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TABLE TALK: Is There A Silver Lining For The Sixers? · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

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Hey, everybody, it's Jeff. I wanted to let you know this podcast
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episode was recorded on Monday, March twenty fifth, twenty twenty four. By
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the time you hear this, some things may have changed here or there,
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but we hope you enjoy the show. All right, everybody, you're listening
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to Table Talk here at the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest running
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weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world, almost eleven years strong at this
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point. Yes, this coming April eleven years that we will be doing this
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podcast here auditioning out the content. Hope you have been enjoying. We've got
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a great table talk, interview and discussion coming your way this week, specifically
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dealing with this Philadelphia seventy six ers team that we saw some good stuff with
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regard to the Clippers game this weekend and where are we I'm certainly gonna get
1:00
into certain aspects of that, but look, Joel Embiid not on the court.
1:06
Hopefully that changes within the next couple of weeks. Perhaps we don't know
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what the timeframe is necessarily gonna be. We're gonna get into it here during
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this discussion. Let's get to it. It is great to have back on
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the podcast coming to us from Pickswap Media. I absolutely love that podcast,
1:21
quite frankly, and I'm not just saying that because he's on here. It
1:23
has been my favorite Sixers podcast to listen to this season for sure. I
1:27
listen on Apple Podcasts. You should as well, on whatever podcast platform you
1:32
are on, and you can also hear his voice every now and again on
1:36
Fox Sports Philly The Gambler as well. We've got Sean Bernard. How you
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doing, buddy, Yeah, doing well. I appreciate the intro and the
1:44
confliment. Sure he chopping it up again. So it's been a little bit
1:47
of tough stretch for the Sixers. Still some positives to take away, I
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would say in a little bit of a positive lens. I'm gonna try and
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approach things with so appreciate you for having me on for sure. Absolutely great
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talking to you as always, and we'll try to get into some of that
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silver lining there is any with this team during our discussion here Sean. But
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like I just I think it's amazing how this team has performed, or actually
2:06
I should say and not performed without Joe El Embiid on the court. Of
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course, biggest storyline with this with this seventy six Ers team at this point,
2:15
and and like, you know, we might see him back on the
2:17
court maybe within the next couple of weeks or so, and I think that's
2:21
the hope with us fans, of course, Like, how do you think
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things will look on the court once he does return, because he has said
2:29
a number of times now he is going to return regardless of where the Sixers
2:32
record is, what the playoff situation looks like. I mean, he's gonna
2:36
take some time for him to get back into basketball form, and he may
2:38
need to find that chemistry again every now and again, that seamless chemistry basically
2:44
with some of his teammates as well. I mean I'm correct in that,
2:46
you know, I think I am, which is why I wanted to talk
2:50
to you about this. So how do you see em Bead's return really take
2:53
in shape? And what should our expectations be? Yeah, that is the
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biggest question mark is what level he's playing out when he returns. And I
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will point out that I think the Sixers have been fairly cautious throughout the process
3:02
here. They've been pretty guarded in the information that they've allowed to the public.
3:06
So it's difficult to fully put a finger on what exactly the situation is,
3:08
but in general that they are operating on kind of the longer end of
3:12
the timeline for recovery, which I think is a good thing when think about
3:15
his track record in his career, and obviously a big man with knee injuries
3:19
isn't the greatest track record to have, so that's something that you want to
3:22
be careful with. We are at the point where I think it's safe to
3:24
evaluate the ramp up period that he is on the court doing some workouts,
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and it's not the hottest take in the world to say that when the raigning
3:30
MVP and one of the thirty five top five best players in the sport is
3:34
coming back on the court, the team's going to be a whole lot better.
3:36
So I'm pretty optimistic that I think this team's been pretty tailor made of
3:39
guys built to play next to Joel Embiid, which is kind of why it
3:43
looks as bad as it does right now. But when that guy does return
3:46
to the floor, this team's got a fighting chance. I'm more optimistic than
3:49
most on that. I get a little concerned about even the simple, even
3:53
the simple defense with Joel Embiid where like double teams. Of course we know
3:57
we're going to continue to happen with him like they have throughout his entire career,
4:00
but really like how he handles that, you know what I mean,
4:02
Like I can imagine in his brain he's probably liked me and can I just
4:05
get one defender here? It's I'm getting back into things. But really how
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he handles double teams, how he handles uh, just the basics out there.
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I think it's gonna be a little bizarre. And I think if he's
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not putting up thirty thirty five points a game right out of the gate,
4:19
I hope Sixers fans understand that that's probably you know, that's it's probably an
4:24
unrealistic expectation. Yeah, And Tijoell's credit, I think he's done a pretty
4:28
good job throughout his career of being a guy who misses some time and is
4:30
able to step back in the floor and look like himself pretty much immediately.
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That there's always the growing pains, some sloppy passes and things like that to
4:36
shake off, but in general, I think he does a far better job
4:40
than most players and staying at the level even when he's away from the team
4:43
and away from the sport. So I'm optimistic in that view. I do
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think that there is gonna be some growing pains. You mentioned double teams there,
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and that's in general been a weakness in his game. Is being able
4:51
to just process those make the right decision from a playmaking standpoint. That's an
4:56
area where I thought he's taking a significant stride forward this year. Yeah,
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having a career high assists, and a lot of that is the players around
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him, the system around him as well. Much more movement this year.
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I do think that's one of those things that that is a rhythm and flow
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thing that I think that happens when you play a lot of basketball or in
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the routine. So that's something I do expect a little bit of a step
5:13
back on, at least in the short term. But overall, he's took
5:15
it a stride forward this year. And he is a guy who puts in
5:17
the work when it comes to film analysis, watching a ton of basketball,
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so I'm optimistic that on that side of things he'll be up to speed.
5:24
All Right, Well, let's get into Tyre s Maaxey here. You're talking
5:26
about a guy who's put in some work this season. Man, Tyres Maxi,
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what we've seen from him in terms of his diversity or diversifying his scoring
5:38
basically sean like, it's really been amazing to look at. Look, there
5:42
aren't too many silver lines with joe El Embiid being out, but it really
5:45
seems as though Tyres Maxey is continuing to expand his three level scoring. I
5:49
mean, he's been learning how to manipulate defenses, especially you know, we're
5:53
talking about double teams with Joel Embiid. You know, especially with the double
5:56
team when that comes to him, he seems to be embracing it, kind
5:59
of it to his advantage, like Embiide has done throughout parts of his career
6:03
as well. So I'm wondering what part of Maxi's scoring again, how he's
6:08
expanded that three level scoring. Have you really been enjoying most and again really
6:14
trying to find that silver lining here? What are your thoughts? Yeah,
6:16
Tyr is awesome man. He keeps succeeding expectations, keeps finding ways to get
6:20
better better, And what's impressed me the most of late is I think in
6:24
the long term trajectory of his career, it's gonna be so good for him
6:27
to just have this stretch of basketball where he was the focal point of every
6:30
opposing defense. He's been blitzed a ton teams forcing the ball out of his
6:32
hands, leading to a ton of four on three opportunities. It's another reason
6:35
why Kyle Lowry has been very valuable of having another ball handler on the court
6:40
with that side of things. But Maxie specifically, he is now a true
6:43
three level scorer that we knew the three point shooting that took a significant stride
6:47
forward immediately when he got to the NBA. The finishing around the rim continues
6:50
to get better, and that's honestly what impresses me the most about his game
6:54
still, the way he's able to finish around guys like Anthony Davis the other
6:57
night around the Lakers, Like that's a premier shot blocker to this league.
7:00
And he's just so quick in the way that he's able to get it up
7:02
off the glass. Just the way that he drives one hundred miles per hour
7:06
and still has that like soft touch and being able to spin it is super
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impressive. And he still has a bit of a mid range game that floaters
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kind of returned to his shot diet, which I love that to me,
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is a huge part of his identity as a player. That's been a shot
7:17
of his since his days of Kentucky. I'm personally a huge fan of the
7:20
floaters kind of a weapon in your game, especially when you're a little guy
7:24
like Tyree. So he does kind of have the complete package. He's getting
7:27
to the mid range spots too, and I've been really impressed with just the
7:29
way he's been able to just break down what opposing defense they're doing and find
7:33
a way to beat it. That's the strives forward from a mental standpoint,
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I think is the biggest positive from him. I just find it astonishing not
7:41
just how he's developed, but how much more we can actually see from him
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in the future with regard to the three level scoring. I mean, I
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think we're gonna see even even better Tyrese Max he two three years down the
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road, Sean absolutely, And I always think we get ahead of ourselves by
7:58
kind of digesting what he is right now. He's twenty three years old,
8:01
Like, think about what this guy can be in three four years when he's
8:03
actually hitting his basketball prime. And I don't mean this by any exaggeration when
8:07
I'm saying, like Tyrese Maxi being who he's become, has extended the window
8:11
with Jewel Embiid that I think there's a real world where if that was not
8:16
the home run slam dunk draft pick that it became with Tyrese, that the
8:18
future is looking way bleaker when speaking about obviously the hard and uncertainty that has
8:22
gone through and they got their revenge in that matchup on Sunday, So cool
8:26
little match up there, But if it was not Tyrese Maxi being this guy
8:30
capable of picking up the baton that Embiid eventually will have to pass, the
8:33
future of the Sixer is looking far darker. So very happy that he's here
8:37
and he's answering every question that there could possibly be about his game and just
8:41
his ability to kind of be that face of the franchise, which I think
8:43
is awesome to see. Well, Sean, as we know, there are
8:46
some dark aspects of this team right here, and there's one gentleman we have
8:50
to get into here that is one Tobias Harris here. I mean, it's
8:54
really amazing that we saw Tobias Harris score twenty four points against the Clippers this
8:58
past weekend. You know, he goes away for a period of time does
9:03
absolutely nothing on the courts. We've seen a number of times throughout this season
9:05
he comes back then at times and has a really nice game here and there,
9:09
like he did again against Clippers here. And I know we're we're all
9:13
just about done with Tobias Harris, we're all done kind of talking about him.
9:16
But it did want to bring him up because you know, at the
9:18
end of the day, he is going to leave some sort of legacy here,
9:22
you know, his legacy in Philadelphia being in a Sixers uniform. And
9:26
we're in those final weeks right now, so and in final months too,
9:31
how do you think those of us who who really follow this Sixers team well
9:35
into the future here is going to remember Tobias Harris and his time in Philadelphia.
9:39
I mean, look, the results are of his career what they are.
9:43
The results are what they are, and I just wonder, how do
9:46
you think, like really actually looking at it from a long term perspective,
9:50
not just over these past few months where we wanted him to step up and
9:54
it didn't happen, but like when we actually look at the length of his
9:58
career wearing a Sixers uniform, what are we going to remember about his time
10:01
here in Philly. Yeah, it's unfortunately tough not to be a little bit
10:05
underwhelmed. And it's hard because money comes with expectation. That's in life,
10:09
and that's especially the case in the NBA and with Tobias Harris. He basically
10:13
was handed something that he handed shoes that he was not capable of filling when
10:16
he was signed that contract in inked his deal there, And to Tobias's credit,
10:20
I think he does get the short end of the stick a lot of
10:22
times. He's seen his role with drastically move all over the place. He
10:26
just is being asked to be somebody that he's not and that's a tough situation
10:30
to be in, and we've seen that throughout his six or tenure. And
10:31
we've also seen moments where he's been essentially reduced to kind of a catch and
10:35
shoot three point shooter, stand in the corner kind of guy, and also
10:37
moments where it's like, go be the second option. So it's been all
10:41
over the place for him. I do feel from him in that regard,
10:43
But specifically, I think the writing is especially on the walls of late for
10:46
there's nowhere where this guy can come back to the sixers next year, and
10:50
regardless of the price point, I think for both sides, it's time for
10:52
a clean start. Go somewhere else, start your career somewhere else. He's
10:56
been around the league plumby already, and it's tough not to be frustrated by
10:58
the recent stretch of play. Like I haven't been the biggest Tobias Harris fan
11:03
in general, but specifically, this recent stretch is by far the worst basketball
11:05
I've ever seen him play, and I don't know why that is really the
11:09
case. They need him more so than ever. Obviously witch Towell and beat
11:11
out, and then from an individual standpoint for Tobias, like, you're on
11:15
a contract here, man, you're gonna be a free agent, and you
11:18
got to drive your price point somewhere. You have the opportunity to make a
11:20
strong statement by taking control of this team, and he just has done the
11:24
exact opposite of that. So it's been really frustrating. I think he's regressed
11:28
in a lot of areas. His kind of shot selection has been much more
11:31
poor this year, way fewer three point attempts, which is especially frustrating me.
11:33
I think defensively he's been worse this year, which I don't understand,
11:37
but yeah, it's been a tough stretch for Tobias. It's an ugly way
11:41
for his six or tenure to end. And unfortunately, I don't think he's
11:43
gonna be remembered as the positive, most positive sixer of all times. Absolutely.
11:48
And look, we talk about sports psychology a decent amount on this podcast
11:52
because it is important and as it relates to the game of professional sports in
11:56
general. And I don't know what's happening with him. There's obviously some psychology
12:00
issues going on. But two weeks ago, Man, I'm telling you right
12:03
now, if you had to told me that Tobias Harris was going to be
12:05
playing in the league next year for another team, I'd say, Man,
12:09
he might get the league minimum. You know, the way that he's been
12:11
playing it. It's a sad state for him in general in terms of what
12:16
his career was, the potential promise, not living up to it. Like
12:20
you said, he had those shoes to fill, never was able really capable
12:22
of doing it. But man, there are times when I'm like, man,
12:26
if he gets a league minimum next year, I'm gonna be surprised.
12:28
Yeah, And it's that's one of the more fascinating questions I have for this
12:31
offseason. Yes, what is his market value that I generally can't really put
12:35
my finger on it. That, Like, I do think ultimately there will
12:39
be a bad team, likely the Detroit Pistons, that kind of talk themselves
12:41
into him and say, like, we need a veteran presence, we need
12:43
a good locker room guy to kind of build up this young cores and overpay
12:46
him a little bit. If I had a guess, I'd probably think somewhere
12:50
in kind of the three year, sixty million kind of range, which is
12:52
still a lot significantly less than he's making right now. It's like half of
12:56
I mean that's half what he's making right now. It's still a big jump.
12:58
But I do think like some team will pay him that it better not
13:01
be the Sixers. It better not be serious. I do not want him
13:05
back here at all. But I wanted to get into Sean a tweet that
13:09
you recently posted that are we calling him tweets? I don't know what freak
13:13
call me anymore? I still do. Yeah, yeah, so tweet you
13:16
recently posted here that I wanted to get into about Kelly Obray Junior. I
13:20
mean, you said his goal was obviously to rebuild his value this season,
13:24
so price point is the asterisk next to it. But he has played significantly
13:30
above my expectations for most of this season. I know you want him to
13:33
come back to Philly next season. I think you know. I mean that
13:37
was the sentiment I think in some of your your tweets and your messaging as
13:39
of late as you're online. Do you think that's realistic? And should Kelly
13:45
be coming back to this team. I absolutely would love to have him back
13:48
on the Sixers next year. And my point about kind of the value there
13:50
is Kelly is an interesting story across the NBA that he kind of has a
13:54
reputation, I think worse than he deserves as kind of a losing player.
13:58
A lot of that's because of the teams that he's played for, having his
14:01
best season with the Charlotte Hornets last year. That there's always a little attachment
14:05
to that of being a twenty plus point per game score on a really bad
14:07
team. There's a lot of guys in the NBA that can do that that
14:09
if you have unlimited chances, he'll fill up the stat sheet, and I
14:13
think he was looked at as one of those. I was a little skeptical
14:16
of Kelly u Bra coming into this year, and I've been really impressed with
14:18
the way that he impacts winning in a way that I didn't expect. I
14:20
think he competes super hard, and if you're willing to do that on a
14:24
night to night basis, which he's shown throughout the entirety of the season,
14:26
I'm willing to put up with a lot that you always got to take the
14:30
bad with the good with Kelly, that there is going to be some heat
14:31
check, bad shot selection opportunities. But the guy competes. He defends at
14:35
a higher level than I thought he was capable of. He's really effective as
14:39
far as just being a high level athlete, being a lob threat, which
14:41
is something the Sixers haven't had. He finds ways to generate offense on the
14:45
offensive or generate points on the offensive putbacks. His baseline cuts I think are
14:50
really good and I think that's a really useful skill to surround Jowell Embid with.
14:52
So I've been really impressed with the level that he brings, the energy
14:56
that brings, and really how effective he's been. And for Kelly side of
14:58
things, I think this was viewed as a one year and then go get
15:01
however much money you can get. That he's the only player in the NBA
15:05
to average twenty points per game last year and be on a veterans minimum,
15:07
that generally just does not happen. And also for players in general, when
15:11
you get labeled as kind of a minimum guy, it's tough to play your
15:15
way out of that that that's generally a label that gets attached to you,
15:16
and you're a minimum guy for the entirety of your career. That's oftentimes why
15:20
you see a lot of these veterans guy on the tail ends of their career
15:24
just sit out rather than play on a minimum because they don't want to be
15:26
attached to that, which you can feel however you feel about that before Kelly,
15:30
like he's twenty eight years old, Like there's still good basketball, You're
15:33
still ahead of them. I'm curious how much the number will be attached to
15:37
him and what teams throughout them. But if we're talking in that same kind
15:39
of range, maybe a three year, sixty million deero, I think that's
15:43
fair for Ubra and I think that's something that he would bring plus value to
15:46
the six Ers. Whip Again, folks talking to Sean Bernard from Pickswap Media.
15:50
I listen to their great podcast on Apple Podcast and also you can hear
15:54
them every now and again on Fox Sports Phillies the Gambler and follow him on
16:00
Twitter slash x at Sewan Underscore Bernard One. He's a great, great follow,
16:03
great great follow for sure. And as we're moving along here, Sean,
16:07
I want to want to get into an exercise. I haven't done this
16:11
in a little while. Sometimes I've done this with some Eagles and NFL talk
16:15
here on the show. But I'm gonna give you a few categories, and
16:18
I'd like for you to give you the player that you're thinking about with each
16:21
category and an explanation as to why you pick that player as it pertains to
16:25
this Sixers roster for the remainder of the season. So the first category is
16:30
gonna be the comeback kid. Who's gonna be the comeback kid possibly that you
16:34
can see with the Sixers team? And why the comeback kid? I like
16:40
this one. I like all these questions. I like the categories, by
16:41
the way, but thanks the comeback kid that I'm gonna throw I'm gonna throw
16:45
it the uber again that I think for the reasons of him being a guy
16:48
that looked phenomenal early on with Joel and that's still kind of the vision of
16:52
him that I have tied in my head for the best version of him as
16:53
a player. Then there was the hit by a car situation or whatever happened
16:57
there, and he's obviously away from basketball for a couple of weeks return and
17:02
then didn't look like himself. And then since Chewell has gone down, he's
17:04
really been that guy that has stepped up and had that comeback performance showing that
17:08
he's capable of a little bit more offensive load than he's had to carry for
17:11
most of this season. So these recent weeks, I think he's been phenomenal.
17:15
I think he's a guy that the best version of him is a little
17:17
bit more bottled up than is currently the case. But it's out out of
17:21
necessity that he's playing at the level that he is as far as opportunity shots
17:23
and all those things. So for me, I'm given for giving it to
17:26
Kelly Ubra the nice I like it. I like that. I like that
17:30
choice for sure. The next category here is the rising star. Who do
17:34
you see possibly being the rising star on the Sixers roster from here until the
17:40
end of the season. Here, Yeah, Tyre's Max. He's the obvious
17:42
one here. So I'll go a little bit of a different direction, right,
17:45
I'll throw rickeyt Council the foursome love cool, all Right. This is
17:49
a guy that's a little bit caught in the NBA politics for why he's not
17:52
getting as much of an opportunity as he can. That we know, as
17:55
I mentioned, with money coming with expectation that they're going to go with guys
17:59
with a little bit higher number attached to him. But he's a guy who's
18:02
made the most of every single opportunity he's been given. His athleticism absolutely pops.
18:07
He's a guy that defends hard, he's his three point shooting has taken
18:10
strides forward significantly throughout the season and especially what he showed back in college.
18:14
So I've been really impressed with that. He's a guy that I absolutely have
18:17
circled and hoping to kind of expect the Sixers to upgrade from a two way
18:21
contract to a standard NBA deal that would make him eligible for the playoffs.
18:23
And frankly, he's a guy that I think should be at least an option
18:27
come playoff time. I think he's proved capable, he looks ready, and
18:30
he's a guy that I think in the long run they should be looking to
18:33
sign to a multi year deal and in and kind of this Shake Mountain esque
18:37
kind of deal where you have a guy playing below his market value, even
18:40
though it won't look like it this year, flash forwards years two and three,
18:42
he's playing far more minix minutes than the dollar amount would indicate. So
18:47
that was that would be my plan, my plan for Ricky Council the fourth
18:48
there. And frankly, he's earned that opportunity. I love it, man,
18:52
I love these I love these choices you have so far here in this
18:56
little exercise. All right, Next up is needs to rebound, Okay,
19:00
and I'm talking as in like they're play on the court, not the number
19:03
of rebounds they're getting per game. So who needs to rebound here from now
19:07
to the end of the season. I'm going with Buddy Heild here. Oah,
19:11
all right. I'm a big time pro Buddy Heieald guy, have been
19:14
for years, loved them since Oklahoma, And frankly, I think he's a
19:17
better player than the reputation of him is. But he's been bad lately and
19:19
he was terrific when he first got to the Sixers, those first four games
19:22
specifically absolutely unbelievable. He's a guy that I'm I struggle to be too critical
19:26
of because the reason that he's here is to play next to Joel Embiid.
19:30
That he is one of those guys that's going to look drastically different and be
19:32
drastically more impactful when you are playing next to Joel Embiid, who's obviously a
19:36
guy with the gravity commands double teams, and Buddy's gonna be kind of the
19:40
outlet for that. So I'm still optimistic that once Jowell comes it all makes
19:44
sense. But in the meantime there's got to be a little more than their
19:47
giving and we've seen his minutes drastically step back, played sixteen minutes the other
19:51
game, which is really discouraging considering how much was given up for him,
19:55
and really the expectations is to be a starting shooting guard when they were traded
19:57
for him. So I hope Buddy can his stride. I do think it
20:00
eventually happens, especially when Joelle's back on the floor, but been really disappointed
20:03
by the stretch of play the past few weeks. All Right, he absolutely
20:07
does need to rebound for sure. And finally, here the dark horse MVP.
20:11
Okay, we know that the reigning MVP, Joe el embiid he's gonna
20:15
be coming back at some point in the near future here, so keeping maybe
20:18
him to the I don't know. Maybe he was your dark horse MVP.
20:22
I don't know, But who is your dark horse MVP here, Sean,
20:25
My dark horse MVP is Kyle Lowry? All Right, Really impressed with what
20:29
he's brought to this team. I was a little skeptical. I was a
20:30
pro pat BEV guy during his time with the Sixers. I still think he
20:33
was very good in his opportunity. But Lowry's been better and there's more to
20:36
his game. There's more left in the tank than I expected. He's thirty
20:40
eight turned thirty eight years old today at the time of recording this, so
20:42
obviously a guy up there in years. But he's got some juice left in
20:45
him that he can still move, he can still shoot. He's been a
20:48
really good veteran leader. Like even in a game like the Clippers, which
20:52
he was not suiting up for, he was the first guy talking in the
20:55
huddle. He was pointing out things, calling on the court, arguing with
20:57
referees, doing all the things that I like to see from a veteran,
21:00
and it's clear that he still has a desire to compete, still has a
21:03
desire to win, and he's an excellent guy for players like Tyrese Maxie to
21:07
continue learning from and still useful on the court. I think, specifically,
21:11
as Maxi's been blitzed and really teams doubling and forcing the ball out of his
21:14
hands, it's Ben Lowry being the guy to run the offense and be that
21:17
true point guard which allows more flexibility. So I've been really impressed with what
21:21
he brings to this team, and I think as we approach this playoff run,
21:23
his leadership and his experience is going to be incredibly vital to this team.
21:26
It gonna be interesting to watch for sure. And before I let you
21:30
go here, Sean, I wanted to get into the coaching of this team
21:33
because Nick Nurse was obviously put into a tough situation with him be being out
21:37
for so long here. But honestly, you know, I really did think
21:41
the record would be a little bit better and that he'd pull out some more
21:45
wins for this team here and there. I don't know what and it's not
21:48
all his faults. Of course, you know where this team is at.
21:51
But what are your thoughts on Nick Nurse's job performance given these trying circumstances that
21:56
he and the Sixers have been under. Yeah, I think he's been mostly
22:00
good. I'm probably not as sky high on him as I was earlier on
22:03
in the year. It's interesting, like for this specific stretch, this is
22:07
a tough period of their schedule, and I think if you could ask the
22:10
Sixers to kind of move some things around that they would have much rather had
22:12
Joel Embiid be out during their earlier portion of the schedule and have him for
22:17
kind of the meat of the matchups which they're currently going through. So it's
22:19
tough how that shook out. And I'll also point out like with this specific
22:22
specific Sixers team, Darryl Mory's catching a lot of heat for kind of the
22:26
roster construction. To me, it makes sense that each one of these players
22:30
are tailor made to play next to Joel Embiid, and when you take him
22:33
away, like it looks way worse. An example I'll give is Niko Batoum
22:37
is a guy who he's an excellent catch and shooter. He's an excellent entry
22:40
passer, very smart defender, which all works perfect next to Jowel Embiid,
22:45
but when you take Joel out of there, he looks a little limited in
22:47
the things that he can do. So I think there's a lot of guys
22:48
like that, and it's tough to scrape the wins. I don't think.
22:52
I don't think Nurse has done the best job of raising the floor of his
22:55
team. I've been an anti doc Rivers guy, but that's something he was
22:57
excellent at, is scrape out wins when you really have no business doing that.
23:02
I think Ners is more of a guy who maximizes on top end talent
23:04
and in the grand scheme of things, I do think that's more important for
23:07
contending for a championship. But it has been a tough stretch. I'm not
23:10
gonna put it fully on Ners because I think this has way more to do
23:12
with the injuries and even guys liked Anthony Mountain and Robert Covington being out as
23:15
impactful to the rotations as well. So it's been a tough stretch. Has
23:19
been perfect from him, but overall still a net positive on the season.
23:22
Again, Folks, Sean Bernard from Pickswap Media. I listen on Apple Podcasts,
23:29
a great, great show for you to listen to, and also Fox
23:32
Sports Philly The Gambler. Sean, Buddy, it has been great talking to
23:34
you. Always love having you on. Come back join us down the road
23:37
we'll talk more sixers. My friend. Absolutely appreciate you having me in any
23:41
time. It's always great talking to Sean. And as we know, being
23:47
a Philly sports fan, the rug just gets pulled out from under us.
23:51
Yes, Joel Embiid was having quite an MVP caliber season. Hard to believe
23:56
that he was doing better things on the court this season than he was last
24:00
season when he actually did win the MVP Award, But of course that was
24:04
all just taken away from us, taken away from him, of course,
24:08
And again it figures the rug getting pulled out from under us. Who knows
24:11
what's gonna happen when he does return to the Court's gonna take some time,
24:15
like Sean and I were talking about, before he can get back into form.
24:19
But the season is not one hundred percent lost at this point. I
24:22
refuse to believe that it's one hundred percent lost. But things are looking a
24:27
little rough here. And there. So anyway, we're gonna continue to follow
24:32
what's going on with this Philadelphia seventy six ers team for the rest of this
24:34
season, then the off season for many many weeks and months to come here
24:38
at the PST podcast Show. If you are new to listening to us,
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25:19
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25:22
folks. Take care, We'll catch you next time.