Pros and Cons: Sixers vs. Raptors
Pros and Cons: Sixers vs. Raptors
No more 8:30 PM EST games, please.
Adam Aaronson, whose legal name is Sixers Adam (@SixersAdam on Twitter), covers the Sixers for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez. He believes cantaloupe is the best food in existence, and is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.
If you stayed up late enough to be reading this immediately after the game, congratulations! The Sixers hosted the Toronto Raptors tonight for a game with an 8:40 PM EST tip-off. Ridiculous scheduling aside, here’s what jumped out to me tonight.
Con: Joel Embiid has… an off night?
As it turns out, even Embiid can have a rough game. Embiid struggled mightily on offense tonight -- per the usual, he was able to secure a high floor with his production at the free throw line. But from the field, Embiid wasn’t himself, making just six of his 20 shot attempts.
Frankly, Embiid looked gassed for most of the night. Between that and a shrewd Toronto team that threw many different players and coverages at him, the recipe for a downer was in place.
Embiid has been a game-time decision because of back soreness in each of the Sixers’ last two games. With Miami coming into town tomorrow night before a west coast trip, I would strongly advise the Sixers to give the MVP frontrunner a night off.
Con: Sixers demolished on the offensive glass
Very early in the season, defensive rebounding was a very significant weakness for the Sixers. They would frequently yield opponents multiple chances to score within a possession, and it was severely damaging.
That problem, to an extent, had gone away for a while. It certainly never turned into something the Sixers were good at, but it wasn’t nearly as common and extreme.
If you want to talk about extremity… tonight’s game gives you the necessary ammunition.
Give credit to a massive Toronto team that plays very hard. But the Sixers outright failed tonight when it came to keeping them off the glass. It felt like nearly every time down the court, the Sixers needed to string together consecutive stops because a Raptors offensive rebound seemed inevitable.
The fact of the matter is, it is incredibly difficult to win NBA games on a consistent basis if you can’t rebound the ball at at least a competent level. Even against tall, long and versatile players like the ones in Raptors uniforms, it is imperative that the Sixers tighten up.
Con: Tobias Harris back to old habits
The Sixers fell tonight, and one of the biggest reasons why was the lack of production -- check that, the negative production -- they got from Harris.
Harris had become a much more aggressive three-point shooter with quicker processing speed in the last few games. Tonight, though, he went back to his old ways, and in doing so only posted five points.
The issue is that at his core, Harris is a thinker. He is just not wired to be a sniper or a quick decision-maker. The issue is, with James Harden in the fold, the Sixers need him to change who he is.
Aside from getting Harden fully acclimated, one could argue that the most important thing the Sixers can do during the rest of the regular season is getting Harris more comfortable in a different role as a spot-up shooter. Easier said than done, though!