Sixers were overmatched from start

 I remember some1 calling Ben Simmons a Pass 1st Carmelo Anthony! 

Welp, I guess I’ll be the guy to say that "The Process" has a way to go to vindicate Sam Hinkie.  What we saw this year in the Sixers is a really good basketball team, that is very young, and who had a great first round of the playoffs.  The Sixers probably aren’t as good as we thought they’d be.  Perhaps that is just lack of playoff experience.  The best players on the Sixers are around 20-22 years old.  

But, watching these games, I was a lot more impressed with Jayson Tatum, than I was with Ben Simmons.  Simmons just has no offense.  From that missed dunk, to awkward looking forced putbacks, to his absolute avoidance of taking any 3 balls, his lack of offensive ability really was exposed.  He is a much better point guard than Markelle Fultz though.  In fact, I think of him now as a pass-first point guard who can’t shoot.  A poor man’s Magic Johnson with no offense except mostly for transition dunks.  If Simmons could just get a jumper going he would be a candidate for MVP.

Embiid, is a legit superstar, and because of him I think that the Sixers continue to get better and return to the playoffs next year and make it out of the 2nd round.  All of the pieces are there, they just needed this year of experience.  The regular season was pretty good for the Sixers, I think they won around 50 games?  Almost the same as Boston.  Boston just managed to squeak it out when it mattered.  

Anyway, if the Sixers win the next 4 straight, I will pronounce Sam Hinkie officially vindicated.  But if it turns out like I suspect that it will, with the Sixers getting bounced out in game 5, then I give Hinkie a push until next year.  Overall I am pretty impressed withthe Sixers, they just need more experience.

Classic overreaction and media riding the hype to generate clicks and views. They looked good against Miami because they were just too big and too much for the Heat to handle, but Boston’s a different team. Philly should be a powerhouse for years to come, but this is their first ride in the playoffs. It’s unreasonable to expect them to play up to their potential in year 1, even though it’s exciting to think about how good they could be

Boston right now without Kyrie and Hayward remind me of the 2000s Pistons in that they don’t have a top of the line player, but they’ve got a whole lot of really good players that all fit well together and are incredibly well coached

Philly came in overconfident which is fine if you can keep your focus. Lets look at it they ended the season on a tear and breezed through Miami in the 1st round. Meanwhile the Celtics lost there star Kyrie and got taken to a game 7 with the Bucks. Okay now lets do a little excerise if you had a pick up game you would take Emiid and Simmons first before taking any Celtic. So with that being said Philly really should have taken care of business in this series. Coaching has been the biggest thing I have taken away here. Brad Stevens is such a good coach it’s crazy! loved the call at the end of overtime the inbounds play where he saw how much Philly was overpursuing the play and saw Horford 1on 1 with Covington. Bottom line Philly is to cocky while the C’s are a well oiled machine.

 People just caught up in the winning. The Sixers had the big win streak and then they won in the first round 4-1. A lot of assumptions were made that the Celtics would struggle and going to 7 games against Milwaukee seemed to validate those assumptions. Boston however is clearly a bad matchup for the 76ers. They shut down most of what the Sixers do well and they haven’t adjusted enough to make a significant difference. The 76ers have to get much better in the half court if they want to compete when the games get meaningful.

 With all that being said no one even had the 76ers going to the second round until right up towards the end of the year. They progressed much faster than anyone anticipated and they should be pleased with the steps they’ve taken. Now they need to swallow their humble pie and get back to work in the off-season. 

 I recall a few people on this site saying to be patient and not to put up way too high expectations for such a young team. Just setting these guys up for failure expecting them to reach the finals. Should still be very excited about what the future holds, they also have so much cap space along with great young talent its not the end of the world like kit is for Raptors fans.

 Remember exactly One year ago when the #8 seed Bulls won Both games at Boston & the Celtics looked Totally overmatched & without Any answers & were about to be Swept???

Than in a Total act of Luck Rondo breaks his arm & the Celtics recover & win 4 straight 

But if Rondo does Not break his arm the Celtics get swept in round 1 by the 8 seed as the #1 seed & it is the Celtics under Brad Stevens 3rd straight Playoff exit in Round One 

Does that mean Stevens was a dummy??? Of course NOT – Stevens IS a Great coach whether Rondo breaks his arm or not b/c the Playoffs are about Match Ups

Phila has a really good young nucleus but what made them Dangerous going into these Playoffs was the emergence of Markelle Fultz running the 2nd Unit – b/c that gave them a 10 man rotation w/ 2 Huge dribble penetration PG’s 

Once Fultz was off the table the Sixers are a 8 man rotation where 5 of those 8 can Not guard Anyone in On Ball Defense- Experience Matters in the playoffs & Phila will be fine long term – although I Do agree that GM Bryan Colangelo must go – my suggestion is former Cavs GM David Griffin

I think there’s a little bit of hype sorrounding this team in this playoffs, with ben simmons having a trip dub in th playoffs, how good he was on miami, winning without embiid in round 1, I’m a bucks fan and what boston did was impressive without having kyrie and hayward, and pulling off a win against the sixers wihtout jaylen brown, Bard stevens is a genius, really, I never saw team without a superstar thriving in the playoffs in a long time, its like what sub zero said, reminds of 2000s pistons who was often overlooked, and their system flourish wihtut any superstar. and their defense is their calling card, but this team is a much much more young compared to the pistons before, the dont have kyrie and hayward. it’s amazing how this team play, I want to watch them in this playoffs until it lasts, if they go to the ECF, they’ll be a good story this season and for years to come, a prime example of you dont need to build a superteam, I think they got a chance to go to the finals. Meanwhile for the sixers, they were humbled in this series, look now at embiid, he’s not trolling anyone lol, he’s complaining and whining about fouls, ben simmons is just been humbled, look a his body language lol, he’s miscues killed them in this game, interesting how this sixers will bounce back in game 4, 

 Hahahaha!!! Well my team is Overmatched. Brett is being out coached and we need to play Fultz

 I wouldn’t say Philly is overmatched when they could be 2-1. Remember they had a 22 point lead in game 3.Brown is being out coached his late game execution sucks.And as great as Simmons has played. There r times when he can be predictable. Plus Saric & Covington haven’t been consistent in this series. I expect to see Fultz play in the next game. He might not be a savior, but he’s someone who’s ability to attack will put pressure on Rozier on the defensive end and maybe it’ll slow him offensively. 

 The difference in ball movement between between Boston and Philly is shocking. That’s why they can’t hit 3’s or get Embiid a non-labored shot. Too much one-on-one. Too much clogging with Simmons not shooting outside. If Simmons never gets better at anything besides his jumper, but improves that jumper, he’ll be amazing. 

 The Celtics have much better quickness on the perimeter with Rozier, Smart, Tatum and Brown. They are also being coached better. From a talent standpoint the Sixers are the better team but a matchup standpoint makes it much closer especially when the Sixers coach refuses to play to their strength and get Embiid in the post more. 

People were talking about Embiid and Simmons and the pick and roll nightmare they would be but they almost never run it together. TJ has been great but Brown plays Marco and Reddick over him to stretch the floor…but it seems like worst shot selection and way worse defense is what they are getting out of the SGs. 

I don’t know if Fultz is ready but maybe play him a little and see because he at least has athleticism that can match Boston’s backcourt. Maybe play Justin Anderson a little instead of Marco 36 minutes.

The Sixers have looked bad but could easily be up 2-1 right now. Coaching and terrible turnovers have lost 2 games for them. If Brett Brown just steps his game up a little bit and isn’t afraid of trying some new things that Boston might not be ready for the Sixers can still win this series. 

In my mind they will either fold tonight or this series will go 7 games. I really think if Philly wins tonight they can Boston Red sock these Celtics and make history. 

 The problem is Philly relies on two young dude’s who are talented but don’t seem to take the game seriously. Embiid is a monster but coasts through massive chunks of games and Simmons had a full year to develop ANYTHING other than what we knew he had and came back with NOTHING. Those should be giant red flags. Add to that that Boston is missing their two best players, has much better draft positioning and there should be concern for the future. I see Boston as the best team in the East over the next 5 years, not Philly.

 quote unquote. not quote on quote. I don’t want to be a grammar Nazi on a trivial basketball forum, but I thought you might want to know so you could avoid looking foolish by using this incorrectly in a more important setting. It’s also not really necessary when you could just write "stars".

 contender was mainly b/c Markelle Fultz emerged as the point guard of Phila’s 2nd Unit 

Recall that Phila’s starting 5 was according to Analytics the #1 starting Unit in the NBA this season in terms of points differential – Phila has 3 starters who will make the All NBA Defensive teams in Embiid, Simmons & Covington – they have a Very good starting 5 & amazingly it was their 1st year playing together 

But their Bench was Horrific – both statistically & the Eye test, the 76ers 2nd Unit would literally get Destroyed from the moment they stepped on the court – this is why the coach (brett brown) began to stagger Simmons & Embiid b/c he needed One of them on the court at All times. 

Two factors occurred over the final 20 or so games – Ilyasova & Belinelli decided to join the Sixers exactly Because they had no bench & both men actually said this & Fultz emerged as the 2nd Unit PG – giving them an elite athlete who could penetrate off the dribble, collapsing the Defense & opening up space for Belinelli & Ilyasova to shoot 3’s – 

In addition, Fultz has a 6’10” Wing Span at 6’5” – he’s a huge guard & a great athlete so even though his head is messed up shooting, he can stay in front of the opposing PG – putting LESS pressure on back up Center Amir Johnson / Richaun Holmes to guard the Rim. the Sixers other back up guards – TJ McConnell & early in the season Jerryd Bayless get Roasted on the perimeter

And b/c of this the Sixers were abolsutely Destroying teams – but in the playoffs against Miami Fultz Completely & Totally fell apart Mentally – to the point that Brown could not put Fultz on the court at all (this should be Very concerning for Sixers fans b/c even though Fultz is only 19 Still – he might not be Wired for the NBA at the Highest levels – which is where Phila wants to be) 

Once Fultz fell apart – Belinelli & Ilyasova could No longer get their shots unless they played w/ Simmons – So the Sixers changed from a 10 man rotation of 2 defined Units to an 8 man rotation w/ Only one Dribble penetrator & No one who can guard the opposing PG

Of Phila’s now 8 man rotation FIVE of them are Euros & TJ McConnel – combine that w/ the fact that Boston does Not rely on Scoring at the Rim & w/ Al Horford pulling Embiid away from the Rim – Boston is really a Perfect match up Nightmare for the Sixers – 

The games have been Very close – these are evenly matched teams (Obviously if Kyrie were playing Boston would easily win b/c Phila is just too inexperienced) but w/ these factors I do Not understand why all the so called experts Continued to just Plug Phila into the Finals. 

 such a good series, hope it goes to 7