Zo's Training Camp Primer + Spike's Twitter Q&A
Zo's Training Camp Primer + Spike's Twitter Q&A
Media day today!
What I’ll be looking for during the first actual practice reps
I’ll be most interested to see what kind of actions Nick Nurse elects to run for the Maxey/George two-man. I know we’ve focused a lot on his willingness and knack for being an extremely good stand still 3-pt shooter, and rightfully so, but I think there’s also great opportunity in him being the secondary creator in a pick and roll situation so it’ll be cool to see just how creative they try to get with him to start.
We talked extensively about Joel Embiid’s physical shape, especially pre- and during the Olympics, but I’ll mostly have my eye on that knee and how it's been coming along since. He looked like a guy still learning to trust it again during pool play, even joking that his Team USA teammates were relieved to finally see him dunk the ball in live play. So hopefully things are looking a bit more spry.
Stop be if you heard this before, but there’s been so much roster turnover this summer. I’m extremely excited to see how the new guys acclimate and even push the mainstays.
Which holdover I’m excited for
Tyrese Maxey, without a doubt. Mad Max has added extensively to his bag each offseason so I expect more tricks of his trade but if his new free safety physique is any indication, he’s a guy who is looking forward to drawing and initiating a whole lot more contact this season.
Newcomers I’ll be looking out for
Caleb Martin is so intriguing to me, man. There’s a reason he was so sought-after. He’s not your typical role player and more than that, is most likely going to outwork a lot of guys, not because they’re lazy, but because he’s built his name and brand around being tough as nails and last one out the gym.
Y’all are going to be so sick of me talking about Andre Drummond, but damn he’s so pivotal to this team’s success that you almost have to mention him whenever you can. Early returns look like he’s in great shape which bodes well for the extra playing time he’ll get during the customary eight Embiid ramp-up games to start the season.
Not sure if this is a good or bad omen, but Reggie Jackson is a dude, and it just feels like him and Kyle Lowry will matter a lot in that second/third unit and whenever they decide to stagger Maxey/Embiid/George.
SPIKE’S MAIL-IT-IN TWITTER MAILBAG
Since we’re on our fourth August, and I’ve said just about everything I can say, I decided to mail-it-in with a mailbag (this is what I used to tell Sixers Adam mailbags were).
There are truly so many options. Paul George is an obvious target. While he’s probably much better than what most people expect, he’s new, has a big price tag, and will provide many people with “but I was told!” material.
Kelly Oubre is a sneaky candidate as well, as I don’t think he’s a particularly good fit with the starting lineup and the calls for him to go to the bench will be pretty quick.
This is a good one, because you want this person to be potentially low-value, but also taste good if you eat them.
Mike and CJ would be reasonably high value on the island. They’re both reasonably young and fit. Dan Olinger seems like a detail oriented psychopath, and that would be helpful as well.
After that, we have Phillip the Intern (fake), Kristin the intern (fake), Abbie, Alonzo, MOC and AU.
AU seems like he’d taste bad. I don’t think he’s smelly or anything, but if he was an animal I probably wouldn’t think to eat him. MOC is a guy who would probably be good eating, but I am convinced I could make him an ally on the island.
This leaves Alonzo and Abbie. Alonzo is easily twice Abbie’s size, and would feed us for longer, so it’s curtains for him.
I dunno man, we avoided this topic for so long because it’s not really a story about a new arena, it’s a story about billionaires and politics. It’s not any fun to talk about. If it was a story about an arena they would just tell us where and when.
The current crowds at CBP are great, but you cannot forget how empty that place has been (and the Vet as well), when the Phillies aren’t playing particularly well. Even times over the last few years. If you’re as old as me, you remember when Mets fans took over the Vet.
Baseball games are a better hang than Sixers games, they’re outside, it’s nice out, and you can go and enjoy yourself and not even pay attention to the game.
As well, part of the joy and vibe of 2022 and 2023 was the unexpected nature of the runs. The Sixers are only expectations and anxiety at this point.
This year? Basically zero I think.
This is a deep cut but Jesse Lacy, the lead singer of Brand New. I don’t know how many tours they had left in them, but I think they will likely never happen. They’re one of my favorite bands of all time and it seems like I won’t get the chance to ever see them live again.
I don’t mean to be unsympathetic to the people what he did affected, but tons of celebrities have done tons of terrible things and I figured instead of figuring out which one is most awful, I’d just think about how it affected me personally.
I don’t fuckin know man, ask Sixers Adam.