It’s Happening Again…

It’s Happening Again…

After a spark of life to start the season, the Philadelphia 76ers are back in the danger zone, slipping to 9 and 8 and coming off their most disastrous loss of the season right at the hands of the Orlando Magic in which they were not competitive from just about start to finish. I do want to break down why this is a pivotal point of the season, why past year’s frustrations regarding injuries, regarding the terminology that is being used to refer to players like Joel Embiid is getting absolutely out of control once again, and why this train needs to get right back on the track as soon as possible. So to highlight what went wrong in this Magic loss. It did result to be a 144 to 103 victory by the Magic there. The Six are giving up 51 points in the second quarter, which is really when things got out of control. 86 points in the first half. You’re just not going to win a lot of games when that is the case there. When you run down the list, the leading score of the match up with Tyrese Maxi at 20 points from the Sixers direction there. Anthony Black on the Magic looked like he was one of the best players of all time in that game. It was ridiculous. I not think he was remotely capable of that level of basketball. was a careerhigh by a massive margin for him, but nonetheless, this was a six years conversation to be had across the board. It was not good enough. We’re talking about in the starting lineup, Quinn Grimes, eight points. Andre Drummond three points, Dominic Barlo 11 points, who actually played okay there. Justin Edwards 13 points. We did get 15 off the bench from Jared McCain, who is showing some encouraging signs of looking like himself. But beyond all the raw stats, this was the first time all season that we did not see the necessary level of competitiveness, the level of fight that is required from this Sixers team. That this standard that Tyrese Magazine has been so vocally open about setting and has been very clear about that and has been successful about that in the larger conversation here. That was non-existent in that NBA Cup matchup. Now, Nick Ner stood up there at the podium following the game, talked about, do not judge us on this game. Judge us by the other 16. That was not us in this matchup. That’s going to happen over the span of the season. It is unacceptable. Their transition defense was non-existent, but we know who we are as a team and we’re going to get back to it. That has to happen. That simply has to happen. It’s not about losing basketball games. The Orlando Magic are a respectable squad. That’s not a team that I think if the Sixers are going to play 10 times, they’re going to win all 10 of them there. But it can’t look like that ever. That that is damaging to an organization. Now, why my frustrations are so high about that particular matchup is it felt like the win got taken out of the sales before tip off even started. And why is that? Because there was this growing expectation that Joel Embid and Paul George would be stepping foot on the floor. Now, as far as the injury report overall, I did want to pull up the next day injury report, which I think is especially notable here. And what this says exactly is coming from Sixers Adam. Number one, VJ Edgecom and Paul George participated in practice today. Joel Embiid did not. He instead went through an inid individual strength and conditioning session. And by the way, Trendan Watford added to that lengthy injury report as he suffered a left adductor strain and MRI confirmed. The Sixers say he’ll be reevaluated in two weeks. And I will note looked pretty painful on the court. That that dude went down in a heat. Looked I don’t know what was wrong with him. He just was literally on a fast break driving and pretty much collapsed. It was kind of scary there, but obviously an adductor strain is what is being labeled. Watford has become somewhat of an important part of this team. That is another notable loss when you already factor in Kelly Ubé Jr. sideline. Obviously, VJ Edgecom has missed the past two games. And I do want to exclude VJ from this overall conversation because I do think it is the right call for a guy who’s adjusting to the NBA work scale, the pace of play, all these things, playing more basketball, playing the second most minutes in a league that he if he has calf soreness and the correlation that is beginning to be connected between Achilles tears and that you absolutely be precautious with VJ Edgecom directly. This is not really a conversation about him. who it is about is about Joel Embiid and Paul George directly. Now for Paul George, the fact that you can full practice the day after and couldn’t give us anything in that matchup to me is unacceptable. And to give the Paul George story of the season that he’s played in three games to this point, he’s played 22 minutes per game in those matchup. Averaged 13.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 38.7% from the field, which is a little low. 31.3% from three, also kind of low. 35 years old here. Paul George hasn’t been bad when he’s been on the floor. The issue is he just has not been on the floor. And my problem with Paul George is he’s acting like the guy when he is not the guy. Now, there’s a whole conversation that we’re going to get into about Joel Embiid’s availability and one that we should not be 100% net positive on either. But for Paul George, it is unacceptable in my mind to carry yourself like you’re the face of the franchise that can work yourself in and out. You have not been an all-star caliber talent in a Sixers jersey at any point. You have not been a guy that can carry a roster when you’re on the floor at any point. So to act like you can come and go as you please, just cannot happen. And that standard cannot be accepted within this organization right here. Paul George was a guy who got offseason knee surgery, a very similar knee surgery to Joel Embiid, mind you, who has a far lengthier injury history with those specific issues. And I understand Paul George’s injury history is not clean either. We all remember the leg snap. There’s plenty of other issues that he’s gone. He’s not a guy that’s known for his availability either. Neither one of these guys are ironmen by any means here, but for Paul George, he certainly took his time getting back on the floor. Full practice for a full month before he actually played in an NBA game. Then he suited up and then he wouldn’t play back to back. Then he played three out of the first four and then all of a sudden he pops on the injury report with an ankle sprain. I’m not doubting that his ankle hurts here. I’m sure it does. But dude, we’re kind of past the point where that’s cool. That this is now your expectation is to be on the floor that you showed last year. I’m trying. you were so open about. I’m I’m taking injections to get on the court. I want to make sure I’m out there as often as possible. That’s what I need to see this year. That this Sixers team needs Paul George to look somewhat like the Paul George that was signed to a max contract. Is he ever going to live up to that number? Absolutely not. We can throw those expectations out the window. But can he still be a net positive player who contributes this team to at least being in the mix? He just has to be. And by the way, Nick Nurse looks like the most annoyed person of all time any single time that he’s asked about these questions. Now, to bring the conversation back to Joel Embiid, who of course is front and center, this comes back to my same point that I was making all of last season. There is no blueprint for how exactly to handle the knee issues that what he’s dealing with. But what makes everyone look worse and what is happening again this season is the lack of transparency. The fact that he practiced at a lesser level following missing another game than was reportedly what the Sixers are saying publicly been the case for the past 2 weeks is concerning. Did he get reinjured? Did he, you know, in a full practice tweak something? Did it swell up again? None of that has been communicated to the media, to the public, anything like that. And it just leaves everyone in the dark. I don’t I don’t think this is the aspect of we need to keep this flicker of hope. We’re trying to sell tickets or anything like that. I think it simply is just not doing the due diligence, not doing the process, not being open enough in the communication to have any level of trust there. And for what it’s worth, and I shout out to the PHY guys, cuz I agree with this. They say the messaging on Joel Embiid has been quote a pain in the butt. And this was Derek Bodner’s exact terms here. It has, and it’s unnecessary to be. It makes everyone look worse in the case. Makes Joel look worse, makes the Sixers look worse. that there becomes this expectation like the fact that he was listed as questionable and then downgraded out and then did not practice the following day. What happened like there is not a common sense that you know correlates there. Something had to change for that response to be the case. So what is going on with Joel Embiid again? I appreciate that Joel got on the court at a more quicker rate than I expected to be the case at the start of the season. I understand there is not a clear path to how do we get this guy to play the most basketball possible as regular as possible here. But it just makes everyone look worse when you leave people in the dark. Now after the strong start to the season, the Sixers team got off got out of the gates quickly. They have now dropped to 10th place in the Eastern Conference. They are 9 and8 on the year. Now granted, the thing that I want to point to as optimism here when I have my conversation and have been open from the summer of I believe this team is going to qualify for the playoffs. The reason that I still feel that way is take a look at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. The Indiana Pacers are 2-16. The Washington Wizards 2-5, Brooklyn Nets 3-4, Charlotte Hornets 4-4. I don’t see any world where any of these teams are able to push themselves into the top 10. That basically means one team that is trying to win basketball games is not going to make at least the playing tournament. And while I understand we are front and center, we feel the full impact and concerns of this Sixers team as a whole. There are just as legitimate questions about every other team in the East here. Maybe not the Pistons, maybe not the Knicks, maybe not the Cavs, but look around beyond that. The Boston Celtics, they’ve been pretty cautious and pretty, you know, upfront about this is kind of a gap year for them. Mostly if Jason Tatum even plays. The Chicago Bulls have certainly cooled off after even hotter start than the Sixers and they’re tied with the same record right there. The Milwaukee Bucks, Giannis, if he is not there, that is an atrocious basketball team. Now granted, I understand they beat the Sixers not too long ago. The Magic, I know they gave the Sixers BTA the other night, but they have their questions as well. I bring that up to say you just have to win more games than one of these teams to have a ticket to the dance to have a chance of the postseason and that is why it is essential to get your best team on the floor as often as possible. That requires Paul George helping that requires Joel Embiid to go we need Kelly Ubé to at least give them something here. VJ Edcom absolutely makes a difference that it is Tyrese Maxi verse the world on a far too regular rate to a level that I just simply feel bad for the guy to an extent. Now, to leave on one positive here, because it is a happy Thanksgiving, and hope you guys are enjoying with your family, having some turkey, watching this during a right before you nap after the meal or whatever the case may be here. But I did want to pull up the Andre Drummond fight, man. And for Andre specifically, may end up being the image of the season here. Him throwing up the Dukes right in Wendell Carter’s face, who was so unbothered by the situation here. For Andre Drummond, I’m not going to be too hard on him. He’s been overall well above my expectations for the season. He has been a guy that has pulled the weight without Joel Embiid there. And when you listen to his logic after the game, Drummond said, quote, “I had to stop the bleeding, man. They went on a crazy run for me. If you can see me, I looked up at the score and I was like, man, this blank is nasty. I got to do something.” And I was just blanking with him. And he reacted and I was like, “Okay, I got to capitalize on it.” I mean, I’m not one of those players who will do anything dirty. So, once I did what I had to do, I was clapping because I got the reaction I was looking for. I got somebody thrown out hoping it would get us going a little bit, but I got one left. Still ended up losing by 30 plus. So, it was one of those nights for us. Got to learn from it. Watch film and move on to the next. I can’t even hate this logic there. I kind of respect the attempt. And overall, Andre Drummond gave me something to smile about that night. So, shout out to Drummond. Shout out to you guys. Happy Thanksgiving to each and every one of you guys listening there. Appreciate you guys tuning into this video. If you have not already, make sure you’re smashing the subscribe button to the video here, dropping a like in the comment or dropping a like, giving your thoughts in the comments, and I’ll be back talking to you next time right here on Sexers Digest.

It’s Happening Again…

After a hot start out of the gates, the Philadelphia 76ers are slipping once again. Sean Barnard sounds off on his frustrations with the current state of the team, the lack of availability with Paul George and Joel Embiid, and why there needs to be a change right now.

#nba #sixers #philadelphia76ers

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