Philly is in love with this kid, and we are the most intense in the league.  Ask Lebron, he has an extra step in his game any time he plays here, and it will be a fun rivalry when Simmons is healthy and the young energetic Sixers take on the Veteran Cavs.

Embiid had a vine where he was talking about how Kanter and Drogo Adams coudln’t guard him, he said it repeatedly on the court and made sure they heard him. You have to love that.  He’s been talking smack to everyone he’s played against.  He says he feels like he is the best player on the court anytime he steps on it, in his first game.

I’ve always said there are talented players, and then there are insane players who have to work ethic and also the mental strength.  The guys that can go shot for shot with Westbrook in the 4th quarter of their first NBA game.  The guys that were naturally holding back like a smart jockey on a race horse, don’t get too excited, just stay calm and collected and let the game unfold, and know when to unleash yourself.  He almost had that GREAT drive and dunk but a smart play by Oladipo to take the offensive foul, got a nice knee to the solar plexus for it, doubt he’ll do it next time. Sorry, I know Embiid has already been mentioned at length, but I love the guy already.  Because he is mentally as strong as it gets.

For the haters and the doubters, and they definitely existed, I remember on the site saying that Embiid was Noel on Defense and Okafor on Offense, turns out he’s probably better than both on their strong sides of teh game.  We 76ers fans were met with so much hate and doubt, on the players and the process, that it feels this much better to rejoice.

The hater Lakers fans have Randle and Russell and Clarkson and Ingram, but none of those guys have the floor presence, that understood next level game, that Embiid and Simmons (due to his size and athleticism) and their mental competetiveness, have.  Sorry, the Lakers have nice players, but they don’t have potential Hall of Famers like the Sixers, who have two.

 

I’ll do my best Bill Simmons column in my next post.  This ended up being just a defiant statement about the Announcement of the NBA’s next star.  He hath arrived.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dcaseParticipant]

Embiid looked really good, but it is only a one game sample so far. As far as Simmons goes, he has yet to play a game so how can you claim he possesses the ability to ‘understand next level game’ and has mental competitiveness at the NBA level that is greater than the young guys on the Lakers. I’m not even sure how one assesses those intangibles in a player.

[SubZeroParticipant]

Agree with most everything except the “mental competitiveness” part. I don’t know if you saw much of Simmons at LSU but he did not play in a way that most would call “mentally competitive.” He might in the league, but he hasn’t showed that yet so not sure how you can say he’s more competitive than the young Lakers, especially DRuss who’s already showed that he loves the big moments

[Anton123Participant]

Can someone acknowledge the fact that Embiid struggled in his first game? He didn’t really destroy anyone, he jacked up 16 shots in 22 minutes and commited 4 turnovers.

He hasn’t really arrived yet and really needs to figure out his role. No way can a team be successful with a player jacking up a shot almost literally every time he touches the ball. Philly played better when Embiid was not on the floor.

 

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

 I think we’re all getting a little carried away over one game. Yes, it was fun to see embiid finally take the floor and it was an overall very impressive debut (although I agree with the previous post that he still needs a lot of work on his overall awareness on the court and shot selection). However, this is still a guy that has missed 2 whole seasons due to injury and there is no guarantee he will stay healthy from here on out. He could be the next Hakeem or he could be the next Andrew bynum at this point. I have to see him make it through a full season injury free before I’m ready to annoint him as the league’s next superstar.

[llperez]

Hater checking in here

I think it’s funny that during your in depth analysis of why the sixers are in a better position than the lakers, you point out the mental competitiveness Simmons has that the lakers don’t. Let’s go ahead and wait til we see Simmons play some NBA ball because if you came away from his 1 year at lsu thinking he displayed great mental strength in leading his team to the nit while not even accepting the invite, I’m gonna have to disagree. Russell, clarkson and Randle have been out busting their butt vs NBA players showing no signs of being mentally scared of the challenge.

I’ll gladly take our current position over the sixers, thanks. Hate hate hate hate hate

[natevalParticipant]

Embiid will get injured this season sorry Philly fans

[markfitz14Participant]

I wanted to see Embid play. I loved the coaching. Every time down they were looking to get Embid the ball. Loved that he got tons of touches, and made decent plays too when he got the ball.  Very impressed

[SlickBouncePassParticipant]

It was his first game after 2 years.  The guy had to wipe off some rust, but as nearly everyone in the NBA agrees, his potential is through the roof.

Simmons in NCAA I feel is a different beast than Simmons in NBA.  How do the two relate again?  Christian Laettner was a great NCAA player.  So was Buddy Hield…

Simmons’ Coach was horrible, which limits his effectiveness in a system.  He has stability and space in the NBA, and oh yeah a 7’2” 290 lb center to pass the ball to, not his teammates at LSU, none of which are in the NBA.

Simmons has the size work ethic and athleticism…Embiid also has it.  None of the Lakers players have all 3 aspects.  And by competetiveness you can see it in his eyes the guy wants to be great, but beyond that you can see it in his work ethic working out with the greatest athlete in the game in Lebron, and also reinfoced by his coaches.  

No matter how good you feel the Lakers undersized guards are…and they are mentally tough I’ve seen it, they simply don’t have the size or athleticism.  Russell is impressing me, but does he have Hall of Fame potential? He has skill, and but his legs are twigs.  

No, Philly has two hall of fame potential guys based on other-worldly passing skills and athleticism and mental toughness.  

 

LLperez, you’d take the Lakers situation over Philly?  Yeah i’d like Lou Williams and Deng on the Sixers too.  But i’ll take my core of young guys all day.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

[BeastMode716Participant]

 but come on the excuses in here are ridiculous…… OKC coach Billy Donovan told Jeff Goodman Embiid is a "bigger, more powerful version of Hakeem the Dream" 

& yesterday on the Colin Herd show Chris Broussard insisted to an incredulous Colin Cowherd that according to Many NBA lifers Ben Simmons is a better passer than Lebron James right now & at 6’10” is the closest thing to Magic to come along since Magic

Now being a Magic devotee (I rank him #1 all time just so you know) I wanted to revolt & throw stuff at the TV screen – but here’s the problem Goodman & Broussard are my go to guys on all things NBA – so now b/c I don’t like it I’m gonna ignore it??? & btw according to Goodman again the Simmons is not competetive is "laughable" Goodman says he lost 1 game in 3 years of the highest level American High School & AAU ball

I mean this is INSANE Philly have two 21 y/o real basketball prospects Respected people are calling Magic 2.0 & Hakeem 2.0 & they’re gonna most likely get our Lottery pick this June plus their own & get 2 top 8 picks. 

Look I absolutely Hate saying this (b/c I’m sick with Jealousy) but Hinkie won – it’s time to just give them some credit

 

 

 

 

[Hype Machine]

The way the 76ers are coddling Ben Simmons is wrong…and its going to backfire badly.

Star players are like cute girls. "Treat them mean, keep them keen". 

The minute you start kissing their a$$ to keep them happy, it starts to backfire. Happened with Lebron in his 1st stint at Cleveland. Happened with KD at OKC, D12 and SVG.

Magic had Kareem to be his boss and keep him from being coddled. Jordan had Jerry Kraus, who never treated him like he was made of porcelin. They hated it….but needed it.

76ers are coddling Simmons and I give it 2 years before hes walking all over them. And 3 years before hes walking out on them.

In fact, Im prepared to go on record stating that Simmons will win a title as a Laker before he wins as a 76er. Everyone knows he wants to be a Laker.

I like Brett Brown, but the things coming out of his mouth about Simmons are counter productive. Its a favortism/coaches pet situation. Every other player on the roster will become annoyed…just like the entitled boss’s son at s workplace who slacks off and gets promoted. Kills morale and the son never learns the value of hard work.

 Every young player needs tough love, even touchy, sensative Millenials like Simmons. 

So I’m taking LA on the assumption that he plays the prime years of his career there anyway in a move that takes a proverbial dump all over the team that drafted and spent 3 years catering to his every wish.

 

 

 

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