Joel Embiid looks GOOD in debut, VJ Edgecombe SHINES in Sixers’ preseason finale

Joel Embiid looks GOOD in debut, VJ Edgecombe SHINES in Sixers’ preseason finale

[Music] Yeah. [Music] Heat. [Music] Well, don’t look now, but the Philadelphia 76ers wrap up their preeason finale with the big fella in the lineup. Joel Embiid makes his return. And the Sixers wrap up the exhibition schedule with the win 126 1110 over the Minnesota Timberwolves. And we are coming to you live from the Exfinity Lounge to overreact to what we saw Rich in this game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Rich Hoffman, Devon Given, Bree, she’s the president of basketball operations. All of you in the chat on the Friday night and we have a ton to get to. First, let us tell you number one that we are presented by Rothman Orthopedics. Visit rothmanorththo.com/phy to learn more. Get involved that way. Hit the like button. You’re in there. We see you. Hit the like button, Bri. We got to get the phone finger for Rich as he’s in here on this night. We’ll get us We’ll get it. Don’t worry about it right now. Do your thing. We’ll get the phone finger for Rich maybe after like the second segment or something like that so we can get those like get the likes up everybody on a Friday night. We have a ton to talk about from Joel Embiid’s debut. Valdez Edgecomb everybody. I see his name in the chat already. Rich the great Valdez. Tyrese Maxi is still pretty darn good. the Bona Embiid double big starting lineup and so many other things. Also, Quinton Grimes is back too, everybody. He looked solid in the second half. We have a ton to get to. Kyle Newck from the arena a little bit later. Let’s talk about it, man. We got to get to it right away as we start things off here on this Friday night and get to Rich, your big takeaways presented by Xfinity. Yeah, man. Uh, the big Look at that. Presented. Rich is presented by Exfinity, everybody. We’re sponsored this year, everybody. And man, it’s it’s great to be back with you, Devon. And man, I am I am so happy to overreact to a game against the Timberwolves third stringers because they played the night before to talk about Bob Meyers, Philadelphia 76. No, I’m just kidding. I’m just kidding. Okay. Uh, yeah. The big takeaway tonight is that man, it was nice and also a little bit terrifying to have Joel Embiid back in the lineup. Mostly nice. Mostly nice everybody, right? But um yeah, I mean there’s nobody like Joel Embiid on this roster. There’s nobody like Joel Embiid in the NBA when he’s playing and good to go. And you just saw everything. you saw even with I would say whether it’s rust or or physical limitations or whatever incredible size, incredible skill, creativity, you know, man, is there going to be a sweet spot in between best player in the league, which is where we basically left off with him almost two years ago at the beginning of the 23 24 season, best player in the league. Is there a sweet spot between that and the guy that we saw last year who was just hampered and just did not have it? I gotta say, I’ve been listening to the show every day. I’ve been keeping up with all the practice updates and it’s been there’s been some tempered optimism, right? There’s been, you know, like all the caveats apply, but he looks pretty good. It sounds like he’s uh he’s playing and this was the first shot for him to play. And I thought he looked pretty good, man. than I thought he looked. Look, did he look like uh 26-year-old Joe Olympid? No. No, he still is working around some physical limitations, but man, he could still be an extremely dominant basketball player uh with the stuff that we saw from him tonight. And yeah, was it terrifying when he fell down on that play at the end? Yeah. But you know what? I think it was good to get that out of the way. Uh I’m curious, what did you think about him playing in this game? I there was some controversy from you know some Sixers fans. There was some disagreement on should he have played in this game. Where did you fall on that? He absolutely should have played in this game. Absolutely right my friend. Absolutely should have played in this basketball game. We have not seen him since March. We have not seen the real Joel Embiid since the last season where not even the playoffs before that before the injury took place that knocked him out where we couldn’t see him after the injury really took place against the Golden State Warriors. He definitely needed to play tonight. And I say that because while Rich you mentioned it that we have been talking about there’s no shot of him playing in the preseason whatsoever, but once we started to get those 5-second overreaction videos that we had getting the exhibition the scrimmage that they also had last weekend and he was out there for the entire time also participating that we had learned in the full practice that they had before they allowed us in the building and then to see again continuing to I’m going to have to put a dollar in the ramp jar. Ramping it up with the practices and playing fives. While he may not play every version of the practice, but playing fives out there, you needed to get something out there for him. Forget about me, you, Bri, Kyle, Derek. Wasn’t about us. Selfishly it’s about us, but selfishly it was for him because for him to hit the ground running right away with whatever the schedule is for them that they have put together between the doctors, the front office, and the coaching staff of how he’s going to just basically uh block off the amount of games that he’s going to play. for him in the mentality that we have talked about so much of him just simply getting over the mental hurdle of whatever it is that he needs to get over to get out there and play. This was good for him. So, it didn’t need to be 24 or 34 points tonight, but to see the 14, seven, and eight that he put out there on the floor, the passing that he had very early, Rich, where I think he had four points, but six assists early and he was looking for the early outlet immediately as the ball was secured on the defensive rebound. Looking ahead to Tyrese Maxi, VJ Edgecom giving up the basketball, not being the point guard and be that we had seen so much. Not that we have a problem with it, but it was very good to see him get into the early flow of the game and look good doing so. So, one of the things that I look for immediately with the I was in the arena tonight, don’t get a chance to do that often during the regular season. So, because we didn’t have a pregame show, I wanted to get down there uh before it was announced that he was going to play. I wanted to get there anyway, but it was great to have him out there. I wanted to see what he had on his knee. Yes, he had something on his knee, but it wasn’t as bulky as we last saw him a season ago. So, that was encouraging where he had whatever type of sleeve, brace, compression he had, it wasn’t bulky and he looked comfortable running up and down the floor. So for him to get used to playing in practices and all, but this is a different environment where it’s not Rudy Goar and Nas Reed and Julius Randle in the front court and trying to defend a downhill Anthony Edwards or Jaden McDaniels trying to get to the basket. But you had a lot of players on the Minnesota side on the second night of a backtoback still trying to make that roster, still trying to get minutes, still competing for that very reason against the starters of the Philadelphia 76ers. So they were going to give Joel Embiid, Tyresese Maxi, and the rest of the Sixers a run. And he got real action. Not the level and caliber of player that you’re going to see in the regular season, but it was real basketball action. So while he has played against his teammates, scrimmaged against them, and scrimmage hard against them, he needed this. And because things changed over the last five days before that, we were fine with him not playing in the preseason. But since we got the updates and seeing it for ourselves in that scrimmage, Rich, your question, he needed to be out there and I’m glad he got a chance to play today. Me too, man. I I was down with this unequivocally the right decision for two reasons. Number one, you just laid it out. the the mental hurdle, man, he he needs to get back and get in the rhythm and playing basketball. Um, considering how much time he has missed, really the competition is irrelevant, right? It’s just getting up, playing at at a decently hard level, uh, sitting down, coming back into the game. Seems like he passed all of those uh those tests. And then the other thing is that like look, man, Joel Embiid is even when he was healthy, was a notoriously slow starter. not for, you know, a month. It wasn’t like that. But the first couple first first couple games of the year after sitting an entire preseason usually were pretty clunky. So I would imagine if he does play in the game if if nothing went horribly wrong here and we do see him next week against Boston, I think he’s going to be better off for playing in this game going up and down the floor uh against NBA players, whoever they are. So couple things I noticed. And tomorrow, by the way, to your point is very important. It’s most important. It’s honestly more important than what happened tonight. It’s It’s how does he feel tomorrow? Maybe we could get the uh the swell meter sponsored by Exfinity or something like that. No, we’re not gonna have that. Rothman, baby. Rothman. Yeah, by Rothman. Exactly. Um we we’re not going to have access to that. But yeah, for sure. How he responds tomorrow, the next days. Yeah, that’s always what the key is. We’re not going to know what that uh what happened until a couple days from now, but at least what he showed on the floor. Very good. So, a couple things that I noticed. Number one, I thought he was in passing mode to start the game. And that was clearly that was in in two ways. Number one, the Sixers ran a lot in this game. And we’re going to talk in the second segment. I see everybody in the chat very excited about Mr. Edgecomb. We’re going to talk about all the athleticism that these guys showed. And really early on in this game, Devon, it was Joel Embiid getting the rebounds, getting steals as well and getting hit ahead passes to Tyrese Maxi to VJ Edgecomb and they were flying and getting buckets. So that was one way. Another way was, you know, you could see when they threw him the ball at the top of the key, whether it was in delay or or they would throw him the ball and he’d flash to the elbow, he was looking to pass. You know, he’s pointing to Quinton Grimes. Come on, man. Come get the ball. Tyrese Maxi, you ran one action. You know, uh, Tyrese, that when we were at our absolute best, we’re getting to the second and third action, right? We’re doing a dribble handoff and then you’re turning right back around and doing it again. So, for me, like look, the left knee is is everything with Joel. And I’m most interested about what happened in uh in the half court. And I think Bri, we have a uh a couple of clips. This first clip, man, this was just this was beautiful to watch. First first play. Joel gets the ball at the elbow. He sizes up Behringer. Patton it. Bang. Ham a hang dribble and he nails it. I mean that is just I you know I was watching it with Bri and I was like all right that looks uh that looks familiar. That’s something I’ve seen 10,000 times. Can I ask you this because I I just thought about it. Can I ask you this because you’re right. the patented. We didn’t know this was going to be a patented shot early on in his career, but I remember the very first basket against the Oklahoma City Thunder at the top of the right there at the free throw line, the turnaround fade away that immediately in the moment it didn’t. But right there, as you just said that, it made me kind of think back to, oh, this is the start. And to your point, he didn’t even know what he was doing yet. No, he didn’t. And now here we are 10 years later and that’s his patented shot. And then Bri, I think we have a second clip as well. So, Devon, here’s the thing. With that left knee, when he’s going to be able to get to that shot, and you can run this, Bri, thank you very much. Um, the question is, what happens when people make him put the ball on the floor? And, you know, as you see, the Sixers get into this action. He gets into the handoff. I believe that’s with Grimes. Now, you see the defender close out on him. I was curious about this one cuz he he ends up landing on that left knee and shooting a flip shot into the basket. And to me, those are the plays that are most interesting when he has to put pressure on that left knee. What does that look like? I was actually, you know, this looks like a little bit of an awkward play, but it’s smart. Instead of trying to throw the ball off the backboard like we saw in Madison Square Garden a couple years ago, he decelerates, goes on that left knee, and then shows some really good touch to flip that up and in as well. Those are the plays that interest me. Look, there are other things that we saw throughout the game. We saw Joel make a couple threes. Uh, I think that’s going to be a bigger part of his game just to sort of uh, you know, uh, try and lessen the wear and tear on that knee as well. But those drives, those sort of plays where he’s putting pressure on the left knee, I’m going to be curious what happens. What when teams got out on him and try to pressure him, I thought he passed that test tonight. Especially as a finisher on the right side of the basket, right-handed shooter, you’re going your pivot is your left foot. So, is he gonna is he that first push off is always going to be on that left knee 100%. Unless he’s on the other side where he can go with the right, finish with the left on that right side, right-handed, get the guys in the air, he’s going to go there. Um, it’s funny because when you’re saying that, you obviously sitting there for so many years where we sit behind the basket on the visitors end of the floor. when he made that move, Rich, I’m hearing the a guy who was very vocal in the first half, dunk it. And I’m like, no, no need to. No need to dunk it. This is the next this is the next evolution of Joel Embiid’s game where sometimes, yes, because they’re just simply going to go by him and the the momentum will carry him and he’ll make that decision in his head. Oh, I’m just going to dunk this one lightly or double-handed flush hang on the rim maybe a little bit. No, lay it up front rim, you know, right on the lip of the rim or lay it up off the glass. That’s all you need at that point. We saw it so many times where he had to do it because of that bulky Donjoy brace that he had on his knee. Now, it’s just more of again the mental hurdle of this just makes sense right now. I don’t have to dunk it just to do this or I don’t have to draw a foul and awkwardly do what I need to do. No, just go up there and lay the ball up and you will get the two points. And oh, by the way, you’re still going to get fouled on a a good amount of those where you’re going to get an and one opportunity at the free throw line. So, great great observation by you. Smart play by him and you’re going to live to fight another day is the is the key, right? So that turns from, you know, a 100% shot if you dunk it to an 80% shot with the layup. We’ll take it because you’ll be able to keep taking those 80% shots. And look, you know, this team is so much better when Joel Embiid is on the floor. So honestly, you know, there was you could see that uh Baron, I think it’s Baron Jay, is that how you say it? He was pressuring Embiid a little bit. I think some of the Sixers had trouble getting the ball to Embiid uh at the elbow at times, but I saw everything I needed to see. Um good start. One last question for you before we go to break. That kid is going to be all right, by the way. Yeah, I think he’s going to be pretty good, too. Uh and then we’re going to get to the kids in the next segment, everybody. But, uh what did you make of that crazy starting lineup, man? Going with uh you know, I think at the scrimmage, we heard that they were experimenting a little bit with Bona and and Embiid playing together. They go with Maxi, Edgecomb, Ubé, Bona, and MBI to start the game. I was pretty surprised by that. I was mad at myself. I don’t I don’t think that’s going to be the case on on on Wednesday night for the opener, but it looked good. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if Nickur maybe goes with it. And I was mad at myself for our prediction for opening night, the starters the other day where we all had a different fifth starter which was Grimes, George. I had Barlo. I see. I think you guys were right to have all those guys. The Bona thing is absolutely shocking. But that but I’m mad at myself because a few days later we saw the Bona thing and but look, this was preseason. They wanted to try it out, see how it looked. Richard looked pretty good today where Bona looked his absolute best in any of the games that we have seen so far through the four preseason games that they have played. I liked it tonight because it’s the preseason. Maybe it was just a test as well to see maybe I don’t start with this but I may not have until George gets back a lock fifth starter. It will be a situational who we’re playing against fifth starter and to see it live against the opponents where it may not be a starter, but it’s going to be those minutes that we see that this is here to stay and Nick Nurse just wanted to see it against, as you said, a different color jersey and not just the Sixers jersey. So, I liked it. I like what Bona did today playing off of Joel Embiid. Didn’t see the passing between the two like we thought, but I thought the Bona rim protection helped them on that end. Uh, and it’s something again that they can look on film and have an opportunity to see how situationally it will be played out in the regular season. So, I don’t think it’s going to work because I don’t see enough shooting with Bona, Edgecomb, and UB. Edgecom being the best shooter of all of those guys. But what if it’s George, Maxi, and Grimes or or Edgecomb in that lineup where you still do have those two double bigs? Well, I I think that’s probably more feasible. Um, yeah. So, you would have to supplement that with with great shooting. But anyway, if that lineup is gonna stick, it’s just gonna have to be awesome defensively. We didn’t see a ton of it tonight, but yeah, I mean, the idea is flash is defense and rebounding and rim protection and all that stuff. Yeah, I mean, look, I uh I don’t think I would make that move to start the regular season, but hey, if you want to try it in the preseason, I’m absolutely fine with it. But I I thought it was interesting. That’s sticking with Barllo, man. I’m going with Barlo in the opening. I think we’ll get to him later. He’s a little bit more of a plugandplay for I I know that the shooting is a little Who is Boston starting on Wednesday? We don’t know. We have no idea what that starting unit looks like. We’ll talk about it all when we get back. Guess what everybody? Tyrese Maxi looks good. Quinton Grimes looks good. Valdez, baby. It might be time to get into the Valdez conversation. I see rookie of the year already in there. Let’s talk about it when we get back. Our first pause. Sixers win 126 110. And Joel Embiid returns. Valdez looks good. We’ll talk about VJ when we get back right here on the PHLY 6’s postgame show. Boy, that was fun. That was fun, man. And Devon, the other day I was over at my friend Derek Bodner’s place and he was pumped to watch basketball, but his setup, man, it was a total mess. Lagging, buffering, and switching between apps to find the game. He claimed he was a big fan, but I felt like I have been fanfished. See, if you call yourself a basketball fan, you got to have Xfinity. It’s the ultimate sports destination. I can find the best games and my favorite teams all in one place. And the way that I watch, guys, it’s next level. It’s the perfect fanflex. I’ve got all the action right there in my living room. Plus, Xfinity’s best picture with sound enhanced 4K, so it feels like I’m in the arena. And sometimes, guys, I got four games going at once because why not? And on top of that, I get real-time notifications and live stats right there on my TV. It’s the best seat in the house every single time. So, next game day, make sure that big fan is not a big fail like Derek Bodner. And learn more at xfinity.com. Xfinity. Imagine that. Restrictions apply. Multiv- view requires Exfinity 4K cable TV box. Well, I I know plenty of you are super excited and seeing all those highlight plays from your home basketball team, jumping up, injuring your shoulder, chest bumping with your family and your brother or somebody in the room because of the happiness. Yeah, I saw you tweak that injury. You got to go get it checked out. Our presenting sponsor is Rothman Orthopedics. When the joint pain or injury disrupts your routine of celebrating, get the right care shouldn’t be a hass getting that right care shouldn’t be a hassle. Well, Rothman Orthopedics makes it easy with convenient office locations throughout the region, plus walk-ins and urgent care centers when you need help fast. Whether it’s a new injury or something that’s been bothering you for a while, expert orthopedic care is just around the corner. I’m a walking or of Rothman Orthopedic Billboard because of my knee and my ankle, which they repaired, and I’m proud to be a presenting sponsor here with the rest of our team with Rothman Orthopedic. Schedule your appointment today at rothmanortho.com/phly. Rothman Orthopedics, your mobility, our mission. Welcome back to the PHLY Sixers podcast. The postgame version. Final preseason game. Sixers defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 126 110. Let’s get to them. Let’s get to them, man. Valdez Edgecom, 26 points, plenty of highlights. Pump it up. Pump it up. Oh, we got a new pump it up. Where’s Oh, where is Pump? Is Pump in the chat? We got to talk about Pump. Ace Bailey looks good. But so does VJ Edgecomb. He finished tonight with again 26 points in the starting role. 10 for 18 from the floor. Six scores, three assists, and a game high five steals. Rich, he was active on the defensive end. Got out in the open floor for a few dunks as well. Maxi missed him on that alley where he just threw it over him. That’s hard to do when you have a guy like Edgecom who can get up that way. Rich, he looked good. So for this Philadelphia debut, it’s the first time he’s played in front of the home crowd. And for him to give them that for the final preseason game leading into the opener on Wednesday on the road, mind you, against Boston. That was a hell of a debut in front of the home crowd. Yeah, man. He was he was great, man. He’s he’s so much fun to watch and obviously he got it going a little bit at the end of that game as well. I thought early on um he was a part of basically the the big takeaway from this game and it’s man these young guys they can run man there’s some athleticism on this team this year. It was a lot of like Joel getting the rebound to the steal and then these guys were flying down the court. VJ Edgecom was one of those guys. I thought Devon early on now he he got the play against Dillingham on the ball a little bit uh defensively but some of the plays that he made off ball yes were disruptive disruptive and I I think you could see how much better VJ Edgecomb is going to be with Joel Embiid on that back line just like we have talked about for a long time Joel Embiid his presence uh deters drivers it takes driving angles away and I think you saw there was one play where Joel and Kelly Ubé had the pick and roll handled and VJ was off ball. Uh he saw that and he’s like look in this scheme usually I got to come in. I got to I got to help. I got I got to suck in and look to to take away the driving lane and then get out to the shooter. He saw that those guys had the play handled. And he got the steal by uh by cheating out there. And you can see that he’s a he’s a smart offball instinctive sort of defender and he can do some damage man. and he was, you know, he he made a couple plays with Jabari Walker, some good hands plays with steals. I like Jabari Walker’s uh switch defense uh as well. Um and he was great. And then he made plays in transition as well. There was the one little Euroep play. There was another one where I thought Tyrese Maxi made some excellent decisions in transition. And on one of those, VJ Edgecomb in delayed transition just back cut a guy for for a bucket. Um lot of really good stuff. I think he was what two for six from beyond the three three-point line. That’ll come. Um I will say he’s pretty confident taking it. Like I like that he gets square to the basket and you know I’m sure he will continue to work and get better at that. But yeah, I mean for the number three pick, what a look, you get Joel coming back and there’s a lot of positives and just seeing Joel do a lot of Joel Embiid things, but the number three pick showed out. And uh the other thing I would say about him, man, is just there were three plays tonight where his head was above the square. It was crazy. I mean, there was there was a couple alley oops that he did not get uh where he just kind of lost control of the ball at the end. And by the way, sometimes you you can tell that a player is not capable on those dunks where they do it. No, no, no. He’s capable, but he just did not corral the ball in either of those. How about the one where he he in the second half before he checked out he pulled it back and we were watching it together all three of us and he before he could really get control of it he had already lost it otherwise he would have put somebody on the poster on that one. Absolutely. And then there was another play um and I think we have uh I think we have the tweet on this Bri. It might have been the last one that we had where uh where he got a goalending call. Uh dude he was so far up there. Oh, okay. His head is basically above the square and it was I think it was a goalend, but man, what an incredible athlete. Yes, Bri, this is the one. Uh, look how high he gets up on this one. I think you might have been driving back from the arena. Oh, yeah. Woo! Wow. His head’s at the rim, not at the Oh, wow. But yeah, I mean, he is just VJ an exceptional leaper. Yeah. Did Did Can’t wait to watch this kid develop. It’s early. But did Mory get this one right? Early returns. Just early returns. Early returns. Based on the preseason game based on based on preseason game four. He nailed it. He nailed it. He’s he’s keeping Bob Myers at arms length with that pick. No. No. Look, I I love what I’ve seen from BJ. Look, we uh we only got to see him for a very brief cameo in Summer League before before he got hurt. and even the second time like he his wrist was still bothering him in that game clearly. Uh I love what I’ve seen from him and I think you know if VJ ends up becoming an all-star level player that’s going to take time that’s going to take the the jumper developing that’s going to take uh a little more craft uh in in the pick and roll just normal NBA reps but it seems like he can affect the game as a hustle guy and a defender and as an athlete already. And one other thing I wanted to point out for you, man, because this was like I assume he’s going to be in the starting lineup starting on Wednesday. Uh, you know, it’s it’s not just athleticism. There’s clearly a a way that they want to utilize him, and that’s bringing up the ball. You saw Nick Nurse had Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxi sort of live in this universe where VJ Edgecomb brings the ball up, then he gets the ball to Maxi to get him off the ball, and then they flow into the Maxi Embiid action. That is an invaluable little skill set. VJ seems like he’s pretty good at that. Seems like he can handle pressure. Look, that’s a big part of modern NBA basketball is just getting the ball up the floor against ball pressure. A lot of teams are doing that. But I think we’re going to see VJ bringing up the ball a lot. We saw that in Abu Dhabi as well just to get Tyrese off the ball, get him the ball, you know, maybe with a ball screen uh in flowing into a a dribble handoff. Um so he’s going to be bringing up the ball on a lot of plays as well. And I think he’s also very capable of that. I think we’ll see all of the other three guards doing that whenever Tyrese Maxis is out there with him to give him a little bit of a break to open him up for those opportunities. You mentioned the starting role uh before the game. Nick Nurse speaking to the media, our very own Kyle Newbeck asked him that very question and Nick Nurse basically said, “Yep.” Take a listen. I don’t want to make too many assumptions, but it certainly seems like you’re on track for VJ to start opening night after starting every game he’s available for in the preseason. Do you have any reservations about throwing a a rookie, even a, you know, top five pick into the mix like that right away? And I guess how much tolerance do you have to ride it out with him as a starter knowing that young players are going to have their ups and downs? Um, good assumption, first of all. Good assumption. I would say yes. I’m heading that direction. Um, and nothing’s for sure, but almost planning on it. Um, and the tolerance, I think, is all part of it, right? I think that that um, well, let’s go to the end first. For me, a successful season for him is how many minutes he plays because he’s going to gain tons of reps and tons of valuable experience. So, we try to get him as out there as often as he can be out there. And there’ll be some ups and downs, right? It’s just he’s he’s a rookie. He’s young. He’ll there’ll be some some probably really high highs and really low lows and we’re just going to kind of cheat trying to level that out and that’s what playing in the league and gaining experience is all about. So, that’s why that’s the way I see it. Thanks, coach. Yep. Nick Nurse pregame. Good assumption. Making us laugh. Good assumption. Nick’s got jokes. Uh yeah, good good assumption. And the other thing, are you surprised by that? No, just because number one, he’s been available, right? And I think Nick Nurse probably values the continuity and and good also on Nick Nurse as well because I think there were probably questions of, you know, is he going to just play the older players to try and be in job preservation mode? But the other element is that VJ doesn’t look like he’s scared, man. He looks like he’s Look, he’s not gonna be perfect, but he seems like he is perfectly at home on an NBA court right now. Uh able to do a bunch of things to help a team win. I think the other element Nick Nurse loves athletic players, even though we didn’t really see a lot of them last year, but going back to his time in Toronto, VJ can do a lot of those uh sort of frenzy defensive rotations that Nick Nurse likes as well. So, no, I’m I’m not surprised. If you would have told me in the summer, would I have been surprised? Yeah, absolutely. But just the way this thing has progressed and with all of the injuries that the Sixers have dealt with and the fact that VJ has been available, he has taken his opportunity and has looked good pretty much every time he has played. No, I’m not surprised by that. All right, we’re going to take our second break here on the show. A lot to still incorporate with VJ Edgecomb. My guy says VJ a dog. Well, he’s shown us a lot so far in his early uh opportunities with the Sixers and so far, man, good stuff from VJ Edgecomb now in the starting lineup. He’s going to go with that against the Boston Celtics in the back court with Tyrese Maxi who will join he and Joel Embiid as the other two starters. Wait and find out. I think Kelly Ubé is pretty pretty much safe in that opportunity at least to start the season. We’ll see how we continue to talk about much more from the player of the game plus the other young guys as well. What do we see from Quinton Grimes, Dominic Barlo, Jabari Walker, and others. What’s happened to it all right here on the PHLY Sixers postgame show. Sixers defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 126 110. We’re presented by Rothman Orthopedics. A big playoff game tonight. We had that on as well as uh Seattle opened up opened things up there late in the game with a grand slam. So maybe you had Seattle tonight in the uh ALCS and you made those wages on bet 365. You needed the team to go up by five runs to really get those early payout offers. But if you just simply had them to win, you also won there, too. So make sure you are one of the 90 million users worldwide like we are here. Whatever the moment, it’s never ordinary at bet 365 in Major League Baseball when you check in on the early payout offers. Team goes up five runs ahead with an instant payout on straight bets and parlay selections marked as winners. All you have to do is download the app, use code P 3 PHY365 when you sign up. 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We will check in with Kyle Newbeck from the arena once they are done with all of the postgame pressers. A lot of people to talk about tonight with the activity in the building this evening. All right, before we get to our temperature check, let’s get to the player of the game first. Bri, and we’ve kind of neglected him a little bit. He’s still pretty damn good. It was awesome. 27 points, three made threes, seven assists. speedy out there looking for his teammates as a point guard. Tyrese Maxi looked pretty good. He even tried to post up Rob Dillingham at one point where I remember you bringing up a little bit earlier, Baron Jay and his length being a problem. Joel Embiid was trying to make an inbound pass and he had to bounce it and kind of put a little spin on it because he couldn’t throw it over the top because of the wingspan of Baron J. But that was a weird play where where Max Embiid is throwing the entry pass to Max a posting. I loved it. I’m like, “Get it there, man. Yeah, it’s preseason. Why not try something?” Uh, I think Maxi was probably a little more at fault on that one. In fairness, that’s not something he does all the time. Um, so to me, Devon, the best thing that Maxi did in this game. Now, he caught fire a little bit in the second half. The the the shots came down. Uh, the shots started to go in. Uh, the biggest thing he did was early on we talked about those transition buckets and whether it was for him or whether it was for Kelly Ubé, BJ Edgecomb or Quinton Grimes or whoever, I thought he made some awesome decisions in transition. Some drives to the basket for him, some passes, we talked about that uh that back door cut that Edgecom made early on. Some difficult balls to handle, I would say, on uh on some of those outlet passes. I thought, you know, the Sixers wanted to run and get out in this game and Tyrese Maxi was the conductor of that as well. He had a couple uh he he had a bad decision at the end of the half against that that trap, but overall like look, Tyrese Maxi, especially when he has Joel Embiid, they they worked the two-man game a couple of times in the first half. Uh that’s the best version of Tyrese Maxi, right? Uh we saw Tyrese Maxi a a couple of years ago, probably like three years ago with James Harden as just basically a catchand player. good player. He’s going to shoot 45% from beyond the ark, but obviously he can do a little bit more than that. We saw over the past, let’s call it two years almost at this point. We saw Tyrese Maxi sort of have to do everything. I think the best version of Tyrese Maxi is in between those two when he’s very involved in the offense, but he’s still getting to play off Joel Embiid. Um, I don’t really even think that was a huge part of his game tonight. Uh I I would also say Devon the the other element that uh I would say Grimes and Edgecom sort of made up for it at the end as they caught fire late in the third quarter early in the fourth quarter. I believe Tyrese Maxi led the team with a plus 18 plus minus. I’m looking at it right now. Yeah, you could really feel when Tyrese Maxi was off the court in the first half that the Sixers they had a little bit more trouble getting into their sets I would say. And you know that’s okay. Uh, we know that, you know, Jared McCain is going to be a big part of those second units when he comes back, but overall very good Tyrese Maxi game. Uh, you’re right, he probably wasn’t as exciting as Joel Embiid returning from basically two years off and VJ Edgecom playing in his first preseason and and putting up 26 points, but deserves to be uh the player of the game in our opinion. I think VJ probably could have gotten it as well. I think so, too. In in fairness, guys, we made the graphic a little bit earlier and Tyrese was cooking and Tyrese checked out with it. He did it in a a little bit shorter of a stint, but yeah, look, a ton of positives to take from this game. Tyrese Maxi was definitely one of them. Player of the game, Tyrese Maxi, for the preseason exhibition finale here on the PHLY Six’s postgame show. Time for the temperature check here as we hang out with everybody. Let’s get a temperature check in here presented by Ace Hardware Home Services. Visit aceh hardware.com to check out Ace Hardware for all the hardware needs in your home. All right, man. Let’s talk about the young guys and what you saw from Dominic Barlo, Jabari Walker, etc. What did you make of the rest of the team tonight, especially at that power forward position where the minutes are still available for someone to occupy those once the regular season gets underway? I thought it was fun, man. Man, I thought they were athletic. I mean, compared to last season, especially, the athleticism just felt like night and day, right? They they were able to get rebounds early on. They were able to get out in transition. When Minnesota did crash the glass, Sixers made them pay, right? When Joel got the board and the Sixers got three on twos and four on threes and twoon ones, they made them pay. It seems like that was a point of emphasis for tonight’s game was to get out and run. I think they had like 21 fast break points in the first half. Like that’s awesome, right? That’s so much of modern basketball now, man, is is the possession game. And do you get uh easy baskets, whether it’s from offensive rebounds or from steals? And the Sixers, they do well turning people over. They don’t do as well on the glass. Hopefully, that’ll be a little bit better this season with some of those athletes. But yeah, overall, like when you have VJ running the floor, uh when you have Grimes in there, good to see Grimes get back in action as well. They started to cook a little bit as the game went on. Uh, a lot of good stuff. And then like you said, um, Bona got the start at the four tonight, but you have these two, I would call priority two-way guys in Dominic Barlo and Jabari Walker. I like Jabari Walker, man. I I think they have they have different skill sets, I would say, where Jabari Walker um, a little bit more active, I would say, on defense than than Dominic Barlo. Dominic Barlo, though, smart, incredible offensive rebounder. Yeah, he’s smart. And that’s a huge part of it, right? He There was a play tonight where Dominic Barlo went for the offensive rebound against four Timberwolves and he got fouled. He He got fouled. And so he has a nose for the ball and is smart. So that’s one when he fell on the floor. They knocked him to the floor. Yeah. And and so look, it’s it’s good to have options. I like I think we all know that the Sixers might end up having to go small for for parts of the season. We heard Paul George at media day talk about like, “Yeah, man. I’m going to have to play the four and I’m okay with it.” That might be part of their story. But yeah, uh you know, the the young guys getting out in transition on the wings, that’s going to be a huge part of it. But I also thought the guys that they brought in to play the four also acquitted themselves pretty well. Like this was for the most part, I understand this was against second and third stringers for the Timberwolves, but it was a good night. I I thought the Sixers did a lot of good stuff. I I do I agree with you. I think they acquitted themselves really well. uh just playing out there and different the different things that they bring as you pointed out. It’s really they they missed all of that. They don’t have they didn’t have any of that last year. I mean they did Ricky Council the fourth of course you had that guys coming in on 10day contracts. They’re trying to stay in the league. So, yeah, you get that. But consistently being able to have it from these two-way guys where they’re probably going to somebody’s going to get like we’ve seen with Justin Edwards, Ricky the Council, somebody’s going to get an opportunity to show what they can do and get that standard NBA contract. These guys have been off to a really good start from training camp to all the preseason games. They both played really well. And the Bona piece, I mean, just Bri, the clip that we had with Bona and Edgecom where you saw it with the athleticism and the end to end action, the defense from Bona igniting the opportunity for them to get out into the fast break. He pins this one on the glass. And to your point about Maxi, the kick aheads. Look at that. He was good. Good decision- making in transition again. Yeah, I mean all night from Tyrese. Look at that. And the leak out immediately from Edgecomb. that type of athleticism. We were loving when Ricky Council, who we weren’t sure when he was going to get on the floor to be the most athletic guy out there. Now you’re getting your third overall pick who’s going to start as as Nick Nurse pointed out and you’re going to get that type of stuff. It’s not going to happen every night, but I think you’re going to get it more often than not where you see plays like that all around the league where the athleticism was lacking from the 76ers. And in this case, you’re gonna get it from that on any given night from Bona to Edgecomb to even UB as an older guy who’s still athletic. Sure. But you’re going to get that type of stuff. Quinton Grimes when you get out on the open floor. And oh, by the way, Tyrese Maxi is still pretty athletic himself. It was a great point you made about Ricky last year. Poor poor Ricky. Poor by the way, wherever you are, Rick. He just signed with the Houston Rockets today. Go get him. Go get him, Rick. Go get him, Rick. But yeah, I mean, even if he was struggling, we were like, why don’t you just put him out there because he can move his feet fast. And now they’re at the point where, like you said, Kelly Ubé is is not one of the more athletic wings, right? And and he’s still not a bad athlete uh at his age. So yeah, it’s definitely night and day. And and one point that I’d like to make is that the Sixers, they’re going to have to make up for their lack of size. like they’re just unless they play Bona at the four, which I’m not sure is is sort of a long-term solution. Hey, may may maybe it is. Maybe they’re able to get away with that in stints like we saw the Rockets do last year with with Steven Adams and and Sangon at the same time. Um, but one of the ways you can you can sort of tilt the scales in your favor if you are not big is to be fast and to be athletic pressuring the ball. Well, I I think these guys, especially when you get VJ and Grimes and Maxi out there, they’re going to be pressuring the other team’s ball handlers. They’re going to be Wait till McCain gets back. They’re going to be trying to make those guys work. They’re going to make Jared do that as well. I’m not sure that’s his strength, but they’re going to make him do that as well. Kelly Ubé also is pretty good at that as well. And then also getting out in transition. The Sixers, they’re going to have to press their strengths. And one of their strengths now, Devon, is that athleticism, is that team speed um around Joel Embiid. Like look, again, we’ll see what it looks like in the regular season, but I I saw a concept of a plan tonight. I saw I saw something uh that they could they could go back to, and I believe after this is uh is over, we got Listen, before we get rid of this this segment and, you know, wind up wind up our temperature check here, you pointed it out and I just want to say this before we hit our final break. Bona, Barlo, Grimes, Edgecomb, and Maxi. That was one of the lineups out there. And I put in my notes, get out and run, run, run, run. That’s our You got it right there. That’s our Ace Hardware temperature check. The young guys activity. Get out and run. Visit aceh hardwarehomeservices online at aceh hardwarehomeservices.com to get started on your next project. Final break for us. Kyle Newbeck at some point. We hope before we say goodbye for the weekend and come back on Monday with a mailbag and excitement and predictions for the Sixers. All of that stuff ahead. But when we get back, our final segment right here on the PHLY Sixers postgame show presented by Brothman Orthopedics. All right gang, as we wrap up things here, as we’re talking about it all, got to tell you about Parks Casino. You leave the game, you want to head back, stay on 95, man. Keep going. Stay on 95 and exit at the Street Road exit right there, I95 to go hang out tonight at the Excite Center Parks Casino, Pennsylvania’s number one casino and close to Philadelphia. Again, located in Ben Salem, take the Street Road exit off of I95 in the PA Turnpike. Whether you’re going to the casino to go gambling a little bit to end off your start your weekend off after the game, or going to the Excite Center, the state-of-the-art entertainment venue in the side park casino, it’s the best place to be. Visit parkscasino.com to buy tickets for all shows throughout the rest of the month into next year. Uh, as well pregame the shows at their amazing beer garden. Play some co pop culture slots, roulette cards, and other table games you’ll love while you wait. I’ve had a great experience there. Rich has been there as well. Parks Casino, fantastic place. You need to be there, too. Parks Casino, this is how you win. You must be 21 and over. Gambling problem, call 1800 gambler. And guys, if your home needs a little TLC or you’re dreaming of that next big vacation, maybe even to see the Sixers play an away game, I don’t know. Listen up. True Mark Financials Heliloc Select just got even better. Rates just dropped, making it more affordable to put your home’s equity to work. Need a new kitchen or big repairs or maybe just to knock off some of that pesky debt? Well, with HELOC Select, you can access your cash all at once or just when you need it. Total flexibility just like a good game plan. Make it happen today. Visit one of Trumark’s 24 branches or head to trueark.com/phy and get in the game today. Federally insured by NCUA, an equal opportunity lender. Welcome back to the PHY6’s podcast. Make sure you like and subscribe to the show, Rich. There you go. Like and subscribe to the show. Hit the like button, everybody, as we’re hanging out after Sixers win. Sixers win 126 110 to close out the uh exhibition exhibition schedule against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Joel Embiid returns. Quinton Grimes returns. Tyrese Maxi looked like he was in mid-season form. And VJ Edgecomb really shine tonight. Hit that like button, like and subscribe to the show as always here for the PHLY network and our PHY Sixers team. So, here’s our schedule for the year, everyone. Rich, myself, Bri for the home games, and we’ll have Kyle, Derek, and I with Brit Bri here for all the road games. We appreciate your support. As always, make sure you join the chat when you’re here. Hit the like button, subscribe to the show, tell a friend to tell another friend and another friend, and all the other friends. As you leave the arena, you turn us on for the only postgame show as you’re in your car listening to us as you head home following a Sixers home run win. The crowd was into it. Rich, seems like there might be more wins this year. Didn’t have a lot to get to excited about last season. This is something that they got excited about. Hit the like button. Make sure you’re here with us after every postame when you leave the arena. Also for road games while you’re at home and you want to just simply turn us on. Devon aka school boy beats with a super chat. Can we get KJ back and let the Lowry retire there? Lol. KJ Martin still a free agent as of right now. Great point. That athleticism help in the front court. I get it. Let’s see what we have. I want to see what they have with the Barlo Walker on the two-way. Whenever Wford gets back as well, we’ll do that. All right, let’s head to the arena as we join in with our teammate from the Xfinity Mobile Arena. And he is joining us courtesy of the Xfinity Mobile call-in line, Kyle Newbeck joining us here. You can check out his recap at allphy.com right now. That’s available for you. Diehard members, you get access to that and so does everybody else. Make sure you check in. Kyle Newck joining us here on the postgame show. Kyle, the number one story. The big fella is backed and he looked pretty darn good in his debut. The crazy part is it was only barely the number one story by the time that game ended, right? Between 75 points for the guards, the style of play, all that stuff. Like the fact that we also got the return of Joel Embiid is pretty wild, right? And I mean, I don’t know about you guys, I I thought there were some moments where maybe he looked I don’t want to say creaky, but a little bit slow. There was a Rocco Zakarski drive where I said, don’t like that. But I think the the most encouraging thing for me also ended up being the most concerning thing. He put his body on the line a few times on plays and sequences where I think Derek even said in the Discord tonight, I’d rather just not see him. attack close outs from the three-point line and drive like that, right? Like I’d be okay if he just took more threes. But I think the fact that we saw him plant with power on that left knee, the fact that we saw him going coast to coast, the fact that we saw him exerting himself in the ways that he did physically. To me, that is more important than anything else we saw tonight because the mental hesitation and the the mistrust that he had in his body last year was so abundantly clear. And so to see him go out first game back, end of the preseason, and just immediately get right into it and play like Joel Embiid is supposed to play and knows how to play, I love that. And the other thing I loved the passing emphasis, right? We Nick Nurse has been saying, “Hey, we’re making tweaks to the offense. We want this to be a pass heavy team. We want guys to be energized by the ball that transfers to both ends.” He has eight eight assists tonight, right? And I think probably two or three of those are on long outlet passes where he’s getting people involved by just get the defensive rebound and let somebody else do the work. Love seeing that. So, I thought overall very encouraging debut for him. Kyle, I’m looking at the timeline right now and it seems like instead of his normal uh twohour wait after the game, it seems like Joel talked. Were you there for that? I I was. It was Nick Nurse and then I turned around. I went to go to postgame availing behind the media just waiting to talk already. So, Rich, you know as well as anybody what a rarity and what a treat. What a night that is for us on this end. So yeah, and as you would expect there there was some quiet reflection from Joel, right? Like the kind of the joy and the everything that comes with making your return. He made sure to get in a dig at I believe it was the Ringer. Didn’t say them by name, but said, you know, according to some of y’all, I’m not a top 100 player anymore. So he was in troll mode already. That in itself tells you he’s feeling okay, right? the fact that he was getting into that kind of stuff postgame. But, you know, look, I I think he was pretty encouraged by everything and also made note of the athlete, the athletes on this team, right? That he’s inspired, encouraged by the fact that they can get up and down, that he can trust these guys to make decisions, go out and score, go out and defend hard. So, I I think I’ve spent a lot of time around this man over the years. I I think largely came out of this one sounding pretty good. Made sure to note though, we’ll see how I feel tomorrow. See how I feel in the days ahead. Hopefully all signs are go after that. Kyle, as you pointed out that uh Joel Embiid was the main point here and it was great to see everything uh from him tonight. The one that really made it a close second and maybe even 1B was BJ Edgecom playing for the first time in front of the home crowd. And even though he finished with 26, which was second on the team in scoring, it was more about the things that he was doing early on when the numbers were still a little bit lower, but from the defense, the getting out in the open floor, the passing, the athleticism on full display, he was tremendous. And this was easily his best game. Uh, and a great showing for the first time in front of the home crowd as we get ready for the regular season. Yeah, absolutely terrific. Right. He said after the game the five steals were probably his favorite part of the game, right? Like that he loves defending. He takes pride in that. And I just think what you saw tonight is what we saw in spurts at Baylor, but what the team has talked about throughout campus preseason that not only is he a high level athlete, he is a super competitor, right? Like that motor is running. you’re in the fourth quarter playing against, you know, the backups of the backups in Minnesota and he’s still got the engine running, right? And he’s running by guys. He’s jumping over guys. He’s playing super hard. He had a great line after the game where we’re talking about all the various stuff that happened and how he’s coming along as a rookie and he basically said, you know, I don’t go home and watch Netflix. I watch basketball. Like, this is what I do. This is what I love. I’m on YouTube watching games. I’m on YouTube watching highlights. Like that you can feel an obsession for the game from him. I would say that he is just super passionate about the sport, wants to get better, wants to maximize his talent, his gifts, all that good stuff. And so, look, we’ve heard a lot of great things about him behind the scenes. We’ve seen some moments during the preseason, but this was a full-fledged just great game, full stop, and it had everything. It had couple made threes, the offball cutting, the offball defense. It just showed up all over the floor, all over the box score. Love to see that for him heading into the season. real quick. As we’ve said before, like the summer league against Utah, game one and just that one in particular and your point of the second half against the Minnesota players, he knew he was the best player on the floor that was remaining. That’s how he approached that one and that’s how he attacked it. That’s how he finished the game. And I just wanted to make sure that I brought that up because of what we talked about at the same time in that Utah summer league game. also like he loves YouTube, he loves basketball. Why don’t you get the POI S6er show in the algo? Come on, man. Come on, buddy. We’ll we’ll get him there. I I think I’m we’re starting to plant the seeds for, you know, a productive relationship. So hopefully eventually we’ll get him back on the show. And and I will also say with VJ, like I think it’s pretty significant that they’ve had him on the ball a lot, right? And Nick Nurse said after the game that he’s the one calling a lot of plays, right? Like it’s it’s not just that VJ is bringing the ball up. He’s organizing people. He’s saying, “I need you going there. I need this guy going the other way.” Right? I’m getting everybody together as a, you know, 19, 20 year old rookie. And what that has empowered as well is what you see from Tyrese Maxi, right? Like Tyrese Maxi was great tonight. Tyrese Maxi playing with speed coming off of screens. Tyresese Maxi scoring an efficient what was it 27 by the end of that game. 27. Yes. And I I just I I see you can see the vision for what this team could be in a game like tonight, right? I know the competition level was low and they’re on a backtoback and blah blah blah and they’re like all those caveats, right? But I think if VJ is good enough and intelligent enough to run the point like that and all the early signs are he can do it, that puts Maxi into easier positions. That puts a guy like Quinton Grimes into easier positions. Jar McCain into easier positions. Even Joel Embiid into easier positions. And so if this kid can, you know, already acclimate this well this soon, it’s going to change a lot of people’s minds about what this team can be at points during this season. Yeah, man. By the way, great observation by you with Nick Nurse pregame to get the starting VJ coming out of him uh to give that uh give that to us a little bit early. Before you uh Rich, you go, we just want to let everybody know we appreciate everyone on the television side. Thank you as always all week long, including on Friday night uh for a preseason game with Joel Embiid back. Join us in overtime here for a few minutes at allphy.com to finish off the show and our conversation with Kyle Newbeck live from the arena. Kyle, last one from me and VJ Edgecom was obviously a huge part of this. Uh it just felt like watching these guys I think they were up 21 to1 in fast break points for a while just felt like from VJ uh from Tyrese in transition Joel’s outlet passing and then also you get to the four I know Adona started but you had Barlo you had uh Walker out there as well. It just felt like a much more athletic faster team than we had seen last year. Yeah, they ran at every possible opportunity and also very deliberately put an athlete next to Joel Embiid at all times. And when Joel Embiid went to the bench, most of the time it was a Dembona and Dominic Barlo or Dominic Barlo and somebody else that could potentially run the floor next to him, right? And so when you start there, you know, in the back court you have Maxi speed, you have VJ’s athleticism, you have Quinton Grimes as an athlete, they just have much more athletic depth now, right? Where last year, even when they were healthy, it’s a lot of, you know, older guys and guys who were never the hyper athletes even really at their peak, right? And so I think you see the outline of an identity that they can build around, right? you can see the early makings of a team that I was skeptical that this team is going to be good enough defensively playing as small as they’re going to and I still am going to hold on to that skepticism until we see them start to play some real teams and full rosters. But I think with being able to throw this many athletes at people, turn teams over this much, get out on the fast break, you got a Dem on the back end, you got VJ causing havoc, Kelly Ubé, goodwing defender, Paul George, good offball defender. Like they have a path to being, I think, the sort of team Nick Nurse has always wanted to have, right? An aggressive, free flowing running team. And Joel Embiid even said like talking about his outlet passing tonight, if I can get these guys going with fast breaks and outlet passes, I don’t have to run up and down as much, right? I can save some. So when we do have to play slow or we do have to get a stop, there’s just more in the gas tank at that point because these guys got us two or three easy points and all I had to do was throw the ball up the floor, right? So, not only is there benefit when Joelle is off the floor, there’s benefit for him and the team when he’s on the floor if they play this fast and turn teams over like this. Kyle, great great finish to the preseason for the Sixers. Forget about the result. It’s just more about what we saw from the players that they’re going to need a lot from once the regular season gets started on Wednesday. Okay, we’ll see you on Monday at 300 p.m. Then we’ll just have a few more days to the start of the regular season as they take on the Boston Celtics in Boston on Wednesday night. Thanks so much, man. Get home safely and we’ll talk to you on Monday at 3 PM here on the PHY6’s podcast. Thanks, man. Get home safe, boys. The vibes are back. Let’s get nuts. Thanks, Kyle. Appreciate it. Overreaction time, man. That’s all it is. Overreaction time. Can I read something? You mentioned Joel Embiid spoke to the media. You and Kai were talking about it pretty quickly. Derek Bodner tweeted out like 45 minutes ago when it happened. Um Joel Embiid said this. I’m just in a good headsp space mentally, physically. I’m just happy to touch a basketball and be able to do what I love. When you don’t get that, it’s tough. That’s what I’m most happy about. End quote. Joel Embiid. We’ve talked about it a lot from his physical state, his mental state, most importantly of how he can go out there and impact the game and be himself out there. They’ve talked a ton. Tyrese Maxi said it to us when we sat down with him on media day. The thing that he was most happy about was seeing Joel Embiid happy and smiling again. Joel Embiid said that after his first game in a long time, Rich, a long time and looked pretty good doing that. I think that’s been one of the huge stories of the preseason. I mean, Joel Embiid has I think he said it at media day. He said it tonight. We’ve seen the clips of him practicing. We’ve seen him at the scrimmage. We’ve seen him tonight. Looks like he is in a much better place mentally because last year was a very trying year for him in that regard. Um so that is good to see. Perhaps the happiest I saw him is when he learned that a Demona’s car uh Yes. got a lot of popcorn inside of it. By the way, who started that trend in the NBA? I don’t know. I don’t know. But the Sixers are not even close to the first ones who have done that. You know what’s funny? Yesterday when we got to the practice facility, I was walking in by myself and I saw some tall people. You know where the cars are. Yeah. And I’m walking in and I’m like, “What’s going on over there? They’re popcorning someone’s car.” Couldn’t tell who was doing it. Couldn’t see whose car it was, but I saw it. Look at Bri. Yeah. Look Look at that smile on fantastic. Oh my god. Oh man. I I will say taking the tire off uh off the car. That’s a little mean. You know, putting it back on. Who’s putting it back? I hope they got somebody. I mean, they are they are wealthy individuals. I’m sure they can get somebody to uh to put it back on. That part seems a little mean to me. But the popcorn thing. Yeah. I mean, that’s just something that we see all the time in the NBA. Okay. Now, that is like look, VJ Edgecom’s like, “Man, I got to do my my rookie duties. I I can’t have that happen to me. This is pretty funny. Drummond and and UB eating the uh the popcorn. But yeah, even outside of the uh of Bona’s car getting popcorned, uh I’m going to turn that into a verb right now. It does seem like Joel is in a much better mental place. And look, man, a lot of that I think is just getting on the floor, doing what he loves, and you know, it doesn’t have to be MVP Joel Embiid, but but getting out there, helping the Sixers win, hitting people with that hang dribble and and puring a few jumpers. Like, it’s uh it was good to see. So, he certainly seems like he’s in a much better place, and I’m happy for him. Oh, it’s great to see it, man. Great to see it. One more super chat before we get to roll call and say our good night and h wish everybody a happy weekend, a safe weekend. Skunk Riley is back with the high coups. Let’s go. Look at that. Hey fellas, it’s great to have real basketball back in celebration. Here’s a haiku titled Thin Joel is best. Jay-Hawk bod ran with the kids. I’m all in this year. point there. Beautiful as always, Skunk. Fantastic. Thank you for the donation. Thank you for the super chat. Thank you to everyone out there for all of you hanging out with this song. Big number joining us on a Friday night for a post game. People are excited. Preseason postgame show. All you needed was Joel Embi VJ Edgecom out there. Quinton Grimes as well. You throw him in the mix. All you needed was that. The people were dying for something to get excited about. The Sixers gave it to them and now they’re here. Devon, that’s how this works. Bri, who said backish there in the chat? Who said backish there in the chat? Are we backish, Rich? I think we’re backish. Little little little overreaction there. Backish there. I saw it. It was great. It was recently. So, um, there you go. I saw it. Jay the jungle backish there. I saw it. And can you scroll back up there with the back just a little bit because I wanted to see one more that I missed. It was from Say What, I believe it was. And that was yes in the chat. Hold me back. I’m about to go all in. Look at that. Say what? Right there. Back in the chat. Let’s do it, Rich. Let’s say good night to Do we get all the super chats, Bri? All right. Let’s get to everybody here to say good night with the world famous. It’s the roll call. It’s the roll call, baby. Final one for the preeason. Say what is in there. So, we got to say Say what. Say what already there in the chat. Thank you. Say what? Let’s run through these names, everybody. There were a ton, man. Win forever. Dom Adams, music lover 31, Jay of the Jungle, SM Guy, aka Smoggy, Theo 215, J Philly, Tom Jackson. What up, Tommy? Nona Jessa. What up, ladies? Val was in there somewhere, I’m sure. Die, Steve Paul, Jean Ross, Dley Richard, Jack Reacher. Got to come out with the Jack Reacher 3. We love the movie. Come on, let’s get another one in there. Hey, mommy. I see mom in there. I see her tomorrow. Remote K. Teran’s night. Brian Knight. What up, B? Knight. Lena Win. You got Charlie on one. Charlie Murphy back hanging with us. Kea King Art Vince South Salomantino Howard. A Ron. What up? Aaron Espie, Cole. Rich P. We saw you Rich. The twominute warning. What up? What up? Yes, Jess. We mentioned Jess Nunny, Mr. Mid-range, veteran of Psychic Wars, Ricky Morse. Go get him, Rick. Ela Mo, Elaine Bruno, Mike, Mo Suave. Welcome, Mo. Come on in to the show. We saw you in there for the first time. Come on in. Thanks for hanging out with us. DC Marley, all of you, everybody out there. Vince Wines, Rya Beats, thank you so much everybody for hanging out with us on a Friday night for a preseason game. But you got the big fella back and if everything goes right, we will see him for the opener on Wednesday night against the Boston Celtics. Make sure you go and like and subscribe to the show. When you do, Rich will put up the phone finger to let you know that you need to continue to like and subscribe to the show. Even on the roll back when you watch the show tomorrow in the morning having your coffee and your tea and your toast and donut, whatever you’re eating, the muffins, make sure you like and subscribe to the show. Tell a friend and tell another friend when you do and they get in on the mix. They will get the alert that sounds like this to let you know that it is showtime, especially on game nights because we have 82 of those things. And I saw it where Jean says as always head did as well. 99 and0. That’s how it goes for the Philadelphia 76ers. Thank you Bri Agavini. I see you. Welcome back. Bri, great work as always all week. Great work tonight. We really appreciate you everybody. It’s go time. We got basketball back next week. We will see you on Monday for a mailbag. Make sure you send in those mailback questions to our Discord. If you are a member of our Discord community at uh as part of the dis diehard community, make sure you go sign up if you haven’t at all phy.com. It’s popping the night. Yes, it is the best newsletter in the world right here. Rich Hoffman, make sure you get ready for what’s next with Rich. Got a big game on Sunday with the birds. They need to get back on the winning track. Not not as m much good vibes coming from them as as this team right now. But hey, it’s about time this team gave us the good newsletter from Rich after they pick up their win against Minnesota, his thoughts on the Sixers, and so much more. Make sure you go sign up to become a diehard member at all phy.com. Send those mailback questions in for Monday. get them in now in our Discord and uh send them in as well with all of us on Twitter from Rich to myself, Derek, and Kyle. Everybody have a great rest of your Friday night. Have a great weekend. We’ll see you on Monday. Sixers win one final time, 126, 110. Our show is presented by Rothman Orthopedes, coming to you from live from the Exfinity Lounge. Have a great safe weekend. We’ll see you on Monday for Mailbag Monday and much much more right here on the PHLY Sixers podcast. See you. [Music] [Applause] We all silly like the mayor.

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Joel Embiid makes his long-awaited return in the Philadelphia 76ers’ preseason finale — scoring 14 points, handing out eight assists with seven rebounds in 18-plus minutes. And most importantly, exiting the game healthy. Rookie VJ Edgecombe starred with 26 points, a ton of activity and plenty of highlights. Oh, yeah — Tyrese Maxey is still good, finishing with a game-high 27 points to lead all scorers in the Sixers’ 126-110 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

0:00 Intro
2:00 Joel Embiid Returns
21:00 VJ Edgecombe looks good!
28:00 Nick Nurse on VJ Edgecombe in starting lineup
35:00 Tyrese Maxey–Player of the Game
39:00 The young guys
50:40 Kyle Neubeck joins

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