Series Thread: 3) Philadelphia 76ers vs. 2) Boston Celtics

[mr.hockey4242]

Embiid is a fucking loser? That’s probably the worst post in the history of posts. The guy is phenomenal.

The guy is a loser

 

[knowyourenemy]

oooooooo Reddick

If only he nailed the open look he had before that.

 

[msgkings322]

Philly can only look in the mirror to understand why they're not playing anymore.

The execution in the final minutes of games 3 and 5 were atrocious.

Should honestly be up 3-2 heading to Philly to close it out.

Classic young team growing pains. Nobody wins a ring the first time they get to the playoffs. This is exactly what they need, they are on the rise.

 

[Iggloo]

It was painful to watch the Sixers consistently blow key possessions late in games in this series, while the Celtics consistently capitalized on their opportunities in the same situations.

Coaching clearly played a role, but so did mental toughness. The Sixers will need to look hard in the mirror and learn from the lessons of this series if they hope to move forward. Otherwise they will be the new Toronto in the east.

 

[eaglesnut]

Not sure we'll ever catch Boston since that idiot Coangelo gave an awesome extra pick to them.

Even if we land LeBron, how much longer will he even be better than Tatum? 2 years? That kid is phenomenal and Coangelo fucked up horribly. Firable offense.

 

[bksballer89]

If only he nailed the open look he had before that.

Sixers win the series if he hit that shot

 

[LogicMan]

Congrats to a very well played series. The rivalry will grow. But this series was about the elevation of Jason Tatum, Jaylen Brown and to a lesser degree Rozier in this league. Tatum just does everything so friggin well and he is a baby. I am amazed at how him and Jaylen has put this team on their back. I think its fitting that while the league and media gaggled over Sixers process based players, in the end, due to an inury to Hayward (see Drew Bledsoe), these kids have had to rise like Brady. Even more freakky is Beldsoe's attendance at these games.

That said, Embid, Saric and TJ rose in my mind tremendously

 

[Sparhawk]

Expectations were very high after the Miami series and rightfully so.
Getting smacked in the nose is perhaps good for them.
It's not supposed to be easy.
I don't believe the Sixers wilted under the pressure, but they didn't exactly seize the moment if that makes any sense.

Embiid had his chance. Redick had a great look.
I might question why our season came down to a Saric post up, but he did have 27 pointzzz.

There needs to be some serious training/practice in the off season.
We cannot see the same trends (turnovers/poor FT shooting/lack of outside shot) next season, or at the very least, improvements in these areas. Simmons shot 70% from the FT line in the playoffs. How/when did he make that adjustment???

Trades and FAs aside, we'll be more than likely adding Fultz and the #10 pick for next season.

We'll be back.

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

Coaching clearly played a role, but so did mental toughness. The Sixers will need to look hard in the mirror and learn from the lessons of this series if they hope to move forward. Otherwise they will be the new Toronto in the east.

There, somebody said it...all this "playoff experience" and "learn from this loss" hasn't exactly helped the Raptors turn the corner

 

[Shanemansj13]

The comparison of Simmons to Lebron was shocking in college, I know he has only played one year and has been in the league two. The comparisons are way off, he isnt the scorer Lebron was, he doesn’t have a jumpshot at all. Maybe he could turn into a poor mans’ Magic but having a decent jumper will help. Still young but going 0-11 on 3’s the entire year is scary. I mean it is mind boggling honestly.

 

[Sparhawk]

The comparison of Simmons to Lebron was shocking in college, I know he has only played one year and has been in the league two. The comparisons are way off, he isnt the scorer Lebron was, he doesn’t have a jumpshot at all. Maybe he could turn into a poor mans’ Magic but having a decent jumper will help. Still young but going 0-11 on 3’s the entire year is scary. I mean it is mind boggling honestly.

Uh, you might want to check the average distance on those threes taken.

He averaged 17 points without a jump shot.
If he adds a jumper, that's scary....

 

[flyerhawk]

The Celtics were a more disciplined team. Their defense did a great job at disrupting the Sixers rhythm and REALLY limited their transition offense which the Sixers really exploited prior to this series.

The Celtics did just enough to beat the Sixers in 3 of their 4 wins. They could have easily gone either way but the Sixers inexperience ultimately did them in. Losing game 3 was a back breaker. There was no excuse for losing that game.

Moving forward the Sixers need to do the following...

1. Joel Embiid has to be better with the ball. Turnovers are the one thing keeping him from being an elite player.
2. Ben Simmons needs to develop an outside jump shot. This is fairly obvious and we have all known it for some time. Even if he doesn't he will still be a very good player but developing an outside shot will make him an elite player.
3. While the Sixers really gelled in the 2nd half of the season, that really glossed over the fact that outside of their big 3 young guns their roster is filled with guys that are pretty flawed players. RoCo needs to be more consistent. Reddick will always be a specialist and a defensive liability. Bellinelli and Ilyasova are fine enough players but neither is a guy you should rely on. I'm not sure who the Sixers will go after but improving the bench should be a focus.
4. I'm really on the fence about Lebron leaning towards not bringing him on. Unless Lebron really wants to have somehow else run the point, he and Ben will be tough to work in together.
5. Now is the time for the young guys(Ben, Markelle, Joel, Dario) to dedicate their offseasons to improving their game. Joel needs to get into better condition. Ben and Markelle need to work on their shots. Dario needs to get a little stronger so he can bang it around in the box.

 

[flyerhawk]

There, somebody said it...all this "playoff experience" and "learn from this loss" hasn't exactly helped the Raptors turn the corner

The Raptors problem is that their 2 best players are guards. No one on the team outside of Lowry and DeRozan can create their own shot.

Teams that succeed in the regular season due to their great depth often struggle in the post-season. Granted the Raptors also have serious team confidence issues when it comes to playing the Cavs. They look for reasons to lose to Lebron.

It is certainly possible that the Sixers will never develop into the team people think it will become. I would say it is more likely than not that they WILL given the talent of Simmons and Embiid but it wouldn't be the first time that a young talent team didn't rise as far as they could. The Thunder are a pretty good example of that.

 

[Gman]

The Raptors problem is that their 2 best players are guards. No one on the team outside of Lowry and DeRozan can create their own shot.

Teams that succeed in the regular season due to their great depth often struggle in the post-season. Granted the Raptors also have serious team confidence issues when it comes to playing the Cavs. They look for reasons to lose to Lebron.

It is certainly possible that the Sixers will never develop into the team people think it will become. I would say it is more likely than not that they WILL given the talent of Simmons and Embiid but it wouldn't be the first time that a young talent team didn't rise as far as they could. The Thunder are a pretty good example of that.

The top dog Raptor players are topped out...

... guys like Embiid and Simmons still have plenty of room to grow...

So, yeah... (shouldn't really have to be said but just in case it needs to be)... way, way too early for any such worry about Philly turning into the Rap's.

 

[flyerhawk]

The top dog Raptor players are topped out...

... guys like Embiid and Simmons still have plenty of room to grow...

So, yeah... (shouldn't really have to be said but just in case it needs to be)... way, way too early for any such worry about Philly turning into the Rap's.

Honestly the 2 things I saw in this series from Embiid and Simmons that they need to fix and they will as experience is usually the best way to fix it was Embiid's dumb turnovers and Simmons shot selection. The Celtics did a great job of limiting his ability to kick out passes which forced Simmons to take shots he wasn't planning to take. With more experience he will be more aggressive driving to the hole and only look to kick out as a last option rather than look to kick out and drive to the hoop as a last option.

 

[Gman]

Honestly the 2 things I saw in this series from Embiid and Simmons that they need to fix and they will as experience is usually the best way to fix it was Embiid's dumb turnovers and Simmons shot selection. The Celtics did a great job of limiting his ability to kick out passes which forced Simmons to take shots he wasn't planning to take. With more experience he will be more aggressive driving to the hole and only look to kick out as a last option rather than look to kick out and drive to the hoop as a last option.

I agree... especially with the decisiveness/aggressiveness point when it comes to Simmons.

When Simmons drived this series against a tough defensive team... it seemed like when his first or easy option was taken away, he was kind of at a loss... like he had no plan B or C.

Seasoning and experience will almost certainly help in that area.

We'll see how his shot comes along, too.

 

[flyerhawk]

I agree... especially with the decisiveness/aggressiveness point when it comes to Simmons.

When Simmons drived this series against a tough defensive team... it seemed like when his first or easy option was taken away, he was kind of at a loss... like he had no plan B or C.

Seasoning and experience will almost certainly help in that area.

We'll see how his shot comes along, too.

I will say that I fully believe that the two teams that have played the most NBA playoff games against each other will be playing more than a few more series over the next 5-8 years.

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

It is certainly possible that the Sixers will never develop into the team people think it will become. I would say it is more likely than not that they WILL given the talent of Simmons and Embiid but it wouldn't be the first time that a young talent team didn't rise as far as they could. The Thunder are a pretty good example of that.

I sure hope they continue to improve. I like a lot of those guys and it would be nice to see some new blood in the East. It would also bring back the old Sixers-Celtics rivalry, which was pretty good/heated back in the late 70's and early 80's

 

[bksballer89]

 

[flyerhawk]

LOL. One thing that I knew would happen when the Sixers lost was that people would start dancing on the grave of The Process.

Did ANYONE expect the Sixers to be a 52 win team this year? They achieved my most optimistic expectations and accelerated the process by at least a year or 2.