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Are The Sixers A Top NBA Team? (PST Episode 542) · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

• 0:00
  Hey there, it's Jeff. I wanted to let you know that we recorded
• 0:02
  this podcast episode on Wednesday, November twenty ninth, twenty twenty three. By
• 0:07
  the time you hear this, some things may have changed, but we hope
• 0:09
  you enjoy the show. All right, everybody, you're listening to the Philadelphia
• 0:37
  Sports Table podcast show, the longest fronting weekly Philly sports podcast show in the
• 0:41
  world, over ten and a half years strong. Got a great show coming
• 0:45
  your way this week. I'm Jeff Warren. I'm here of my good buddy
• 0:48
  Eric Leonard. Eric Man, it's a good to talk to you, man.
• 0:52
  I know you're a tired boy tonight. I'm a little tired myself too
• 0:55
  as we're recording this Wednesday night. Here. Yeah, at basketball practice again
• 0:59
  tonight. I'm apparently a better coach than the Sixers coach because they're getting their
• 1:03
  asses handing to them down to the Carns. We won our first game last
• 1:07
  night, fifty eight to seven. I honestly like it's one of the worst
• 1:12
  things I've ever had to oversee as a coach. I almost wanted to call
• 1:15
  the game at a certain point and just be like, do you want to
• 1:19
  look at the other like the other team be like do you guys want to
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  keep doing this? Or like this is stupid? Right? How long did
• 1:23
  it take them to score? Uh? They I'm trying to think. Yeah,
• 1:29
  they had zero points at the first quarter, they scored at the beginning
• 1:32
  at a second and by then it was like twenty six to two or something.
• 1:37
  Yeah, yeah, it was. It was. It was one of
• 1:40
  those games like the kids didn't they weren't prepared at all. They had no
• 1:42
  plays, they didn't know where to be on defense. Somehow, the one
• 1:46
  kid's number was backwards on his jersey. What, Yeah, it was.
• 1:49
  It was my It was really bizarre. Me and two of my kids were
• 1:53
  standing there and the other team walked by us and this kid at thirty three
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  and it was reversed like it was in a mirror. Oh my god,
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  and all me and and Jake and Blake. We looked at each other and
• 2:01
  went, was that backwards? What? How? And we thought the whole
• 2:06
  team was backwards, like nope, just him And that should have been a
• 2:08
  sign right there that we played what was basically a handicapped team. I guess,
• 2:14
  my guess. They were normal kids and they were two were crying by
• 2:17
  the end of the game and they were yelling each other and it's yeah,
• 2:21
  youth league sports man, it's it's the best. Did you ever did you
• 2:24
  look over at their their coach at any point in the game and was his
• 2:28
  head like in his hands where he just had no clue what he should be
• 2:31
  doing, or was there any indication for him that he was like, my
• 2:37
  god, what is happening here with my life? He was he was really
• 2:42
  quiet most of the game. A couple of times he hopped up and yelled,
• 2:45
  and I was kind of like, dude, none of these kids know
• 2:47
  how to play, like right, like this is your fault kind of,
• 2:52
  but I felt horrible for the whole time. But I was coaching like hard
• 2:58
  and yelling to the point where I was like, is this guy is this
• 3:00
  guy going to get pissed in me, like like I'm showing him up or
• 3:04
  something. That's just how I coach. And then with the score the way
• 3:07
  it was, Jesus, yeah, I know. And I even like kind
• 3:10
  of held back the kids and it's still it was just it was they were
• 3:14
  just bad. But the best part was I think we were up like forty
• 3:17
  seven to five in the third quarter and one of my kids kind of traveled.
• 3:23
  You know, the ref could have called it, and all of a
• 3:25
  sudden, the other coach in the third quarters because the walk like a walk
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  up Like he's like one of my kids traveled, and like the ref didn't
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  called he was. It was barely a two and a half step. It
• 3:39
  wasn't that it wasn't that bad, right, I just liked that he called
• 3:42
  it a walk to travel. It was just funny. It was of all
• 3:46
  the plays, we're up forty two points, and that's the one that sent
• 3:49
  him off. That was the one where he had veins puffing out of his
• 3:52
  forehead. He's like, oh, the walk, like that was the play,
• 3:55
  dude, that's the when it got you. Oh my god, holy
• 3:59
  cat. Wow. I just I you're doing this, and that you've been
• 4:03
  doing this now for the past few years. I just don't know how you
• 4:06
  do I really don't know how you do this. I don't know how you
• 4:10
  do it, man. And I've never been on the other end of that
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  where like I've had teams that got their asses handed to them, but like
• 4:15
  they actually my kids actually tried and we're like kind of prepared. Yeah,
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  I've never had it. I never had kids who were just like one.
• 4:23
  You know, two of the kids are just standing on the court with their
• 4:25
  hands down on their sides. Yeah, like not even prepared to catch a
• 4:28
  ball. Like, I don't know how you coach that. But good first
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  game, great, great learning experience. Congratulations. Yeah, I told him.
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  I told I told them tonight to practice. Said, hey, that
• 4:40
  was a fun first game. That game does not exist there you go from
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  your memory banks, that was ridiculous. You'll never play a team like that
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  again. And yeah, play again on Sunday. So all right, getting
• 4:50
  them ready for the next week. You know, I love that. That's
• 4:53
  that's a sports mentality there, buddy. You know what, what's in the
• 4:56
  past is in the past. We're looking to the future. Look into the
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  future. Yep. And all they talked about the whole practice then was how
• 5:02
  they won by fifty points. So one ear in, one ear out the
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  other. With all that, but this is a group. They're a good
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  group. Like this is actually like I told my wife like that, these
• 5:15
  kuds are like this is legit fun. Nice. I'll just say this now.
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  I told I told wife this tonight. They are obsessed with the number
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  sixty nine. They don't know what it means, I know, they don't
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  really okay, but they they yell at constantly when I'm like, what's the
• 5:33
  score? Sixty six? Like you guys don't even know you saw it on
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  YouTube right at some point and now it's a thing, and I swear it's
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  it. They they are. They are completely obsessed with the number, and
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  I'm just like, oh, someday so and then at first they're probably I'm
• 5:55
  like, no clue exactly. At first, they're probably when they learned what
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  it is, they're probably gonna be like, oh yeah, And I've been
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  screaming that since since fourth grade, right, Yeah. I desperately needed these
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  laughs. I really did. Man. I needed a little something like your
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  first game of the season. The story is the sixty nine also, man,
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  because like we started, we started this podcast like we're supposed to start
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  fifteen minutes ago, and man, I was tucking the twins in. My
• 6:24
  wife and I were tucking the twins in, and there is just so much
• 6:28
  drama with seventh graders. Eric, Oh my god, I mean, you
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  you have a daughter, who, by the way, just got her driver's
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  license. Congratulations to your daughter, and congratulations to you. Yep, so
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  it's you. You know you've gone through, you know, the preteen teenage
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  years, and my god, the drama, and like, I genuinely feel
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  like sad for my kids just because of the way other kids treat them and
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  just how they get like just just stupid, stupid shit happening. And it's
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  like it's mind boggling, it really is. And like I just they're just
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  like they can get so down and everything, and I was just I desperately
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  needed the sixty nine talk for sure, because I'm talking to my daughters before.
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  Yeah, like I said, as we're tucking them in, and it's
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  just like sad, just like rumors of this boy liking this girl and and
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  just making up lies and stuff like that. It's nonsense, but it affects
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  the kid. It affects kids, it really does. And it's just it's
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  sad when it's your kids because they're they're sensitive kids, they care about others,
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  they're empathetic kids, and those are the kids that are always affected by
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  it. Oh for sure, my daughter went through that same thing. And
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  what's funny to think I don't not trying to make humorous or anything or light
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  of it, No, please do. Half My team is only like two
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  years younger than the girl. Your girls. Yeah, and you just say
• 7:54
  the word weener in front of them and they fall down laughing on the ground.
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  I said, I said, someone said someone was being a Wiener tonight
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  at practice because they were kind of being a win and they went in and
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  the whole team wong wong like making. I was just like, oh my
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  god, weaner Wiener pointing down. I was just like, oh my god,
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  we practiced had a church tonight. By the way, they're screaming Wiener
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  sixty nine at the Farlyn Church in Clonic about pencil. I love it.
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  I absolutely love it. It's just what you said, like your your daughter
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  during seventh grade and the drums. It's a different level, but like they're
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  only two years away from that, and there they are, twenty years maturity
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  wise behind your your daughters. Yes, oh my god, I need I
• 8:43
  needed that though. I needed the Wiener, I needed the Wiener talk the
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  sixty nine. I needed that. Oh well, I'm glad things are going
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  well for you right out of the gate with with basketball, Buddy. Very
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  happy for you about that. And I'm also happy about the show that we
• 8:58
  got this week. Man, we got a lot Eagles talk and some NFL
• 9:01
  talk that we're gonna get into. And I'm gonna tell everybody this right now,
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  there's been something on my mind for a little while, and we are.
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  Yes, we're gonna dive into some social based stuff on the show right
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  as we get into some Eagles and NFL talk right off the bat. So
• 9:15
  if you don't want to hear it, just just go right through it and
• 9:18
  just hit that hit that forward button, because we're gonna get into some social
• 9:22
  stuff with regard to Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL. And then we had a
• 9:26
  new segment that we are gonna be introducing. It is called shoot Them Off
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  a DM. If you had the opportunity to DM anyone in the world of
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  Philly sports about anything, who would you DM and what would that DM be?
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  And then from there, we're gonna take a look at the NBA Eastern
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  Conference how that's shaping up sixers or well as of us recording this right now.
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  I know they're playing New Orleans and they're getting it shoved right up their
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  butts, but they're fourth right now in the East as of us recording this.
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  And then we're gonna be talking to Sean Bernard from Fox Sports, The
• 9:58
  Gambler and Philly and pickswap me to talk about this Philadelphia Sixers team in a
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  lot more detail. So great show coming here, and like I said,
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  you know, we're gonna get into a social thing right off the bat here.
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  Eric, I wanted to put this on our agenda for this particular show
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  because it's something I've been giving a lot of thought to. And I don't
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  know why I've been given a lot of thought to it. It's just something
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  that's been in my brain, probably because of certain brothers in the world of
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  football who are just at the top of their game. They are at the
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  top of the public relations game as well, and that's the Kelsey brothers.
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  And I'm gonna put this out there. I put on Twitter feed too.
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  I love Jason kelce I love him. I'm always gonna love him. He
• 10:43
  is fantastic in terms of Eagles football, what he has meant to not only
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  this team, but other teams, the Super Bowl team, just his tenure
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  in Philly. He's awesome. He's awesome. We all love Jason kelcey,
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  but dude, I am getting so tired of the Kelsey brothers in general,
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  as we are just at the height of this media darling narrative where they can
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  do no wrong. The Travis Kelcey Taylor Swift stuff that that that that continues
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  to flood our feeds on social media whenever you're watching games on TV, whether
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  or not, you know, I mean, even in highlights, even Travis
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  Kelcey highlights, they're showing Taylor Swift up in the up in the box seats
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  if she's there. But like something I've been wondering, I wonder if this
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  type of media darling narrative would be happening if the Kelsey brothers were black.
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  I don't know if other folks have actually thought about that now, I don't
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  know, seriously. Maybe it's because of the world of which that I work
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  in, in the foster care world and throughout the foster care world, there
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  is a just disproportionate number of foster youth who are who are black and who
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  are minorities. And it's something that you know, I think about a decent
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  amount, maybe because of my work, But you know, I go back
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  to the time in the NFL when there were two brothers who were who are
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  twins by the way, playing in the league, and and I remember,
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  you know, every now and then there would be stories about them, especially
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  if they're teams played against each other or and rightfully so and and that is
• 12:20
  Tiki and Rendez Barber. And I don't ever remember a time when Tiki and
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  Ronde got the amount of coverage and just the allure of two brothers being in
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  the NFL and what you know, I guess one wasn't going to be named
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  the sexiest man alive as Jason Kelcey was on that that list of being potentially
• 12:43
  named that in Travis Kelcey, uh, you know, dating the most famous
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  person in the world who is now a billionaire of the most famous musician in
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  the world. Of course, that didn't happen with Tiki or Rendez Barber either,
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  so I but still I do want if the media and just the consumption
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  of what is on our Twitter feeds our you know, whether you're on threads
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  or whether you're on Facebook or whatever social media platform you're on, Like I
• 13:13
  just it's constantly in front of our faces. And again, I'm just wondering
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  if the Kelsey brothers were black, if this coverage and allure would be what
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  it actually is today. I don't know, buddy, if you've given this
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  any thought at all. I don't know. Again, maybe it's because of
• 13:30
  the world in which I work in, But I'm wondering you have you thought
• 13:33
  about this at all? No, I mean, the one thing I have
• 13:37
  thought about is just how weird, how weird the NFL can be sometimes in
• 13:43
  terms of trying to gain popularity. You know, it's long been by a
• 13:48
  lot of the old, the old NFL heads that you know, I like
• 13:52
  it back when we could kill each other kind of guys. Yeah, they've
• 13:56
  the NFL has tried really hard to kind of pull away away from that image
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  and kind of go more of a family thing and try to get you know,
• 14:03
  let's just be blunt and like transparent here, Like we'll just use TERMINOTGI
• 14:09
  like you want your white Midwestern mothers to watch the game, right, Like
• 14:15
  they were never part of the marketing for the NFL up until like ever we
• 14:18
  ten, fifteen years ago, whatever it was. But doing these reality shows
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  like like Hard Knocks was definitely for guys like you and I right, absolutely
• 14:28
  in real NFL fans, But like the Kelsey reality show and I'm sorry,
• 14:35
  oh my god, Travis and Jason, Yeah, yeah, Travis dating the
• 14:41
  most most popular woman in the person in the world that is right up,
• 14:46
  Like that's how you get everybody, let's just face it, like the taking
• 14:52
  a lot of white people to care about the sport right necessarly care about the
• 14:56
  NFL. That what I will say is if you, if you, if
• 15:00
  you drew an equivalency here and you swap the races out, like say you
• 15:03
  had to Ronda and Tikira a little a little difficult because they weren't dating anyone
• 15:07
  super famous. I don't think they're both Hall of famers like the Kelsey brothers
• 15:11
  are. That's a good point. Ye, So if you say you took
• 15:16
  it, say Jalen Hurts was dating give me what ice spice? Right?
• 15:20
  Yeah, like one of the one of the hottest African American rap artists out
• 15:26
  there and right now, uh, say Jalen Hurts was dating her. And
• 15:28
  Jalen Hurts's twin brother was a wide receiver for the New York Giants and he
• 15:35
  was awesome. He was like Odell Beckham popular back in like what what was
• 15:39
  it Beckham like when he did the one hand to catch and he was the
• 15:41
  most popular received it was like six years ago. Yeah, yeah, so
• 15:46
  say say say that happens. You're two of the biggest markets. You got
• 15:50
  two really good looking Like Jalen Hurts is a good looking guy, right,
• 15:52
  Like the Kelsey brothers have kind of this, you know, like Jason Kelcey
• 15:58
  is beloved by house moms everywhere, and Travis Kelsey is now like beloved by
• 16:07
  what are they called now the swifties. The Swifties, Yes, they love
• 16:11
  them. So I feel like, if you had Jalen Hurts, Kalen Hurts,
• 16:17
  we'll call this twin brother is a star receiver in the biggest market in
• 16:21
  the world, and Jalen is in Philly and he's the top quarterback in the
• 16:23
  league, MVP candidate, and he's dating Ice Spice. I feel like,
• 16:27
  no, you're probably going to get the same You're not going to get the
• 16:30
  same attention that you're looking for the Kelsey brothers. But there's so many markets
• 16:37
  now with social media like that have expanded in a good way, right Like.
• 16:45
  I remember the first time I ever heard the term black Twitter, and
• 16:48
  I was like, oh, Okay, there's like a whole nother world out
• 16:52
  there of Twitter I didn't even know existed. And I started following accounts and
• 16:56
  I'm like that tweet just got sixty five thousand likes in two minutes and I
• 17:02
  had no idea. I don't know who this person is, but it's funny,
• 17:04
  and like I just and like that there are there's absolute markets of like
• 17:08
  there's the hipster market. Now you have the African American market in different age
• 17:12
  groups, right, And I feel like I feel like something like that which
• 17:17
  a little more high profile considering the positions too, like the quarterback and the
• 17:21
  receiver right right, and and dating someone like I spice, who's my mom
• 17:26
  doesn't know who that is, but she knows who Taylor Swift is, right,
• 17:30
  Like you would you would get you would get a corner of the market
• 17:34
  that'd be really huge and profitable. And I think it would be just as
• 17:40
  big, if not bigger, with the younger crowd that you probably want to
• 17:44
  start drawing into the NFL. Anyway, I'm just trying to say, like
• 17:48
  I think if you changed the races of the Kelsey brothers, it would it
• 17:52
  would be it would change, it would be different. But if you just
• 17:55
  kind of draw on eccluding like I just did, ye could probably have the
• 17:59
  same level of importance and popularity. And I think that's interesting. Yeah,
• 18:02
  yeah, yeah, I think that. I think that's interesting. I mean
• 18:03
  I also look at it from the standpoint of who and who their mother is
• 18:08
  as well. And what I mean by that is, I don't know if
• 18:11
  a lot of people know she's actually under contract by the NFL as like an
• 18:15
  official NFL ambassador, travels all throughout the world promoting the NFL, promoting the
• 18:22
  brand, and of course, you know it's it's a smart move by the
• 18:25
  NFL. They want to take they want to take the story of the Kelsey
• 18:29
  brothers that uh cracking a beer right there? Is that what that was?
• 18:32
  Yes, it was fantastic, great, Yes, difficulty sixty nine and Wieners.
• 18:40
  Yeah. But anyway, getting back to the conversation here, like you
• 18:45
  know she is, you know she like you're saying, this Midwestern mom who
• 18:51
  is traveling the world talking about her sons and what they mean to the world
• 18:56
  of football, and it kind of just works in this media narrative. And
• 19:00
  I wonder if I wonder if she was a black woman coming from the Midwest
• 19:02
  too, if it would if it would have the same type of impact.
• 19:06
  I don't think so, But I think it's interesting what you talked about the
• 19:10
  correlation that that that you made like in certain sectors of the world and specifically
• 19:15
  the online world. Yeah, it would probably work. Well, Okay,
• 19:19
  we've had We've had really we've had really famous moms in Philadelphia by the way,
• 19:26
  McNab's mom, Yeah, McNab's mom mom. Yeah, they were huge
• 19:33
  for a long time. McNab's mom was in those chunky campbell what was it
• 19:36
  Campbell's soup. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. AI's mom was at every
• 19:40
  game on court side. She got interviewed all the time by the sideline press.
• 19:45
  So this is not the first time. I'm not sure. Let's rank
• 19:49
  it now, is Kelsey's mom the biggest mom in Philadelphia sports history? I
• 19:55
  actually go with Ai AI's mom for sure. Yeah, because this is still
• 19:59
  new. This is the Kelsey Brothers thing. Like I said, this is
• 20:02
  just like this season where it is crazy. So it's still kind of new.
• 20:07
  But you're absolutely right, AI's mom and then I was then probably McNabb's
• 20:12
  mom at this point, and then the Kelsey's mom at this point. But
• 20:18
  I think that is again, this is very this is still very new,
• 20:22
  you know, this is only I feel like this is only like a month
• 20:26
  a month and a half old at this point. Well, and if this
• 20:30
  the Taylor Swift thing falls through and it goes back to just kind of being
• 20:34
  what it was before, which it will. Yeah, I's not gonna you
• 20:38
  know. And there's there's all these rumors of like this being set up by
• 20:42
  the NFL that these two are dating, right, like all kinds of different,
• 20:45
  weird whatever. I don't care about that stuff, right, neither do
• 20:48
  I. But I do feel like you could have You could have a McNab
• 20:52
  type mom in the situation that I laid out, and she probably be just
• 20:57
  it probably just as important and probably higher the NFL to be a spokesperson as
• 21:00
  well. Yeah, if she had that kind of down home like McNabb's mom
• 21:04
  was, Like, I felt like you could go to her house back in
• 21:07
  the day and she'd give you some sunny d some chunk soup and give you
• 21:11
  a big hug. And she had that feel not unlike the kelsey mon right
• 21:14
  right. Yeah, maybe I'm wrong about this here. I don't know.
• 21:17
  I'd love to get people's thoughts out there, Philadelphia Sports Table at gmail dot
• 21:19
  com. I'd love to hear from you on this particular narrative. We'd like
• 21:23
  talking social type of subject matters every now and then, we'd love to hear
• 21:27
  from you. So let's get into this Philadelphia Eagles team though here Eric,
• 21:32
  because the Eagles are ten and one, there's this national narrative going on right
• 21:37
  now saying that they're the worst ten and one team ever and they've simply been
• 21:42
  lucky. They've been lucky. Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys, everybody is kissing
• 21:48
  their ass. They haven't beaten a team to share with a record over five
• 21:52
  hundred. It's amazing to me how certain media narratives work in the world of
• 21:57
  sports. And I'm not just talking in Philly sports, just the world of
• 22:00
  sports in general. We were just talking about it with regard to the Kelsey
• 22:03
  brothers, But this is an actual NFL team who has the best record in
• 22:07
  the league ten and one, and there's a national narrative out there. It's
• 22:12
  not that everybody is agreeing with it, but there's a narrative out there that
• 22:15
  this Eagles team has just gotten lucky because they've been in some close games.
• 22:21
  Okay, you know, good football teams win close games. I don't know.
• 22:25
  I've been watching football my whole life. That's what we've kind of prerequisite.
• 22:29
  Yeah, exactly, It's what we've come to know. But I don't
• 22:32
  know what are your thoughts about the narrative? What are your thoughts about even
• 22:36
  with regard to the Cowboys, because like, the Eagles are going to be
• 22:37
  playing the Cowboys after this forty nine Ers game, and you know, they're
• 22:41
  going down to Dallas. To be honest, I think they will probably lose
• 22:45
  because they beat them in Philly. And we know how these NFC NFC East
• 22:49
  matchups go, and specifically with the Cowboys, it's like it's always a split
• 22:53
  basically, And I don't know what are your thoughts on this narrative? Here?
• 23:00
  Fuck the narrative. I'll just go right out. It's just stupid.
• 23:03
  The Dallas talk is just your typical ESPN morning show. We have nothing else
• 23:07
  to talk about, horseship, It's it's a joke. I'm looking at the
• 23:11
  league right now, League standings, top eight teams, right yeah, Baltimore,
• 23:15
  Casey, San Fran, Detroit, Jackson, Built, Miami, Dallas.
• 23:18
  We beat three of those teams already. Yeah. Yeah, we have
• 23:22
  Dallas, Miami, and Kansas City. We have sand Fran this weekend.
• 23:26
  If we if we beat them, we will beat eleven and one, and
• 23:30
  we'll have beaten over half of the top eight teams. Yes, that we're
• 23:33
  in front of us. That's the end of the argument. That's that's so
• 23:37
  stupid, Like freaking Josh Allen was Superman on Sunday. Yeah, like he
• 23:45
  had some bad passes, but he outplayed Jalen Hurts overall. I watched the
• 23:48
  game, Okay, Like, I'm not gonna lie. He was a he
• 23:52
  was the better player from first first quarter through overtime. He just was.
• 23:57
  But in the end they pulled it out. And like, isn't that kind
• 24:03
  of what the Patriots have always were? And I'm not comparing us to the
• 24:06
  like the elite Patriot teams of the you know, the two thousands, but
• 24:08
  like that's what they were known for. They would hang. They rarely blewe
• 24:12
  teams out. Two thousand and seven was kind of an an outlier season for
• 24:15
  them. Yeah, for the most part, they want a shit ton of
• 24:18
  twenty four to twenty one games, you know, twenty eight to twenty four
• 24:22
  like they went. But they won those games because they were coached well,
• 24:26
  they just had better talent. They had better offensive line, great defense,
• 24:30
  great great making places at the right time. Kind of defenses and that's what
• 24:34
  this team is. It's just it's so flat out easy to understand if you
• 24:38
  understand the history of football. And I just there's so many outlets now media
• 24:44
  wise that people just need something to talk about. Here's the problem with the
• 24:48
  Eagles, And I don't agree with it, but I think nationally they're boring.
• 24:52
  That push push is kind of a I thought about a couple weeks ago
• 24:56
  on the show. Yes, it hearkens back like the nineteen forties of football,
• 25:02
  where you just kind of line up push forward, and but that's they
• 25:04
  do it well and it's a legal play. But I think people get sick
• 25:08
  of it. It's the talking point piece is kind of boring. So we
• 25:14
  have to kind of, well, all these eight teams, who's the most
• 25:18
  fun to talk about? Well, it's Dallas, right, Yeah, No
• 25:21
  one gives a shit about Jacksonville, No one cares about Baltimore, really Detroit.
• 25:26
  Detroit's a nice story, but Dallas will always be the narrative if they're
• 25:30
  in the top eight or ten. And that's just what they have to go
• 25:32
  with because honestly, without like take out aj Brown and take out some of
• 25:37
  the stuff that Jalen Carter does, and that Jalen hurts that, like,
• 25:41
  the Eagles are kind of boring, but they're a ten to one boring team.
• 25:45
  I'll take it any day of the fucking week. All of you media
• 25:49
  idiots out there, Yeah, talk about the Cowboys exactly. You know,
• 25:53
  I think the fact that and some people have been talking about this too,
• 25:57
  but the fact that whether it's Nick Seirian, you know, or just the
• 26:00
  the offensive minds that are on that team with the whole tush push brotherly shove
• 26:06
  thing, the fact of the matter is the Philadelphia Eagles are helping to revolutionize
• 26:11
  and yes I use that word revolutionize the fact that you can actually only need
• 26:18
  nine yards to get a first down. That's what That's what they have done,
• 26:22
  and that is significant. The fact that a football a professional football team
• 26:29
  only needs nine yards basically now in order to automatically get a first down,
• 26:34
  because you know that third and one or that fourth and one is basically automatic
• 26:41
  at this point, that itself is incredible to me. And as boring as
• 26:45
  the tush push is, you know, that brotherly shove, it's not fun
• 26:49
  necessarily. I mean it's fun when when when it's right, when it's done
• 26:53
  and you're like, of course they got it, Yes, of course you
• 26:56
  know. And now we're coming becoming so used to it where it's just so
• 27:00
  automatic. The fact that it is so automatic you only need nine yards to
• 27:03
  get a first down in the league, that is incredible. It is remarkable
• 27:08
  to me, and the Philadelphia Eagles have revolutionized that in the game of professional
• 27:12
  football. Now, somebody, at some point in time is going to figure
• 27:17
  out how to stop it. I guarantee you teams are looking at how to
• 27:22
  actually do it from a physics standpoint. Hasn't hasn't happened yet, of course,
• 27:27
  as we know, but it will at some point, I believe,
• 27:32
  just like everything does. You know, there's always changes and alterations to this
• 27:34
  game. Things get figured out. When teams are doing something well, other
• 27:40
  teams figure it out, other organizations figure it out. But I think that
• 27:42
  that is a significant storyline with regard to this Philadelphia Eagles team that I don't
• 27:47
  think it's enough talk about. Yes, the push push itself gets talked about,
• 27:52
  but the fact that you only need nine yards basically to get a first
• 27:55
  down, that's incredible. Eric all the teams pointing their fingers at the ears,
• 28:00
  should the GM should take their finger and point it right back in themselves
• 28:03
  and go, maybe I should draft better offensive linemen. Maybe I should get
• 28:07
  an awesome offensive line the Eagles have and a quarterback with thighs that can you
• 28:12
  know whatever, he can can press whatever, you know, like eight hundred
• 28:15
  pounds or whatever it is. But here I will make this argument four on
• 28:22
  their behalf. Just Okay, So Jalen Hurts probably is one of the most
• 28:27
  boring borderline MVP candidates in a long time. Okay, he has two thousand
• 28:33
  and six he has twenty seven hundred yards passing, eighteen touchdowns, ten interceptions,
• 28:37
  and he's only rushed for four hundred and ten yards. He has eleven
• 28:40
  touchdowns rushing. Though, right, that narrative of him being an MVP,
• 28:45
  I can see the argument of maybe maybe a Tyreek Hill should win this year,
• 28:49
  Right, maybe another position player should win outside of a quarterback because he
• 28:55
  hasn't been like phenomenal like Tom Brady kind of numbers like over the air,
• 29:00
  right, yeah, over the air. So this is it's basically a quarterback
• 29:06
  award at this point, and he he hasn't been the best in the air.
• 29:08
  But the rest of the team too, is kind of I'm just gonna
• 29:11
  say they're kind of DeAndre Swift seven hundred seventy yards rushing, right, Kenneth
• 29:15
  gain Well, he run, he has a couple of really nice touchdowns this
• 29:18
  year, But does anyone care nationally right outside of aj Brown, like DeVante
• 29:26
  Smith seven hundred thirty eight yards receiving, or tight end who's supposed to like
• 29:29
  take over the league this year four hundred and ten yards receiving. It's it's
• 29:33
  not it's not fun to watch if you're not an Eagles fan. Honestly,
• 29:37
  if you like football, sure I get it. It is amazing that you're
• 29:40
  basically first and nine on every drive. Yeah, that's that is awesome.
• 29:44
  But for your run of the mill NFL fans and like love this stuff it
• 29:49
  gets really into it, that might be kind of boring. Where you look
• 29:53
  at a Justin Herbert and you're like his event stats are the nerd stuff.
• 30:00
  Okay, what's this team? Yeah, record five and six and you look
• 30:03
  like shit the last two like go ahead and slobber over him. It's fine,
• 30:07
  they're they're they're a five and six team. Like, I'll take this
• 30:11
  any day, but I will say it's not sexy at you know what you
• 30:15
  make. You make a very good point. You make a very very good
• 30:18
  point, and we'd love to hear from you out there as well. Philadelphia
• 30:21
  Sports Table at gmail dot com. Let us know what you're thinking about this
• 30:23
  Eagles team and what we've been talking about here on the show. If you've
• 30:27
  been enjoying the content and you're new to listening to us, subscribe. And
• 30:32
  we also have our website, Philadelphia Sports Table dot com where you can check
• 30:36
  out our PSD special shows that we've put up over the years, some great
• 30:40
  movie reviews, along with some music talk here and there. And like I
• 30:44
  said, email us any topic doesn't matter what it is, you know,
• 30:48
  even the color of our underpants. How about that? Yeah, you can
• 30:52
  email us. I'm kidding. Should we talk about that? My basketball team
• 30:56
  would love ool wiener. Yes. Follow us on the Twitter dot com at
• 31:06
  Philadelphia PSD. You can follow Eric at Brickpollot, follow me at Jeffrey Underscore
• 31:11
  Warren. I am on threads. Been doing a little bit more of there,
• 31:14
  mister jeff Warren. Obviously it's my Instagram handle as well. That's gonna
• 31:19
  do it for us before this break that we're going to be taken here to
• 31:22
  pay some bills. We will be right back. All right, we are
• 31:26
  back, Eric. We're introducing a new segment here at the PSD podcast show.
• 31:33
  It's called shoot Them Off a DM. If we had the opportunity to
• 31:36
  DM anyone in the world of Philly sports about anything, who would we DM
• 31:41
  to get a response? And we would get the response back from that individual,
• 31:45
  okay, or organization? And what would that DM be? So that's
• 31:49
  the key. We would DM somebody get that we actually do get a response
• 31:53
  from them, and I'm wondering what that would be. I'm gonna start off
• 31:56
  with you, buddy, shoot them off a DM. Who are you dming
• 32:00
  about? What would it be? And what kind of response do you want
• 32:04
  from them? Can we change it to slide into their dms? Oh?
• 32:07
  Yeah, isn't there a commercial that's like, Oh, I'd like to slide
• 32:10
  in your dms? That sounds like fun? Oh I hate intern commercials or
• 32:15
  whatever that is, but that one is legit funny with the guys like that
• 32:17
  sounds like a lot of fun. It actually is. But I just I
• 32:22
  heard that term a couple of years ago, and I'm like, that is
• 32:24
  such a slippery weird. It's a great term for it. Yeah, yep,
• 32:29
  yeah, but my mine would be having just started coaching basketball again,
• 32:34
  but like kind of a higher level, not like rec league basketball travel where
• 32:37
  you practice two to three times a week and you have game, you know,
• 32:40
  sixteen game schedule. I would absolutely DM Nick Nurse and just say,
• 32:46
  how the fuck do you do it? Like I have a full time job,
• 32:51
  and my god, I'm not even I'm not even comparing myself to the
• 32:54
  man, But how do you coach every day? And how are you on
• 32:59
  top your game all the time? Yeah? How do you do pressers?
• 33:02
  How do you do pregame postgame interviews? Like the NFL's what like the NFL's
• 33:07
  Nick Sirianni has a hard job, but I feel like there's so many people
• 33:12
  in house that could like take take some stuff off his plate. Not the
• 33:15
  Dick Nurse doesn't have that, but that just feels like the head coach of
• 33:19
  a basketball team, an NBA team is just seems like the hardest one of
• 33:22
  the hardest jobs in sports for me. Well, especially when you have a
• 33:27
  superstar on your team with such a huge personality and somebody who is you know,
• 33:32
  somebody who helps to dictate perhaps what the future of the team is going
• 33:37
  to be like well, and Doc River has caught a lot of shit as
• 33:42
  a Sixers coach. I think he did the best job he could have with
• 33:45
  Harden and n Beat on the same team like that, that could not have
• 33:50
  been easy. Yeah, I'll give Doc that, and just to have one
• 33:53
  you know, Nick Nurse isn't a better spot than he was, for sure,
• 33:55
  because MAXI is a superstar at this point, but not at the level
• 34:00
  of EMBD, whose mood could swing in the entire personality the team could change
• 34:06
  based on that swing. Yeah, But just dealing with those personalities and just
• 34:10
  staying on top of your role players and like grooming the younger guys that come
• 34:16
  off the bench and grooming the guys that are like thirty three years old,
• 34:20
  like Robert Covington, to just produce and play his hardest and like this is
• 34:23
  your new role. And then just to deal with like all this stuff that
• 34:29
  goes around it. There's constant press conferences and I having to and I'm sure
• 34:34
  he has to do meet and Greece before games with important people, and I
• 34:37
  just don't I have a hard time ten fifth and fourth graders, dude,
• 34:43
  I can't imagine and then their parents, or is a whole other thing.
• 34:45
  He has more than parents, He has thirty thousand people in the game right
• 34:51
  screaming all the time, and like god knows what else is going on the
• 34:53
  entourages. I can't imagine what that's like dealing with that. I would love
• 34:59
  to be like, just simply, how do you do it? Can you?
• 35:02
  Can you sparse it down into like terms that me coaching a fifth grade
• 35:07
  basketball team could understand. I think I think that's great. I think that's
• 35:12
  great in terms of, you know, a subject matter where we all do
• 35:17
  things in our lives. You're coaching, you know, you're coaching these type
• 35:22
  of kids, and you're like, oh my gosh, how does how does
• 35:23
  somebody do it? You know, you know, for me as somebody who
• 35:28
  you know every now and again, you know, I actually record and write
• 35:31
  some music in my little studio area here and Eric, there are times I've
• 35:36
  often thought, you know, and it used to be in our buddy Dave's
• 35:38
  band back in the day, back in the college days, or in post
• 35:43
  college as well, and I would there are times when I think to myself,
• 35:47
  how could I ever be in a band? How do these guys do
• 35:50
  it? Like like in a serious way, because the band is not just
• 35:54
  about the band and playing music as a career. Yes, as a career,
• 35:59
  it's not just about playing music because it becomes a business after a while
• 36:01
  if you are successful, if the band is successful. It's not just a
• 36:05
  band. It's not just about recording music. It's not just about playing music.
• 36:08
  It's not just about coming up with concepts and music themes. It's it's
• 36:15
  more than that. It's about the business of making music and making sure that
• 36:20
  you're doing everything to monetize your art form. And like, I've actually thought
• 36:23
  about that from a music standpoint, like how do these guys do it?
• 36:27
  I'm such a nerd. I will watch YouTube videos about like go going deep
• 36:31
  inside the music industry as well, and there are times when I'm like,
• 36:36
  how do these people do it? You know, it's not just them getting
• 36:38
  on stage with all the lights and the smoke machines and you know, flames
• 36:43
  coming out of the stage. It is a grueling process of touring, of
• 36:47
  being in a studio, trying to take your art form and keep it as
• 36:53
  honest as it can be so and some bands fail miserably with it, but
• 36:59
  just having to do that for a living as your profession, Like I couldn't
• 37:02
  do it in that same vein you're talking about Nick Nurse with the experiences you've
• 37:07
  had with kids, it's it's it's interesting to put and to have that perspective,
• 37:13
  you know, you put yourself in another persons shoes, and the perspective
• 37:15
  it's it's pretty it's pretty remarkable. I wouldn't know how he does it.
• 37:20
  And for your point, for music wise, there was that Metallica documentary back
• 37:25
  in like you know four where they kind of went to therapy a little bit.
• 37:30
  Yeah, try to figure this not a great movie, and you know,
• 37:34
  they came off a little not the best. I'll say, yes,
• 37:37
  the members of the band. But what what I did like about that movie
• 37:40
  going back and watching a couple of times, is like just seeing the machine
• 37:45
  that is behind the band and like how those guys try to navigate through it.
• 37:50
  Some deal with it pretty well. Kirk Hammitt probably dealing with the best.
• 37:53
  Jason Newstead not the best kind of you know, left I mean,
• 37:59
  Lars just, oh my god, what a douchebag in the movie. But
• 38:01
  at the same time, it's like you you do see you do see artists
• 38:07
  struggling with I want to I want to create art, whether it be art
• 38:12
  and Lars's uh you know in his example in that movie, but also he
• 38:16
  makes music. And then you're dealing with humans like not unlike this Nick Nurse
• 38:22
  and Joel and being his players, like you had to deal with Field and
• 38:25
  his his alcoholic alcohol struggles, and like we're all human, we all have
• 38:31
  our own things and to try and keep the apparatus going with all of that
• 38:37
  shit going on and trying to make art on top of it because you are
• 38:39
  an artist. But also like, but you also know, like this is
• 38:43
  a we employe what five hundred people, It is a business. It's a
• 38:46
  business. I don't know how that works. That that is really difficult to
• 38:52
  keep together, not unlike Nick Nurse and like a six Ers organization. Yeah,
• 38:55
  it's it's it's it's a really it's a really interesting time topic for sure,
• 39:00
  And for me, if I got to slide into somebody's DMS, Eric,
• 39:05
  I can't believe we're both talking about the Sixers here. I'd love to
• 39:08
  slide right into Joe El Embiid's DMS, get a response from him on how
• 39:15
  he's really thinking right now, how is he thinking about his long term future
• 39:19
  and is it going to be in Philadelphia. I'd love to get that answer.
• 39:23
  And I know we're only we're heading into December here with this particular season,
• 39:29
  but I think whether I don't know, if he had the feelings that
• 39:32
  this season was not going to be all that great. I know we certainly
• 39:37
  did as fans, The majority of us did not think this season was going
• 39:39
  to go as it has. But as you mentioned, Tyrese Maxi is becoming
• 39:45
  that number two, he's becoming a superstar in this league, and he's continuing
• 39:50
  to get better. And we're gonna be talking to Sean Bernard in a little
• 39:53
  bit about this, but he's just like, I wonder if Joel Embiid now
• 39:59
  is able to sit and say, you know what, because of tyres Maxi,
• 40:01
  do you know what, I'm gonna be staying here. I'm gonna be
• 40:04
  sticking around for a while. I'm not gonna be shooting off tweets and you
• 40:08
  know, threads or whatever the hell it's called now, Like, I'm not
• 40:13
  gonna be getting on social media and giving out cryptic type of information or just
• 40:19
  communication about what my future may be or something. I just that's what I
• 40:23
  would want to know from Embiid right now and to get that answer is what
• 40:28
  are you thinking in terms of your in terms of your long term future here?
• 40:31
  Because I think it might actually be changing. I think it might because
• 40:36
  of Tyres MAXI, because of that chemistry that they have. What we've seen
• 40:39
  on the court this season. It has been remarkable to watch this team again
• 40:45
  who has recording This are fourth in the Eastern Conference, surprising a lot of
• 40:51
  us and I mean men. That beat down to the Lakers this past week,
• 40:54
  oh man, holy cow, it was incredible. That was disgraceful?
• 41:00
  Was that that game? Yeah? And he text me in the third quarter
• 41:02
  is like, I can't believe how the Lakers just laid down for them.
• 41:06
  It was pathetic. Honestly, if I was Embiid, I'll give you what.
• 41:12
  I'll give you what. I think his honest answer would be the no
• 41:15
  bullshit, no no tweeting kind of stuff. I think he would be,
• 41:20
  like I was scared going into the season with Harden kind of still being involved.
• 41:23
  The day we traded him, Like I watched those games, his entire
• 41:29
  demeanor changed. It really has. Pardon was out of the building. Yeah,
• 41:31
  And if he was honest, he can't be because it's a brotherhood.
• 41:35
  Like they're all like think about the NBA, how many superstars have there been
• 41:39
  in history? Like there's a lot, but if you count the number of
• 41:44
  actual superstars out of how many players in the past fifty years, it's a
• 41:50
  small group, really really really small with three percent tops. Right, So
• 41:54
  he'll he'll never bad mouth them, but I'm sure he's like, fuck that
• 41:57
  guy, get him the fuck out of here, right, Like I said,
• 42:00
  his that first game of the year, he looked like like washed,
• 42:05
  he was not into it. Harden was gone, man, he was,
• 42:07
  he was back, and I guarantee you if he was super honest, he
• 42:09
  be like I kind of like Maxie is a superstar because he's not. He
• 42:14
  doesn't have that fucking edge yet. But he's the man, and I got
• 42:17
  to get touches and I'm going to the club afterwards. Fu Like he doesn't
• 42:22
  have that. He's just all about ball and he still has that really good
• 42:28
  positive attitude. He hasn't He hasn't turned that corner. I hope he never
• 42:30
  does. He might never write like Devin Booker has never seen really turn that
• 42:35
  corner. Yeah, I'm not comparing the two, but like I feel like
• 42:38
  if he was honest, he would say, like, Harden's gone awesome for
• 42:42
  me, MAXI is an easy superstar for me to work with because I'm still
• 42:45
  the man, It's never gonna be a question. So I think it's I
• 42:50
  think that would be his honest DMS back to you, and uh, yeah,
• 42:53
  I mean the Eastern Conference. They lost tonight, but the number four
• 42:57
  right now when I talk it, yeah, next topic, Yes, segue,
• 43:00
  great segue. I mean, yeah, looking at the Eastern Conference and
• 43:04
  how this is shaping up, you know, I think I think we're all
• 43:07
  a little surprised by it. Again, they lost to the Pelicans. Embiid
• 43:12
  was not on the court this past week for that game. But uh,
• 43:15
  it's look, it's a it's a surprising season thus far. And again Tyre's
• 43:21
  MAXI dude, it's amazing what he's been doing, even like Tobias Harris has
• 43:27
  has been playing pretty good basketball, you know, as as one of the
• 43:30
  starters of this team. Well, I listened to an interview with Doc Rivers
• 43:36
  and Bill Simmons a couple of weeks ago, and uh, it's funny when
• 43:39
  coaches aren't coaching anymore and they're they're on the they're in the broadcast booth.
• 43:44
  Yeah, they are super honest, and Doc was super honest recently about he's
• 43:49
  like, Tobias Harris has had his best years under me, always had when
• 43:53
  he was with the Clippers. He did and and and he's he was basically
• 43:58
  like Tobias, I have James Harden in the house. You are now the
• 44:01
  fourth option, and you're gonna kind of stand in the corner and take open
• 44:05
  threes for right now. And that's not what he does right right And the
• 44:07
  six Ers are in a great position where he's on an expiring deal and he's
• 44:10
  one more deal to close out his career, and Nick Nurse, I'm sure
• 44:15
  recognizes that and kind of open up the offense more to more of a pass
• 44:20
  happy Maxine and are still the focus, but if they're covered, Nurses instructions
• 44:27
  are go to the open man, and Harris is typically the third option and
• 44:30
  the open man Melton as well. And he has he has been a benefactor
• 44:35
  of a big time and he's actually a good ballplayer. I honestly think last
• 44:38
  season he was just in a horrible spot basketball wise. He was he was
• 44:43
  I mean, look Tobias Harris this year eighteen point six points per game he's
• 44:47
  averaging. It's fiftieth in the league. His field goal percentage, though,
• 44:51
  is twenty sixth in the league. Is that fifty two point seven percent?
• 44:55
  Is his field goal percentage? Six point two rebounds per game tied for ninth
• 45:00
  in the league. And I don't know, I don't know. You can't
• 45:05
  ask for anymore from Tobias Harris. I don't think at this point in terms
• 45:08
  of the stats, at least he looks. He looks refreshed. Also,
• 45:13
  kind of like you were talking about that with Embiid when after Harden was traded,
• 45:15
  And like Tobias Harris looks refreshed because his open shots this year aren't hardened.
• 45:23
  Barreling into the into the into the lane, yeah, and then throwing
• 45:27
  it out to the corner for Harris taking up to take a kind of a
• 45:30
  contested three, because who the hell's doubling hardened at this point into the lane
• 45:34
  right of his career. I mean, I've watched him Clippers games. They
• 45:37
  are atrocity, yep, And he's part of the problem. Harris is in
• 45:42
  a much better spot and those those he's getting more touches. He averaged fourteen
• 45:46
  points last year almost nineteen this year. It makes perfect sense. He's getting
• 45:50
  six more shots the game. He's getting those hardened shots where in a much
• 45:53
  better spot, not in the corners. He's kind of elbow out and that's
• 45:58
  that's kind of where his game is. And he has every option to go
• 46:00
  right to the rim or down in the middle to take a nice open too.
• 46:05
  It's just much better basketball for him in a better situation. They're they're
• 46:08
  fourth. They're fourth right now in the division overall or in the conference.
• 46:13
  Sorry, yeah, and I think they could easily be. I think the
• 46:19
  Celtics are the top team in the East. The Bucks have been shaky as
• 46:23
  hell I which is astonishing to me. Yeah. But defensively they're horrible,
• 46:29
  which everyone kind of knew was gonna happen. Chris Middleton is no longer Chris
• 46:32
  Middleton. They have no wing defenders at all. Dame has always been a
• 46:36
  horrible defender. Giannis has to play all world defense just to keep other teams
• 46:42
  to like one hundred points. I mean they defensively, they're they're they're a
• 46:45
  mess. Offensively, they're not greedy. They still have not figured out.
• 46:49
  I don't know why. They just don't do Dame Giannis pick and roll right,
• 46:53
  it's to me, it's like the next level up of a Maxi and
• 46:58
  Beat pick and roll kind of situation. And Orlando's second overall in the conference.
• 47:02
  That the way that there's no way it's gonna last. Rice won eight
• 47:05
  in a row, for God's sake. Yeah, and that's what I mean,
• 47:07
  Like they won eight in a row, but like there were seven to
• 47:10
  five on one points, right. I can't see that team keeping up that
• 47:14
  pace. So I think the Sixers are going to be right in the mix
• 47:16
  for the second or third spot in the conference, which is kind of what
• 47:20
  you know. At the beginning of the year, I thought they'd be fourth
• 47:22
  or fifth with the hardened situation. When they guy rid of him and they
• 47:25
  started playing well, it's like, okay, I could see us being second
• 47:29
  or third. And the nice thing about them is Boston and Milwaukee don't have
• 47:35
  the assets right now to make a move that the Sixers could make. R
• 47:38
  like like Cruso's still still sitting out there. I swear I don't do not
• 47:43
  make a move for zach Levine. Don't do that. Sixers don't ruin this.
• 47:47
  Zach Levine is a guy that will be like, I don't have to
• 47:51
  give up shots at tyres MAXI I'm Zach Levine. We don't need that,
• 47:54
  right you bring in good wing players, bring in good wing defenders who can
• 47:59
  shoot it three or even handle the ball a little bit. With Max's on
• 48:01
  the court, like you kind of you kind of need that point guard situation
• 48:05
  now without Harden. For all of his faults, he was a good point
• 48:08
  guard, also a perimeter defender as well. Oh yeah, and Cruso kind
• 48:13
  of fits that right now. He could if you know, you're shooting horrible
• 48:17
  at from three right now, Cruso. But he's also in one of the
• 48:21
  worst teams in the league. That's I think they've had four you know,
• 48:24
  team meetings after games. It's a complete disastrous So that team is right for
• 48:29
  the pickings. But I of all the teams like they have, they have
• 48:31
  the assets to make a move and if they make the smart move, which
• 48:35
  I think Morey still has an in him now that his his boyfriend James Harden
• 48:39
  is not around, still not. I heard I read a story a couple
• 48:44
  of weeks ago that he apparently has a painting of James Harden in his house
• 48:50
  like living room. I go go google it, people, I'm telling you
• 48:54
  I heard it's real. I don't. I've never understood his infatuation with the
• 48:59
  guy, considering his like love for for cyber metrics and stuff. He was
• 49:04
  going to started the Sloan conference like on on on metrics and it makes no
• 49:09
  sense to me. But like I said, but they they they do have
• 49:13
  a smart GM and they have the assets to move to make one more to
• 49:16
  get one more piece in that in how there's there's a couple of names been
• 49:20
  floating around. I'm saying all this because like I really do think they could
• 49:24
  land the second or third spot which in this this conference, uh, considering
• 49:30
  with the season started, I I can't if they got the second spot in
• 49:34
  the conference. Wow, I did our Sixers preview this year was was a
• 49:38
  disaster? Like yes, it ended it like I think you basically ended the
• 49:44
  show like well that was it, folks, what a mess like And I
• 49:49
  was like I got no no counter, like this is this is a disaster.
• 49:52
  And then I think they've this is the best case scenario so far and
• 49:55
  it all it all comes, it all goes back to my my buddy want
• 50:00
  to slide into news DMS Nick Nurse and then be kind of the turnaround in
• 50:04
  Max but MAXI is the key really, and then they have plenty of plenty
• 50:07
  of room to make it's more moves. So it's gonna be interesting to be
• 50:09
  interest gonna be interesting to watch for sure. Let us know what you're thinking,
• 50:14
  Philadelphia Sports Table at gmail dot com. We'd love to read your email
• 50:16
  here on the show and respond to it. Eric, Buddy, I'm gonna
• 50:19
  let you go. We got a great interview coming your way, folks,
• 50:22
  with Sean Bernard from Fox Sports, The Gambler in Philadelphia and Pick Swap Meet.
• 50:29
  He's gonna be talking about this Sixers team and a lot more details.
• 50:31
  Well, and uh, you got any final thoughts, buddy before we head
• 50:35
  out of here? Is your card? Fool? Are we good? We're
• 50:39
  good. We're good boys. Some production issues here on this podcast recording.
• 50:45
  It's amazing that we got through it. We had three false starts. I
• 50:50
  hate when that happens, by the way, because if you go back and
• 50:52
  listen and you're like Taylor Swift, then we talk up to that. Is
• 50:57
  that exactly? See if you can, Yeah, folks, go back,
• 51:00
  see if you can see where the edit was actually done, because in all
• 51:04
  honesty. On this podcast show, there is not a lot of editing that
• 51:07
  is done except for like the music beds and you know, the intros and
• 51:12
  outros, especially on the interview shows like that's about it. When when Len
• 51:15
  Eric and I are on, we just go. We just run right through
• 51:19
  it. We just talk's that's what we do. But man, this one
• 51:22
  was a rough one. See if you can go back right around where I
• 51:24
  said Taylor Swift, see if you can figure out where the edit was.
• 51:29
  And this was one of the first times I've ever I ever thought, like,
• 51:31
  my god, this is like a mainstream show, like, okay,
• 51:35
  do we cut it off in Taylor Swift? Like I never imagine us talking
• 51:39
  about like like dropping her name on our show. I know. All right,
• 51:44
  buddy, I'm gonna let you go. Let's take a break, folks,
• 51:45
  We're gonna pay some bills. We'll be back in just a bit.
• 51:50
  All right, we are back. It's getting more Philadelphia seventy six ers talk
• 51:52
  here. Got a great interview, a great discussion. Come in your way.
• 51:55
  It's what we're thrown down on the table and now on the tape.
• 52:01
  And it is great to have back on the podcast to get into this Philadelphia
• 52:06
  seventy six ers team from Fox Sports, Phillies, The Gambler and also Pickswap
• 52:10
  Media. We've got our good friend Sean Bernard. How you doing, buddy,
• 52:15
  Doing well? It's I'm in higher spirits and I think I could have
• 52:17
  guessed I would be at this point in the six Ers season. I know
• 52:20
  we're just talking about that a little bit. Yeah, Yeah, this team's
• 52:22
  fun to watch. There's some real deal positive storylines, and I wasn't sure
• 52:24
  that was gonna be the case at this point. I can't complain absolutely.
• 52:28
  Man. I remember the last time you were on, and I remember going
• 52:30
  into that particular discussion thinking, Okay, we want to talk about the Sixers,
• 52:35
  but we're all feeling a little down because James Harden was still on the
• 52:37
  team. There was all that drama going on. We honestly thought that it
• 52:40
  was gonna go on for a very very long time, and things ended up
• 52:45
  working out the way that they obviously were supposed to, but inevitably for the
• 52:50
  better. Sean, and it's been great to see what the team has been
• 52:52
  able to do so far, even after that drama. It's like they just
• 52:55
  put it right behind them. Yeah. Absolutely, and I do think it
• 52:59
  worked out best case scenario by kind of the conclusion of the trade was obviously
• 53:02
  getting James Harden out of here, closing that chapter in Sixers basketball, and
• 53:06
  then restocking the cabinet with these assets. It with these draft picks, with
• 53:09
  these players, and it allows Daryl Morey and the rest of the Sixers organization
• 53:13
  to have a real chance to truly evaluate this team what it needs and wait
• 53:16
  until the trade deadline to really strike and find that player or players, whatever
• 53:21
  it may be. So absolutely it has worked out well. That kind of
• 53:23
  kicked the can down line, got rid of the issue, and we've just
• 53:25
  been able to focus on basketball. Well, we're certainly going to talk about
• 53:30
  the trade deadline, which my gosh, it's not until February eighth. We're
• 53:32
  going to get into that in a little bit in terms of what this team
• 53:36
  may look like come February, in March, perhaps, but to really get
• 53:40
  the conversation started here Sean about this Sixers team, I was hoping to get
• 53:45
  into the biggest positives surrounding this team and then the biggest negatives as well.
• 53:50
  As we are heading into December, a lot of positivity surrounding this team,
• 53:53
  but it's not all roses. It's not all lollipops and rainbows here. So
• 53:59
  let's start off first though, by talking about the biggest positives that you have
• 54:02
  seen from this team so far this season. Yeah, Number one I'll start
• 54:07
  off with is Tyre's maxy to me that it's tough to kind of put a
• 54:10
  cap on how good this guy can be at this point, and he just
• 54:14
  has exceeded every single expectation once again this season. He's taking a real step
• 54:17
  into being a number two on a ch contending team. He's top eleven in
• 54:22
  both points and assists across the entire NBA already so far this year. He's
• 54:25
  really having his moments. His growth as a playmaker is what's impressed me most,
• 54:30
  specifically that I wasn't sure that he could be a guy that could fill
• 54:31
  those shoes as a true point guard, and he absolutely is. He's a
• 54:35
  guy that, as I mentioned, top eleven in assists per game, as
• 54:37
  is Joel Embiid, which is another point of positivity there. But Max,
• 54:40
  he's answering the call, he looks far ahead of schedule in his developmental path,
• 54:44
  and he's just a joy to watch play basketball. So been cool to
• 54:46
  watch him fully flourish in terms of tyres Maxy. Just to follow up with
• 54:50
  you on that, Sean, do you think it's more just the talent perspective
• 54:53
  or do you think his mental game is so strong that he's been able to
• 54:58
  develop the way that he has or maybe it's a combination of both. What
• 55:00
  are your thoughts, Yeah, it's definitely a combination of both. There he's
• 55:05
  one of the most hard working kids that I've ever seen, just as far
• 55:07
  as truly a first man in, last man out kind of attitude that he
• 55:10
  takes with him. He's a student of the game as well. He's constantly
• 55:14
  learning. I've seen some people kind of critique the James Harden situation as far
• 55:17
  as staunting Maxie's growth, and honestly push back at that that. I think
• 55:21
  he learned a lot from seeing how James Harden processes a game, makes decisions
• 55:24
  in pick and roll stuff like that, So I think he kind of soaked
• 55:28
  it in the past year and a half that he saw under Harden, which
• 55:30
  has helped him as a playmaker for sure. And then he just continues to
• 55:32
  improve other areas as well. The three point volume the Finishing around the Rim
• 55:36
  added a little mid range, the floater is still there. He just kind
• 55:38
  of he continually works on his craft, continues to improve and it's really impressive
• 55:44
  the way that he does. And it's all translating. Well, we know
• 55:45
  James Harden is his own system, so who knows if Tyre's Maxie is going
• 55:52
  to be his own system at some point down the road. I'm kidding,
• 55:54
  of course, folks. But as we're moving along, ear Sean, what's
• 55:59
  the biggest negative act that you have seen from this team? As again,
• 56:01
  as we're heading into December here, what are you thinking? Because like I
• 56:06
  said, it's not all lollipops and rainbows. There's certainly ups and downs with
• 56:08
  this team. I think a lot more ups. But what's that biggest negative
• 56:12
  that you've seen thus far? Yeah, not a lot, which is the
• 56:15
  positive part here. I guess the biggest thing that I'll point to is I
• 56:17
  still have concerns on the perimeter defense that when push comes to shove, when
• 56:21
  we get to the playoffs, who's going to be the guy guarding Jason Tatum
• 56:23
  and Jaylen Brown and Janna Santa Tocombo. And that's probably still my greatest concern.
• 56:29
  There's also a tonne wear and tear on Tyreese Maxi currently leading the league
• 56:31
  in minutes. They definitely could use a secondary ball handler, a guy that
• 56:36
  could really run the second unit. Patrick Beverley stepped up in moments to do
• 56:38
  that job, but a guy that a little bit over the hill and at
• 56:40
  this point in his career is still delivering positive minutes, but doesn't have quite
• 56:45
  the same ability to take on that much responsibility. So I would say the
• 56:49
  lack of a secondary ball handler and still the perimeter defense is a little bit
• 56:52
  of a point of concern for me. I think that's definitely a concern.
• 56:55
  It definitely a concern for me, specifically the defense on the perimeter specifically,
• 57:00
  that's something that I think we all need to be watching out for. And
• 57:04
  who knows what's going to happen with regard to the trade deadline. We're again
• 57:06
  we're gonna get to that topic in just a bit. But let's assess the
• 57:09
  starters on this team in terms of what has been their strongest asset sean and
• 57:16
  how certain aspects of their game can actually improve here. So let's let's go
• 57:21
  through these five players. Let's just start off with Joel Embiid here, what
• 57:24
  do you think Joe Ellenbid. I mean, it's kind of it's kind of
• 57:27
  ridiculous for me to ask this because I think those of us have followed the
• 57:30
  Philadelphia seventy six ers closely kind of know this. But let's go through it,
• 57:35
  okay. Joel Embiid his strongest asset and where he needs to improve his
• 57:37
  game this season. As far as Mike my, what most impressive is most
• 57:44
  impressive about Embiid to me so far this year is his playmaking. That Yeah,
• 57:46
  six point six is his per game, a career high for him.
• 57:50
  He truly is kind of grasping this team concept that there's this goes. There's
• 57:53
  a lot of layers to this. As part of this is obviously the Nick
• 57:57
  nas new system. Part of it is James Harden not being there, him
• 57:59
  needing step up in more of a playmaking role. But the bottom line is
• 58:01
  Embid's delivering on all of this. He's playmaking for others. It's not just
• 58:06
  the dribble handoffs and the kind of pick and roll opportunities or the kind of
• 58:09
  the easy passes that centers get as assists. He's also making some high level
• 58:13
  lite reads as far as dump boss down low spots of the corner, and
• 58:16
  a lot of that has is tied together with Maxi his off ball movement.
• 58:20
  They truly are forming a real positive two man game, and embiads willingness to
• 58:22
  embrace this team concept and be more of a playmaker is really exciting. It
• 58:27
  really is. Do you have anywhere or do you have any thoughts on where
• 58:30
  he may need to improve his game at all? Uh? Kind of a
• 58:35
  nitpicking here, for sure, but I guess a little bit of perimeter defense.
• 58:37
  He's very disinterested in guarding the three point line. There's gonna be more
• 58:43
  and more like he just kind of waves them off in games sometimes, which
• 58:47
  time yeah, yeah, yeah for sure, so that that's become a little
• 58:52
  bit frustrating to me. I understand his primary job is as a rim protector,
• 58:54
  and a lot of the schemes that the Sixers are drawing up are to
• 58:58
  kind of funnel guys into embat the rim and use that as his defense.
• 59:00
  So I get it's not as simple as I make it seem there, but
• 59:04
  definitely a little more willingness to step out and show some respect to the stretch
• 59:07
  bigs that do deserve it I would appreciate. All right, let's move over
• 59:10
  to Tobias Harris, what is his strongest asset and where does he need to
• 59:15
  improve his game as well? What are your thoughts. Yeah, his decisiveness
• 59:17
  is the biggest thing that stood out to me. That he's playing with the
• 59:21
  purpose. He's getting out in transition, making quick decisions, and that's when
• 59:23
  Tobias Harris is at his best as a basketball player. He's at his worst
• 59:27
  when he starts to do the face of the dribble over dribbling kind of getting
• 59:30
  the mid range. When we see that, that's the bad version of Tobias
• 59:34
  Harris. There has not been a lot of that this year. That has
• 59:36
  been very direct in what he intends to do, executing at a high level.
• 59:38
  The transition especially has been impressive the way that he's getting out on the
• 59:43
  break and finishing. So I think he's really embracing his athleticism being more decisive,
• 59:46
  and I've been very impressed with him as a whole. I guess my
• 59:50
  slight nitpick for what he needs to improve on is probably three point volume.
• 59:54
  That as a whole, the Sixers team is lacking a little bit in three
• 59:58
  point attempts when you look at kind of the basis he's taken a slight step
• 1:00:00
  back from last year, attempting three point five to three pointers a game this
• 1:00:04
  year. Last year was attempting four point four, so I'd like to get
• 1:00:07
  those numbers up a little bit. But overall, very happy with Tobias.
• 1:00:09
  I know we already talked about tyree S Maxi here, but just to sum
• 1:00:14
  it up for us here, strongest asset with regard to Tyrese Maxi and the
• 1:00:17
  game, the aspect of his game he needs to improve on. Yeah,
• 1:00:22
  the strongest asset for me for sure the playmaking leap this year and beyond just
• 1:00:25
  playmaking, which he's averaging a six point nine assists per game, that up
• 1:00:30
  from three point five assists per game last year. And what's even more impressive
• 1:00:32
  than me for that is the turnovers. He went from one point three per
• 1:00:36
  game last year to one point four per game this year. So to take
• 1:00:39
  that many more passes or that many opportunities at turnovers without really doing it and
• 1:00:44
  seeing the growth in playmaking is incredibly impressive. He's up near the top for
• 1:00:47
  point guards as far as assistant the turnover race show and a ton of great
• 1:00:51
  metrics with that. So just the development from that standpoint is by far the
• 1:00:53
  number one I guess I'll still say defense is for a point of improvement,
• 1:00:58
  but I do think he's gotten better than he hasn't that. Yeah, it's
• 1:01:01
  he's on most nights at least a passable defender, which is all I really
• 1:01:05
  want to see from Maxi. So I'll still leave defense is the biggest point
• 1:01:07
  of improvement. But he's moving in the right direction there for sure. All
• 1:01:10
  right, Let's move to de Anthony Melton strongest asset of his during this twenty
• 1:01:15
  twenty three twenty twenty four season, and where do you think he needs to
• 1:01:19
  improve strongest asset? I'll say three point shooting that he's gotten hot, especially
• 1:01:23
  of late. Real confident as far as catch and shoot decisive. He does
• 1:01:27
  a nice job of kind of squaring his body and being ready with the quick
• 1:01:30
  trigger on a catch and shoot, which is something that's important when you have
• 1:01:32
  guys like Joel Embiid or Tyrese Maxie who commanded a lot of respect. So
• 1:01:36
  he is capitalizing off that. If he can keep shooting the lights out like
• 1:01:39
  this, he's going to continue to playing a key role in this team.
• 1:01:43
  So I'll give the Anthony Mountain his props. There, and then as far
• 1:01:45
  as the point of improvement, they started the year kind of using him as
• 1:01:49
  the secondary point guard with the second unit and he really just wasn't capable of
• 1:01:52
  doing it. So if he could grow as a playmaker. He's only six
• 1:01:54
  foot two, he does have a long wingspan, so he seems bigger than
• 1:01:58
  he is. But if he could he's some sort of capable playmaker, that
• 1:02:00
  would help the team a ton. He really hasn't been to this point,
• 1:02:04
  and I think probably it's more likely that he's just not cut for that,
• 1:02:07
  so I'm not gonna be too harsh on him. He still provides positive value,
• 1:02:10
  but I would love it if he could be some sort of playmaker.
• 1:02:13
  All right. And finally, Nicholas Patoom, what do you think about him
• 1:02:15
  in terms of his strongest asset to this Sixers team and where does he need
• 1:02:20
  to improve as well? Sean, Yeah, I love Nicholas patum Man,
• 1:02:22
  and I'm surprised to be standing up there admitting this, but this guy's like
• 1:02:25
  leapfrog to my third favorite Sixer, So nice man. Nice. Yeah.
• 1:02:30
  He's been nothing short of awesome and as far as what he's done best is
• 1:02:34
  number one. The rate he processes the game is so impressive that he's so
• 1:02:37
  quick with his decisions. His entry passes to Joel Embiid are very important to
• 1:02:42
  this team. He's one of the few guys even he's more advanced than Maxie
• 1:02:45
  in that area, and Nick Nurse could clearly trust him a ton too.
• 1:02:47
  So there's a lot of the half court sets that are being run through.
• 1:02:51
  Batom is the primary decision maker, which has been really cool to see.
• 1:02:53
  He's just a veteran, very savvy. He gets it always in the right
• 1:02:57
  spot, so Patoom. His processing speed in this secondary playmaking I think are
• 1:03:00
  very important to this team. As far as something to nitpick for him to
• 1:03:04
  get better, I'll still look a little bit at defense. He's mostly held
• 1:03:07
  up on that side of the floor and been ask some really tough acts as
• 1:03:10
  far as a defensive task. We're talking about Shay Gilgess, Alexander Lebron,
• 1:03:14
  James Anthony Davis. These are all guys that within the past week we've seen
• 1:03:17
  him go up against as the primary defender that's gonna be I guess a point
• 1:03:21
  of evaluation of if he is truly capable of that. As we look ahead
• 1:03:23
  to the playoffs and everything goes along with it, so I'll say, but
• 1:03:27
  toom hopefully he can hold up on the defensive side of the ball, I
• 1:03:30
  think it's a little overly optimistic if we're hoping for that fantastic analysis of the
• 1:03:35
  Philadelphia seventy six ers starters here, and I really wanted to talk about the
• 1:03:39
  bench as we're moving forward here, Sean, because the bench that you know,
• 1:03:43
  they've had a lot of ups and downs this season, but for more
• 1:03:46
  I guess, more of a macro perspective, they the bench just hasn't been
• 1:03:51
  as clutch as I would have hoped at this point in the season. I
• 1:03:53
  came into this season and my co host Eric and I were just talking to
• 1:03:58
  you know, he and I were talking a few weeks ago. He's like,
• 1:04:00
  I don't know why you thought the bench was gonna be all this great.
• 1:04:02
  He's like, I really didn't have the highest hopes for them. But
• 1:04:06
  I'm wondering, if you're looking at this bench in their performance thus far only
• 1:04:10
  after a short period within this season, how do you assess where they are
• 1:04:14
  currently at as we're heading into December here, Because like I said, I
• 1:04:18
  think from a macro standpoint, I was hoping for a little bit more.
• 1:04:21
  They're not the worst bench, of course by any stretch of the imagination,
• 1:04:25
  but how would you assess where they're at and what they're giving this team.
• 1:04:29
  Yeah, it's tough to fully put a finger on it because there's still been
• 1:04:31
  a lot of turnover guys in an ounce and the number one name at the
• 1:04:33
  top of this is Kelly Ubrad Junior that I think, when everything's set in
• 1:04:38
  stone, I think Kelly Youubrad Junior is going to be that guy that is
• 1:04:40
  that the microwaves score, the guy that comes in and makes an impact changes
• 1:04:43
  the game with his offensive output. I'm excited for him to settle back in
• 1:04:46
  His return is looking closer and closer. He was tremendous during the time that
• 1:04:50
  he was on the Florida start this season, so I expect more of that.
• 1:04:54
  It's been. I would say this year's bench is much less scripted and
• 1:04:58
  as far as the night to night what you're getting, they have a lot
• 1:05:00
  more options for what they can go with, which to me is a positive
• 1:05:02
  thing. But it's also kind of like I don't think everyone has defined their
• 1:05:05
  role just yet, and I think it's a little work in progress for what
• 1:05:09
  we're getting, So I guess I'll put a to be determined next to the
• 1:05:12
  bench as far as the grade at this point. And I think that's actually
• 1:05:15
  good for this team too, because sometimes I think defined roles really do limit
• 1:05:18
  the ability of a coach of a team to get the job done when they
• 1:05:23
  need to get it done. You know, with defined roles coming from the
• 1:05:26
  bench, you would agree with that too, right, Yeah, absolutely.
• 1:05:30
  And there's definitely been nights where we've seen guys step up where we might not
• 1:05:32
  be expecting. Marcus Morris, as I know, a guy that you want
• 1:05:34
  to talk about a little bit who he's had his moment. Patrick Beverley hit
• 1:05:39
  four threes against the Lakers. So there's guys that when you have this quality
• 1:05:42
  of talent or pieces that can step up on a ninth to night basis,
• 1:05:45
  it ultimately is a good thing for the team. So I'm excited by it
• 1:05:46
  overall. You mentioned Marcus Morris, My gosh, certainly a surprise in that
• 1:05:50
  matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers this past week. I mean, sixteen points
• 1:05:55
  built off of four to three pointers, at three of which came to the
• 1:05:59
  first half. My gosh, what a pleasant surprise. I mean, since
• 1:06:01
  coming off, since coming to the Sixers in that trade with James Harden.
• 1:06:05
  You know, you think and I wonder if Morris really could be more of
• 1:06:10
  a central and key piece to this bench moving forward for the rest of this
• 1:06:14
  season. What do you think that role is going to be for him or
• 1:06:17
  is there still going to be some ambiguity there. Yeah, it was an
• 1:06:21
  eye opening performance against the Lakers that I think Marcus Morris, first off,
• 1:06:26
  is very thrilled to be in Philadelphia. He's a North Philly guy, grew
• 1:06:29
  up, does a ton of good for the community in Philty. He still
• 1:06:30
  is very active, so he's very happy to be home and being a part
• 1:06:33
  of this Very nice guy, very happy to be back. I was a
• 1:06:36
  little concerned that he was kind of over the hill as far as this point
• 1:06:40
  in his career. Yeah, but he is a guy that is a fifteen
• 1:06:42
  point per game score as recently as twenty one to twenty two seasons, so
• 1:06:45
  it's not like that's that far in the rear view. He's been a primary
• 1:06:47
  starter for the Clippers, and through the most part of his career, there
• 1:06:50
  was a point in time where he was in a very high level NBA basketball
• 1:06:54
  player and I kind of thought those days were in the past, and for
• 1:06:57
  the most part, I still think they are. But if we can get
• 1:06:59
  those kind of where we get the best version of him, even if it
• 1:07:01
  is for a fifteen to twenty minute stint, that's a good thing for this
• 1:07:04
  Sixers team. So I think the door has now opened for Marcus Morris as
• 1:07:08
  far as earning a role. He's right in the same mix with guys like
• 1:07:11
  Robert Covington as far as earning minutes and kind of carving out your full lane
• 1:07:15
  on this team. But he's a guy that I think is another to be
• 1:07:17
  determined for how it fully shakes out, but is absolutely in the mix on
• 1:07:20
  a night to night basis, and we'll surely get his opportunity in the coming
• 1:07:25
  weeks. Going to be interesting to see for sure. Again, folks,
• 1:07:27
  we're talking to Sean Bernard from Pickswap Media also Fox Sports, Phillies The Gambler
• 1:07:32
  as well. And what else do you have going on out there? And
• 1:07:36
  where can people find you on the interwebs out there? Sean, Yeah,
• 1:07:40
  you can find me on Twitter or x that Sean Underscore Bernard One. That's
• 1:07:44
  where I kind of keep most of my work funneling through. Also can check
• 1:07:46
  out Sixers Digest on YouTube, which I have a little bit more short form
• 1:07:49
  content as far as the Sixers news popping out there. And then yeah,
• 1:07:53
  on the Fox one of two five the Gambler airwaves a couple times a week.
• 1:07:56
  We'll be on there later today as well, so make sure to stay
• 1:07:58
  posted for that too. Awesome. Well, as we're moving along here,
• 1:08:00
  Sean, you know, we're certainly seeing a different type of coaching style with
• 1:08:03
  Nick Nurse that we saw for years with Doc Rivers. I mean, last
• 1:08:08
  time you were on we talked about this as well and just what we might
• 1:08:12
  be expecting this season, and man, it is just it is just welcomed.
• 1:08:15
  At this point. It has been nice to watch night in and night
• 1:08:18
  out the type of coach that Nick Nurse is and what he's been able to
• 1:08:23
  do with the talent on this team. What kind of coach in your mind
• 1:08:28
  has Nick Nurse become for this team and how solid is he really moving forward
• 1:08:32
  in terms of just propelling this team within the Eastern Conference. He's been flexible,
• 1:08:38
  He's been very malleable on a night to night basis, which to me
• 1:08:41
  is super intriguing and super exciting to see. To give a kind of an
• 1:08:44
  example of this is, I know I've brought up the Lakers game a couple
• 1:08:46
  times and I do think this is one of the best wins of the six
• 1:08:49
  Er seasons thus far, But one of the subplots in that game was within
• 1:08:54
  four minutes of that game, Joelle Embiid picked up two fouls via Anthony Davis
• 1:08:57
  in that matchup. If this was a Doc Rivers coach team, that's an
• 1:09:00
  automatic. You got to pull Joel Andmbid, get him off the bench,
• 1:09:02
  keep them out of foul trouble. Nick Nurse ultimately trusted m Be to play
• 1:09:05
  through the foul issues, to be a little bit smarter about it. They
• 1:09:09
  kept on the same game plan and thenb did not pick up another foul for
• 1:09:13
  the entirety of the first quarter, which then brought him right back into the
• 1:09:15
  game script as was planned, and then the Sixers ultimately blew the Lakers out
• 1:09:18
  and had a victory there. So rather than pulling your best player out of
• 1:09:23
  the game, you did trust him to be smart continue playing through it,
• 1:09:26
  and it ultimately worked out. So those kind of moments I think are huge
• 1:09:29
  and kind of what we touched on as far as the bench and people working
• 1:09:31
  themselves out. As much as this is a testament to the roster and the
• 1:09:34
  depth and all these pieces, this also is a testament to Nick Nurse be
• 1:09:38
  willing to try different things, to have different looks, give different opportunities.
• 1:09:42
  So it's nice to see that flexibility on a night to night basis. And
• 1:09:45
  then just as a whole offensively, there's so much more movement, so much
• 1:09:47
  more cutting guys, setting off ball screens, having set play designs in a
• 1:09:51
  way that Doc Riff didn't fully. So much less isolation basketball, much more
• 1:09:55
  team friendly style of play, and it's really the results are strong, and
• 1:09:59
  I think it's only going to get better. I didn't have it on the
• 1:10:01
  topics to dive into with you, Sean, but it's interesting how you mentioned
• 1:10:04
  those two fouls that he had that Joel Embiid had in the first quarter,
• 1:10:09
  because at the time when I was watching it, I was actually thinking much
• 1:10:12
  of what you just said here as we're recording this, and I thought to
• 1:10:16
  myself, Wow, the relationship between Nick Nurse and Joel Embiid is really starting
• 1:10:20
  to establish himself, and I'm like, I wonder what Embiide is thinking right
• 1:10:25
  now at this particular point in time, about Nick Nurse, about his coaching
• 1:10:29
  style, about that trust that you mentioned, and I think from a relationship
• 1:10:32
  standpoint, player to coach, I think that could potentially have been a defining
• 1:10:38
  moment with regard to their player coach relationship in the future, and it bodes
• 1:10:44
  well, I think for what this team is going to be able to do
• 1:10:46
  and just how Joel Embiid and Nick Nurse are going to be able to work
• 1:10:48
  together, because I mean, Joel Embiid is the He's the crux of everything
• 1:10:53
  as we know, and Nick Nurse knows he needs to get in Joel's good
• 1:10:56
  graces, you know, vice versa. So I think it was a very
• 1:10:59
  key moment with regard to this team and that relationship building. Yeah, I
• 1:11:02
  totally agree with that. And you kind of have to build this trust and
• 1:11:06
  build this relationship throughout a season that you have to kind of go through these
• 1:11:10
  obstacles together. And I do think that was a key one, just as
• 1:11:12
  far as when Joel Embiid start to reflect on the season and look back of
• 1:11:15
  like a he did trust me there, he did let me go through and
• 1:11:18
  play through it, and to both of their credit. It worked out that
• 1:11:21
  EMBI didn't pick up another foul, kept on the floor and help this team,
• 1:11:25
  and obviously the Sixers crews to hand Lebron James the biggest loss of his
• 1:11:28
  professional career. So it worked out. I think it could go down as
• 1:11:31
  a pretty pivotal moment and cool that there is kind of this two way street
• 1:11:34
  being built. Absolutely all right, Well, last topic I wanted to get
• 1:11:38
  into with you, Sean is the trade deadline. And yes, I know
• 1:11:41
  it's not until February eighth, but I feel like it's going to be here
• 1:11:45
  before we know it. And as we know, Daryl Morey is likely going
• 1:11:48
  to be looking to make a trade here at some point get to make this
• 1:11:51
  team quote better, as he usually likes to do on an annual basis.
• 1:11:57
  So I'm wondering, how do you think Darryl Moury is going to look to
• 1:11:59
  improve this team? And are there any names that you know you'd like to
• 1:12:02
  see brought into the city of Philadelphia here. Yeah, I'll start by saying
• 1:12:06
  that, once again, I think the best case scenario for the Sixers team
• 1:12:10
  was getting the James Harden deal out of the way, collecting these draft picks
• 1:12:13
  and now being able to evaluate this team that you can have a pretty solid
• 1:12:16
  sample size up until the trade deadline of figuring out what this team's missing.
• 1:12:20
  The biggest thing that I think he's searching to figure out is how legitimate is
• 1:12:24
  this this version of Tyrese Maxi. I am a believer in it, but
• 1:12:28
  I still think there's due for some sort of regression, like is that guy
• 1:12:30
  Cable being a number two on a championship caliber team. That's still up to
• 1:12:33
  be determined. So I think kind of the two routes the Sixers can go
• 1:12:36
  here is either finding a guy that can be a secondary scorer and the name
• 1:12:41
  that has been thrown around a ton is Zach Lavine kind of player there Chicago
• 1:12:44
  looks on the brink of blowing it up. And that's a guy who has
• 1:12:46
  relationships with both Maxi and Embiid both through Drew Handlin that he trains with Joel
• 1:12:50
  Embid in the offseason, as well as New Balance and Clutch Sports, which
• 1:12:54
  is Maxie's agency and shoe deal. I know they filmed commercials together and had
• 1:12:58
  stuff out there, so there is a connection with that. I think that's
• 1:13:00
  the outlook if you believe this team is short on offense, I kind of
• 1:13:03
  shift more towards the side of things of as I mentioned earlier, on guarding
• 1:13:06
  on the perimeter, who's going to be the guy to lock down Jason Tatum.
• 1:13:10
  That kind of shifts my mindset more toward a og Annobie Arch type of
• 1:13:14
  player, a guy who can still be a tertiary scorer, but is more
• 1:13:16
  focused on the defensive side of the ball. Kind of matching up with that,
• 1:13:19
  and that would shift more towards the belief of Tyrese MAXI truly is this
• 1:13:23
  dude, which I do believe, And there's also like maybe you just want
• 1:13:27
  to They're very focused on having the flexibility this offseason with this cap space plan
• 1:13:30
  that as things currently sit, the Sixers are projected to have the second most
• 1:13:33
  cap space in the NBA this coming offseason, only behind the Orlando Magic.
• 1:13:38
  When you have that and you have Joel Embiid and you have Tyrese Maxie who
• 1:13:41
  will get a massive extension this offseason, for sure, it does put you
• 1:13:44
  in a unique spot. So I could see them doing a smaller deal and
• 1:13:46
  seeing what this team truly looks like. Dorian Finney Smith is another name that
• 1:13:50
  they've been attached to Alex Caruso, I think is going to end up being
• 1:13:53
  a little too steep in price for the Sixers blood, but another name like
• 1:13:57
  that similar. So for now, pump the brig. Let's evaluate, let's
• 1:14:00
  see how this team look. But it's nice that they can kind of sit
• 1:14:02
  back. They have these assets to work with and can truly strike on whatever
• 1:14:05
  target they deem is the guy again, folks. Sean Bernard from Fox Sports
• 1:14:12
  Phillies The Gambler also PICKSWAP Media. Make sure you're following him on the Twitter
• 1:14:17
  at Shawn Underscore Bernard One. He is a great, great follow Shawn,
• 1:14:20
  Dude, it was great talking to you, man. Love talking Sixers and
• 1:14:24
  NBA basketball with you. Come back down the road, Come back, I
• 1:14:27
  should say, come back and join us down the road, my friend.
• 1:14:30
  It was great talking with you. Yeah, absolutely, you too. It
• 1:14:33
  is a pleasure chopping it up as always and hope to be back. This
• 1:14:36
  Sixers team is fun, folks. I mean, look, you know there
• 1:14:40
  are some casual Sixers fans out there. There are other fans you know,
• 1:14:44
  like Eric and myself and Len who are consistently watching this team night after night,
• 1:14:47
  and we're just seeing a lot of great stuff, and I know that.
• 1:14:50
  You know, you go back in the podcast feed, you know,
• 1:14:54
  just like go back to go back to September. Eric and I were talking
• 1:14:58
  about what are xec We're gonna be for this team, and it was it
• 1:15:01
  was not good. It was not good, it was not fun. They
• 1:15:04
  were not the most pleasant conversations by any stretch of the imagination. But they've
• 1:15:09
  exceeded our expectations in so many ways. And like Shawn was talking about Tyrese
• 1:15:13
  MAXI just an incredible developmental player in the NBA here. I just I hope
• 1:15:19
  he is gonna be sticking around for years and years to come. I know
• 1:15:23
  Sixers Nation hopes that as well. Let's keep enjoying this, folks. There's
• 1:15:27
  a lot of good stuff going on in the world of Philly sports, whether
• 1:15:29
  it was Eagles that Eric and I were talking about earlier. You know,
• 1:15:31
  you got the Phillies offseason, How can this team possibly get better? And
• 1:15:35
  you know as twenty twenty four is right around the corner, and also the
• 1:15:39
  Philadelphia Flyers, Yeah, I been stumbling a little bit, but we know
• 1:15:42
  it's a rebuild. There's a lot of good things happening in the world of
• 1:15:45
  Philly sports and specifically with this Philadelphia seventy six ers team. Fun, fun,
• 1:15:50
  fun to watch for sure. So all right, that's gonna do it
• 1:15:54
  for us, folks. Thanks so much for joining us, Thanks so much
• 1:15:57
  for listening, and if you are new to the show, we'd appreciate it
• 1:16:00
  if you would subscribe on whatever podcast platform you're on. If you're enjoying the
• 1:16:03
  content, follow us on Apple Podcasts, rate and review us as well.
• 1:16:06
  If anything happens to your podcast feed, you can always head on over to
• 1:16:10
  Philadelphia Sports Table dot com. We've got all of our shows over there,
• 1:16:14
  and check out some of our PSD special shows. We are hoping, I
• 1:16:16
  say, we are hoping to put up a new PST special show in the
• 1:16:21
  future with one of our good buddies Eric, myself and our buddy Mark Lacas.
• 1:16:26
  We're looking to do some another fun show outside of the world of sports.
• 1:16:30
  So we've got some movie reviews over there. We got some music talk
• 1:16:34
  as well. Check out the PSD special podcast tab on our website again,
• 1:16:40
  Philadelphia Sports Table dot Com. That's gonna do it for us, folks.
• 1:16:43
  You all take care, we will catch you next time.