NBA Season 2016-2017

[hpantazo]

Best .350 winning percentage team ever!

7-1 in Embiid's last 8 games, including a win over Toronto. The 1 loss was against the Celtics. The Sixers are exceptionally good now that Embiid, a rookie who hadn't played in 2 years, has gotten up to speed. They will only get better once Simmons starts playing.

[PhoSita]

It's not just Embiid.

Ersan Ilyasova is a legitimate NBA stretch 4, and a good compliment to Embiid's skillset.

T.J. McConnell is a Steve Blake type of point guard.  Not good, but competent enough to not ruin your chances, especially if he's got a big guy to pass to.

Gerald Henderson: legit NBA veteran wing.

Dario Saric -- similar to Ilyasova.  A skilled stretch 4 who can also play a bit on the wing.


They have actual NBA players who fill actual discernible roles!  It's amazing!

With Embiid they have the piece they'd been missing, which is a player with the talent to provide a core focus and philosophy on both ends.


I have a feeling they will actually get a bit worse when Simmons comes back if only because they'll have to figure out how to integrate him on both ends.  He'll muck up some of what they have going because he'll force T.J. off the ball a bit and he'll disrupt the Ersan / Saric setup at the 4.


The Sixers are still a long way (read: years) from being a factor in the playoffs, but Embiid is really exciting player, and it feels like they are actually starting to have a real "team" now.  There's a "there" there.

[tazzmaniac]

Trust the Process.

I do.

I had a feeling he'd be "good"...but definitely not THIS GOOD...THIS FAST.

Love seeing this guy enjoy the game AND playing at a high level.

If Simmons is just half as good as projected and maybe Coach Brown eases up on the minutes restrictions this PHI team could sneak into the playoffs and rough CLE up some.

Brown already said the minutes restriction was likely to remain throughout the season. 

[jpotter33]

Best .350 winning percentage team ever!

7-1 in Embiid's last 8 games, including a win over Toronto. The 1 loss was against the Celtics. The Sixers are exceptionally good now that Embiid, a rookie who hadn't played in 2 years, has gotten up to speed. They will only get better once Simmons starts playing.

"Exceptionally good"? Come on, now. That's a bit of an overreaction. Tonight was a good win for them, but it was also at home against Toronto on the second night of a back to back, which they played down to their competition with at that. Otherwise, they've been beating up on scrub teams that are playing terribly at the moment.

[jpotter33]

It's not just Embiid.

Ersan Ilyasova is a legitimate NBA stretch 4, and a good compliment to Embiid's skillset.

T.J. McConnell is a Steve Blake type of point guard.  Not good, but competent enough to not ruin your chances, especially if he's got a big guy to pass to.

Gerald Henderson: legit NBA veteran wing.

Dario Saric -- similar to Ilyasova.  A skilled stretch 4 who can also play a bit on the wing.


They have actual NBA players who fill actual discernible roles!  It's amazing!

With Embiid they have the piece they'd been missing, which is a player with the talent to provide a core focus and philosophy on both ends.


I have a feeling they will actually get a bit worse when Simmons comes back if only because they'll have to figure out how to integrate him on both ends.  He'll muck up some of what they have going because he'll force T.J. off the ball a bit and he'll disrupt the Ersan / Saric setup at the 4.


The Sixers are still a long way (read: years) from being a factor in the playoffs, but Embiid is really exciting player, and it feels like they are actually starting to have a real "team" now.  There's a "there" there.

Yeah, I agree about Simmons coming back slowing them down a bit, because he will more than likely look pretty rough getting his first minutes in the NBA and coming back from an injury. Also, the Simmons/Embiid fit isn't as ideal as many make it out to be, because Simmons doesn't space the floor like Ersan and Saric do.

They're pretty much playing a "Van Gundy-esque" 1 in/4 out style right now, but Simmons doesn't really fit that model. It'll take them awhile to get him acclimated in that system, because it's a completely different fit than has been working for them lately, let alone the changes with the playmaking coming from the forward position rather than the guard position.

[tazzmaniac]

It's not just Embiid.

Ersan Ilyasova is a legitimate NBA stretch 4, and a good compliment to Embiid's skillset.

T.J. McConnell is a Steve Blake type of point guard.  Not good, but competent enough to not ruin your chances, especially if he's got a big guy to pass to.

Gerald Henderson: legit NBA veteran wing.

Dario Saric -- similar to Ilyasova.  A skilled stretch 4 who can also play a bit on the wing.


They have actual NBA players who fill actual discernible roles!  It's amazing!

With Embiid they have the piece they'd been missing, which is a player with the talent to provide a core focus and philosophy on both ends.


I have a feeling they will actually get a bit worse when Simmons comes back if only because they'll have to figure out how to integrate him on both ends.  He'll muck up some of what they have going because he'll force T.J. off the ball a bit and he'll disrupt the Ersan / Saric setup at the 4.


The Sixers are still a long way (read: years) from being a factor in the playoffs, but Embiid is really exciting player, and it feels like they are actually starting to have a real "team" now.  There's a "there" there.

Without Embiid on the court, the Sixers are as bad as last year's Sixers.  Covington might start for a few other teams but the rest of their starters wouldn't.  This game Embiid was +20 while Noel was -15. 

[tazzmaniac]

Best .350 winning percentage team ever!

7-1 in Embiid's last 8 games, including a win over Toronto. The 1 loss was against the Celtics. The Sixers are exceptionally good now that Embiid, a rookie who hadn't played in 2 years, has gotten up to speed. They will only get better once Simmons starts playing.

"Exceptionally good"? Come on, now. That's a bit of an overreaction. Tonight was a good win for them, but it was also at home against Toronto on the second night of a back to back, which they played down to their competition with at that. Otherwise, they've been beating up on scrub teams that are playing terribly at the moment.

In their last 10 games, they are 7-3.  They've beaten the Raptors, Bucks and Hornets and they only lost to us by 4 points.  That's pretty darn good.   

[Celtics18]

It's not just Embiid.

Ersan Ilyasova is a legitimate NBA stretch 4, and a good compliment to Embiid's skillset.

T.J. McConnell is a Steve Blake type of point guard.  Not good, but competent enough to not ruin your chances, especially if he's got a big guy to pass to.

Gerald Henderson: legit NBA veteran wing.

Dario Saric -- similar to Ilyasova.  A skilled stretch 4 who can also play a bit on the wing.


They have actual NBA players who fill actual discernible roles!  It's amazing!

With Embiid they have the piece they'd been missing, which is a player with the talent to provide a core focus and philosophy on both ends.


I have a feeling they will actually get a bit worse when Simmons comes back if only because they'll have to figure out how to integrate him on both ends.  He'll muck up some of what they have going because he'll force T.J. off the ball a bit and he'll disrupt the Ersan / Saric setup at the 4.


The Sixers are still a long way (read: years) from being a factor in the playoffs, but Embiid is really exciting player, and it feels like they are actually starting to have a real "team" now.  There's a "there" there.

Without Embiid on the court, the Sixers are as bad as last year's Sixers.  Covington might start for a few other teams but the rest of their starters wouldn't.  This game Embiid was +20 while Noel was -15.

Prior to this season, Ersan Ilyasova had started in 313 NBA games.

This year he's having arguably his best year ever.  Trust me, he'd start for a lot of NBA teams.  He's been immensely valuable to this young Sixers team.

[tarheelsxxiii]

It's not just Embiid.

Ersan Ilyasova is a legitimate NBA stretch 4, and a good compliment to Embiid's skillset.

T.J. McConnell is a Steve Blake type of point guard.  Not good, but competent enough to not ruin your chances, especially if he's got a big guy to pass to.

Gerald Henderson: legit NBA veteran wing.

Dario Saric -- similar to Ilyasova.  A skilled stretch 4 who can also play a bit on the wing.


They have actual NBA players who fill actual discernible roles!  It's amazing!

With Embiid they have the piece they'd been missing, which is a player with the talent to provide a core focus and philosophy on both ends.


I have a feeling they will actually get a bit worse when Simmons comes back if only because they'll have to figure out how to integrate him on both ends.  He'll muck up some of what they have going because he'll force T.J. off the ball a bit and he'll disrupt the Ersan / Saric setup at the 4.


The Sixers are still a long way (read: years) from being a factor in the playoffs, but Embiid is really exciting player, and it feels like they are actually starting to have a real "team" now.  There's a "there" there.

Without Embiid on the court, the Sixers are as bad as last year's Sixers.  Covington might start for a few other teams but the rest of their starters wouldn't.  This game Embiid was +20 while Noel was -15.

Prior to this season, Ersan Ilyasova had started in 313 NBA games.

This year he's having arguably his best year ever.  Trust me, he'd start for a lot of NBA teams.  He's been immensely valuable to this young Sixers team.

He is really good.  If KO is still on the Celtics at age 29, I'd be happy to see him playing at Ilyasova's level.

[jpotter33]

Best .350 winning percentage team ever!

7-1 in Embiid's last 8 games, including a win over Toronto. The 1 loss was against the Celtics. The Sixers are exceptionally good now that Embiid, a rookie who hadn't played in 2 years, has gotten up to speed. They will only get better once Simmons starts playing.

"Exceptionally good"? Come on, now. That's a bit of an overreaction. Tonight was a good win for them, but it was also at home against Toronto on the second night of a back to back, which they played down to their competition with at that. Otherwise, they've been beating up on scrub teams that are playing terribly at the moment.

In their last 10 games, they are 7-3.  They've beaten the Raptors, Bucks and Hornets and they only lost to us by 4 points.  That's pretty darn good.   

The Hornets are terrible and weren't even a playoff team when they played them, iirc (they were 9th). They just lost their entire five-game road trip, which the 76ers were the fourth game of. They caught them at a time when they were playing their worst ball of the season.

It's a similar situation with the Bucks, who are on a three game losing streak right now. They caught them on the second night of a back to back after losing to Atlanta the night before. And while tonight's win against the Raps was definitely a good win, it also was on the second night of a back to back.

And you have to realize that this is more of the 76ers taking advantage of teams taking them lightly after they've sucked so long more than them suddenly improving for some reason. They've had a favorable schedule lately and have taken advantage of it. And that's good for them and us, because it just helps our Nets pick and them to not get as good of a prospect in this coming draft.

But people are deluding themselves if they think they're just suddenly getting better and this has less to do with the lackluster strength of their schedule of late and how they're catching teams off-guard when they're playing them. They're similar to how we were in 2014-2015. However, the conference isn't the same as it was that year, and they have a tougher schedule the rest of the way that will keep them from coming close to making the playoffs.

[RAAAAAAAANDY]

Philly up two on Toronto right before halftime. Seriously doubt they can sustain the lead, but it'd be a pretty big win for us if they would (race for 2nd and the Nets pick).

We really don't have to worry about the 76ers for the nets pick imo

Yeah if they keep up this pace we may play them in the 1st round!

as much as I loved the Sixer rivalry in the 80's, I'm rather enjoying their long time of futility.  can't see them making the playoffs this year or even next unless they pull off some trades to provide  better balance to their roster

I mean... They've got 3 top 10 picks coming next year from what's played so far. (Probably, Phi/LAL/Simmons)

Plus max cap space.

Plus Embiid getting better.

I'd be surprised if they don't make the playoffs next year so long as they don't go crazy with injuries. Granted this is a team that has been the king of injuries recently so who knows, we could Jazz it for another year or two.

[ayer]

Not sure if it was mentioned. Westbrook is on quadruple double fig

[tazzmaniac]

Best .350 winning percentage team ever!

7-1 in Embiid's last 8 games, including a win over Toronto. The 1 loss was against the Celtics. The Sixers are exceptionally good now that Embiid, a rookie who hadn't played in 2 years, has gotten up to speed. They will only get better once Simmons starts playing.

"Exceptionally good"? Come on, now. That's a bit of an overreaction. Tonight was a good win for them, but it was also at home against Toronto on the second night of a back to back, which they played down to their competition with at that. Otherwise, they've been beating up on scrub teams that are playing terribly at the moment.

In their last 10 games, they are 7-3.  They've beaten the Raptors, Bucks and Hornets and they only lost to us by 4 points.  That's pretty darn good.   

The Hornets are terrible and weren't even a playoff team when they played them, iirc (they were 9th). They just lost their entire five-game road trip, which the 76ers were the fourth game of. They caught them at a time when they were playing their worst ball of the season.

It's a similar situation with the Bucks, who are on a three game losing streak right now. They caught them on the second night of a back to back after losing to Atlanta the night before. And while tonight's win against the Raps was definitely a good win, it also was on the second night of a back to back.

And you have to realize that this is more of the 76ers taking advantage of teams taking them lightly after they've sucked so long more than them suddenly improving for some reason. They've had a favorable schedule lately and have taken advantage of it. And that's good for them and us, because it just helps our Nets pick and them to not get as good of a prospect in this coming draft.

But people are deluding themselves if they think they're just suddenly getting better and this has less to do with the lackluster strength of their schedule of late and how they're catching teams off-guard when they're playing them. They're similar to how we were in 2014-2015. However, the conference isn't the same as it was that year, and they have a tougher schedule the rest of the way that will keep them from coming close to making the playoffs.

The Sixers are getting better because Embiid is getting better.  He's become the best rim protector in the league.  Since Dec 1, the Sixers are a top 5 defense.  Offensively, Embiid is becoming more dominant in the paint.  In 7 of his last 10 games, he has at least 10 FTAs and in 6 he has at least 10 FTMs.  A few other recent changes have improved the Sixers play.  First, they've stopped experimenting with the big men combos so Embiid is able to be a dominant center for the full 28-30 minutes he's on the court. Secondarily, Sergio got injured so they had to start McConnell.  McConnell is nothing to write home about but getting Sergio's lousy defense out of the starting lineup is a definite plus.  Also, Covington's 3pt shooting has started to improve and Saric is playing more consistently.

[LarBrd33]

Best .350 winning percentage team ever!

7-1 in Embiid's last 8 games, including a win over Toronto. The 1 loss was against the Celtics. The Sixers are exceptionally good now that Embiid, a rookie who hadn't played in 2 years, has gotten up to speed. They will only get better once Simmons starts playing.

"Exceptionally good"? Come on, now. That's a bit of an overreaction. Tonight was a good win for them, but it was also at home against Toronto on the second night of a back to back, which they played down to their competition with at that. Otherwise, they've been beating up on scrub teams that are playing terribly at the moment.

In their last 10 games, they are 7-3.  They've beaten the Raptors, Bucks and Hornets and they only lost to us by 4 points.  That's pretty darn good.   

Embiid has won 5 in a row and he has a better record this year than the Celtics do.

[LarBrd33]

Best .350 winning percentage team ever!

7-1 in Embiid's last 8 games, including a win over Toronto. The 1 loss was against the Celtics. The Sixers are exceptionally good now that Embiid, a rookie who hadn't played in 2 years, has gotten up to speed. They will only get better once Simmons starts playing.

"Exceptionally good"? Come on, now. That's a bit of an overreaction. Tonight was a good win for them, but it was also at home against Toronto on the second night of a back to back, which they played down to their competition with at that. Otherwise, they've been beating up on scrub teams that are playing terribly at the moment.

In their last 10 games, they are 7-3.  They've beaten the Raptors, Bucks and Hornets and they only lost to us by 4 points.  That's pretty darn good.   

The Hornets are terrible and weren't even a playoff team when they played them, iirc (they were 9th). They just lost their entire five-game road trip, which the 76ers were the fourth game of. They caught them at a time when they were playing their worst ball of the season.

It's a similar situation with the Bucks, who are on a three game losing streak right now. They caught them on the second night of a back to back after losing to Atlanta the night before. And while tonight's win against the Raps was definitely a good win, it also was on the second night of a back to back.

And you have to realize that this is more of the 76ers taking advantage of teams taking them lightly after they've sucked so long more than them suddenly improving for some reason. They've had a favorable schedule lately and have taken advantage of it. And that's good for them and us, because it just helps our Nets pick and them to not get as good of a prospect in this coming draft.

But people are deluding themselves if they think they're just suddenly getting better and this has less to do with the lackluster strength of their schedule of late and how they're catching teams off-guard when they're playing them. They're similar to how we were in 2014-2015. However, the conference isn't the same as it was that year, and they have a tougher schedule the rest of the way that will keep them from coming close to making the playoffs.

I mean... two of the wins that came in this streak were over New York and Toronto... the last two teams to beat the Celtics.  So there's that.  Also, he barely lost to the Celtics by 4 points despite playing 26 minutes in a game where all 5 of Boston's best players played 30+ (Crowder, Horford, Thomas, Bradley and Smart)

But you're also underselling just how incredible he's been.  It's well known by now that his per-minute numbers are ridiculous.  He's scored 20+ points in 10 straight games despite only hitting 30 minutes once.

The on-court/off-court splits for Embiid are ridiculous.  Since Jan 1st, their defensive rating is 87.9 with him on the court vs 109.5 with him off.  Opponents have been shooting 37.5% with him on the court and 49% with him off.   At the rim they are shooting 25% with him on the court. 

For the entire season the 76ers are +68 with him on the court and -292 with him off.  They have a scoring margin of a 56-win team with Embiid on the floor this season. And scoring margin of 11-win team with him off the floor.

And all this despite the fact the guy has missed two straight season with an injury and had basically no expectations coming into this season.   If you're a fan of the NBA, you should be paying attention to this guy.   

Also, for all the talk about Towns (myself included), it has to be noted that Philly has a better record than them right now despite Ben Simmons not having played a single game.  As good as Towns is, he's been struggling defensively and seems to be nowhere near as good as Embiid on that end.  Embiid's 76ers also have the same amount of losses as the fragile Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans.   I think you can already make a case Embiid is the best big man in the Eastern Conference and in terms of elite young big man phenoms around the league, if Embiid can keep up this historic per-minute production when his restriction lifts above 28 minutes, we might see him quickly leapfrog over both Towns and Davis.