The Sixers Just SECURED Their Future…

The Sixers Just SECURED Their Future…

This is even better than we thought. Not only are the Sixers off to a 1 and0 start to the season after taking down the Boston Celtics, but the entire NBA world was introduced to Valdez Drexel Edgecomb Jr. That’s right. VJ Edgecom off to a downright historic start to his NBA career, leading the Sixers in a lot of directions in this opening game. Looking like a player wise beyond his years and making a statement for the future of this franchise. I want to break down why this was such an important performance for VJ Edge and what to take away from the debut. So to get right into things here, a 117 to 116 victory by the Philadelphia 76ers. And you can see it is the guard duo leading the charge that I do want to highlight and give acknowledgement to both Tyrese Maxi and VJ Edgecom. Maxi leading the way with 40.6 assists. Shot 13 of 24 from the field, seven of nine from beyond the three-point arc. And I do want to make sure he does not get lost in the shuffle. But the story of today was absolutely VJ Edgecomb in his debut. 34 points, seven rebounds, three assists, shot 13 of 26 from the field. This was the third most points in an NBA debut in or the most points in 66 years. The third most of all time and the most in Sixers history. here to give a little context from the Sixers franchise history that the previous most being held from Alen Iverson who by the way turned out to be an all right basketball player if I do say so myself but Edgecom clearing that and ultimately finishing in that matchup with 34 points. This was a performance that was not just box score excellence. This were not empty calorie statistics. This was a dude who essentially led the charge for this Sixers team. That again, I do not want to discount what Tyrese Maxi did and to make sure that I do pair them. The backcourt of the future for this Philadelphia 76ers team, combining for 74 points of the 117 that the Sixers got, but it is impossible not to walk away downright impressed with what VJ Edgecom did. This was a guy who was 20 years old who was playing in his first career NBA game, who we talked about in the offseason, had spoken openly about his critiques of basically college basketball, how he was not able to play with the maximum spacing he desired. Well, we saw in full force. This guy was not afraid of the moment. The number one word that I’m going to continue using in connection to VJ Edgecom is fearless. This guy is not afraid. He does not care who you are at the rim. There are going to be some highlight reel dunks for this dude. And what was most impressive to me is how much the offense was catered directly to him, man. That he was bringing up the ball at a higher rate than I expect to be the case. He was running offense. He was making reads within the offense. The first basket of the game, which ended up a a three-point shot from Kelly Ubé, the play was run where it was a Joel Embiid, and we will get to Joel, don’t you worry. But it was a Joel Embiid kind of dribble handoff. VJ Edgecom takes the ball, begins to drive to the rim. The Celtics defender, who was Sam, I believe it was Sam Howard at the time, cuts in and it’s an immediate open rig to Kelly Ubé in the corner. That ability to just read a defense, make the right make the right honestly assessment of it and then deliver with the pass. That’s high level stuff that you don’t see from a 20-year-old, particularly a guy like VJ Edgecom who we still a little bit unclear of what is the the role or what is the positional outlook from him. Is he a point guard? Is he a shooting guard? All I know is the dude is a straightup hooper. And I could not be more thrilled with what he brought to the table. Now to dive back into the box score a little bit, a bigger takeaway from just the individual talent is the fight that I saw on this Sixers team. Man, let’s look at this fourth quarter box score. As you can see up here, the Sixers outscoring the Celtics 42-30 in the fourth quarter to ultimately produce the one-point victory. And this was a gutsy performance down the stretch. We’re talking about the game hang on the line. And guess who was the man to step to the free throw line to deliver for this Sixers team. It was BJ Edgecomb. And yes, there are two parts to this as he hit his first two free throws with the big clutch time moment that at that point stretched the lead to three. Then ultimately the Celtics come down, score again, end up with two points. It is a one-point game once again and VJ Edgecom goes back to the line and misses both. Now, my honest reply here, I don’t care whatsoever. For starters, they won the game. We know what happened here. The other part of it is I could not believe that VJ Edgecom is the guy that they were trusting in that spot to deliver some crunchtime free throws in enemy territory at the Boston Garden there, having to step up with the game on the line. He did not come through those final two, but boy, I saw all I needed to see from VJ come today. This team competed and I think in the wider scape of zooming out from just looking at what we saw from the guard direction which was incredibly impressive from Tyrese Maxi and BJ Edgecom here. This was a team that looked like they had a little bit of heart, had a little bit of identity. This was not the Sixers of last year. This was a team that cared, that dug in defensively, that generated turnovers, that wanted to win, that you saw the energy, the life, the excitement after a victory here. That’s what we want to see from the Sixers basketball team. And I could not be more encouraged from what we saw in game one. Now, the biggest sign of negativity that I’m sure people are already fired up jumping on in the comments is, of course, Joel Embiid. Now, to give the raw stats here, the dude played 20 minutes. He shot one of nine from the floor, 0 for four from beyond the three-point arc, had just four points, six rebounds, two assists, and was a team worse negative 16 here. I am a guy that will certainly wear the hat of a Joel Embiid defender at times. There are no ifands and buts about this. Was a poor performance from the Sixers superstar. I’m not ready to jump off the cliff and believe that we have seen the end of Joel Embiid playing playing relevant basketball. Is it a bit confusing to me that I think less than a week ago we just watched him in preseason move around at a far better rate than was the case in tonight’s game? Yes, that is a bit puzzling to me that I do not understand why that is the case there. that just in speaking about his lateral movement, his up and down the floor, not even the basketball touch or the reads of the game, which of course he rad up assists, played at a very high level from a production standpoint in that preseason game, but it’s the movement that I’m focused for. It looked like he took a step back. I think the reality is there are going to be ups and there are gonna be downs throughout Joel Embiid this season that we who knows what his body is going to respond to the wear and tear of the season. But what I’m going to take away as a positive is that I cannot remember in the entirety of Joel Embiid’s career a game where he scored zero points in the first quarter. A game where he was benched for the final 927 of this game that he did not check in past that point. He was taken out with 927 left in the fourth quarter and did not return to the floor. They won this basketball game. That does not happen. that there are alternative ways to win that this Sixers team is leaning on and discovering than just Joel Embiid Hero Ball. And to that point, I also didn’t really love the way that Nicks did utilize him tonight. That my vision for the Sixers offense is still with Joel Embiid as a key decisionmaker that I think about what happens with Nicole Joic in Denver. How it is this orbit that revolves around him that there’s motion, there’s cutters, they’re running pin downs, there’s setting screens off ball. I didn’t see really any of that. And yes, it did exist in the offense, but it wasn’t with Joel as the decision maker. when Joelle got his touches within the flow of the offense, it still felt like there was a lot of go figure it out, man. You’re one of the best players in basketball. Go find a way to get a bucket by all means necessary. We’re over that stage of Joel Beat’s career that yes, he will have his nice where he has it going and can do that. But what I need to see is a little bit of a clear focus of he can get the ball at the elbow. You’re running set plays for Tyrese Maxi to come off, for Quinton Grimes to cut back door, for VJ Edgecomb to ultimately run a little Vcut and create some separation here. Think about the effective offense that was run for guys like JJ Reic, guys like Marco Bellanelli, guys like Aerosan Iliova who would fly off screens and create those kind of looks with the dribble handoffs. All these names that I just mentioned with Tyrese Maxi, with VJ Edgecom, with Quinton Grimes, with Jared McCain are far more talented than those players I just named. So, let’s lean in that same direction and we can do more for that offensively. Now, a couple other takeaways that I do want to dive into here. Dominic Barlo I thought was excellent tonight. Shout out to Nick Nurse for putting his money where his mouth is, starting the guy on a two-way contract, and him delivering for this Sixers team. Finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, and five assists in his 34 minutes. A dirty work guy who I think is going to see his contract upgraded from a 2-way to a standard in the very near future. That was one of my takes going into the season that I expect that to be the case. I think it’s going to happen at a more rapid rate than I even predicted. Kelly Ubé Jr., shout out to him, man. I thought it was just fine that he did shoot two for six from three. And there were two big three-pointers there. The first basket of the game and one to ultimately put the Sixers up one in the fourth quarter there. I know the raw numbers are not great, but I do think Kelly is a guy who has a knack for hitting some big ones, and I think he deserves a bit more credit for that. Also added four rebounds as well. We talked a lot about VJ and Tyrese directly there. And then jumping to the bench, Quinton Grimes played 32 minutes, finished with 10 points, five assists, five rebounds. Thought he had a really bad first half and found a little bit of something in the secondary. He had one point at halftime. There was a stretch in this game where Joel Embiid was struggling where it was like, “Okay, Quinton Grimes, we need you to bring something to the table.” And he did step up and answer. I also think it’s noteworthy. We got zero minutes from Justin Edwards who briefly stepped on the floor for like 30 seconds. Andre Drummond only three minutes, did not see Kyle Lowry. That there is this youth movement being embraced to an extent. Guy like a Dembona who I did think underwhelmed had just had 15 minutes of action, but the fact that he’s seeing 15 and Andre Drummond is seeing three I think is encouraging. Jabari Walker I thought played very well. a guy that is a scrapper, is a fighter on the block, man. He finished with six points, four rebounds, shot three of four from the field, did attempt a three-pointer, which I like to see. There’s something to this Sixers team. This is not going to be a throwaway season. I’m not saying they’re going to win a championship or be viewed as one of the top contenders, but this is a team that’s going to bring something to the table and compete on an everyight basis, and I can rest my head easy at night because of that. And the biggest takeaway once again to circle back to is this very well may very well may be the handing of the keys to the back court of Tyrese Maxi and VJ Edgecom a lot sooner than I expect to be the case. And this is not just a universal takeaway from the Sixers fan base here. This is happening leaguewide that to take a look at the rookie of the year odds for VJ Edgecom that he opened before the game. His opening odds at plus 22,000 his pregame odds after a little bit of buzz in preseason dropped to plus 1,000. his current odds following that game at plus 300. That is nuts. That is an insane drop from just a odds perspective there. And that is telling for what an effect that he’s kind of brought around the league. This is all coming into fruition without even mentioning that Jared McCain is still returning that we’re going to get Paul George back. And I know you guys are going to laugh at this, but there were many moments in tonight’s game where I viewed it as Paul George would be extremely useful if we’re talking about it being Paul George being the guy with a catch and shoot three rather than players like Kelly Ubé Jr., like Dominic Barlo who did not shoot the ball well from three. Although I appreciate that he took it. We’re talking about Paul George in that context. There is a need. I understand he probably will never live up to that max contract there. But I see the vision here. Tonight is a good moment in the Sixers world that they got the season off as well as possible. This was a necessary and exciting a hopeful victory that they did do that they did produce here and shout out to VJ Edgecom for leading the charge all along. So love to hear your guys takeaways from the opening game here. I’m thrilled. Just did a nice postgame over on Pix Swap Media. You can check out me and Sam Ashray dove a little bit deeper into the specifics here, but did want to jump on and wax poetically a little bit more about what we saw from Edgecom and this team overall. I cannot wait to see where this season takes us and hope you guys are along for the ride with me. The best way by doing so is by smashing the subscribe button to the channel, dropping a like on this video. Do want to hear from you guys in the comments down below. We back talk with you next time right here on Sixers Digest. base.

The Sixers Just SECURED Their Future…

VJ Edgecombe kicked off his NBA career with one of the most impressive rookie debuts of all time. Sean Barnard highlights exactly what to take from Edgecombe and the rest of this Sixers roster as they got off to a 1-0 start to the season over the Celtics.

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Sixers Digest is a YouTube Channel that covers all the latest news, trades, reports, and rumors regarding the Philadelphia 76ers. We provide comprehensive coverage on topics such as game highlights, player performances, and in-depth analysis of team strategies. Our channel features discussions on key players like Joel Embiid, Paul George, Tyrese Maxey, Jared McCain, and Kyle Lowry, as well as insights from Head Coach Nick Nurse and President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey. Stay tuned for all the exciting updates and engaging content on everything Sixers!

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