My thing is. . . every one is a success until they fail Rarely did he lose to an inferior team Rarely did he lose when he was suppose to win . . . . . most times they were EXPECTED TO LOSE Spurs Series looks bad because Kawhi was out. . but we were not suppose to win that series - a poor game Even ignoring the elbow to head the game previous . . . he did not play well Golden State games - While we may not have known at the time Appears he was going against 3~4 1st Ballot Hall of Famers . . . When he had 1 Hall of famer of his own . . . He was up 3-2 until injury Dwight is a hall of famer but was not exactly 100% with a moron for a coach - just my opinion There are Excuses. . .then their are REASONs . . . . I brought up LeBron and Westbrook because .. . . LeBron still getitng buckets and assist and dragging westbrook seems to be aging him before our eyes I won't even Mention Mr. Street Clothes Rocket River
To be fair, Morey walked into a good situation. One of the two best big men in the league, a coach that most players absolutely want to play for and a young player whose playmaking is almost as good as his defense. The overall team also had depth. For the Rockets, Morey walked into a similar situation...except the dominant big man couldn't stay healthy and had to retire 2 years into Morey's tenure, and McGrady was already largely declining, by that point. Just saying "ownership matters" doesn't make sense. Morey took over an Alexander-owned team for 10 years before Tilman came in. The 76ers were complete garbage before and during the early years after drafting Embiid and Simmons. Hell, Embiid had injury problems and looked like a bust who'd never play, at one point. The 76ers basically missed with Simmons, but also completely missed with Fultz. A perfect draft process would have gotten them Ingram (selected after Simmons) and Tatum (selected after Fultz). A trio of Tatum / Embiid / Ingram who would all be around the start of their primes right now, would be so insane to think about. Keep in mind, Embiid missed the entirety of his rookie and sophomore seasons. "Ownership" and the GM for the 76ers could very much be complete garbage, right now.
It does in this instance. Our owner inherited a title contender and broke it up trying to win on the margins, constantly ignoring ways to improve the team and giving away draft picks to shed salary.
man, I can’t wait until Harden’s home opener…Wells Fargo gonna be crazy I’ve always admired Philly’s home crowd…how engaged and passionate they are Harden’s jersey is the #1 selling, and Philly’s local broadcast has been getting their highest ratings since 2001 these 1st 2 games…the city is buzzing it looks like the fans have really embraced Harden, they’re energized…u didn’t really see that with the 10 Nets fans in BK I think they appreciate Harden so much because they’ve been dying to have a dynamic playmaker and scorer next to Embiid, and going from Bum Simmons who refuses to shoot and can’t score to James Harden is like going from the beat up Honda Civic to a Maserati
We got spoiled by the years of work Toward the end . . . .we were nit picking him and his game to death the 76ers look like they ready to build a strip club at center court if it will help win a championship Rocket River
some info from the 1st 2 games James Harden has just a 15% usage rate when he shares the floor with Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid. Embiid (39.3%) and Maxey (17.8%) are both higher. During those minutes, Harden has 22 assists to just 13 field goal attempts. And it's not because he's been living at the line, either: Harden has just five free-throw attempts during those lineups as well. Maxey is shooting 72.2% (13-18 overall, 4-6 from 3) when sharing the floor with Embiid and Harden. The starting five of Embiid, Harden, Maxey, Thybulle and Harris have outscored opponents 102-74 in 38 minutes. Harden's usage rate goes from 15.3% with Embiid on the floor, to 37% when he's running the offense with Embiid on the bench. Harden's scoring 21.2 points per 100 possessions, on a 74.1% true shooting with Embiid on the floor, compared to 69.6 points per 100 possessions on an 88.1% true shooting with Embiid on the bench. Both of the true shooting numbers are, obviously, excellent (and unsustainable). The impressive part is how seamlessly he can switch between being a focal point and a facilitator, depending on what the Sixers need at the time. The Sixers have remained strong defensively with Embiid on the floor (98.6 defensive rating) but have struggled (106.3) when he's on the bench over these last two games. Harden has kept the Sixers afloat offensively in the non-Embiid minutes (114.3 offensive rating), so they've been a positive overall even with Embiid out of the game, but they need more from their backup center rotation specifically, and their bench in general. Again, reminder: all of these are exceptionally low sample size and should (at most) only be used to describe what has happened in these two games, and not what will necessarily continued.
Maxey is the X factor on this team. I believed that if he could maintain his production, pre-Harden, after the trade the Sixers would be legit scary. Now that it looks like Harden uncorked an even better version of Maxey it's like they're playing with 3 All-Stars in the starting lineup.
I think Harris' time will come. Right now, Embiid and Maxey are cooking and Harden needs to find his groove with this team...all that is coming at the expense of Harris. Eventually Harris will need to play that 2016/2017 Ryan Anderson role and just be ready to launch from deep. If he can chip in 10-15 a night on offense the Sixers' offense will be unstoppable. Their mediocre bench is a concern but teams go only, what, 6-7 deep in the playoffs anyways. Embiid Harris Thybulle Harden Maxey Niang Green That's a formidable 7. If they bring in Jordan he and Millsap can split the 12 minutes at center when Embiid rests.
Haven't seen a Sixers game yet, but Harden always had the potential to knight a supporting player by feeding them or focusing hard on their pet plays together, like a Tucker pocket 3 or a Capella lob. It doesn't happen all the time, maybe because it takes both chemistry (trust) and the other player to simplify their offense and ofc stand around from time to time.
When the Simmons to Harden rumors started to fly I knew that Maxey would come up as a potential trade piece. The kid has done a fantastic job as Simmons' replacement in the starting lineup and, between him and Thybulle, I would have given up Thybulle in a heartbeat. Maxey's that good. Luckily for Morey he got to keep both players. Maxey was averaging 17 a night before Harden and, if Harden can get him a few more buckets a night, that's four players in the starting lineup that can put up 20 points for the Sixers (Embiid, Harris, Harden, Maxey). Dangerous stuff.
Pretty good article on how things have worked so far https://www.theringer.com/nba/2022/3/2/22956847/james-harden-joel-embiid-76ers
The Sixers had the best big man in NBA prior to Morey. They struggled with their HC, FO and complementary players around Embiid (and Simmons). Sixers ownership quickly PIVOTED and got the best available HC (Doc), FO (Morey) and players when opportunity presented itself. It was ownership that recruited and hired Doc and Morey. And supported Morey to shake up the roster, LTS be damned. Ownership matters.
Sixers definitely did not have the best big man prior to Morey. From Embiid being picked to now, Pelicans' AD, Pelicans' Cousins, Gobert, KAT and Jokic all had legitimate claims to "best big man in the league." They purposefully struggled in order to tank for Embiid, Simmons and Fultz. And the owners were completely on board with it. The same owners that hired Brett Brown as coach. Doc is completely overrated - his playoff failures should be emphasized, yet people just point to the Celtics title and think he's one of the greatest of all time. They got Morey, which, yes, is a win. So it's not that "ownership matters." It's "the general manager matters." These are the same owners, as you said, that struggled - they were the hottest trash in the EC at one point. They get Morey, and the owners are suddenly good? Lol come on.
Agreed 100% except a beat up Honda Civic is still a great car though! Ben Simmons is more like a Pinto.
Ownership most certainly matters. Look no further than the turd sandwich that is Houston. If the ownership sucks the team will suck.
