Philly Up By 26 —— And Loses

[sealybobo]

Kevin Huerter

 

[sealybobo]

This was the choke job of the season. The series is tied 2-2, it's a home game for Philly, and game 5 is one of the most important in a tied series. And Philly chokes hard.

Chris Paul - Leader of the Phoenix Suns — just caught Covid — out
Kawai Leonard - Leader of the LA Clippers - knee injury, might be done for season - out
James Harden (hamstring) and Kyrie Irving (ankle) — Brooklyn Nets - either hobbled or out

Odds are that the big 3, if healthy, win it all this year, but they are all never healthy.

Gallinari just picked embiids pocket.

 

[odanny]

Simmons is good too. I love it when young players do well in the playoffs.

Simmons needed to be better. He's afraid to shoot when near the basket.

 

[sealybobo]

Simmons is good too. I love it when young players do well in the playoffs.

Simmons needed to be better. He's afraid to shoot when near the basket.

The only person in the playoffs I don't want getting a ring is Leonard. He already has 2. But then again he's out so Paul George would be the one leading the team to a championship.

Hell, I don't even mind if Leonard wins another one. I'm just glad Durant/Harden/Irving/Lebron/Davis aren't going to be winning it all.

And I wouldn't have really minded Durant/Harden winning but I'd prefer someone else win. I'm sick of these dream teams being put together and winning it all.

ESPN is asking if Lebron will win another championship. God I hope not. I hope he's past his prime and all these younger guys are now better or as good as he is.

 

[odanny]

Simmons is good too. I love it when young players do well in the playoffs.

Simmons needed to be better. He's afraid to shoot when near the basket.

The only person in the playoffs I don't want getting a ring is Leonard. He already has 2. But then again he's out so Paul George would be the one leading the team to a championship.

Hell, I don't even mind if Leonard wins another one. I'm just glad Durant/Harden/Irving/Lebron/Davis aren't going to be winning it all.

And I wouldn't have really minded Durant/Harden winning but I'd prefer someone else win. I'm sick of these dream teams being put together and winning it all.

ESPN is asking if Lebron will win another championship. God I hope not. I hope he's past his prime and all these younger guys are now better or as good as he is.

I think the Bucks matchup well with Phoenix. I think the Suns win it all this year, and if Kawai was still playing, he'd be bringing them their first ring. 51 years without a conference championship appearance, no other franchise was within 20 years of such sports infamy. At least they broke that curse.

 

[sealybobo]

Simmons is good too. I love it when young players do well in the playoffs.

Simmons needed to be better. He's afraid to shoot when near the basket.

The only person in the playoffs I don't want getting a ring is Leonard. He already has 2. But then again he's out so Paul George would be the one leading the team to a championship.

Hell, I don't even mind if Leonard wins another one. I'm just glad Durant/Harden/Irving/Lebron/Davis aren't going to be winning it all.

And I wouldn't have really minded Durant/Harden winning but I'd prefer someone else win. I'm sick of these dream teams being put together and winning it all.

ESPN is asking if Lebron will win another championship. God I hope not. I hope he's past his prime and all these younger guys are now better or as good as he is.

I think the Bucks matchup well with Phoenix. I think the Suns win it all this year, and if Kawai was still playing, he'd be bringing them their first ring. 51 years without a conference championship appearance, no other franchise was within 20 years of such sports infamy. At least they broke that curse.

I would feel bad for them Leonard got hurt but they stole him from Toronto, who stole him from the Spurs, so I don't really feel sorry for the Lakers when Davis gets hurt, or the Nets when Irving goes down. I root for teams like 76ers, Atlanta, Milwalkee. Even the Suns stole Chris Paul from somewhere else but honestly I'll still be happy for them if they win. I don't hate any of the teams still in it.

I don't even really hate the Nets. After Lebron got Davis I don't blame any other team for putting together a team of all stars. But then I also don't feel sorry for them when it doesn't work out. If it was Nets vs Lakers I'd be rooting for the Nets.

 

[HaShev]

Can we change this thread to "what do we do with Simmons"?
If I was an owner or in charge of the Sixers Basketball Management and the coach said they knew what was wrong with Simmons shot and they'll work on it in the off season, he'd be fired within the hour. That's the coaches job to notice and work with during his poor shooting season not after their playoffs are lost.
Management has a tough decision, his value droped if they trade now rather then next season, but then the $ off the books from that contract can go a long way to build a more perfect depth filled team, preferably with more consistent scorers with the ability to find their own shots.

 

[HaShev]

Ben Simmons playoff FT shooting 13-43. That's incredible.

In rationally analyzing Simmons, it's actually good when someone is unselfish with the ball and knows when other players have a higher percentage shot, so that scoring will be best for the team and not his stats if he hands it off to the 3pt experts and higher percentage baskets.
However, if they know you have no faith in your shot and see you even miss simple after the whistle practice shots, they will leave you with an open shot you won't take and clog up the lane or double your go to guy Embid which often ends up in clumsy turnovers and predictability.
Simmons wouldn't even take shots in blowouts or beginning minutes of games so even if he took 1 3pt shot a game the defenders would know after 1 that's it for the day. If he was backing up at center or PF then he'd get away with that but he makes to much to be a backup and his fit with the other players need for spacing does not mesh. So the problem is more then free throws and having an off series.
His luck hitting his floaters or layups even dunks were just not going in any more and that kind of freak bad luck can totally shake a players confidence and since he's aware of what's best for the team, he'll pass it off to the better shooters (a good thing), however strategically and in the full scope of the game, other portions of the game is affected for the team as a whole.
Where would the Nets be if Harden realized his muscle memory was not back yet, and chose to given others the ball instead of his missed 3pt shots? Jrue Holiday was snake bitten as well in his series, and is lucky Harden chose to match his missed shots.

 

[sealybobo]

Simmons is good too. I love it when young players do well in the playoffs.

Simmons needed to be better. He's afraid to shoot when near the basket.

The only person in the playoffs I don't want getting a ring is Leonard. He already has 2. But then again he's out so Paul George would be the one leading the team to a championship.

Hell, I don't even mind if Leonard wins another one. I'm just glad Durant/Harden/Irving/Lebron/Davis aren't going to be winning it all.

And I wouldn't have really minded Durant/Harden winning but I'd prefer someone else win. I'm sick of these dream teams being put together and winning it all.

ESPN is asking if Lebron will win another championship. God I hope not. I hope he's past his prime and all these younger guys are now better or as good as he is.

I think the Bucks matchup well with Phoenix. I think the Suns win it all this year, and if Kawai was still playing, he'd be bringing them their first ring. 51 years without a conference championship appearance, no other franchise was within 20 years of such sports infamy. At least they broke that curse.

I'm looking forward to games 2-4. Bucks need to win 2 of the next 3 or else they are done.