The Swamp

https://twitter.com/kyleneubeck/status/ ... 0949627904

I watched the game and Embiid's offensive play was spectacular. His footwork and agility is absolutely ridiculous for a guy his size.

He's crazy. Hope he can stay healthy.

When people grow bored with his "wow, Dwight Howard is funny Pt. 2" act, don't say I didn't warn you.

A game like that from Embiid isn't going to help my argument of "not only Hinkie committed a crime against basketball with the tanking, he was also a shitty drafter."

He was basically the equivalent of setting your draft to autopick.

mister d wrote:When people grow bored with his "wow, Dwight Howard is funny Pt. 2" act, don't say I didn't warn you.

Maybe. But I don't think anyone's going to get tired of "Dwight Howard with post moves, a jump shot, and free throw shooting ability."

L-Jam3 wrote:A game like that from Embiid isn't going to help my argument of "not only Hinkie committed a crime against basketball with the tanking, he was also a shitty drafter."

The upside to both Embiid and Simmons is so high that anything else, including Okafor over Porzingis, is pretty easily forgiveable. Simmons is already playing at an All-Star level as a rookie and if he develops an outside shot, we're talked top-20 player of all-time potential. Other than shooting, his game is already insanely complete and polished. And it's not a stretch to say that health permitting, Embiid projects as the best true center since Shaq.

Is it? Doesn't a hypothetical "any GM in the entire world" get atleast two of those three right?

I get the upside, and I'm finally pleased to be a Sixers fan for the first time in a long time. I just hate having to know that they got that way in such a creepy way. I railed against tanking when the Celtics did it in '07 to try and secure Durant, and now the team I root for did it so completely blatantly as a legitimate strategy. There was a part of me that wanted them not to get the #1 in the '16 Lottery, so maybe it would be a deterrent for other teams in the future to do the same.

I didn't even think what the Astros did was this abhorrent. Of course, if you ask Giff and TT, they probably thought it was worth it. Maybe the same will happen here for me.

The reason I don't have any problem with what Philly did is that virtually every NBA champion in the history of the league has had at least one MVP-caliber player on it. The 2004 Pistons and 2014 Spurs (Duncan was past his prime and Kawhi wasn't yet the monster he is now) are exceptions but for the most part, even having All-Stars isn't enough. Unless you think James, Durant or Harden was going to sign with the Sixers as a free agent, the teardown rebuild was the most realistic way* to get even one of those guys. And now they appear to have 2 of them. I also just don't think that roughly 3 seasons of overt tanking is a big tradeoff for the opportunity to have the young core they have.

* I guess they could've drafted Giannis in 2013 but a bunch of other teams also missed that opportunity.

Oh hell yeah. Tanking was the right call, I just don't think Hinkie got much else right that was beyond the reach of an average GM.

What about when your team is trying to tank, but is accidentally too good? (See Vegas in NHL and NYJ in NFL).

Is that the fault of the GM too? (Semi-serious question).

You are served.

Gonna bump this again to appreciate the Celtics defense. Holding golden state under 90 bodes very very well for the next few years. Brown just does not back down against guys like LeBron and Durant. Plus they harassed Curry and Klay on the perimeter. That's the model and it travels too. Celtics are going to be in the mix for a long time, regardless of where this season goes from here. Best part is their biggest weakness is offensive punch and the answer was watching from the bench. Really wonder whether that guy won't feel some pressure to dress out come playoffs. Even 10 mins off the bench would solve problems.

Sixers/Celtics about to be a thing again. Very early 1980s callback.

6th row baseline Dec 28 vs Houston. Pretty sure they'll be looking for 37 in a row that night.

HaulCitgo wrote:Gonna bump this again to appreciate the Celtics defense. Holding golden state under 90 bodes very very well for the next few years. Brown just does not back down against guys like LeBron and Durant. Plus they harassed Curry and Klay on the perimeter. That's the model and it travels too. Celtics are going to be in the mix for a long time, regardless of where this season goes from here. Best part is their biggest weakness is offensive punch and the answer was watching from the bench. Really wonder whether that guy won't feel some pressure to dress out come playoffs. Even 10 mins off the bench would solve problems.

I believe they've already taken a disability cap exception for Hayward, and that the exception can only be used if the player has been ruled out for the entire season, including playoffs.

Giff wrote:https://twitter.com/KellyScaletta/status/931558042629423104

I think this is the year Harden wins the MVP. Rockets will probably finish with a top-2 seed, Curry and Durant will split the GSW vote, Kawhi has already missed 15 games, and the Cavs don't appear overly interested in trying during the regular season.

L-Jam3 wrote:I get the upside, and I'm finally pleased to be a Sixers fan for the first time in a long time. I just hate having to know that they got that way in such a creepy way. I railed against tanking when the Celtics did it in '07 to try and secure Durant, and now the team I root for did it so completely blatantly as a legitimate strategy. There was a part of me that wanted them not to get the #1 in the '16 Lottery, so maybe it would be a deterrent for other teams in the future to do the same.

I didn't even think what the Astros did was this abhorrent. Of course, if you ask Giff and TT, they probably thought it was worth it. Maybe the same will happen here for me.

cant speak for giff, but what the astros did was worth every ounce of suffering as a houston fan in every sport ever

The 76ers at Golden State game was 74-52, Philly at the half. See if this holds.

Sorry. Brain fart. That game is in Philly.

the rockets are really really good and nobody is talking about it besides giff

the rockets have a better record than golden state and are 8-1 on the road this year and correct me if im wrong but they lead the league in scoring dont they? why is this not a much bigger deal, especially doing it with chris paul injured?

Never mind. Dubs are now up 99-89 at the end of the 3rd. Fuck Draymond.

how do you get outscored by 32 in a fucking quarter?? is philly still trying to tank?

TT2.0 wrote:how do you get outscored by 32 in a fucking quarter?? is philly still trying to tank?

Admittedly, +32 is pretty extreme*, but Golden State has been wiping teams off the court in the third quarter all season. Almost 75% of their point differential for the season comes from their third quarter margins. I guess when you have the most stacked team in NBA history, you can typically get away with coasting for the first half.

*The Sixers actually had a +20 quarter themselves in the first half.

Entire NBA summer league is moving to Las Vegas starting next summer. All 30 teams.

I love everything about the 76ers at this point. I think I am adopting them.

tennbengal wrote:I love everything about the 76ers at this point. I think I am adopting them.

I disowned the Knicks and adopted the Sixers after the Oakley incident last year. Plenty of room aboard the bandwagon and Baltimore is close enough to Philly that they're practically your hometown team.

Joe K wrote:

tennbengal wrote:I love everything about the 76ers at this point. I think I am adopting them.

I disowned the Knicks and adopted the Sixers after the Oakley incident last year. Plenty of room aboard the bandwagon and Baltimore is close enough to Philly that they're practically your hometown team.

Yeah. Fired up about it, actually.

And, after some years of having NBA league pass, really giving it a workout this year. So many really interesting teams and young players all of a sudden.

tennbengal wrote:

Joe K wrote:

tennbengal wrote:I love everything about the 76ers at this point. I think I am adopting them.

I disowned the Knicks and adopted the Sixers after the Oakley incident last year. Plenty of room aboard the bandwagon and Baltimore is close enough to Philly that they're practically your hometown team.

Yeah. Fired up about it, actually.

And, after some years of having NBA league pass, really giving it a workout this year. So many really interesting teams and young players all of a sudden.

Other than the fact that the NBA Finals are a forgone conclusion unless Curry or Durant gets injured, the NBA is so great now. And I placed a preseason bet on the Warriors to win the title (even though they were the biggest preseason favorite in the history of American sports I still thought they were undervalued), so I can at least cash in a bit from the fait accompli. That's also a bet Id be happy to lose (unless something truly awful happens to a Warriors star) because it would mean that something exciting or unpredictable happened.

I agree the Warriors are probably a done deal, BUT, it was hard for me not to watch that first quarter explosion from Philly against the Warriors on Saturday and not dream about a finals where each game is 140-130 with superstars everywhere. I know it's too early for that from Philly's end, but, damn. Watching Simmons and Embid in that quarter was revelatory. I am not sure I have seen anything quite like Simmons.

I laughed ...

https://twitter.com/ctpritch/status/932079517539106816

The top 9 in net rating are all Warriors, Celtics, or Rockets. And none of them are Irving, Hayward, Harden, or Paul

Things I was curious about and looked up: in every full season he coached in Phoenix, and in both his seasons in Houston, Mike D'Antoni's teams have been top-2 in the NBA in offensive efficiency (let's just pretend the Knicks and Lakers debacles didn't happen). He's not the best postseason coach -- although the Suns could've easily won a title with better injury or suspension luck -- but man, is he a good regular season coach. It's interesting to see how Chris Paul is fitting there. He's scoring less than ever, but is averaging 10 assists per game with an absurdly good A/TO ratio. That's a nice compliment to Harden, whose only offensive weakness is that he can be turnover prone.

Joe K wrote:He's not the best postseason coach -- although the Suns could've easily won a title with better injury or suspension luck

I thought D'Antoni got a bad rap after his run in Phoenix ended without a title. Seemed like the hot-take crowd concluded that his system was inherently incapable of winning a championship, when they really just had the misfortune of peaking when the West was insanely stacked, plus the bad injury/suspension luck you mentioned.

Johnny Carwash wrote:

Joe K wrote:He's not the best postseason coach -- although the Suns could've easily won a title with better injury or suspension luck

I thought D'Antoni got a bad rap after his run in Phoenix ended without a title. Seemed like the hot-take crowd concluded that his system was inherently incapable of winning a championship, when they really just had the misfortune of peaking when the West was insanely stacked, plus the bad injury/suspension luck you mentioned.

D'Antoni is responsible for a large part of the great basketball played now. Today's Warriors, Spurs, Rockets all have lots of influence from D'Antoni's Suns.

Plenty of people have made this analogy before me but Mark Jackson : Warriors :: Jason Kidd : Bucks, right? I'm not quite as high on the Bucks' non-Greek talent as most are, especially with Parker still out, but that team just screams for a coaching upgrade.

So I don’t watch the NBA but are the Pistons for real or is this smoke and mirrors?