Grading The Sixers At The All-Star Break, Plus A Spike AMA
Grading The Sixers At The All-Star Break, Plus A Spike AMA
It's time for midterms.
Let me preface these grades with this, everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY is being graded on a 7’2 curve or lack thereof so I think not only was it fair but also nice.
Daryl Morey – B
So far so very good on Cam Payne & Buddy Hield and as much as I adore and honor patron saint Pat Bev I lie with the party that believes more in the Cam/K-Low tandem in the playoffs, especially Lowry who will be good for taking one backbreaking charge and pissing off an opposing guard by just being himself on defense. There’s only so much prodding around the edges you can do so I’m mostly fine with what Daryl did, fully understanding that there’s just so much you can do while waiting for the big fella and his flap to heal. I’m not a big Lavine guy and DeTozan, eh, so let’s leave it be and pray for a post all-star win streak.
Nick Nurse – A
Pre-Jo injury my biggest beef would have been that he (true to his form) plays dudes way too long but talk about doing the best with what you got, I can’t be mad at the effort. I’m in fact, extremely impressed with how hard he has gotten guys to play and specifically, how well equipped the younger guys are. One of my biggest Doc Rivers beefs was that he relied way too much on vets and didn’t even give younger players a second look. I was definitely anticipating some of that with Nurse but the combination of being down four starters the past few games and general great play and career nights from guys like Ricky Council IV aka C4 aka slap your favorite DJ aka take us home young fella.
Tyrese Maxey – A
I won’t lie one bit, I knew the leap was coming, I believed that much, but this has been meteoric. I thought maybe it would be a Mike Conley style, great, always flirt with all-star but get snubbed enough that we atleast have reason to always bitch, but here we are, here stands Tyrese Maxey, our glorious prince. The three-point shooting ebbs and flows be damned, I think this has been a great first half of season for a guy who is being asked to do a ton and then some day in and out.
Tobias Harris – C
Don’t want to sound like a broken record, by now we all know what we love and what we dislike about the guy’s game and at this point he is what he is, which is 17 ppg, 50% from the field and most times that’s just fine but when you’re hemorrhaging after your best player goes down for a month and you’re one of the leaders of that locker room, you certainly hope for more.
Kelly Oubre Jr. – B
Thank you Swag Papi, for being you on a team that needs your herky jerky-ness, personality, style and most nights, that straight dawg mentality.
Basketball Paul Reed – A
I don’t care, he does no wrong, and when he does its ok because he feels worse than we do when he fucks up and we just wind up cheering harder for him anyway.
Everyone else – B
Can’t ask for much more. Dudes are either hurt or figuring it out or scoring career highs on random nights so yea lets rock.
SPIKE’S CORNER - ASK ME ANYTHING
Every week, Spike or Mike will write a column here about something they care about. This week is Spike's turn, and he's doing an AMA.
Since it’s the All-Star break, Joel Embiid hasn’t played in weeks, Nick Batum is in witness-protection, AU has shifted his entire existence to BBall Paul and I don’t want to use any material I’ll have to use in tonight’s podcast, here’s some AMA from X.
No, JJ Redick would beat the living daylight out of me. He was a professional athlete, I am in my late 40s with a new hip, and I am simply kind of a coward in that respect. I have told the story of the one real fistfight I was in (parking lot of Reed’s Blue Bell, after seeing a cover band, never expecting the guy would be waiting for me), and I have always been happy calling that a tie. But I was saved by the bell (police cars), and if it had gone 20 seconds longer I’d have been toast.
I can’t stand listening to or watching JJ Redick, I’m incredibly disappointed he’s been upped as an analyst for NBA broadcasts, but he’d kick the shit out of me if had to guess.
I originally thought that this one was easy, Tobias Harris! But he’s figured out how to do that on his own.
I think from a functional perspective, if Buddy Hield, one of the greatest three point shooters of all time, was invisible, it would be really effective in getting open. Unfortunately I suppose he’d be invisible to the Sixers as well.
So I’m just going with Paul Reed because I think he’s the guy who would appreciate how cool it is.
Nope.
I think this is a question for next week’s Mike AMA. Nick Nurse said it literally every time that Jaden Springer had a good game, he needs to be able to hit shots.
Springer isn’t a center or a point guard. Those are the only two people on the court who can sometimes get away with not being able to hit an open three. Springer is neither, he has to, and he can’t. Maybe he will! But also he doesn’t seem any closer to it than he did his rookie season.
A quick PSA here about this guy on the right before we get back to the AMA…
That is Kirby. Man, what a good boy. Here he is begging with Rebel on Valentine’s Day. Holy shit, I can’t express what a good boy Kirby is.
Kirby currently needs a forever home. We have been fostering him at Case De Eskin for about a week now, as he doesn’t do super well at the shelter (he’s a little nervous). He’s currently available for adoption at St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center in Madison, NJ (my wife works there).
My wife mentioned to me that he could use a break, so we decided to see if he’d pass the Rebel test, and he has. Rebel barely likes anybody, but he’s lived peacefully with Kirby since last Friday. Rebel was even excited when Kirby came home today.
Kirb-man is a little quiet and skittish at first, but after a day or two at the house, he’d come out of his shell. He’s made himself incredibly comfortable and is an amazing house guest.
He’s about 2 years old, and is a rescue from Louisiana. He’s house-trained, he loves going for walks, he’s fine with other dogs, and while he definitely has energy, he does love sleeping on the couch next to you as you waste your life away watching the non-Embiid Sixers.
If you were thinking of adopting a dog, he’d be a great choice. I’d be forever grateful, and I’ll send him to your home with a Big Barker. At that point, my wife can find another dog who needs a chance and that dog will likely end up at my house next weekend.
Find out how to adopt and meet Kirby here.
Now back to the AMA…
Yes of course I would.
I’ve repeatedly said that the Lakers Disney Title doesn’t count as a real NBA title, and I believe that. There were three months off before the playoffs, no road games, no fans, and the entire thing was played at Disney World. It’s crazy to think that this should be counted in the same way as other NBA titles. HOWEVER…
The real thing that de-legitimizes the Lakers Mickey Mouse title the most is how they’ve performed in the seasons surrounding the title. Here’s what it looks like:
18-19 Missed The Playoffs
19-20 Fake Title
20-21 Lost In The First Round
21-22 Missed The Playoffs
22-23 Play In Team, Swept By Nuggets in Playoffs
The Lakers themselves have made the case that their Iger Title is illegitimate.
The Sixers however, have been much better than the Lakers in the seasons surrounding such a title. And, they are, the Sixers.
I’d like to hope this will happen when the Sixers finally come to their senses and ask us to ring the bell.
This will be like the famous moment between the New York Giants and the San Francisco Giants.
This is likely a very simple answer. I assume he just stinks. The same reason why he was released in the first place.
This would assure me of my long-held suspicion that the universe is set up to watch me suffer. Why would the very first time the universe clearly gives me a choice that it’s to be cursed.
The answer of course is no. I know in this scenario everyone wins titles and goes home happy. But I would not. I’m just being honest.
I would find no joy in a Sixers championship after they’d traded Embiid for Ben Simmons. The amount of told-ya-so horseshit I’d have to go through from all of the Ben Simmons Stan Cockroaches who have been in hiding for a couple of years now would be unfathomable. “This brings me no joy,” an incredibly wise man once said. Also, I’d never be able to enjoy this because I’d be in jail for murdering Daryl Morey.
Sorry Joel, I’d rather us all be losers together than winners separately.
My goal was certainly not always to be on the air, and I decided years ago that I was better at being a manager than being a full-time show host. I also have enjoyed managing WIP and WFAN in a way that I never expected I would.
However, this was a special, particular situation that was attractive to me. I love and respect Ike and Jack very much, and the opportunity to work with those two people specifically was attractive to me. As well, I think given my decade-plus of managing show hosts, I will just be much more prepared and better at actually doing it than I ever was prior. Also, it’s WIP, and a chance to do it in the place I was born and raised in. Finally, the opportunity to sleep later (I’ve been getting up around 4am for over 20 years now), was particularly attractive.
As my wife tells it, it was the first time she had seen me specifically happy and excited about a job opportunity. Now I think she was misreading that, as the opportunities at WIP and WFAN previously were/are amazing. But I think she was on to something in that the idea of my job just being one that is creative and performative every day is something that is exciting to me.
I’m looking forward to it, but I did struggle with the decision quite a bit.
Daryl, this guy knows.
Not on purpose. I just feel too dumb and I have too much responsibility in running the pod (Mike would agree here).
“Yep, these are my readers.”
No, absolutely not.