Who plays more games the rest of their career? Harden or Ben? I don't think it I'd an easy answer.
Yeah...he likes Doc. I mean having a likeable player's coach is fine if your team has the right pieces and is stacked but only goes so far on a team like the Sixers who need some player development along with a consistent #2 difference maker behind Embiid. A decent bench also helps. These deficiencies are not all on Doc but he is not the right coach to bridge the divide or be a difference maker himself as a coach. Josh Harris got enamored with a name and pedigree when he had talent like Monty Williams and Udoka in the development wings as coaches. Hell, Lue would have been better...at least he shows in game adjustments and is his own man. Doc is more a likeable accomodator and when the results don't go his way he starts deflecting...Perkins was on Doc's Celtics winning team.
I mean that is the thing.....said it up thread. He is still fairly young but has to take care of his body better. He is not some washed up has been. If he commits himself and has a full and healthy training camp he will make Simmons look like the choir boy that he is. Harden still has all the tools just that right now he looks like a fat plumber laboring to carry his tool box and exposing his ass crack to the whole world...no doubt it's Harden. Harden to me actually likes basketball. In his press conference first thing he talked about what getting his body right this summer.
I mean that is the thing.....said it up thread. He is still fairly young but has to take care of his body better. He is not some washed up has been. If he commits himself and has a full and healthy training camp he will make Simmons look like the choir boy that he is. Harden still has all the tools just that right now he looks like a fat plumber laboring to carry his tool box...
Kinda like that 2019-2020 Flyers team before AV had time to get them playing the way he wanted them to.The Sixers offense never looked better than when Harden just joined and admitted to winging it and not knowing their “plays.”
There is an element of truth to all of that but this is what we got to work with...unfortunatelyThe problem with Harden though is the same problem with Embiid. These two stars are too reliant on Refs, pout too much when things aren't going their way, and don't have any fight in them when things are down. This team is so soft mentally it's impossible to like them. Reminds me of post cup Bylsma Penguins teams. Studs all around but crumble at the feintest hint of adversity.
He was playing with his thumb hanging off his hand and a broken faceI am not an NBA guy but I watched the most of the playoffs as I ever have in my life. Did Embiid just give up or what? Very disappointing.
He was exasperated and he is still learning in some ways that persistence most times pays off but his untimely injuries and support come playoffs have been less than ideal so yeah we saw a pretty deflated dude this series after his face was broken and the supporting cast broke around him. Him falling down, wagging his injured thumb, writhing in pain and crying on the floor after he had the basketball smashed into his face, his back after doing an ill advised in bound save attempt etc. all showed how the load just kind of broke him down mentally.I am not an NBA guy but I watched the most of the playoffs as I ever have in my life. Did Embiid just give up or what? Very disappointing.
He was playing with his thumb hanging off his hand and a broken face
Did people forget about the thumb? Clearly they did, because Hubie dubie dope was at a loss when his mid range fades weren't falling
Yeah but I mean again the dude is human and not superhuman......Hall of Famer Hubie Brown was at a loss for why Embiid was hanging out at the 3 point line all game and not getting in the paint.
The first two games against the heat he averaged 11.5 fta a game. the last 2 games he avg 3.5 fta a game. He shot 8 threes in game 6 . He only attempted that amount two times in the regular season. He had no interest in being a factor at all .
Embiid wilted when things got tough and he didn't rise to the occasion like so many greats have before him. He had an opportunity to have a legacy game / series and instead he had his worst game of the playoffs.He was exasperated and he is still learning in some ways that persistence most times pays off but his untimely injuries and support come playoffs have been less than ideal so yeah we saw a pretty deflated dude this series after his face was broken and the supporting cast broke around him. Him falling down, wagging his injured thumb, writhing in pain and crying on the floor after he had the basketball smashed into his face, his back after doing an ill advised in bound save attempt etc. all showed how the load just kind of broke him down mentally.
Oh and losing the MVP bid surely didn't help......
Yeah but I mean again the dude is human and not superhuman......
He has his flaws still and I question whether the experiment or process will pan out but c'mon....a healthy Embiid and this isn't much of a discussion right now. I think your take is a bit extreme to say the least and I am not the most uncritical person lol....Embiid wilted when things got tough and he didn't rise to the occasion like so many greats have before him. He had an opportunity to have a legacy game / series and instead he had his worst game of the playoffs.
The mvp thing is so funny because it wasn't even close, embiid was never the mvp at anytime during the season and it wasn't close. And embiid pouting about he doesn't know what more he can do is pathetic. He can get better, but he is content to stay at his current level.
There is no excuse for embiid to not be the most dominant big man since Shaq. He is the biggest man on the court at all times and is content to just rover around the perimeter facing the basket. This guy is going to need some Hakeem like career turn around in order to save this franchise. Also he is the worst passing big man i have ever seen in my god damn life.
The Embiid centric argument is more legit.....Doc Rivers savant like coaching approach doesn't help in that regard. Morey has to figure out how to build a better team around him b/c again this is what we got....whether it pans out...still unsure.The game has changed a lot since Shaq - players are taller and more athletic, so being big isn't nearly the edge it was 20 years ago.
And Miami basically focused on Embiid, double and triple teaming him everytime he got the ball.
The bigger problem is an offense based on Embiid winning games single-handedly, no movement, which made it easy for Miami defenders to play the passing lanes when Embiid tried to pass out of double teams.
I am not sure what happened with the Kings and Haliburton but that probably would have been the better trade but Kings didn't go for whatever Morey was offering or didn't offer.When was the last time a Philly team brought in a veteran star player and that player actually played near expectations?
It seems a big move that always blows up in the Philly team's faces.
I said at the time, I didn't see the point in acquiring Harden. He was near the end. I would have rather taken two good role players for Simmons
I guess Bryce Harper and TO are the only examples in the last 20 years of a move actually working out.
The Flyers have had good success historically but yeah the last 20 years has not been part of that really. Forsberg is one I can think of. Briere and Biron too. JR is another one. But those are so long ago and I can't remember any since then. Wheeler for the Phillies, and I'd say Ajayi and Blount although their expectations weren't really that high.When was the last time a Philly team brought in a veteran star player and that player actually played near expectations?
It seems a big move that always blows up in the Philly team's faces.
I said at the time, I didn't see the point in acquiring Harden. He was near the end. I would have rather taken two good role players for Simmons
I guess Bryce Harper and TO are the only examples in the last 20 years of a move actually working out.
ok, i forgot the Flyers had a good stretch with briere, timonen, hartnell, even Pronger (just bad luck)The Flyers have had good success historically but yeah the last 20 years has not been part of that really. Forsberg is one I can think of. Briere and Biron too. JR is another one. But those are so long ago and I can't remember any since then. Wheeler for the Phillies, and I'd say Ajayi and Blount although their expectations weren't really that high.
He has his flaws still and I question whether the experiment or process will pan out but c'mon....a healthy Embiid and this isn't much of a discussion right now. I think your take is a bit extreme to say the least and I am not the most uncritical person lol....