The Sixers Have Two MAJOR Issues… & One Player Can FIX Them Both!

The 76ers are eight games into the season. There’s been both good and bad. And today, I think it’s time for us to take a step back and have a serious conversation about what we’ve seen from this team so far and what we realistically should expect from them moving forward. So, we’ll talk about some advanced analytics and a couple other things that I have noticed and we’ll take a look at a couple issues this team has that I think honestly can be resolved by the same player. So, we’ll talk about all of it and more here on Philly Take with RB, but welcome into the show. I am RB. Consider it a checkpoint, if you will. You know, maybe we’ll have a few of these throughout the season and they’re only eight games in, but I feel like there’s been so much jam-packed. There’s been a lot of things said, a lot of which is not true. So, I want to kind of analyze this from the top down. And honestly, I want to hear from you. I want to know what you think about this team. How do they compare to your expectations so far through the first eight games? Give me your thoughts down below and I will give you mine on the other side. But real quick, a shout out to the sponsor of today’s video. Sleeper is a fantasy sports and real money gaming app that is taking things to the next level. They are the best one-stop shop for all your sports needs. You can chat on games in real time with other users. You can get the latest news, scores, and alerts right at your fingertips. And you can play in fantasy leagues and win real money on picks contests. With Sleepers Picks, all you have to do is choose anywhere from two to eight of your favorite players. This could be pregame, live game, or even across different sports. And then you just pick the over or under, more or less than the predicted stats. That’s it. You can make these entries in less than 30 seconds with a $1 minimum entry. And on Sleeper, if your picks win, you can get up to 1,000 times your payout. So right now, download the Sleeper app. Use the promo code Philly take and get up to a $100 match on your first deposit. And right now, as a special promo, Sleepers actually offering a free $20 entry with no deposit required. All you have to do is sign up and use the code Philly to claim your free promo. Terms and conditions apply. See Sleepers terms of use for details. Currently operational in over 25 states. Check out Sleeper today. All right, let’s talk about this team one thing at a time. And we’ll start it with the Eastern Conference. A live look at the 76ers. They are currently tied for the third seed with three other teams at 5-3. A very congested conference so far. Who would have thought? The Bulls are leading at 6-1 and the Pistons are at 6-2. So, the Sixers were at the top a couple days ago, then they lost a few games, a bad collapse to Chicago, and then I guess what you could call a scheduled loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. I mean, they came out running and gunning and the Sixers really were just kind of burned out and they did not have enough in that game. So, we look at the Sixers schedule and they’ve beat the Charlotte Hornets and the Washington Wizards and the Brooklyn Nets. They’ve beat Boston. They lost to Boston as well and they beat Orlando. So, I guess one could argue that this team really hasn’t played a lot of good competition yet. My thing is it’s not how they have won a certain amount of games, but really how they’ve won those games specifically. You look at the fact that they were the first team ever with three double-digit fourth quarter comebacks in the first four games of a season. That has really been one of the main themes of this team, their ongoing identity crisis, trying to figure out who they are. But one part of it is they don’t give up. Yeah, they had a bad collapse to Chicago, but this Sixers team has battled back after digging themselves into a hole in third quarters, which we will talk about. They have come back and been one of the best fourth quarter teams. And it’s been a while since we have been able to say that. And why is that? Well, in the fourth quarters that they’re winning, Tyrese Maxi has just completely elevated. And it’s been a revelation so far. We know Maxi is super talented and his work ethic is there, but one of the main themes of this team is Tyrese Maxi has taken the leap, man. I mean, he looks like an MVP favorite early in this season. He is leading NBA points per game through the first eight games. He’s at 33.5. And yes, Joel Embiid hasn’t been on the floor every game and Paul George hasn’t been back yet, but I feel like for this team to continue building on what they want to do and adapting to the modernday NBA, they have to keep letting Maxi run this offense. Now, that has come with a lot of lash from Sixer fans and Joel Embiid super fans. And I’ll be completely honest, man. I love Joel Embiid. We all do. We appreciate the sacrifice he has put into his body and his work ethic and this team and a lot of people are saying that Joel has to be the main anchor and the focal point and then the other half is saying Joel should not ever be on the floor again. I’m in the middle. I think Joel Embiid does have a role on this team but as I said all offseason they have to cater it differently. And this is the hard truth part of this video. So far, Joel Embiid has not looked to be in tip-top, you know, shape, athleticism, whatever you want to call it. I’m not saying it’s his fault. I just think when you operate on somebody’s knee so many times, it just has that wear and tear. And unfortunately, we don’t know if he’ll ever get it back. Now, Joel Embiid is good enough to still drop 25 in his sleep. That’s how good of a talent he is. I stand by the fact he’s one of the most talented players to ever touch a basketball. But when you look at how teams are transitioning with guard play and you see how the Sixers have won some of these fourth quarters, they have to continue to speed up the game. There will be times there will be situations where they have to slow it down in the half court where they’re going to dump it into Joelle and maybe he’s going up against a slower big and he can take advantage of that. Sure, there will be times for that. But teams in the regular season have to figure out what their identity is before they get to the playoffs. And I think we’re continuing to see this transition more to Tyrese Maxi. Now again, a lot of people have kind of clapped back at that and they’re like, “Listen, you’re just hating on Joel Embiid and you don’t know what you’re talking about and you’ve turned and all this.” And there’s a lot of people that say that. I don’t think that’s true. I think if you listen to the overall analysis that myself and others have given on this team, we still love Joel Embiid, but here are the onoff numbers. All right, we take a look at the deep dive of the analytics. I mean, on off, right? How many points is the player contributing when they’re on the floor versus when they’re off? Tyrese Maxi is by far number one, of course, right? 16.8. The Sixers are averaging 16.8 more points when Tyrese Maxi is on the floor per 100 possessions than when he’s off. Trendan Watford 13.3. Quinton Grimes 13. Let’s go look at Joel Embiid. He’s at minus 11.3. So realistically, the Sixers have been better with Joel Embiid off the floor than when he’s been on. I don’t think that tells the whole story. I think a lot of these stats are in a smaller sample size and they can be skewed, but we have to really think about what we’ve been seeing so far. And again, I just think it goes to kind of using Joel and Paul George when they come back in different roles. But the hard part of it is that they are your max players. You’re paying them 50 million plus per year. So you want them to be involved a lot more. Now, when we look at per 100 possessions individual ratings, let’s look at defensive rating. I mean, Joel Embiid’s been essentially the third best defender on the team. So, his defense has been better. And it may not show it all the time, but there’s been a couple games where we have seen that former flash of Joel Embiid and, you know, he’s able to block a shot or protect the paint, but it has to be more consistent, right? And it has to continue to evolve. And I think another hard truth of this Sixers team, and people may not want to hear this, is Joel Embiid has to get back to playing full games. Maybe it doesn’t matter now in the first 10 or 15 or 20 games. I kind of reserve my judgment on teams until they get to 20, but looking in the long term, I don’t think the Sixers can sustain this all year long and get to the playoffs where Joel Embiid is still just playing 20 minutes a game. I don’t know if that’s the plan. They have not communicated that to us. Same goes for Jared McCain. I think he’ll be off a minute restriction soon. And when Paul George comes back, I’m expecting him to be on a minute restriction as well. We don’t want to be the Philadelphia minute restrictions. Once the Sixers get Paul George and Dominic Barlo back, I think people are sleeping on Barlo. I’ve received a lot of comments on Twitter like, “Wow, you have this much stock in Barlo? What are you crazy?” I think there’s a lot of people that just haven’t fully checked back into the Sixers, so they haven’t been watching closely. Like Dominic Barlo got hurt in the first couple games, but he might be the best rebounder on this team. He’s a big piece so far, and they are missing his presence 100%. Just like they’re missing Paul George’s defensive presence. So once they get these guys healthy and all on the floor together, I do think that they can make some noise in the Eastern Conference. But going back to the main question as always, can they get them all on the floor at the same time? Will they be healthy? Now, we have a couple issues to talk about because the 76ers are by far the worst third quarter team in the NBA. They are averaging 22 points per game in the third quarter. They also have a negative 38.7 net rating. Those are historically bad. Every game the Sixers come out and they dig themselves in a hole in the third quarter. That’s why they’ve had a lot of fourth quarter comeback wins. But really, the Sixers got to figure it out and play a more balanced game. And also, in addition to that, they have to figure out what their rotation is going to be. Ladies and gentlemen, they have three of the four most played players in the NBA right now. Tyrese Max is averaging over 41 minutes per game. VJ Edgecom is averaging 38.6 minutes per game. And Kelly Ubé is averaging 37.4 minutes. If you go back to Nick Nurse’s tenure in Toronto when it ended, they were very frustrated with him for overplaying the starters. Now again, I understand that players are injured, but sometimes you have to go deep into your rotation with guys you may not want to play just to save a Tyrese Maxi or a VJ Edgecomb. And I think in that second of a backtoback against Cleveland, we saw it. They had dead legs. They just had no energy left. And Tyrese Maxis’s usage is so high right now that you cannot burn him out in the first 10 to 20 games of the season. Unfortunately, that’s just how it is nowadays. So, they have to continue to work on that. So, the third quarter and minutes issue can both be resolved. And I think it can be resolved by Jared McCain. I think Jared McCain coming back, plugging into some of those third quarter minutes, even some of those early second quarter minutes, running a backcourt of Quinton Grimes and Jared McCain to lead that second unit is going to take a lot of the pressure off Tyrese Maxi and VJ Edgecom. So, we can’t overreact every single game. People are like, “Yeah, you know, your guys takes flip every game.” Well, they win one game, then they lose the next one and choke a 24-point lead. Yeah, we’re going to be mad. That’s how the season goes. But in the grand scheme of things, it is a long season and we have to see how this team progresses. I think at the end of the day, they have certainly beat expectations so far. Matter of fact, the Sixers are third in the league in offensive rating. Their offense has been splendid. Now, on the other side, defensive rating, they’re at number 20. So, they’re not a good defensive team so far. Usually, teams that can win it all are in top 10 of both. And when I look at Nick Nurse, you know, he’s had some really, really good games having a good feel for the game. But in other games, you know, he’ll let the team go on a 150 run without calling a timeout and he’ll overplay some of his guys. Nonetheless, for coming into this season with absolutely zero expectations and seeing how the Sixers have played so far, I’ll take five and three. I think VJ Edgecom’s got to get back in his groove as well. I’ve seen a lot of him just kind of being a little passive. Maybe that’s part of his rookie learning curve. Maybe part of it is Nick Nurse not getting him enough touches. I think it’s a combination of both. How do you feel about this 76ers team so far? What is your biggest takeaway from this team? Appreciate everybody for tapping in. As always, be sure to like, comment, and subscribe. That being said, I will catch you on the next one. Peace.

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The Sixers are 5-3 to start the season, tied for 3rd in the Eastern Conference. So let’s talk about the good and the bad through the first few weeks. Tyrese Maxey looks like an MVP candidate and has taken a leap. VJ Edgecombe showed signs of special but has come down to earth a little. Joel Embiid has hinted at shades of his former self, but is still working up to speed and still isn’t playing every game. Quentin Grimes has looked awesome off the bench. RB goes over all of the main storylines from the first stretch of the season, a few hard truths, and a solution for a few of the key issues with this team. Have the Sixers beat your expectations so far? Today, we discuss it all!

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22 comments

  3. Paul George and Dom Barlow are out for the back to back, we AT BARE MINIMUM need to beat the Raptors they aren’t a good team we should comfortably win that game and we will just have to see if we have enough gas to face Detroit but that’s gonna be TOUGHH!!! But go Sixers let’s find a way. Hope we can PG and Barlow back real soon PG could be back Tuesday against Boston but idk about Barlow I hope he okay…

  4. When Pg comes back and is healthy he needs to be the 2nd option. Joe is gonna get his buckets but we need a better guard rotation to get maxey and Vj rest

  5. Sir,, for me,,,, at the early stage of the conference, it's better that this UPS and DOWNS by the Sixers is happening,,so the shortcomings in the very decimal system of defense can be seen and be resolve,, the offense is there, the problem is,, the coach, never change its system in defence in accordance to the team offense of the opponent, and never adjust and change its defense in answer to the individual offensive players of the opponent,, so for me, it's not Alarming for the Sixers position and situation right now, the Law of AVERAGE S is in the positive line as of now, better it's happening now,, so very very soon they will be strong to cover decimal performance in defense,, especially in the 3rd quarter s,,, thank you sir vlogger my friend, from miles away here in Philippines, , always viewing and following, for your a good pure heart Ed person sir,, GOD BLESS YOU ALWAYS, KEEP SAFE ALWAYS SIR

  8. the third quarter should be all about Embiid. he will slow down the game to a crawl, letting the starters recover and finish out the 4th

  9. The coach should be rotating players better so that his star players are not too tired for the next game. Nick nurse is not a good coach he needs very good players to win. His coaching does not impact the game as much as it should.

  11. This channel has gone down the shitter man. I don’t understand how you can claim to be a Sixers fan but not realize it’s going to take Embiid some time to get his legs under him

  12. All the stats you're reading are heavily influenced by the first game where Embiid was essentially an in game observer. Since then he's been much better on both sides of the ball. This isn't the first time we've watched the guy, we know he starts off slow in the first few games of the year. By the end of the season he's plus a million, holding down your defense and leading the league in scoring. Y'all are over hyping a sluggish start because you never wanted him, not even in MVP form. Ok so buy him out. I'd love to see him in Golden State myself

  14. They have dead legs the guards are playing thibodeau level minutes and yet the entire fan base says Embiid and Paul George should never touch the court. Not only that but they should run and Gun the entire 48 minutes. Okay so when do they rest? Who subs them out if you have 5 players on your roster that shouldn't ever suit up? I'm sure your all guard lineup is going to have opponents shaking in their boots with Maxey and McCain protecting the rim. Fortunately fans don't actually make any of the decisions

  15. The actual condition of Joel's knee is classified info, like the Manhattan Project. Want to know if Joel can ever defend and rebound at the NBA level? Subpoena his orthopedic surgeon. The Sixer organization will never tell.

  17. I can’t say they’re better than expected. I have to give Morey credit but being able to move that 100m will be the challenge not winning games but if pg has a new bag it will be interesting

  19. I was saying this when doc Rivers was there three and d play inside out. We indeed have enough versatility (especially when Paul George gets back and I hope he's good to go) to defend in enough play making to kick out to open shooters. We are a great 3-point shooting team and now we're in the middle of the pack defense. It's time for the nurse to dig into his bench and get creative cuz we got it. It's how you use it and maximize it which will take us very far.

  20. I can’t believe I’m bringing up this name, but if there’s one thing Doc Rivers did really well, it was playing a balanced rotation. Now, I don’t want Nurse to go to the extreme of playing both a “starting unit” and a “bench unit” but his rotations need to become more consistent once everyone is healthy!

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