I left with like 6mins left in the game. The final score popped on my phone when I was 3 miles from home. Smart decision on my part 

maxey was asked if there was anything that surprised him about Harden. He said his defensive communication. And from shootaround through today, he was adamant about defending and saying thats how we are going to win.

In 4 minutes Isaiah Joe came in and outscored everyone on the bench.  He had 8 points. 

Milsap played 12 minutes and scored 3

Green played 21 minutes and scored 6

Niang played 16 minutes and scored 3

Milton played 12 minutes and scored 2

Korkmaz played 17 minutes and scored 5

I have a weird feeling that we lose Sunday because it is a 1pm game.

Easy 100 tonight betting on the game. 

7 minutes ago, DaEagles4Life said:

Easy 100 tonight betting on the game. 

I saw on ESPN last night they predicted likt 54% chance of Minnesota win, and had a line from somewhere with the 6ers +2.

I have no idea how anyone ever figured Minnesota might win that game. 

I was gonna bet the 6ers win but draftkings had them as the favorites.

It was still an incredibly easy bet with them just -2. But I didnt get in on any action. I just wanted to enjoy the game then. 

Harden and Embiid just had their PC together. Joel got no questions and sat there quietly. 

Harden was getting tons of questions along the lines of being a good teammate and what he has to prove. Kind of insulting stuff.

He said hes always been a good teammate. And the things that happened in the past were just him looking out for himself and doing what he felt ne needed to do for his career. The only time I saw Embiid talk as backing him up on the teammate thing saying that anyone saying otherwise was just media. Harden said he has nothing left to prove as an individual. We have something to prove as a unit. 

Harden also said we are unselfish top to bottom everyone just wants to win. He referenced how he said when he first got here how he is just here to add to what we already have. 

 

Just now, HazletonEagle said:

Harden and Embiid just had their PC together. Joel got no questions and sat there quietly. 

Harden was getting tons of questions along the lines of being a good teammate and what he has to prove. Kind of insulting stuff.

He said hes always been a good teammate. And the things that happened in the past were just him looking out for himself and doing what he felt ne needed to do for his career. The only time I saw Embiid talk as backing him up on the teammate thing saying that anyone saying otherwise was just media.

Harden also said we are unselfish top to bottom everyone just wants to win. He referenced how he said when he first got here how he is just here to add to what we already have. 

 

It's early but so far so good!

5 minutes ago, HazletonEagle said:

I saw on ESPN last night they predicted likt 54% chance of Minnesota win, and had a line from somewhere with the 6ers +2.

I have no idea how anyone ever figured Minnesota might win that game. 

I was gonna bet the 6ers win but draftkings had them as the favorites.

It was still an incredibly easy bet with them just -2. But I didnt get in on any action. I just wanted to enjoy the game then. 

T Wolves played a really physical game vs the Grizzlies game yesterday and had no doubt they would come out slow. 

 

 

Ben just officially called out sick for the game in Philly. 

6 hours ago, Khani1 said:

It's early but so far so good!

They really looked like they enjoyed playing with each other 

So awesome to see a game now without the Ben shadow hanging around.  We'll have to wait 20 games to see how this thing develops but for the 1st time in a long time it feels like we have a real chance.

1 hour ago, Mat said:

They really looked like they enjoyed playing with each other 

Not that there's anything wrong with that. 

Doc has to incorporate Reed and Joe into rotation. Milsap is a good vet but Reed is needed to rebound type when Harden is out there without Embiid. He reminds me of Richaun Holmes. Shake is worthless at this point so at least play a legit 3 point shooter. 

Tobias needs to just shoot the open shot and not make it harder with his 1 dribble into a long two. 

I think some of the players were surprised on how open they were last night and passed on lot of open shots to more difficult ones. 

Embiid needs to be ready for a lot of bounce passes at the top of the key off the pick and roll. That should be a great shot for him because he is a good FT shooter. 

The NBA has lost its way on how to throw an entry pass. You see it a lot with Embiid in throwing him a crap entry pass. 

 

Doc, can absolutely still F this up and unfortunately the odds are in his favor to do so. Hopefully the talent can overcome him

23 minutes ago, DaEagles4Life said:

Doc has to incorporate Reed and Joe into rotation. Milsap is a good vet but Reed is needed to rebound type when Harden is out there without Embiid. He reminds me of Richaun Holmes. Shake is worthless at this point so at least play a legit 3 point shooter. 

Tobias needs to just shoot the open shot and not make it harder with his 1 dribble into a long two. 

I think some of the players were surprised on how open they were last night and passed on lot of open shots to more difficult ones. 

Embiid needs to be ready for a lot of bounce passes at the top of the key off the pick and roll. That should be a great shot for him because he is a good FT shooter. 

The NBA has lost its way on how to throw an entry pass. You see it a lot with Embiid in throwing him a crap entry pass. 

 

Doc, can absolutely still F this up and unfortunately the odds are in his favor to do so. Hopefully the talent can overcome him

For at least one game though, he stuck to the plan of keeping at least one of the big three in the floor at all times. Don’t recall seeing the all bench unit until late in the game when it was well in hand. 

 

Well that was pretty awesome.  What a difference it makes having a PG teams have to respect.  Harden's passing and vision is way better than I thought.  I thought he accumulated lob assists from dribbling it for 20 seconds and driving.  For all the Ben is a great facilitator talk, Harden is way better.  Probably because his guy actually has to defend him outside the restricted area.  Best part is Harden didn't even look like he was trying.  He was in cruise control.  Obviously T-wolves were tired on the second of a b2b but they had no answers.  Teams have to throw away their Sixers defensive playbooks that they had for the last 4 years.

Having two guys who will always have help defenders cheating off their man is going to be huge.  Thybulle and Maxey are really going to benefit as off ball cutters with their athleticism and quickness.  So crazy how many open looks everybody had.  Like surprised how open.  Harden could have had 20 assists if the players were ready for some of his passes and Tobi stops passing up wide open 3s to dribble into a contested mid-range jumper.  Moving him and his contract this offseason is priority.  Fill in the depth with players who fit around Harden and Embiid.

https://streamable.com/641ui9

I know it's Russell and Towns who are shiddy defender to begin with...but that backdoor cut is going to be open, too.  He literally lulled 2 defenders to sleep and then fires a pass to Maxey.  All 5 guys on the court were watching Harden and ignoring their guy.

17 minutes ago, rambo said:

Well that was pretty awesome.  What a difference it makes having a PG teams have to respect.  Harden's passing and vision is way better than I thought.  I thought he accumulated lob assists from dribbling it for 20 seconds and driving.  For all the Ben is a great facilitator talk, Harden is way better.  Probably because his guy actually has to defend him outside the restricted area.  Best part is Harden didn't even look like he was trying.  He was in cruise control.  Obviously T-wolves were tired on the second of a b2b but they had no answers.  Teams have to throw away their Sixers defensive playbooks that they had for the last 4 years.

Having two guys who will always have help defenders cheating off their man is going to be huge.  Thybulle and Maxey are really going to benefit as off ball cutters with their athleticism and quickness.  So crazy how many open looks everybody had.  Like surprised how open.  Harden could have had 20 assists if the players were ready for some of his passes and Tobi stops passing up wide open 3s to dribble into a contested mid-range jumper.  Moving him and his contract this offseason is priority.  Fill in the depth with players who fit around Harden and Embiid.

Our rebounding hasnt been great. A big thing I noted last night was that Thybulle had 7. Or maybe ended with more but I think 7. Anyway, Doc referenced this last night saying that they know Thybulle's defender is going to be cheating off of him. So he has an opportunity to really crash the boards. He has bascially a free run to the basket now because no one is on him to box him out. We saw that monster put back slam at the end of the half because of it. 

9 minutes ago, rambo said:

https://streamable.com/641ui9

I know it's Russell and Towns who are shiddy defender to begin with...but that backdoor cut is going to be open, too.  He literally lulled 2 defenders to sleep and then fires a pass to Maxey.  All 5 guys on the court were watching Harden and ignoring their guy.

Your point stands but on that play it wasnt really a back door cut. He didnt even really cut for the pass. He received the pass in the corner and attacked the closeout in a blur. It was just a crazy quick first step, after he had the ball. Russell had no chance trying to close out on that pass. Maxey now being a respectable shooter, and having the quickness he has makes him really tough to defend. Especially if you are trying to cheat off him a bit to focus on Harden. He can now hit that 3 at a respectable rate if you give him that space. But if you try to close out on him, hes gone. 

1 minute ago, HazletonEagle said:

Your point stands but on that play it wasnt really a back door cut. He didnt even really cut for the pass. It was just a crazy quick first step, after he had the ball. Russell had no chance trying to close out on that pass. Maxey now being a respectable shooter, and having the quickness he has makes him really tough to defend. Especially if you are trying to cheat off him a bit to focus on Harden. He can now hit that 3 at a respectable rate if you give him that space. But if you try to close out on him, hes gone. 

I think Thybulle can do the same.  He's quick and athletic enough and can straight line drive when given that much space.  Can't wait to see how this team gels.  They were holding their own before and just threw a superstar in the mix and the transition seemed pretty seamless in their first game.

10 hours ago, HazletonEagle said:

In 4 minutes Isaiah Joe came in and outscored everyone on the bench.  He had 8 points. 

Milsap played 12 minutes and scored 3

Green played 21 minutes and scored 6

Niang played 16 minutes and scored 3

Milton played 12 minutes and scored 2

Korkmaz played 17 minutes and scored 5

I said the day of the trade that Joe is the key to filling the Curry shooting void.  Between the three of Kork/Milton/Joe I feel that Joe has the best mechanics and potential to be that 40%+ three pt shooter.