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The Sixers Have a Vibe! Why This Start Feels Different (PST Episode 691) · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Bye.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: Welcome to the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: running weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world. Over
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: 13 and a half years strong. We got a great
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: show coming your way this week. I'm Jeff Warren. I'm
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: here with my good buddy, Len Hunsicker, my friend. Good
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: to see you.
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: I know that you were on vacation. Yeah, you were
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: on vacation, man. Good to have you back.
• 1:00
  Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah, it was. I didn't want to come back.
• 1:03
  Speaker 4: It was nice to be there.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: The shots that you were sending us, some of the
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: videos you were sending us.
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: I was like, damn, man. I don't even know what
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: it's like to be on vacation anymore.
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you should get in on that sometime because it's
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: pretty good.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we are– after this election is done, my family
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: and I, we're going to be– two weekends after the election,
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: we're going to be taking a nice family trip.
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: We're going to be going up to the Massachusetts area.
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: It's going to be nice. So anyway– Getting away is–
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: is good for the soul. It absolutely is. So, all right.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: Well, buddy, I know that you are going to have
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: to go to work in a little bit where you
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: got to get some sleep before you go to work
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: at like one o'clock in the morning.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: So yeah, I'll get my customary three hours sleep.
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: What a life.
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: Appreciate you, buddy. But let's get into the show here.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: The topics we're going to be diving into folks. We're
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: going to be getting into the Philadelphia Eagles here, of course.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: Team is floundering.
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: Going to get into some Sixers and NBA talk as well.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: What we're throwing down on the table, we got our
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: good friend Sean Bernard from CrossingBroad.com, 97.5 The Fanatic and DraftKings.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: He's going to be joining us to dive into the
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: Sixers and what we're seeing from them early this season.
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: The vibes are certainly, certainly good.
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: But Len, let's first get into this Philadelphia Eagles team here.
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: And I guess... the.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: Questions here at this point of Eric and I talked
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: about it on the post game show Monday night, can
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: this season actually be salvaged at this point? Should they
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: even try to salvage it as they're on their sixth
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: running back? Basically at this point, the defense looks horrible
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: or should they just, you know, quote tank and start
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: the retooling next off season here? I mean, that's, that's
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: where we're at after seven weeks of football with this
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: Eagles team.
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: So, Let's get the discussion started. What are your thoughts
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: here on this?
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: It's hard because my instinct, my default when you get
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: an eagle start like this is, okay, tank, they're terrible.
• 2:58
  Speaker 4: I mean, and we'll get into that a little bit.
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: But then there's this other part of me that's like, okay.
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: There's no– if there was, if there was one team
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: that was like, okay, that team's definitely a playoff team.
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: That team's definitely going to win the division, blah, blah, blah.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: I'd be like, okay, cash it in. Nobody's beaten them
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: in the division this year.
• 3:17
  Speaker 4: Right. I mean, the giants are four, two, and one.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: They've, they're the only team in the division with a
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: winning record, but, How much do you believe in them?
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: They don't have their starting quarterback. You know, all it's
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: going to take is for Scadabo to do something dumb again.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: And then where's their offense coming from?
• 3:33
  Speaker 4: I don't know.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: I just I don't necessarily believe in the Giants. And
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: this could be a division where it wouldn't shock me
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: if it's one of these years where. the NFC East
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: is the division that has the team with the losing
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: record that wins the division.
• 3:48
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: And it's like, why is this team in the playoffs?
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: So that's all possible. And, and when the, the other,
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: when the competition in the division is that unimpressive, it's like, well, shit,
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: why not try to go for it? So, so there
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: is that aspect of it, but then there's the other
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: aspect of it, which is like, this team has so
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: many holes and, and, and it's just one of those,
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: some every now and again, you get a year where
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: it's like, okay, it's just not, it's one of those,
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: it's not going to happen kind of years. You have
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: too many injuries. The, the, your, your franchise quarterback is injured. And, um,
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: you know, one thing that I've been talking with people
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: a lot about this past couple of days is like,
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: we've had about 10 to 15 years as Eagles fans
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: of taking for granted the lines, the offensive and defensive
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: line have been great. They have been good to great
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: for 10 to 15 years now. And it's just what
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: we're used to.
• 4:39
  Speaker 4: Yeah. Um, and yeah, it's not that anymore.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: And it might not be that for this year, maybe
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: next year, maybe the year beyond that. So until they
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: can fortify those lines again, how good can your team
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: really be? So for that reason, I'm trending towards like,
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: what are we doing? Like when I see Saquon Barkley
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: getting seven carries in the game and he's like, you know,
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: clearly playing hurt and Devante Smith going out for two weeks,
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: coming back and playing a game, trying to, trying to
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: play hurts.
• 5:09
  Speaker 4: Like, what are you doing?
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: Just, just, Just sit for as long as you have
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: to sit until you're 100%. And if you get 100%
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: by week 11 or 12, okay, fine, play. I don't
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: care at that point. But why are you going out
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: there at 60%, 70%? Who is that helping for a
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: team that's not going anywhere this year?
• 5:32
  Speaker 4: You know what I mean? Absolutely.
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: It's such a conundrum because– I don't know if they're
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: in this complete rebuild mode yet because you don't throw
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: in the towel in a football season unless you're in
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: complete rebuilding mode.
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: And look, the.
• 5:47
  Speaker 2: Philadelphia Eagles, they do have a talented roster. They're not
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: winning games. Yes, five in a row they have dropped,
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: but they're still, like you said, they're still alive in
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: the division race. They can make a trade or two
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: and still compete. And I guess that leads to that
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: next discussion. Will they actually do that? There's talk that
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: You know, if they deal Mauro Ojomo, perhaps. I mean,
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: he is going to be a free agent after this season,
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: but maybe they deal him. That means Ty Robinson gets
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: some more playing time. Hollywood Brown, there's talk that he
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: may be traded as well because he has lost snaps
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: to Darius Cooper.
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: Rick Woolen is... talked about as being a possible trade
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: piece as well.
• 6:29
  Speaker 4: But his value went down. Holy shit. Yes, it did.
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: Holy shit. Yeah.
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: So, but if you get rid of him, you've got
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: Jonathan Jones, Mack McWilliams, or even Keely Ringo at this point.
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: I mean, these, these aren't guys.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: We might get to a, all right, let's find out
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: about these guys portion of the season.
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: Right, right.
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: So I'm saying that this, this is the conundrum here
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: because I actually don't believe the Philadelphia Eagles are in
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: complete rebuilding mode. Are they in, a retooling mode. I
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: think that's more along the pathway at which Howie Roseman
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: needs to direct this ship.
• 7:02
  Speaker 4: Yeah. I mean, maybe.
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: And the defensive line, I think is just more, underperforming
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: than the not talented. I mean, there's no way that
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: they did a defensive line with Jalen Carter and Jordan
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: Davis and Grenard. Like they, they shouldn't be as bad
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: as they were against Dallas.
• 7:20
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: And, and in other games this year, but so there is,
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: I'll acknowledge there is talent there and you know, I
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: love my Lada on the offensive line, but can they
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: even protect anybody? I mean, if Jalen hurts was, was
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: even healthy. Yeah.
• 7:35
  Speaker 4: Can they even protect him at this point?
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: And if you can't protect your quarterback, you can't do anything. Right. Right.
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: And I'll say this too, I guess, uh, to end
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: our discussion here on the Eagles. And I think we're
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: going to be talking about this a lot more. I've
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: mentioned it a couple of times already within the course
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: of these past five games that they've dropped. This team
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: is missing Jeff Stoutland and Nick Sirianni last year. cutting
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: off Stoutland's, you know, legs underneath him week by week,
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: as it's kind of been reported that did nobody any
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: good for this team.
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: It didn't do the team any good. And it leads
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: me to believe that.
• 8:12
  Speaker 4: I think I said it before. Yeah. Yeah.
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: I mean, they should be like John Cusack and just
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: get the boom box outside of Jeff Stoutland's house and
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: just say, I was wrong. I'm sorry. Please come back.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: I mean, because that's the thing. Okay, you're in a
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: point where you're trying to develop your next offensive lineman.
• 8:32
  Speaker 4: Who better than him? Exactly.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: So you got rid of the guy that has the
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: now most important job in your organization over the next
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: year or two.
• 8:43
  Speaker 4: Exactly.
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: He's developing the next wave of offensive linemen. So, yeah,
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: I don't know. It just seems stupid to me.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: Coaching malpractice on Nick Sirianni's part, and one of the
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: reasons I think he probably should be gone after this season.
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: It's not going to surprise me if he is going to.
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: And there's still a lot of football left, though. I mean,
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: what the hell?
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: Because, you know, Sirianni actually mentioned, I think it was
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: the fact that the Eagles ended up going 6-2 down
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: the stretch in 2021 and how that helped the 2022
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: and 2024 teams.
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: Make the super bowl.
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: And that's why they're going to keep competing and doing
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: everything they can to win. But, you know, we also
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: know that NFL players have short careers. Some have had
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: longer careers and now we're no longer on this team.
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: And that's a huge, that's a huge issue here.
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: So when Sirianni is talking about the.
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: Eagles going six and two, uh, you know, in those years, uh, in,
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: in 2021 to help propel them to do what they
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: did in 2022 and 2024, I don't know if that's
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: making too, too much sense here.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: You don't have Jason Kelsey and Lane Thompson coming back.
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: You know what I mean?
• 9:48
  Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah. Like they, you don't. Yeah.
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: So you don't have that in the bank going into
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: the next season. You don't know what you have on
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: the line going into the next season. So it's, it's
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: not an, it's, not an accurate comparison in my eyes.
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: Yep. Yep. All right, man.
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: Let's go to a break here.
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: And when we get back, we're going to get into
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: some NBA talk and some 76ers talk. But let us
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: know in the comments what you think about this Eagles
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: team and this season. We'd love to hear from you.
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: Let's take that break now. We'll be back in just
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: a bit.
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: NBA talk, Philadelphia 76ers talk. Len, I wanted to get
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: into a storyline with you really quick with regard to
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: the NBA. And I'm not too sure how many folks
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: actually heard the news this past week, but I actually
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: ended up reading a headline. And the actual headline was
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: the NBA joins with prediction markets. to boost integrity. And
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: I was like, what the hell is this? Is this
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: some sort of like onion-esque headline here? But yes, the
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: NBA has announced this week that it is partnering with
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: Polymarket and Kalshi as part of a push to protect
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: the integrity of the game, folks. And this move comes
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: as the league really grapples with recent sports betting scandals
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: and prediction markets that are facing a lot of legal
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: challenges from state regulators. So As we know, since 2024,
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: the NBA has really been plagued by wagering wrongdoings that
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: have included a player actually receiving a lifetime ban, federal
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: probes involving even the mafia here.
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: Me before that, Tim Donahy, the ref. I mean, this
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: has been going on for well before 2024.
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: Exactly.
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: It's been a problem for years.
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: So by joining forces here with Pauly Market and Kalshi,
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: the NBA really believes that it can, quote, better control
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: what fans can bet. So apparently the NBA is going
• 11:42
  Speaker 2: to get final say on what markets are offered here.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: and users won't be allowed to wager on single plays,
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: such as first basket, opening tip. And the league is
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: also going to have access to Polymarket and Kalshi trading data,
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: which can help locate suspicious action.
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: I don't know, Len. When I read this story, I'm like,
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: the integrity of the.
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: Whenever I hear sports people talking about integrity, you look
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: so defeated.
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: It's just.
• 12:13
  Speaker 4: Just stop. Just say we're doing this to make money. Yes, exactly.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: Just say what you're doing. Because in this statement, was there, okay,
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: we're doing this to control the integrity. In that statement,
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: are there bullet points explaining how this is going to
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: control integrity? Is there a plan of action for how
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: this is going to control integrity? Because if not, it's
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: just word salad.
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: Yes, it's word salad.
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: It's insane to me.
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: That we're doing this and, and just any, any, any
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: sports league anymore. You, you cannot, don't have a high
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: horse when it comes.
• 12:51
  Speaker 4: To gambling anymore.
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: Don't, don't even, don't even ban players for doing it
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: because you're getting into bed with these companies.
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: Exactly.
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: The, the, the horse has left the barn and it's
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: never coming back. I, you're, you're never going to reign
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: this in.
• 13:05
  Speaker 4: You cannot watch a game.
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: You can't watch regular TV and no offense because you know,
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: But all it is is gambling ads and political ads anymore.
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: That's all that's on TV anymore. And we have the
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: political ads for another week or so. But even then,
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: I mean, anytime you watch a game, it's just gambling
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: at it for gambling at it. And it's just like,
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: does anybody actually care about this game anymore or is
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: it just a means to gamble? And that's– I love
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: sports and I just feel like that's– all it is anymore.
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: And, and, and it's, it gets, I don't know, it
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: gets kind of disheartening. I mean, I'm not a, I'm
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: not really a gambler, so I don't really do this
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: a whole hell of a lot. Um, but yeah, I
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: don't know. I, it just not. leaves a bad taste
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: in my mouth. Call me old fashioned, but it just,
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 14:00
  Speaker 3: I was wondering if that's where you were going to go.
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: I was wondering where that, if that's where you were
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: going to go, because, because of that whole word that they,
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: that they use in this article here, which is the entire,
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: not even the article. I mean, it's the NBA saying this,
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: it's the NBA polymarket and cows. She's saying, talking about
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: the integrity of the game. We do this podcast because
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: we love sports. We enjoy sports. It's a way for
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: us to relax. We've, We are passionate about our Philly
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: sports teams, but we're also passionate about what's happening with
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: the World Series, what happens in the Western Conference Finals
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: or the Eastern Conference Finals, what's happening in the Stanley
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: Cup Finals as well. We are interested in the entertainment
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: aspect of sports to get us away from real life.
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: And then you put the gambling stuff within it. And
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: it just takes it to a whole nother level of
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: why is this sport doing what it's doing, where it's
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: not just about entertainment anymore.
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: And how much of it is on the level and
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: are the leagues involved in it?
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: It's a great question. Yeah.
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: I mean, just, I don't know, just be honest. Just,
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: just say, yeah, this is, this is what's making money nowadays.
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: And this is what we're doing. But don't give me integrity.
• 15:12
  Speaker 6: Exactly.
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: You know what I mean? Like, come on. I'm not,
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: you know, I'm not dumb here. Exactly.
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: Well, let's move to the next part of the conversation
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: because we're going to end up having our good friend
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: Sean Bernard. to talk about this Philadelphia 76ers team and
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: the opening games of this season and what we've been
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: seeing so far from Joel Embiid, LeBron James, Jalen Brown
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: and company. Len, I mean, what a freaking season so far.
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: I mean, they're playing the Pacers as we're recording this
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: right now.
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: But, you know, a 3-1 record, like right out of
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: the gate, it's easy to say that things are going well.
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: And as for the starting group, you could say that
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: things are going great because through the first week of
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: the season, the 76ers starting lineup has scored 84% of
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: the team's points, which is the highest rate in the
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: NBA of the season so far.
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: So yes, four games.
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: It's a small sample size to claim that this group
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: is going to be making any sort of history, but
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: it just shows that They have the potential to possibly
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: do so. There's so much excitement. And I think the
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: Sixers should be happy. And as fans, we're all happy
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: with these results so far. But there have been pros
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: and cons that we have seen thus far. I'm going
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: to talk to Sean about it in a little bit, too.
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: But problems with three point shooting, the problems with rebounding.
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: so far um so look it's been a fantastic season
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: and I'm I'm energized about it to be honest I
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: mean it's so it's so wonderful to see a 76ers
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: team that already is looking great even though they're still
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: trying to get that chemistry going I just it's it's
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: been fun to watch so far man.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah and and I think a big part of that
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: is the fact that you know they haven't been playing
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: like the Sacramento Kings or the New Orleans Pelicans like
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: they've been playing good they they They played the defending
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: champs on opening night. They had a huge comeback at
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: home against a Cleveland team that is a legitimate contender
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: in the East. I don't think it would shock too
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: many people to see Cleveland– Represent the East in the
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: NBA finals. I mean, that's a legit possibility. You know,
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: Detroit is a good team. Their only loss on the
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: season so far is against Detroit, who is still a
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: good team. They were a playoff team last year. I mean, really,
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: Milwaukee's the only team so far. I mean, Pacers are
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: coming back. They were, you know, banged up last year health-wise,
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: didn't have Halliburton, but... I expect them to come back
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: hard this year.
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: Pacers are my sleeper team this year. It was on
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: the season preview show that Eric and I did. Pacers
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: are my sleeper team this year.
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: And I think there's a lot of validity to that. So, yeah,
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: I mean, the Bucs are the only team where it's
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: just like, okay, I don't know where that team is going.
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: But it's been a strong schedule so far, and they've
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: looked really good doing it, and especially– that Cleveland game
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: to me being down as bad as they were and
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: coming up off the mat and winning that game really,
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: that's the kind of thing that as a fan really
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: gets you excited.
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: Cause it's just like, okay.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: They can, they can take a punch and come back.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: There's some grit to this team. There's there's it's, it's
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: not just superstar bullshit. There's, There's something to this team.
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
• 18:25
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: So, yeah, I mean, that that to me was maybe
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: the most exciting thing that I saw so far this year.
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: Absolutely. Like I said, there's pros and cons.
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: And again, I'm going to be talking to Sean in
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: a little bit about some of these as well. But
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: I think like I really couldn't wait to see what
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: the bench was going to do right out of the gate.
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: It kind of stinks that. Anthony Simons is struggling. Dean
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: Wade has not been healthy, too. So we're not getting
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: the full bench experience here at this point.
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: I think it'll come and I'm hoping it'll come.
• 18:54
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: And we still have those questions about what happens with
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: backup center. I mean, I'm sure LeBron James probably isn't
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: too jazzed about the idea of being, you know, the
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: center option on the nights when Embiid's not playing.
• 19:08
  Speaker 4: I mean, it really sucks.
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: That Huck Porty got hurt, and they need to kind
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: of figure that out.
• 19:14
  Speaker 4: They have Bona, but do they– Yeah. Can they do
• 19:18
  Speaker 4: something to maybe get another big in there? Yeah.
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: Especially with Embiid's health history. I mean, I know he
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: looks great. He's obviously slimmed down. You can see when
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: they've been playing. I mean, he's moving defensively so much
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: better than he did last year. I mean, it's like
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: a completely different person out there. So it's really– That actually,
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: if you were asking me to rank the most encouraging
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: thing about the Sixers season so far, just Embiid's mobility
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: over last year has been really.
• 19:46
  Speaker 4: Nice to see. But it's Embiid.
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: You know you know what to expect as a Sixers
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: fan at this point you know 60 games is probably
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: you know a good season in terms of usage out
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: of him.
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah because I don't think he's playing in over
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: 40 games in over three seasons here right yeah so yeah.
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: So what are you going to do for those other
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: 22 games? You have to, you have to have a plan.
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: It's going to be fun to watch this team though.
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: They've been fun so far.
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: Like I said, they're playing the Indiana Pacers as we
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: are recording this. And again, it's, it's, you know, it, we,
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: we don't have to sit there and feel like the
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: rug is going to get pulled out from under us
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: so far with this team.
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: Like it doesn't feel like that at all. At the
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: start of last season was pretty rough.
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: You know, it's, you know, Paul George and, and long
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: contracts and guys that are hurt for more than half
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: the year. And it's just like, it's, it's not even
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: in the same galaxy as far as vibes go. And
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: as far as excitement goes. Yep.
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, yeah, it's, it really is. It's, it's going
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: to be fun to watch him, buddy. I'm going to,
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: I'm going to let you go here. Um, uh, really
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: quick though. Just wanted to mention that Zach Wheeler was
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: named NL players choice comeback player of the year. Just
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: want to give a shout out to him after all
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: the stuff that he, went through this year. We don't
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: have any Phillies talk on the agenda this week, but
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: we are going to be definitely talking about this Phillies
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: offseason in the coming weeks for sure. Buddy, before I
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: let you go and before you get to bed and
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: get to work, any final thoughts here?
• 21:17
  Speaker 4: Happy Halloween. All right, folks.
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: Happy Halloween to you.
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: We are going to take a break, and when we
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: get back, Sean Bernard, our good buddy, is going to
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: talk more Sixers with us.
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: Stick around. We'll be right back.
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: And now... On the table.
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: Joining us this week to dive into the Philadelphia 76ers
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: in a bit more detail, we have from DraftKings, also
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: the fanatic over at 97.5, also over at Crossing Broad
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: as well.
• 21:49
  Speaker 3: Man, he's got a full plate here. Our good friend,
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: Sean Bernard. My friend, thanks so much for taking the
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: time to join us here to talk about Sixers.
• 21:56
  Speaker 6: Yeah, appreciate you having me, Jeff. And it's kind of nice.
• 21:59
  Speaker 6: We've talked through some bleak times in the Sixers world.
• 22:01
  Speaker 5: There is a juice around this organization and team that
• 22:04
  Speaker 5: I feel like I haven't even lived through to this point.
• 22:06
  Speaker 6: So I'm hyped to get into this team.
• 22:07
  Speaker 5: It is high hopes about the Sixers in a way
• 22:09
  Speaker 5: that I haven't really felt in quite some time.
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: It's nothing short of exciting, Sean. It really isn't the
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: start to the season here. We're still seeing also this
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: team working on their chemistry. Game by game. Yet we're
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: seeing amazing stuff on the court. We're seeing LeBron James.
• 22:25
  Speaker 3: The fact that he still he still got it at
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: this point.
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: Joel Embiid still got it. Amazingly enough, Vijay Edgecombe playing
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: some damn good basketball, making a hell of a lot
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: happen on the court, even when he's not actually scoring. So,
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: I mean, let's let's get your assessments, your overall assessments
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: on this Sixers team right out of the gate here
• 22:46
  Speaker 2: this season.
• 22:47
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I think they're ahead of the curve for any
• 22:48
  Speaker 5: realistic expectations that you could have. There was all sort
• 22:51
  Speaker 5: of the buzzwords and talking points coming into the year
• 22:54
  Speaker 5: about one basketball that these teams got to make worse
• 22:56
  Speaker 5: and the sacrifice that each of these players have to
• 22:59
  Speaker 5: make happen. There will be growing pains throughout the season.
• 23:01
  Speaker 5: There's no doubt about it. But some statement wins out
• 23:03
  Speaker 5: of the gates, man. Beating the defending champion Knicks in
• 23:06
  Speaker 5: Madison Square Garden. Coming back from 29 points down against
• 23:09
  Speaker 5: the Cleveland Cavaliers team.
• 23:10
  Speaker 6: A team that went to the Eastern Conference Finals themselves.
• 23:13
  Speaker 6: last year.
• 23:13
  Speaker 5: So beyond just the X's and O's, which I think
• 23:15
  Speaker 5: there's a ton of positives to get into, and I
• 23:17
  Speaker 5: think we'll only get better as we more of a
• 23:19
  Speaker 5: sample size.
• 23:19
  Speaker 6: These guys get some experience learning to play off each other.
• 23:22
  Speaker 5: There is sort of this personality and identity and fight
• 23:25
  Speaker 5: in the Sixers team has been pretty inspiring out of
• 23:27
  Speaker 5: the gates.
• 23:28
  Speaker 6: Again, there will be low points.
• 23:29
  Speaker 5: They're starting at a high, but I think if we're
• 23:31
  Speaker 5: grading out of the gates to the first four games,
• 23:33
  Speaker 5: the three-in-one start, you have to be completely satisfied in
• 23:36
  Speaker 5: them being ahead of the curve at this stage of
• 23:38
  Speaker 5: the season.
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: I'm glad you said that there are going to be
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: some low points, and we are going to see some
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: low points as well. Look, on our Sixers season preview show,
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: I predicted 54 games that this team would end up winning.
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: And I think it's important for folks to realize right
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: out of the gate, we're seeing a high level of
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: basketball being played by this crew. And as a result,
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: the expectations are going to remain high. But like you said,
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: we are going to see those low points. I think
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: it's important for Sixers Nation to keep in perspective what
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: that's going to mean, what it could potentially look like.
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: It doesn't mean when we see low points that disaster
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: is coming and that the floor is going to fall
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: out from beneath this team at all. I think it's
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: important that Sean, that folks realize that we may see
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: a lull here and there. We may see four or
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: five games where we're questioning things and saying, oh, my gosh,
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: what's happening to this team? I think we all need
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: to just chill out. I'm saying this even before anything happens.
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: You got to stay chill and you got to realize
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: that the team chemistry is still coming together. And if
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: that low point happens, let's not get discouraged.
• 24:38
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 24:39
  Speaker 6: A hundred percent there.
• 24:40
  Speaker 5: And like even on the court, we'll see sort of
• 24:42
  Speaker 5: stylistically these guys learning to play with each other. I
• 24:44
  Speaker 5: think the hierarchy has been established at like a more
• 24:46
  Speaker 5: rapid rate than I expected, but it's one thing for
• 24:48
  Speaker 5: these guys to be able to walk to the media,
• 24:50
  Speaker 5: swallow the pride, say all the right things publicly when
• 24:53
  Speaker 5: things are going strong the way they are right now.
• 24:55
  Speaker 5: It's another thing when all of a sudden you drop
• 24:57
  Speaker 5: three or four games or somebody misses a game winning.
• 24:59
  Speaker 6: Shot and all those types of things.
• 25:00
  Speaker 5: So there will be moments where this team is tested
• 25:02
  Speaker 5: and I think the combination of personalities is pretty fascinating.
• 25:06
  Speaker 5: It's been a storyline that has certainly captivated the wider
• 25:09
  Speaker 5: scale NBA audience with Jalen Brown and sort of the
• 25:11
  Speaker 5: forefront of that conversation there. But I think this team
• 25:14
  Speaker 5: does get it and are all at a place where
• 25:16
  Speaker 5: mentally they're sort of on the same page at a rate.
• 25:18
  Speaker 5: I think sometimes the timing. when these quote-unquote super teams
• 25:22
  Speaker 5: come together matter most. I think we're at a stage
• 25:23
  Speaker 5: where a guy like Joel Embiid understands he needs to
• 25:26
  Speaker 5: take a bit of a backseat. LeBron James didn't come
• 25:28
  Speaker 5: here to be the centerpiece of an organization the way
• 25:30
  Speaker 5: that has been the case in other stops of his career.
• 25:32
  Speaker 5: He's here to be a finishing product. Tyrese Maxey, not
• 25:34
  Speaker 5: really a guy that you have to worry about in
• 25:35
  Speaker 5: that category. So I do like the mix of personalities
• 25:38
  Speaker 5: and egos, even though that's been a major driving point
• 25:40
  Speaker 5: of concern, and we'll see how it all goes down.
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: You mentioned Joel Embiid, Sean, and I want to get
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: into him now because for three seasons he has struggled.
• 25:49
  Speaker 2: with the same knee issues, some of the same injury issues,
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: some new injury issues every now and again. Look, the
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: coaching staff sat him against the Pistons, and during the
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: first three games of the season, we saw Joel Embiid
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: average 34.7 minutes per game, shooting 39.2% from the field,
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: putting up 21.7 points per game. This is pretty incredible
• 26:11
  Speaker 2: to start the season, and it's a really stark contrast
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: to the start from last season. So what are your
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: thoughts on how they're actually handling Joel Embiid and the
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: eventual repercussions of this load management here this season?
• 26:25
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I think historically, Joel's been a slow starter to
• 26:29
  Speaker 5: two seasons and that hasn't exactly been the case out
• 26:31
  Speaker 5: of the gates this year. I think I would accredit
• 26:33
  Speaker 5: that largely to LeBron James of beyond. I think sometimes
• 26:36
  Speaker 5: people make too much of, you know, LeBron inspires his
• 26:39
  Speaker 5: teammates or things like that. But there is sort of
• 26:41
  Speaker 5: a level of expectation that just raises when that man's
• 26:44
  Speaker 5: in the building. Like everyone knows why he's here, the
• 26:46
  Speaker 5: goal for this team. And I think Joel Embiid has
• 26:48
  Speaker 5: been inspired for that. I have to hold myself to
• 26:50
  Speaker 5: a slightly different standard. I can't just show up when
• 26:52
  Speaker 5: I want to or go through the motions at a rate.
• 26:54
  Speaker 5: there is a difference in both the level of expectations
• 26:56
  Speaker 5: and pressure for this team. So I think he's embracing
• 26:59
  Speaker 5: that challenge. And to be honest, Joel hasn't been paired
• 27:02
  Speaker 5: with a ton of those guys. When you run through
• 27:04
  Speaker 5: the laundry list of his quote-unquote star teammates that he's battled,
• 27:08
  Speaker 5: like the James Hardens, the Ben Simmons, the Tobias Harris,
• 27:11
  Speaker 5: none of these guys have been like LeBron James or
• 27:14
  Speaker 5: in that category. And I mean that from the personality
• 27:17
  Speaker 5: and what they bring expectation-wise.
• 27:18
  Speaker 6: So I've been encouraged on that end of things.
• 27:21
  Speaker 5: I certainly think he deserves a ton of credit for
• 27:23
  Speaker 5: the weight that he's lost, for getting reports that he's
• 27:24
  Speaker 5: in his rookie year weight, which is pretty nuts considering
• 27:27
  Speaker 5: like the size difference. It is noticeable when you watch
• 27:30
  Speaker 5: him moving on the floor and just looking at him
• 27:32
  Speaker 5: visually right there.
• 27:32
  Speaker 6: And that is a credit to the work that he
• 27:34
  Speaker 6: put in this off season.
• 27:35
  Speaker 5: I would like them to scale back to work late
• 27:37
  Speaker 5: work rate a little bit that the minutes feel like
• 27:39
  Speaker 5: a lot out of the gates. I'm not going to lie,
• 27:40
  Speaker 5: but ultimately like He's moving better. He's still proving that
• 27:44
  Speaker 5: he has high-level basketball in the tank.
• 27:46
  Speaker 6: The triple-double was ridiculously impressive.
• 27:48
  Speaker 5: And doing that without LeBron James, where we saw sort
• 27:50
  Speaker 5: of this Embiid-centered basketball again, it's cool that he still
• 27:53
  Speaker 5: has that in his bag because I do think a
• 27:54
  Speaker 5: lot of people wrote him off. So I'm pretty excited, encouraged,
• 27:57
  Speaker 5: and thrilled with what Joel Embiid has looked like out
• 27:59
  Speaker 5: of the gates this year.
• 27:59
  Speaker 3: I think we all are. We all should be.
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: But again, that load management really needs to be taken
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: into account as they're moving forward here. And look, he
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: may go through some lulls too. He may go through
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: some down periods. Let's not get too, too discouraged if
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: that happens. But as we are just so high on
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: this team right now, Sean, let's get into some of
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: the struggles that the team is facing because they're not
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: perfect by any stretch of the imagination. Rebounding, my God,
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: it has always been an issue for this team. It's
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: astonishing to me. We've talked about it in the past.
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: a number of times, especially offensive rebounding, but the one
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: glaring negative with the Sixers team thus far, just being there,
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: rebounding how they're handling it. I mean, it's an area
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: of the game that they need to put more attention towards.
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: So I guess it's like a two part question. What
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: the hell's going on with the rebounding or lack thereof
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: that we've seen from this team thus far?
• 28:51
  Speaker 3: Um, that's the first question. And then like, how do
• 28:53
  Speaker 3: they fix this here?
• 28:55
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's tough.
• 28:56
  Speaker 5: It's going to take complete team buy-in because the reality
• 28:59
  Speaker 5: is with all that we're talking about, sort of the
• 29:01
  Speaker 5: resurgence in Joel Embiid physically, as he's deteriorated a bit
• 29:04
  Speaker 5: through his career, we've seen these rebounding numbers decrease that
• 29:07
  Speaker 5: he averaged 7.7 rebounds per game last year, which frankly
• 29:10
  Speaker 5: is unacceptable for a guy that is seven foot two.
• 29:12
  Speaker 5: And to be honest, like Joel has never been a
• 29:14
  Speaker 5: guy that I think has had that rebounding skill or
• 29:16
  Speaker 5: instinct that like, he's not going to be confused with
• 29:18
  Speaker 5: Dennis Rodman in the way that he attacks the glass
• 29:20
  Speaker 5: or has a feel for where the ball is going.
• 29:22
  Speaker 5: He's just a guy that is large and operates around
• 29:23
  Speaker 5: the basket a ton. So he tends to get a
• 29:25
  Speaker 5: ton of rebounds for that specific reason, but he's not
• 29:28
  Speaker 5: a guy that I think I would consider like a
• 29:29
  Speaker 5: great rebounder. And we're sort of seeing, you know, naturally
• 29:32
  Speaker 5: the production fall as physically he's declined a bit beyond that.
• 29:35
  Speaker 5: It's not gonna be too well that scale set up.
• 29:37
  Speaker 5: Can LeBron James take that on his shoulders? A guy
• 29:39
  Speaker 5: like Jalen Brown and VJ edge come, I would both
• 29:41
  Speaker 5: argue are plus rebounders for their position, but at their position,
• 29:45
  Speaker 5: they're not going to average more than five, six rebounds
• 29:47
  Speaker 5: per game tops.
• 29:47
  Speaker 6: That's just sort of the reality of the situation.
• 29:49
  Speaker 5: So I think when looking at this roster as a whole,
• 29:52
  Speaker 5: The biggest missing piece to me would be getting one
• 29:54
  Speaker 5: of those power forward type guys that can just be
• 29:57
  Speaker 5: a monster on the glass and compete.
• 29:58
  Speaker 6: But that's easier said than done.
• 30:00
  Speaker 5: I think to be fair to the Sixers a bit,
• 30:02
  Speaker 5: Ariel Huckporty.
• 30:03
  Speaker 6: Was expected to be a major part of the Sixers team.
• 30:06
  Speaker 5: It's a huge disappointment that he tore his Achilles in
• 30:08
  Speaker 5: the first preseason game. And obviously we're seeing like the
• 30:10
  Speaker 5: backup center rotation. is not good enough. They don't have
• 30:13
  Speaker 5: really a button to press right now. When you look
• 30:15
  Speaker 5: at the finances, they're not going to be able to
• 30:16
  Speaker 5: sign a guy on a veteran's minimum until December. They
• 30:19
  Speaker 5: are essentially carrying two empty roster spots because they entered
• 30:22
  Speaker 5: the year with 14 players. Then Huck Porty, of course,
• 30:24
  Speaker 5: is out for the season there. So they're a little
• 30:27
  Speaker 5: bit hamstrung in that regard. And unfortunately, it's a problem
• 30:29
  Speaker 5: that I think you're going to have to live through
• 30:30
  Speaker 5: right now and find the missing piece or a player
• 30:32
  Speaker 5: that can change that at the midpoint of the year.
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, nothing is perfect with this team right here. And
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: we talk about the fact that there may need to
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: be Something done by the front office to bring in
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: some more talent at some point here this season to
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: address the rebounding and also to address the next issue,
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: which we are going to be talking about after we
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: go to break. So we are going to go to break,
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: but Sean, let everybody know where they can find you
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: on the interwebs out there.
• 30:56
  Speaker 3: If they want to connect with you.
• 30:58
  Speaker 6: Yeah. Appreciate it.
• 30:59
  Speaker 5: You can find me on X or Twitter at Sean
• 31:01
  Speaker 5: underscore Bernard one. You can read my work on crossing
• 31:03
  Speaker 5: broad and draft Kings network and catch me. We've been
• 31:06
  Speaker 5: doing a Sixers post game shows every single game on
• 31:08
  Speaker 5: the 97 five YouTube channel. So make sure you guys
• 31:10
  Speaker 5: are checked in and tapped into those.
• 31:11
  Speaker 3: All right, folks, we're going to take a break. When
• 31:13
  Speaker 3: we get back more Sixers talk coming your way.
• 31:18
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 31:18
  Speaker 3: We're back with our buddy, Sean Bernard.
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: As we dive into this Sixers season in more detail,
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: as I mentioned before the break, there are struggles, certainly
• 31:27
  Speaker 2: with regard to the Sixers. Not everything is perfect, and
• 31:31
  Speaker 2: you wonder if they're going to have to get more
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: talent with regard to possible rebounding, as we mentioned before
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: the break. But another area that this team is having
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: some struggles and some challenges with is three-point shooting. I mean,
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: right now, they're shooting just 31.7% beyond the arc of
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: Against the Pistons, they made only seven of 27 attempts
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: from three-point range, which really does stink. Look, we're not
• 31:59
  Speaker 2: even sniffing the playoffs yet at this point. The expectations
• 32:03
  Speaker 2: are high, and we know that teams that struggle in
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: the playoffs, usually with their three-point shooting, usually don't go
• 32:09
  Speaker 2: too far in the playoffs, Sean. We definitely know this.
• 32:12
  Speaker 2: Do you think this is just a hiccup, or do
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: the Sixers have a real problem here that they're going
• 32:17
  Speaker 2: to need to address at some point?
• 32:19
  Speaker 5: Yeah, this isn't one I'm hitting the panic button on yet.
• 32:21
  Speaker 5: I think it's way too small of a sample size
• 32:23
  Speaker 5: to be worried. I do think like scoring wise and
• 32:25
  Speaker 5: shot profile wise, they're going to do the bulk of
• 32:27
  Speaker 5: their damage attacking the rim and in particular getting out
• 32:30
  Speaker 5: in transition. Like that's going to be the MO and
• 32:32
  Speaker 5: the focal point of this team is they want to
• 32:33
  Speaker 5: run and gun. They want to, you know, LeBron James
• 32:35
  Speaker 5: getting a rebound, kicking Tyrese Maxey on an outlet pass him,
• 32:38
  Speaker 5: Jalen Brown, VJ Edgecombe getting downhill. I think that's going
• 32:41
  Speaker 5: to be their most effective offense. But I do think
• 32:43
  Speaker 5: some of it is just missing shots at this stage
• 32:45
  Speaker 5: of the year.
• 32:46
  Speaker 3: Like a guy like.
• 32:47
  Speaker 5: Tyrese Maxey, who I'm one of my takes coming into
• 32:49
  Speaker 5: the year that I was super pushing was his. He's
• 32:52
  Speaker 5: going to have a resurgence of three point production that
• 32:54
  Speaker 5: this was a guy that was top five in the
• 32:55
  Speaker 5: league and three point percentage in his second and third
• 32:58
  Speaker 5: years in the league. And then ultimately, as he's had
• 33:00
  Speaker 5: more responsibility on his shoulders from a creation standpoint, the
• 33:03
  Speaker 5: shot opportunities got tougher when a lot of them are
• 33:05
  Speaker 5: like step backs and self-created.
• 33:07
  Speaker 6: We've seen that efficiency dip. That has not been the
• 33:09
  Speaker 6: case out of the gates this year.
• 33:10
  Speaker 5: Through the first five games, one for five from three,
• 33:13
  Speaker 5: four for nine for three, two for seven, and two
• 33:15
  Speaker 5: for nine. So he's shooting 30% from deep overall. I
• 33:18
  Speaker 5: think Maxie's just a better shooter than that. A guy
• 33:20
  Speaker 5: like Anthony Simons, I also expect a resurgence. He's shooting 23.8%
• 33:23
  Speaker 5: from beyond the three-point arc this season. I think he
• 33:26
  Speaker 5: will get high at some point. There have been moments
• 33:29
  Speaker 5: where I haven't loved the process of creating the looks.
• 33:31
  Speaker 5: Jalen Brown in particular, that stood out to me as
• 33:33
  Speaker 5: sort of settling for some three-point opportunities. But a lot
• 33:35
  Speaker 5: of them, I think they've created mostly fine opportunities. The
• 33:39
  Speaker 5: shots just haven't fallen. So four games out of 82,
• 33:41
  Speaker 5: I do think the numbers will settle in as the
• 33:43
  Speaker 5: season continues.
• 33:44
  Speaker 4: All right.
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: Well, let's have a little fun here with this next
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: exercise in terms of The players that we've been following,
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: mostly the starters and what has been the most fun
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: when actually watching these particular players.
• 33:58
  Speaker 3: Let's start off with Tyrese Maxey.
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: What's been the most fun aspect of his game so
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: far this early season?
• 34:04
  Speaker 5: To me, it's just the way that he hasn't blinked
• 34:06
  Speaker 5: with the superstars around him, man. Like there was a
• 34:08
  Speaker 5: part of me that worried he would be deferring a
• 34:10
  Speaker 5: bit too much based on like, these are, this is
• 34:12
  Speaker 5: LeBron James, Jalen route. Like this is as star studded
• 34:15
  Speaker 5: of a team as you could ask for. He's led
• 34:17
  Speaker 5: the team in shots at every game to this point.
• 34:19
  Speaker 5: And you can see he is like the tone setter
• 34:20
  Speaker 5: in the way that he wants to push the pace,
• 34:22
  Speaker 5: get out in transition, scored 18 points in the fourth
• 34:25
  Speaker 5: quarter of the most recent game.
• 34:26
  Speaker 6: So he still has that.
• 34:27
  Speaker 5: This is my team sort of personality to him in
• 34:29
  Speaker 5: a way that I didn't fully expect to be there. And,
• 34:32
  Speaker 5: it only speaks to like just how talented this guy is.
• 34:34
  Speaker 5: He won a NBA Eastern conference player of the week
• 34:37
  Speaker 5: for the first week of the season. This guy should
• 34:39
  Speaker 5: be an MVP conversations based on how this year has started,
• 34:41
  Speaker 5: even though I know it was still very early in
• 34:43
  Speaker 5: the year.
• 34:43
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
• 34:44
  Speaker 2: I mean, he's our MVP pick here at the broadcast,
• 34:47
  Speaker 2: you know, for the Sixers team MVP overall for the NBA.
• 34:50
  Speaker 3: I think that'd be fantastic.
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: Of course, LeBron James, what's been the most fun aspect
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: of his game so far that you've been seeing on
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: the court?
• 34:57
  Speaker 5: The way that he can just spark a moment, like
• 35:00
  Speaker 5: he still is capable of dominating games and stretches. And
• 35:03
  Speaker 5: right before halftime and the most recent matchup, which of
• 35:05
  Speaker 5: course was the first loss of the season, unfortunate, but
• 35:07
  Speaker 5: him defensively being able to bring that level and kind
• 35:10
  Speaker 5: of flip that switch again, it's ridiculous. He's still doing
• 35:13
  Speaker 5: that at 41. He's mastered the game of basketball in
• 35:15
  Speaker 5: a way that I don't think anyone else ever truly
• 35:17
  Speaker 5: has like the different roles that he can play him
• 35:19
  Speaker 5: playing backup center, starting at center for the Sixers for
• 35:22
  Speaker 5: this Sixers team. being just such an advanced playmaker, feeding
• 35:25
  Speaker 5: Joel Embiid in different ways. So he's just been sort
• 35:29
  Speaker 5: of this Swiss army knife for what the Sixers need
• 35:31
  Speaker 5: in a way that I think it's a credit to
• 35:32
  Speaker 5: him for being willing to take on that role and
• 35:34
  Speaker 5: do whatever the team needs at this stage of his
• 35:36
  Speaker 5: career and all he's accomplished.
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: Incredible versatility and the ultimate facilitator for sure. Jalen Brown,
• 35:42
  Speaker 2: what has been the most fun aspect of his games
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: thus far in a Sixers uniform?
• 35:47
  Speaker 5: The defense has certainly popped to me from Jalen Brown's perspective.
• 35:50
  Speaker 5: And in particular against the Knicks, like him going one-on-one
• 35:53
  Speaker 5: with Jalen Brunson and Brunson not being capable of getting
• 35:55
  Speaker 5: an inch was awesome to see. And I think throughout
• 35:58
  Speaker 5: the years, we've seen the Sixers team have a weakness
• 36:00
  Speaker 5: with some of the high-level athletic wings. It's cool to
• 36:03
  Speaker 5: have a guy that can just go toe-to-toe with every
• 36:05
  Speaker 5: single one of those from an athletic standpoint, from a
• 36:07
  Speaker 5: physical standpoint. And there's just a toughness that he brings
• 36:10
  Speaker 5: to the table when he gets downhill, when he's attacking
• 36:12
  Speaker 5: the basket, it hasn't been the best Jalen Brown experience yet. Like,
• 36:16
  Speaker 5: I think he will play better basketball than we've seen,
• 36:18
  Speaker 5: but he's certainly like a tone setter with the energy
• 36:20
  Speaker 5: that he brings on the floor.
• 36:21
  Speaker 2: And what about VJ Edgecombe? What has been the most
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: fun aspect of his game thus far? Cause I love
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: seeing this guy grow.
• 36:28
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 36:28
  Speaker 5: To me, VJ Edgecombe is so vital to this team
• 36:30
  Speaker 5: from an energy standpoint that I think he's the tone
• 36:32
  Speaker 5: setter in that regard. Like He will certainly and already
• 36:35
  Speaker 5: has sort of taken a step back from a counting
• 36:38
  Speaker 5: status perspective. But ultimately, he's vital to this team. Like
• 36:41
  Speaker 5: the game that he missed, he was desperately missed out
• 36:43
  Speaker 5: there just from the standpoint of you need a guy
• 36:45
  Speaker 5: who is going to dive on the floor, get loose balls,
• 36:47
  Speaker 5: get those hustle rebounds. So he's sort of the guy
• 36:50
  Speaker 5: around the office that, you know, picks you up. And like,
• 36:52
  Speaker 5: I think that's who Vijay Edgecombe is to the Sixers team.
• 36:54
  Speaker 5: And I don't think they can reach their peak without
• 36:56
  Speaker 5: him being a vital part of this.
• 36:57
  Speaker 3: All right, Sean.
• 36:58
  Speaker 2: Well, before I let you go, buddy, the bench has
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: been certainly up and down this season.
• 37:04
  Speaker 3: It's an aspect of this.
• 37:05
  Speaker 2: Team that we really, really were looking forward to seeing again,
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: up and down play from the bench. What are your
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: thoughts on what the bench has actually given to this
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: team thus far or not given to the team yet?
• 37:17
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I had a lot of high hopes about this
• 37:18
  Speaker 5: would be a pretty deep team coming into the year.
• 37:20
  Speaker 5: Part of it is I think Nick Nurse just doesn't
• 37:22
  Speaker 5: have a lot of trust in these guys at this stage,
• 37:24
  Speaker 5: especially in the opening two games of the season. He
• 37:26
  Speaker 5: basically ran like a playoff rotation for the bench. That's
• 37:29
  Speaker 5: sort of a button that Nick Nurse likes to press of,
• 37:31
  Speaker 5: let me just play my best players longer than the
• 37:33
  Speaker 5: other coach will play theirs, and that's going to equate
• 37:35
  Speaker 5: to wins there. But I think Anthony Simons will have
• 37:38
  Speaker 5: his moments where he's a driving force in the production
• 37:40
  Speaker 5: for this team. They've got to figure out something from
• 37:42
  Speaker 5: the backup big rotation, but in fairness to the team, again, like,
• 37:45
  Speaker 5: In addition to, obviously, Eric Huckporty being out for the season,
• 37:48
  Speaker 5: Dominic Barlow hasn't been able to suit up yet. Jabari
• 37:50
  Speaker 5: Walker has missed some time. Taco Fall has not taken
• 37:53
  Speaker 5: the floor yet. So he's been a little bit limited.
• 37:56
  Speaker 5: I do think as these bodies get a little bit
• 37:57
  Speaker 5: more healthy, that we'll see a bit more positivity from
• 38:00
  Speaker 5: the bench. So Dean Wade, I think, will be a
• 38:02
  Speaker 5: fan favorite there.
• 38:03
  Speaker 6: There are guys I think will impact winning.
• 38:05
  Speaker 5: LeBaron Filon, I would like to see dusted out and
• 38:07
  Speaker 5: give it a little bit more of an expanded role.
• 38:08
  Speaker 6: So I like the individual pieces of this bench.
• 38:11
  Speaker 5: Unit, but it's pretty clear to me that they haven't
• 38:12
  Speaker 5: quite earned the trust of Nick Nurse just yet.
• 38:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah, long season, folks.
• 38:16
  Speaker 2: The Philadelphia 76ers are certainly going to be in the mix.
• 38:18
  Speaker 2: We're going to be talking about a lot more here
• 38:20
  Speaker 2: on the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show. He is Sean
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: Bernard from the DraftKings Network, CrossingBroad.com, also over at 97.5
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: The Fanatic. My friend, thanks so much for jumping on
• 38:32
  Speaker 2: this week. Always love talking ball with you. Let's do
• 38:34
  Speaker 2: it again in the future.
• 38:36
  Speaker 6: Absolutely. Appreciate you having me, Jeff, and anytime.
• 38:39
  Speaker 2: And that's going to do it for us this week.
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: Make sure to share the Philadelphia sports table podcast show
• 38:44
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• 38:46
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• 38:49
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• 38:53
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• 38:54
  Speaker 3: On your device.
• 38:55
  Speaker 2: We appreciate our guests taking the time to join us
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: every week to help make this podcast happen and to
• 39:01
  Speaker 2: give us great content. And ultimately we appreciate you take
• 39:05
  Speaker 2: care and have a great week and we'll catch you
• 39:07
  Speaker 2: next time.
• 39:19
  Speaker 6: Thank you.