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TABLE TALK: Why Are The Sixers Terrible In The 3rd Quarter? · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

• 0:28
  Speaker 1: All right, folks, welcome to Table Talk here at the
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest running weekly Philly
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: sports podcast show in the world, over twelve and a
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: half years strong. It's a cool one outside, folks. We've
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: got our good friend Harrison grim from Libertyballers dot Com.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: He's wearing a cap. I'm wearing a sweatshirt. For God's sake.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: You never seen this stuff here on the PSD podcast show.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: It's the world we're living in here in Northeast section
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: of the United States. Here, my friend, how are you doing.
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: I hope you're staying warm.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: I'm snowed in at the time of which we are recording.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: It's a weird day too, because if you look behind me,
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: I got this.
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: I got the Sixers on right now. Yeah playing.
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: I know we're recording this at three forty pm, like
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: on a week that. It's just a strange modern circumstances.
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: Yeah, we're snowed in. It's just complete chaos.
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: But always good to chop it up with you talk Sixers, NBA.
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: There's no shortage of topics. Absolutely exciting to dive into it.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: Look, you're talking about weird stuff going on here. First topic,
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: I want to dive into with you before we get
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: into any Sixers talk, because I wanted to get your
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: thoughts on the honest situation that is happening with the Bucks.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: I mean, it is so incredibly bizarre, and I love
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: seeing a team that quotes should be more dominant just
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: completely falling by the wayside because what they're superstar is
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: just either not happy or there's discord going on so
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: little background, there's some obvious tension going on behind the
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: scenes out in Milwaukee. Now, Jannis has said that he
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: has another calf injury. He's self diagnosed himself here without
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: consulting with the Bucks trainers and the staff. I don't know,
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: can he do this? Is he allowed to do this?
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: And like, what are the repercussions of this going to be?
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: I mean, he definitely seems to me Harrison fed up
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: with the season, But man, this kind of behavior certainly
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: isn't endearing him, I think to the organization from long
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: term perspective here, what are your thoughts about this whole situation,
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: what we've seen from Yannis.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and whenever you have a big name request out
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: of a situation, you're always gonna see him kind of
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: act up. Or act in a different manner that you
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: haven't seen him past years. Even a guy like Yannis
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: has been with Milwaukee basically ever since I've started following
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: the NBA. He's been there and obviously led them to
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: a title, solidified at his status with that franchise, but
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: it's really been a turbulent season out that way.
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: They headlines when.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: They wave and stretched Damian Lillard one of the probably
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: more shocking things I've seen in my nine years of
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: really closely following the NBA. Obviously they pivoted to Miles
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: Turner and some other I don't want to use the
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: word misfit, but strange collection of talent they have, Kevin
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: Porter Junior there, Ryan Rawlins has been a silver lining.
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: It's just been a really turbulent season. They're out of
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: the playing pitcher. Now you have Gianni's hurt again, and
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: I'm glad you brought up the self diagnosing because I've
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: never seen never give a timeline before getting looked at
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: or getting an MRI. Now, Jannis had an injury similar
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: to this a few weeks ago, and maybe it is
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: that similar, but with all the circumstances, it's hard not
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: to look at that and raise your eyebrow.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. I can imagine the training staff being like, they're
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: here in his interview and they're like, wait, we're gonna
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: he's got an MRI. Did you sign off on that?
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: No?
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: I didn't sign off on that. Way, he's getting an MRI.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: What's going on here?
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, And typically when you see that type of thing,
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: like I think Wenby did it earlier in the season
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: when he got hurt and he was like, I'm playing
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: in like the next game, which is in a day
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: or two, and that's typically a.
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: Guy trying to play.
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: Obviously, Giannis is going to be out for a few
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: weeks here, maybe even more so.
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: We'll see what happens with that.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: But it's been really crazy to see and it seems
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: like the trade discourse and such isn't going away. In fact,
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: it seems to be ramping up. Yeah, not to use
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: that term within his things, but it truly does seem
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: like this situation is starting to reach a boiling point.
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: I still think the most likely scenario is he gets
• 4:40
  Speaker 2: moved in the offseason. And that's not to say they
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: aren't looking to move him now. He's not trying to
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: get out of there now. It's just a lot easier
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: to move those big salaries and just salaries in general
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: over the summer compared to the trade deadline. But it's
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: certainly a bizarre situation. It feels like both sides don't
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: want to be the bad guy. The Bucks don't want
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: to trade arguably the best franchise talent, Yannis obviously doesn't
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: want to be the bad guy, demand out, and you're
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: just kind of at this standstill here. And I've seen
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: some Milwaukee people talk about like a soft tank kind
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: of what we saw from the Sixers last year, albeit
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: they were legitimately hurt and the Bucks are more or
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: less banged up as well. So maybe that's an alternative.
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: Maybe you just ride out this season, rack up some
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: l's and you can get a high draft pick. That's
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: certainly a possibility, and that's honestly what the Bucks need
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: at this point, because there's no tangible, single move that's
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: gonna get yanis the help that he needs to seriously
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: compete there, unless it's coming in the draft with some
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: of these big name draft prospects. So yeah, so many
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: different ways this situation can go. It's certainly possible he
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: gets moved in the next week.
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: Or two.
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: I don't want to say it's impossible because it's the NBA.
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: We saw Luca Donta overnight, but I still am pretty
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: skeptical that anything big happens within the next ten days.
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: Well, I gotta tell you, I love seeing discord with
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: other teams, especially when you got a superstar and there
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: are question marks about what his tenure is going to be.
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: I love seeing it. So that being said, let's get
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: into some Sixers talk here and really kind of where
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: they have been lacking as of late, and we need
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: to get into Quentin Grimes right off the bat. I
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: remember the last time you were on we were talking
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: about Grimes because it was a different Quenton Grimes that
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: we were seeing then as what we are seeing now.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: He has not been a positive contributor to this team
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: over the last month or so here, Harrison, and it's
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: been a little bit mind boggling. He's been making some
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: bizarre passes and decisions every now and again. I do
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: wonder where his head is at. What are your thoughts
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: on really what has been happening with Quinton Grimes here
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: at this point in the season.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and this is something that I've really meant to
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: dive into more because you're right. The last time we talked,
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: Quenton Grimes was putting together kind of a sleeperxpan of
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: the year season. He was playing that well off the bench.
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: She was hitting big shots, he was attacking the rim.
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: I kind of called it like f you drives, where
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: he's just bodying up guys, just banging down low to
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: try and get to the rack. And even that has
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: gone away. Obviously, this game behind me is still ongoing,
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: but he's just smoking layups now that the shots aren't falling.
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: And it's kind of ironically went into the season talking
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: about there potentially being too many guards and now they're
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: trying to find production in the third guy. And I
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: don't know if it's gonna be Quinton Grimes. I don't
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: know if it's gonna be Jared McCain who they're throwing
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: back out there now. It's a really tricky situation and
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure if it's like with some players we're
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: close to the trade deadline, sometimes they get nerves around
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: that time, potentially getting moved. That theory kind of falls
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: apart when you factor in Quentin Grimes actually has a
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: no trade clause this season, but it's kind of a
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: tough time to be playing, and I think Andre Drummond
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: is a good example of that, where the vibes necessarily
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: haven't been there for him. He's a realist, he's a human,
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: he knows the reality of this league. So I'm not
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: sure if it's a long term fit type thing. I
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: don't know if it's just this severe shooting slump. But
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: the Sixers mean Quinn Grimes. He's been He's been the
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: guy in some of their best lineups, So I'm not
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: sure if it's just getting the gym and the shots
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: will start falling type of thing. But he's someone who's
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: really important to them, and if he doesn't start figuring
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: it out soon down the stretch of the regular season
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: and into the playoffs, the Sixers are going to have
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: to look elsewhere, and that's certainly gonna be something to
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: watch in the coming weeks and months.
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, he's been disappointing for sure, and like you said,
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: maybe it is a severe shooting slump that he is in.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: But we got he's got to get this figured out.
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: Nick Nurse needs to get this figured out. And we
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: are going to take a break here and when we
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: get back folks, We're gonna talk about something else that's
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: really severe with this team, and it is the third quarter.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: We're gonna talk about this yet again. We've talked about
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: it on our regular podcast show that drops on Thursdays.
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: But we are gonna take a break.
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: When we get back.
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: We got more talk with Harrison, a lot more Sixers
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: talk coming your way. All right, we are back with
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: Harrison grim from Libertyballers dot Com. And as we're talking
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: about this Sixers team here, Harrison, like, the one thing
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: that I am consistently I think we are all consistently
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: baffled by is the third quarter. We are baffled by
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: the third quarter, and it's we consistently talk about it.
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: Sixers Nation continues to talk about it because it's one
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: of the biggest negative aspects of this team. Level of
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: the play in the third quarter, game after game. The
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: Sixers collapse against the Knicks this past weekend really does
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: I think highlight the sheer scale of this problem. And frankly,
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: it's the direct reflection of a coach's ability to navigate
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: a difficult situation in game here. I mean, that's inevitably
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: what this is coming down to. In my opinion and
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: a lot of others as well. I've been a huge
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: Nick Nurse fan during his tenure here in Philadelphia. But
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: how does he need to address this in the coming
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: weeks and months with the third quarter woes. I know
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: it's not easier, it would have been figured out at
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: this point, but what are your thoughts here? Man?
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's really difficult to read.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure if it's like a lack of preparation thing,
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: because typically halftime is where you see teams really start
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: to make adjustments and you're referencing the next game.
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: I think that's a perfect game fresh in our memories.
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: Joel Embiid was cooking in that game, and he had
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: a phenomenal first half. I think he had twenty eight
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: points in that first half. Everybody and their mother knew
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: the knicks we're gonna start blitzing Joeell offering more help
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: just to get the ball out of his hands and
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: make other guys step up, and that's exactly what they did.
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: And this just looked ill prepared from it. And I
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: don't know if that was the type of game where
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: some of the guys just expected Joelle to carry them
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: to a victory because it certainly looked that way for
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: certain portions of it. So I don't know if it's
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: a lack of preparation from the coaching staff. I don't
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: know if the coaching staff is prepping these guys and
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: they're just not executing. Well, it could be a combination
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: of both. But yeah, this has been a reoccurring issue,
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: and with that Knicks game, specifically, that third quarter stretch,
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: it was like six minutes or so was really what
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: defined the games.
• 11:34
  Speaker 3: They had a good.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: First and second quarter, they even had a solid fourth
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: quarter after that, but they lost by three and it
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: was enough to sink them. So the Sixers really need
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: to figure out ways to just set up their guys
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: easy and prepare for the adjustments coming out of halftime.
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: And I don't know if you.
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: Do that with some basic half court sets. Again, that
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: falls apart if the players just aren't executing, which if
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: the players aren't executing, it's important to ask why, because
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: this has now been a three to four month issue.
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: This is nothing new, but it's certainly a focal point
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: in the six or season, and it has been the
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: reason that losses have been piling up, especially at home.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: I'm not even kidding, if they had this figured out,
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: they might be like the number two or number three.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: See at this point, you know, I just and I
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: think that if it was as easy as you know,
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: some folks you know online say that it is. And
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: I'm not meaning to by any stretch of the imagination
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: thinking that it's easy fix at all, But it just
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: seems that something has to give. You can't keep doing
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: the same things over and over. I don't have you
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: seen Nick Nurse coming out of the half doing something
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: different at times? I mean at times I have seen
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: him doing things differently, you know, whether it is line up,
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: whether it is you know, how they're attacking. But I
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: just something has to give.
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I've certainly seen adjustments on the defensive end
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: in terms of the Sixers coming out of halftime. It
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: really just comes down to the offense. And this is
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: something I'm kind of being a dead horse here, but
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: it's kind of the pitfall with Nick Nurse's offensive system,
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: where these guys just kind of do what they want,
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: lean into the things they do well. And while that's
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: good maybe from an individual standpoint, depending on the game
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: and the context within it, that can be a bad thing.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: So I don't know if it's something that is easily
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: solved if you swap Nick Nurse out in another coach
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: in And even if it is, I certainly think there's
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: some areas that Nick Nurse has done well in. Yeah,
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: I know him and Kelly Uber have kind of been
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: the fall guys this season. But I thought Nick Nurse
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: coach a tremendous game in the Rockets game a few
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: nights ago. I thought he did a tremendous job against
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: Kevin Durant, forcing eight turnovers on him. And listen, Kevin
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: Durant and talents like Kevin Durant are going to get theirs.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: It's all about making it hard on them, and that's
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: what he did. So, you know, it's a difficult thing
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: to see. I don't know if it's going to get
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: solved at this point in the season. Like I said,
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: this has been a reoccurring issue. Really just comes down
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: to limiting the lack of daisicalness, the sloppiness coming out
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: of halftime, and that falls on the coaches and it
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: also falls on the players as well.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: Absolutely all right, Well, moving along here, we got to
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: get into one Joel Embiid who you mentioned, boy, Like
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: what a great game against the Knicks, and I just
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: want to discuss what he's been looking like as of late.
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: I mean the phrases that we were all using at
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: the beginning of the season, it's over, he's done. I
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: mean these were prevalent back in October and November, and
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: now here in January, he is looking really damn good here.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: I mean in the past eleven games, I think he's
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: averaging twenty eight point two points per game. Embiid is
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: looking like the old Joel Embiid and I hesitate to
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: say that. And be looking like this and staying healthy
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: is quite the stretch. But not too many folks thought
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: he'd be able to reach this level that he's currently
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: playing at. So you know, I think he's defied the
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: odds in various ways here this season is we're in January,
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: towards the end of January here hitting into February. How
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: do you assess, Harrison, where are what we've actually seen
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: from joe El Embiid this season? And I guess what
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: the realistic expectations are and you really should be for
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: the remainder of the season.
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a great question.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: And if you're the Sixers, I think it's hard to
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: not feel great about where joe El Embiid is now.
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: He did kind of have that knee thing. We'll see
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: whether or not he miss his time. He's not playing
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: that Monday game against the Hornets. We'll see if he
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: plays tomorrow against the Bucks. But assuming that was just
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: a one off thing and it's not a big issue,
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: the Sixers have to feel great.
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: I thought it.
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: Would be a treat to see Joel perform at the
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: level we've become accustomed to on like a once every
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: few weeks basis, And it's now been ten plus consecutive
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: games where Joel doesn't just look like seventy five percent
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: of his MVP self. He really does look like that
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: guy again. Yeah, and it's not just because he's filling
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: up the box or it's not just because he's scoring.
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: But if you look at the process, ironically processed, if
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: you look at the process in which he's doing things,
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: it's really good stuff. He's moving well, We've seen him
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: in the next game he hit a step back three.
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: Now he's not doing that every night.
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: But even scoring, yeah, even in scoring within the three
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: point arc, which was kind of an issue early on
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: as he was coming back from injury, trying to find
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: his footing.
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: Wasn't really moving around too much in the paint. Now
• 16:47
  Speaker 3: he is.
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: Now he's working at the elbow that we know him to.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: He even had a euro step at one point in
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: the next game. Yeah, that really thunderous dunk, which every
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: time he goes up and does that, you hold your breath.
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: But this guy.
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: Looks amazing, and the key at this point is going
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: to be making sure that you do what you can
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: to protect him from injuries and other freak plays as
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: we through February March, April and into playoff basketball, because
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: that's the goal here is getting this version of Joel
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: Embiid that we're seeing right now on the court in April,
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: in May in the playoffs and just seeing what happens.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: Ye.
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: So that's going to be the major key.
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: But it's phenomenal to see to see Joel performing at
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: the level he's performing at. There's a legitimate case that
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: he should be an All Star. We'll see whether or
• 17:37
  Speaker 2: not that happens, but really just props to Jonathan Glasgow,
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: the guy who operated on Joel's knee, also operated on
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: kawhisne and Kawhi Leonards, having a tremendous year tree stuff aside.
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: But yeah, it's.
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: Great to see Joel playing like this. And I can't
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: emphasize enough to the fans and it's people watching. Don't
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: take this for granted exactly. We never know when something
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: can happen. Obviously, I hold nothing happens and this is
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: the Joel we see for five more years until he
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: decides to retire. But it is almost magical to see,
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: absolutely in a city, and specifically with the six series,
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: a franchise that is not known for having magic moments.
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: It's great, it really is.
• 18:23
  Speaker 1: And I have to give him credit for how he's
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: handled the adversity of his injuries in a situation here.
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: I mean, I think Sixers Nation. We have to keep
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: that in mind as we are moving forward here. Joel
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: Embiid has handled himself very well through this very turbulent
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: period with his health. Let us know what you're thinking.
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: Leave us a comment below if you're watching on YouTube.
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: Your thoughts on Joel Embiid, his dominance as of late,
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: the type of basketball player he is now based on
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: what we thought back in October. Let us know in
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: the comments. We'd love to hear from you, and also Harrison.
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: Let everybody know where they can find you on the
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: interwebs if they want to connect with you.
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, you can follow me at Harrison underscore Grim with
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: two MS on Twitter. I'm also over on Blue Sky
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: if you just search up my name Harrison Grimm again
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: with two ms. I'm over there as well. I post
• 19:12
  Speaker 2: all my work live tweet as many games as I can.
• 19:15
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I would greatly appreciate it.
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: All right, folks, we are going to take one more
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: break and we get back more Sixers talk coming your way.
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: All right, we're back with our good friend Harrison Grim
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: from Libertyballers dot com. And as we're moving along here,
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: you know, I was getting on Nick Nurse before, but
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: I also have to give him a ton of credit
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: for finding, quite frankly, some bench time for Tyrese Maxi,
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: who is being asked to off and play forty plus
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: minutes per game. It's freaking crazy. A lot of us
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: in six Ers Nation saying, my gosh, we got we
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: gotta get Maxie some more bench time because he's just
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: gonna he's gonna end up injuring himself. You know, Nick
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: Nurse has gotten him that as of late, as the
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: team gets healthier, Harrison, you know, they should be able
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: to scale back Tyrese Maxie's usage. So this is something
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: the team needs to balance, of course, as Maxi has
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: proven to be a superstar in this league. Would you
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: agree with that?
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I certainly agree that he's averaging I think just
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: a hair under forty minutes per game.
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: And that's that's a lot.
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: I think the last guy that comes to mind that
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: I can remember playing that much over an extended season
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: was like Fred van Fleet in Toronto, which ironically is
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: Nick Nurse again. So I would love to see those
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: minutes trend down. I mean, Tyrese Maxy at this point
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: is arguably their best player. If not, he's really close
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: to it. And those guys just play a lot of minutes,
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: and Tyres is also lighter. Kind of wait, why so
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: you worry about kind of wear and tear on the
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: body less as a guard, but still you want to
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: make sure you're managing that and he has enough gas
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: to really go in the postseason, and that's going to
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: be a really important area to watch kind of post deadline,
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: we'll see what they do, whether they bring in another guard,
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: new guys to kind of help with that. But it
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: goes back to what we were talking about earlier with
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: Quinton Grimes and Jared McCain needing to figure things out
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: because guess who's gonna be on the floor when ty
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: Resse Maxi isn't. It's gonna be one of those two guys,
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: and also VJ.
• 21:17
  Speaker 3: Edgecomb. So those guys need to figure it out.
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: If not, they got to get somebody in here who
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: can spell Tyrese Maxi. Hopefully get those minutes down to
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: closer thirty six to thirty seven.
• 21:28
  Speaker 3: I'd even feel a lot better.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's only like a three to four minute difference,
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: but when you go game by game, it adds up
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: quite quickly and it does make a difference absolutely.
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: All right, buddy, before we let you go here, I
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: want to ask you about and I know it's pretty
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: general because there's still about twenty games left in the
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: season for many teams, wondering which teams in the East
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: do you think are kind of sneaky at this point
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: that may end up making a run towards the playoffs? Here?
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: What are your thoughts?
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean the Eastern Conference playoff pit yeer is
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: just insane if you follow the standings after every six
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: years game. They move up, then they move down, then
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: they're in Plane Tory territory.
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: They're everywhere. The East is just very chaotic.
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: In terms of teams that I think could surprise some people,
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: I'd probably have to go with the Toronto Raptors. I
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: think they're extremely well coached. I think Darko should be
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: in the Coach of the Year running. It's kind of insane.
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: He's not a favorite. He's working with so much on
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: ball talent, Scottie Barnes, RJ. Barrett, Brandon, Ingram, even Calin
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: Murray Boyles is an on ball talent to a certain extent,
• 22:36
  Speaker 2: and he's not only made these guys work, but they've
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: actually gelled together really well, and they hang their hat
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: on the defensive end, where Scottie Barnes is turning in
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: what I think is a defensive Player of the Year
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: caliber season.
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: Calamary Boyles has shined.
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: Tyrese Maxy's old backcourt mate Emmanuel Quickly is really starting
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: to find his footing.
• 22:55
  Speaker 3: You know, we'll see what they do at the trade deadline.
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: They're kind of a team that's been in a few rumors,
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: but they John Morant, I don't think John Morant's really
• 23:02
  Speaker 2: the answer. They're probably not a D either, Yeah, but
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: that's a team I think that could really surprise some people. Unfortunately,
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: the Boston Celtics are another one where they're just really good. Yeah,
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: and they've taken a step back talent wise in this
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: kind of gap year, if you will, But Jalen Brown
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: has really answered the call. Derek White, albeit his shooting
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: percentages are down, is still a tremendous three and D
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: type of guard. They're certainly up there. And then you
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: have the Detroit Pistons, which aren't really necessarily a sleeper team,
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: but I do think there would be quite interesting if
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: they decide to make a win now move at the deadline.
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: Getting maybe another perimeter score like Michael Porter Junior would
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: really make things interesting because right now it's essentially kid
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: and a lot of defense. And while I think that
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: is a recipe for winning, it is a proven a
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: recipe for winning for the regular season.
• 24:00
  Speaker 3: I'm not sure how viable that.
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: Is in the postseason, where CA's just constantly getting chased
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: around by two different guys.
• 24:07
  Speaker 3: So maybe they go out get a guy like Michael.
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: Porter Junior and all of a sudden, I think you're
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: looking at a really interesting situation with a wide open
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: Eastern Conference. We'll see what happens with Jason Satum if
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: he really comes back or not. But those are the
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: three teams I think people people should probably pay more
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: attention to when it comes to coming out of the
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: Eastern Conference.
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: Gotcha boy, Good stuff, Good stuff always, folks. From Harrison again,
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: Harrison Grim from Libertyballers dot com. Love talking to your Boddy.
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: Really appreciate you taking the time, come back join us.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: Love talk more sixers with you, my friend.
• 24:44
  Speaker 3: Absolutely, let's do it. Thanks for having me on.
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: That's gonna do it for us here on Table Talk
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: this week. Please share our podcast with your friends and
• 24:52
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• 24:55
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• 24:59
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• 25:03
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• 25:06
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• 25:09
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• 25:18
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