[vulture711Participant]

 Its pretty clear to me after his few games, Embiid is the future at center and the face of this franchise.  This leads me to a few thoughts:

1.  Ben Simmons – with Embiid the focal point, does this actually help Simmons when he returns – given he seems prefer to be a facilitator over the focal point ?  Would it bother him to be overshadowed ?  My thought is this will take pressure off him and allow him to blend in, which he is probably more comfortable with.

2.  Center logjam – this has been beatne to death, but with Noel resuming workouts here, I’m really curious how this shakes out.  I do like Okafor, but if the other center’s role is goint to be run with the second unit, I’m not so sure Noel wouldn’t be a better choice to anchor the D with the offsense running through Saric.  With Thompson, Saric, Stauskas, one of the centers and probably Rodriguez moving to a backup role, that’s not a bad group.  Okafor hasn’t looked terribly good – maybe thats because you measure against Embiid’s production in 20 min and its not close.

3.  Covington – he has been nothing short of terrible, and if Embiid weren’t as good as he is, would really be killing the team more than he is.  Its so bad right now he bricked his only two free throws last night as his confidence is around zero and the hoop looks two inches wide.  He is like a golfer with the yips putting.  When Simmons returns he can go hide on the bench, but for now its painful to watch.  Thankfully the other guys are making 3’s…but his role as floor spacer simply isn’t working.

These are my thoughts watching the games this season.  They’ve won a few, been close in a few, and have been crushed in a few.

 

 

 

 

[binetParticipant]

Okafor cannot help on defense with every backup guards or soon-to-be backup (Sergio) very bad on ball defenders that get blown by easily. Noel seems like a better fit with this off-the-bench lineup. This is particularly visible with his best games so far when Embiid is preserved and him with the starting lineup. I expect Noel to help the team more, I don’t now how the situation wil end but I trully think Okafor trade is the better option.

Ben Simmons major issue in my book is that he has to become a perimeter player. The fierce competition at the 4 with Saric and Ilyasova is not an environment he should begin his career with. Replacing struggling Covington at the 3 in the starting lineup should let him play more freely and eventually fits better his skillset once he adjusts. That probably means he has to work on his game during his rehab in order t fully become a perimeter player. Brown talked about "grooming him to be a PG", not sure about that but with Bayless at the 2 the starting lineup with Simmons-Bayless-Henderson(or Stauskas given his stellar start)-Saric(or Ilyasova)-Embiid on offense Bayless-Henderson-Simmons-Saric-Embiid on D seems like a very balanced and competitive group.

They are clearly looking better so far and that’s without Ben Simmons. If he is as good as advertised (somewhere between Griffin and LeBron) then they could end up looking like a playoff team by the end of the year (unfortunately they should come up short regardless with too many losses until their roster completes).

The best part of the pick swap with Sacramento is that they are probably going to try to compete and not tank all year long because of it, and that’s a way better climate for the young core to develop.

Covington really needs to be coached not to take contested three or throw away three balls like the leather is hot soup, it’s flagrant his shooting slump is more bad shot selection than anything else, part of it incombs to Brett Brown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[HitsterParticipant]

 Simmons I think will play at SF when he returns especially with Ilyasova there this season and a returning Noel will need to be found playing time too. There are so many intangibles to be looked into, Noel will need to be renewed next summer and what sort of salary would be want. They could decide to keep Ilyasova as he gives them a nice veteran presence and perimeter shooting. Saric I thinkj is a keeper also now but Philly have traded players when they have good value before such as MCW but that was under the Hinkie era.

I can see the idea of keeping Noel as a Biyombo type defensive presence from bench to play around Embiid, use Ilyasova and Saric at PF with Simmons as SF/point forward. So that puts Okafor up for a trade, sure he’s not great defensively but Kanter isn’t likewise and he has made a good NBA career and scorers like Okafor are assets to teams,

KAT and Wiggins co-exist nicely so Embiid and Simmons can I feel.

 

 

[SubZeroParticipant]

I think Simmons will be more of a Kobe-Shaq deal and less of a Lebron-Kyrie type thing.

And personally, I would be looking to move Okafor. There’s always the chance that you might need him if something ever happens to Embiid again, but he just hasn’t looked good. Noel’s defense and rebounding would benefit the 2nd unit more than Jah’s offense imo, and if they could get some shooting or perimeter defense back for him then that would help the first unit out a lot

[Mr. 19134Participant]

 Cant say Embiid is the clear cut franchise player without having seen Simmons play because in camp Ben was the clear cut best player on the team.

 

And Sergio is really racking up assists hes go gifted at setting people up watching him, Ben and Dario play is gonna be special.

 

 

[holefillers1Participant]

 Simmons is in a good spot.  He will open up the offense with his passing.  If the Sixers land Fultz in the draft, he and Embiid will become the primary scorers with Simmons being able to essentially play anywhere in the lineup and not have to be relied on to score 20+ very night. 

The center situation is what it is. I believe the Sixers are hedging their bets with these guys, hoping that both health and positional fit will sort itself out.  Problem is health has gotten in the way. Weird.  I hope the Sixers get something for Noel or Okafor but I’m not going to hold my breath.  

Bad things happen when Robert Covington puts the ball on the floor.  He is a catch and shoot forward and a decent man defender.  That’s his wheelhouse.  Anytime he tries to do anything else, he turns it over.  Problem now is he has been cold all year and is trying to do other things on the court to make up for his poor shooting.  Hollis Thompson is a catch and shoot guy as well.  RoCo is not part of the future, stop wasting minutes Brett.  His minutes need to go to Stauskas.  56% from 3 over last six games. He is playing his best ball over these last two weeks and deserves a chance to fill a bigger roll on this team.

 

 

 

[festar35Participant]

I think Philly is set in the front-court with:
C. Embiid – Beast!!
PF. Saric – Dude has more range than I thought and he has the potential to be rather dynamic.
SF. Simmons – A Lot like Antetokoumpo in Milwaukee he can be the main facilitator in Philly.

Now where they are lacking is a back-court and a bench. The thing is with such talent up front what they need really is just some nice complimentary pieces here that can shoot the 3, play defense and a PG who can can/willing to share the ball with Simmons.
They could use the likes of Okafor and Noel in trades to find that talent now if they felt like it. I’m not going to post any proposals as I’m not 100% where either guys value is, but I will say that I still rate Okafor very highly and I see a lot of Cousin similarities in play style.

[SlickBouncePassParticipant]

In general they are missing a guard that can penetrate.  Hopefully Simmons will be able to do this, although teams will play off of him because he can’t shoot.  Simmons will effect the fast break.  Of all the rookies so far Fultz is the obvious ball handler that can shoot and has explosive athleticism, Ball is a tempo guy, Fox is John Wall type, Dennis Smith has some Westbrook in him, so you won’t go wrong with any of them, they just badly need someone that can penetrate to open things up for the bigs.

Without that, its tough to judge Okayfor, and Noel, and Embiid’s potential is untapped because the opposing bigs have to respect the driving ability of the guards.

Stauskas surprised me so far, I think he will regress.  I think for him its always been mental, the boy can shoot, but defensively he can’t stay in front of anyone.  Their team is full of guys that are athletically inferior once you get away from Embiid and Simmons.  I think Stauskas will regress because of his body and athleticism.  You can’t expect too much from him.

RoCo is fool’s gold.  He makes a 3 everyone gets happy.  But he is shooting 26%, and I just hate the guy’s face.  He doesn’t play hard, doesn’t have that extra gear to grind.  

Thats how I feel about Okafor.  No tenacity.  Okafor was commanding doubles last year.  He was making hard post moves, dominating the smaller 4s like Kevin Love.  Putting him in the backup center role and having him matchup against bigger stronger guys makes no sense. 

Which tells you that their coach sucks because he won’t even attempt playing Embiid and Oak together.  I know, the minutes restriction, but some things are glaringly obvious.  Saric cannot defend anyone bigger than him.  So why not put Oak at the 4 especially when other teams go big (Towns and Dieng!), you have Oak guard the non-factor Dieng, and Embiid on Towns which is fair enough.  

Oh back to the guards.  I like what we are getting from Thompson Stauskas Henderson, I wonder if thats a product of Embiid even though once Embiid gets it its usuaally one on one ball, the guards don’t move instead they just watch him go to work rather than cut for him.  Again, coach sucks.  But Luwawu Cabarot is athletic, he can drive to the rim, he can shoot just as well as Covington who plays the least intelligent position on the court, so why not give him minutes.

Those are my two, plus one, biggest gripes about Brett Brown.  Play Oak and Embiid together and try to create some offensive mismatches.  Allow TLC to get more than garbage time since he is your only guard that can penetrate and see how that goes.  And Saric, cannot defend guys bigger than him.  He got smoked by Towns and Brett Brown did nothing about it.  Ilyasova can’t guard them either.  Whyyyyy, is Brown insisting on playing "futursitic" basketball with a stretch 4, when other teams are punishing them with bigs, and even if they have a stretch 4, Embiid can guard them on the perimeter.  We don’t need Saric and Ilyasova out there getting punished.  He must use Richuan Holmes and Okafor better.  

We get rocked on defense due to our "stretch 4s" and Okafor in that dreadful second unit.  Okafor is no good playing against Len, he’s much better utilized pounding Marquese Chriss or Dragan Bender etc.  Hopefully once Noel gets back, BB will Oak and Embiid together….unless he is just waiting for us to tank.

Its pretty obvious there are ways to imrpvoe this team.  

Here’s to drafting Fultz, signing Reddick, and playing Simmons Oak and Embiid together, and having Ilyasova Noel Saric Henderson and Bayless as our bench.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MatosParticipant]

 RoCo has to go by any means neccessary. He’s a cancer to their ability to win. And now he’s a cancer to the other youngsters’ development in that he’s taking quality minutes from TLC, Saric (should try him at SF at least a little). RoCo’s gotta go.

[binetParticipant]

 Right now Dario is still struggling at times with the pace of the game, which is clealry miles faster in the perimeter. His poor defense (continuously improving though) should be even way worse there where his offensive game would not benefit that greatly since he would be contested more often on his outside shot. 

Robert Covington convinced me against the Heat. Even struggling in shooting he was clearly an incredible contributor to the team victory. I think he is a legit starter in this team even with his bad shot.

[dudo670Participant]

I can’t wait for Simmons to come back considering how bad our point guard play has been. Time and time again Embiid either runs the floor or gets good position inside and the guards don’t throw him the ball. BB hasn’t done a good job coaching either as every possession should require an Embiid post touch and we take far too many early 3s. I think Simmons will fix a lot of this coming back, but I’m not too bullish on his ability to score at a high level, at least early on.

regarding the center logjam, it kills me to think we could have KP instead of Okafor. KP is an up and coming superstar who despite being another big would perfectly complement Embiid with his ability to not only shoot from deep but create off the bounce. If Okafor get the ball in the post within 5 feet he’s pretty good, especially against non-elite defenders, but otherwise he’s pretty average, can’t rebound and can’t defend. Noel would be a good rotational player to defend when Embiid is on the bench but I feel the writing on the wall that he’s done. Would personally like to see more Holmes when Embiid is out for defensive purposes.

completely agree about Covington, he is flat out awful. Nick stauskas with his confidence has been a lot like the player I thought he could be coming out of college: not an all star but a very solid rotational player and quick offense. 

[HitsterParticipant]

A lot of people were surprised when Philly took Oak in 2015 draft but if they had got top pick they would surely have taken KAT and Russell was gone when they drafted. Embiid I feel could play either PF or C as he has good movement for his size and would be a physical mismatch for a lot of PFs inside and certainly against stretch 4’s on the perimeter.

With next year’s draft being more backcourt heavy in the top 10, Philly can probably add 2 players if the Laker pick comes over to fill out the key places.

[binetParticipant]

 Booker or Porzingis were not very realistic picks at the time, given Philly’s position and the fact I believe they did not workout Porzingis. If they had number 1, even with how talented KAT is perhaps a trade would have been better given their talent at the center position. If they knew KAT was a PF though then yes, he was the pick.

Embiid cannot play PF. Just stop saying Embiid has ‘good movement’: moving better than Jahlil Okafor is not good movement. Embiid is smart in how he moves on defense but not as quick as advertise. Offensively, his quickness was easily matched by Marc Gasol against Memphis. That is not good enough quickness or agility to play stretch 4, especially with his cardio and how he runs the floor in transition (both offense and defense: Embiid is very slow). Embiid is only quicker than Okafor really, and neither of them can play the 4: just stop!

 

 

 

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