2024-2025 Sixers Season

[zambonir]

yeah I was listening to the Spurs radio, their play by play guy is from Philly, he said flop a bunch of times too.

[bkeich]

This one really deserves referee suspension or re-evaluation of their job. I have never seen a free throw awarded, shot and then taken away. If the Sixers had lost by one they would have a very really protest.

I am actually surprised both coaches were not ejected. They both had cause to lay into the refs.

[bkeich]

Odd win against Boston in Boston.

Embiid was -18 when on the court. George -16. We won by 4. Very strange, the bench crushed them.

[schillingfan]

Had to search for the Sixers thread. Have watched their last several games, including the west cast swing. They are finally watchable and Embiid is looking like Embiid. The knee injury really hurt his ability to do the fall away jumper, , whicnis his money shot. At this rate, without further injuries, I’m imagining they make the playoffs again.

[phillychuck]

He is still protecting the knee on defense. They need him at the rim there, they will be an easy out if he can't jump in April. Maxey, George, Oubre, and Caleb Martin seem to be getting their games on track, though, and Yabu is solid. They need a couple more guys to be solid 15-minutes/game contributors. Nurse is trying Edwards lately and he's had a couple of good games. Ricky Council seems to be a permanent resident of Nurse's doghouse--can't figure out why.

[bigegypt0417]

This isn't great news...

Sixers say McCain will miss the rest of his rookie year 

[zambonir]

That's too bad. You usually expect the meniscus tears to be an easier recover though there are several different kinds.

OTOH, the Sixers were 7-16 when he got hurt and 8-4 since. Says nothing about him but he was not supposed to be such an important part of the team this year.

[bkeich]

Playing the 32-6 Thunder tonight in Oklahoma.

Starting lineup of Yabusele, Council, Oubre, Gordon and R Jackson. Here is a big surprise, down 20 in the 3rd Quarter

Well, at least we were not shut out.

At this point maybe we should see if Temple’s roster is willing to try the NBA.

[phillychuck]

Rallied to down 7 after 3, but couldn't stay close in quarter 4. Downtin and Edwards played really well, as did Yabu.

[schillingfan]

I looked at the injured list, which led to.a starting line-up which was only Oubre and Yamusele and put something else on.

[phillychuck]

For me, this was one of the most enjoyable watches of the year, They played hard and found a way to compete without Maxey, George, and Embiid. Result wasn't good, but it reminded me of a good game from the process years...

[bkeich]

For me, this was one of the most enjoyable watches of the year, They played hard and found a way to compete without Maxey, George, and Embiid. Result wasn't good, but it reminded me of a good game from the process years...

I agree the second half was fun, but the issue was we were building to the future during g the process. This is “we sacrificed the future” to build this team.

We have picks, but we all know they are not going to be used, but instead they were suppose to be traded for the last pieces to put us over the top. Not happening.

We may actually be in pre-process now. That period before you start tanking, but haven’t realized you are not competitive.

[zambonir]

Hey it's great if anyone can find some joy in it. This latest dip is pretty depressing and the reality is the best-case (if worst is no playoffs or play-in loss) is still the same level of stasis the team has been in for the entire era.

All is not entirely lost (for this year or next) but it kind of is if Joel is never going to be healthy. For now the question is what will they do at the deadline. Rebuild conversation probably still doesn't happen until July.

[bigegypt0417]

Even more depressing if their first round pick is only protected if they "fall" in to the top 6.

[zambonir]

Well, they are 8th now. If they wanted to prioritize that they could. But they could also still prioritize making the playoffs, or retooling this core for next year, which would mean possibly trading picks or even McCain. Moving into a true rebuild or a retool around Maxey and McCain almost impossible to imagine yet.

[rpmcmurphy]

I’m afraid the Embiid injury dilemma is here to stay, and that skews everything else in trying to construct a roster and navigate through the season.

[zambonir]

Well, you have to live with and work around Joel, the question is can he come back better next year, and also if George is going to basically present the same issue (which is not even that unexpected - but they were probably figuring they'd be able to weather one or the other at any given time, just not both).

Hard to imagine a scenario where they manage to trade one of them and still assemble a legit conference contender, but also hard to imagine they'll ever be a legit conference contender in the current situation. At least tanking this year sets up the slim possibility of a Spurs/Duncan type situation but other than that completely starting over does seems no less crazy than trying to squeeze a few more playoff teams out of this bunch.

[phillychuck]

The people who want to tank are talking shutting down Joel for the season, trading George, and limiting Maxey's minutes. That is probably what it would take to get below 6 (which is not guaranteed in the lottery, of course).

[bkeich]

The people who want to tank are talking shutting down Joel for the season, trading George, and limiting Maxey's minutes. That is probably what it would take to get below 6 (which is not guaranteed in the lottery, of course).

I dont think those would have much affect this season. Whether Joel and George are traded or watch from the bench in street clothes is pretty much the same.

Actually whether George plays or not doesn’t matter much given his low shooting percentage (42%, 35% on 3pt)

[zambonir]

I'm just not sure it would actually be that hard (nor would it be easy to trade George). They are only 2.5 games better than the #6 team right now (Portland), have lost six of their last eight and could easily lose their next five games. Joel's already out today. And the point isn't to get into the lottery, though that would be nice, but to not lose the pick entirely.

To tank, you trade Oubre and/or Yabusele (both free agents after this season) and actually keep some of the dead weight you might have otherwise traded or released at the deadline. While not adding anyone to replace McCain or make the team better overall.

Joel and George missing games or playing but it not being enough for wins probably takes care of itself.