
THE MAILBAG NOBODY ASKED FOR
The podcast is off till next week, so we're introducing something new, a Spike written mailbag. I mean, between the tweets, two podcasts a week, you probably need more of what he thinks? No, I don't think so either. But it will only happen in the mailbag.
Before we get going...
AU wrote this about the Sixers sucking on the road.
And don't forget to save the date of April 11th, 2020. More info is coming next week, and being a newsletter subscriber will get you that first. Great right?
- K
VOLUME 1
We're not able to get to every single email on the pod, so we'll do some of them in here. You can send questions to rightstorickysanchez@gmail.com. If you want them specifically for the newsletter mailbag, let us know. Here we go!
Does Spike have any comment about ripping this guy off of an Andre Iguodala bobblehead?
-Colin
Never happened! In fact, I don't think Andre Iguodala ever had a bobblehead. I'm pretty sure he had an action figure, and if I ever gave it away on the air at 94WYSP, I'm almost certain it was not my responsibility to send it.
If there's one thing I've learned from the Sixers front office since Bryan Colangelo took over, is that something can always be someone else's fault!
I was looking back on some 2017-2018 season stuff with Dario and Cov and TJ and I was just thinking how happy we were. Now we are trying to legit contend but it feels empty without our process heroes. I love Tobias and AL is a alright but as a fan at what cost is winning not worth the joy of watching our guys that we love play.
-Roger
I swear I'm not Roger.
We got an email once about the different levels you enjoy sports, based on performance and expectations. The combination that was most enjoyable, according to this guy's ranking, is when the team is expected to be bad, ends up being good, and is expected to be good in the future. That was the 17-18 Sixers, who I think had an over/under win total of 40.5
As well, like we do with all things in the past, we romanticize it all a lot now that we're not going through it. Amazingly enough, that team still had the same big deficiency that this one does, someone to take the ball late in a game and create a shot for themselves or a teammate (this is excluding Jerryd Bayless, obviously).
I do find that it's been difficult to get the same sort of excited for new players as the ones that I felt like "went through it" with us, and we had time to get to know and watch grow. Also, the expectations of getting to the Finals and perhaps winning it paints everything in a different light.
Was it more fun then? Probably. But the truth is that there was no way for it to stay that way. Once they got good it was always going to be different, even if they never changed personnel.
I'm getting worried about facing Miami in the playoffs. I am concerned that a playoff series in Miami will be all the motive, means, and opportunity for the Heat to pitch Embiid into making a trade request in the offseason. We could be looking at a situation where the Sixers have a Pyrrhic victory over the Heat, but the cost is our star player over the summer.
-Tyler
You shouldn't be worried, but you shouldn't not be worried.
Look, Joel Embiid isn't a free agent, the Heat aren't the Lakers, and the Sixers aren't in a city where nobody cares about basketball. This isn't the same situation as Anthony Davis. It wouldn't be quite as easy for Embiid to force himself to any particular city.
That said, Miami isn't the only place that he might want to go, if he ends up unhappy here. His agent just took over the Knicks. Maybe the Clippers have some extra first round picks and young players from a prior trade they'd be willing to part with!
The concern here isn't Miami, it's Philadelphia. Whether you like it or not, NBA stars get whatever they want, and Embiid hasn't gotten that sort of treatment in Philadelphia. They had a GM who was ripping him on Twitter, kept his entire staff, had a doctor who was telling them it was ok for him to lead the league in minutes, and traded away his two friends who he liked playing with to sign a guy who plays the same position as he does for $30 million a year, who just got benched.
If the Sixers don't reach the Finals, and they'd like to keep Joel Embiid from wanting to go elsewhere, they'd be smart to make some personnel moves that cater to his on-court success and think about moving on from any front office people who aren't on board.
Long time, first time. I’d like to get your thoughts on the following: every time Rebel is heard barking in the background, Spike has to give an impromptu response similar to Mike’s siren hot takes. Maybe that means his own hot take, naming a new player from “the shirt” each time, or some other suggestion from the Ricky twitter community. I feel like these may come fewer and further between than Mike’s sirens, but could be worth it just to keep Spike on his toes.
-Tim
I am fine with this and am open to suggestions. Here's mine to lead it off... every time Rebel barks I have to ask Mike for a hot take.
Till next week!
Spike