76ers (0-0) at Celtics (0-0) Round 1 Game 1 8/17/20

[Csfan1984]

Some notes:

- brown was most impressive, he keeps elevating his game with every passing moment,
- tatum was in killa mode, but we failed to include him in our offense in the second half,
- smart is all nba 1st team,
- embiid was living in the paint on defense, can't believe not a single time was he called for it,
- what a response from the young Grant, as a rookie to get your number called late in the game, great job young fella,
- hayward and kemba looked off and in non rythm, hope gordon's ankle is fine, he did manage to walk it off right away,
- we need to be more diverse on our offense, for 3 quarters of the game it was pretty much tatum and brown making individual plays, but a lot of it has to do with embiid just standing in the paint and our guys missing wide open shots,
- props to the bench guys, they did all right,

I must have missed that part. Smart was active defensively, put missed a number of open 3's at the end of the game. Timelord, played alright, but made a number of really dumb fouls. Wannamaker is what he is. Kantor looked awful his first time out there.
The beach is a problem. A total of 8 points, just doesn't cut it.
See Burks play for the Sixers reminds me how disappointed I was the Celtics didn't sign anyone who can score the ball off the bench. I continue to believe they have the worst bench in the league.

I would say one of the worst benches. Because there is very little consistency on offense.

[LilRip]

If not for chemistry concerns, I do wish we had signed Dwight to help us in these matchups. Maybe he can’t contain Embiid but he would definitely help out on the boards. I’d much rather have him over Poirier and the shine has also come off Kanter (who was playing terrific to start the season).

[tstorey_97]

Ok, Brad Stevens has 35 minutes to hand out now. The remaining Brown, Tatum, Smart, Kemba are maxed.

Wanamaker
Semi
Grant
Maybe Romeo

Each pick up some minutes.Be interesting to see what Stevens does

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Ok, Brad Stevens has 35 minutes to hand out now. The remaining Brown, Tatum, Smart, Kemba are maxed.

Wanamaker
Semi
Grant
Maybe Romeo

Each pick up some minutes.Be interesting to see what Stevens does

Green might get some minutes too in the right matchup. I think he could guard the Sixer secondary wings (Milton, Thybulle,  fairly well and could contribute in transition and from the corner.

[Ogaju]

For a guy who's team built their franchise around him, is young, and had all the time in the world to prepare for these playoffs, Embiid looks totally out of shape and unprepared. If I were a Sixers fan I'd be completely p---ed off with him right now. He's a front-running fraud. He's got a ton of talent, talks a lot, but doesn't put the work in to back any of it up.

Yeah I just don't get Embiid.  He could be dominating the league.  He needs to get his body into the best shape possible, or he is going to shorten his career.  Carrying too much weight I think will eventually not be good for him.  He is one of the most naturally talented players in the game, but he doesn't have the desire to improve that we have already seen in Brown and Tatum.

It is not that easy for big men to get in shape. Easy to rag on Embiid but that is a lot of size he is carrying. Size, not weight. So it takes a little more for him to get in shape than for JB and JT.

I don't know man...

Dwight Howard and Al Horford are just two examples of bigs guys who are in the league right now in their mid 30s who look to be in better physical condition then Embiid is in his mid 20s.  It's not great.

Porzingis too, even Jokic, AD. The list goes on and on.

and each and everyone of the names you mention do not have Embiid's large frame. Embiid is closer to Shaq in frame than any of those other players. It is a huge frame to log around.

[Surferdad]

Ok, Brad Stevens has 35 minutes to hand out now. The remaining Brown, Tatum, Smart, Kemba are maxed.

Wanamaker
Semi
Grant
Maybe Romeo

Each pick up some minutes.Be interesting to see what Stevens does

Grant did pretty well.  His style lends itself well to swarming defense, nose-diving for the ball etc.  He can even play center.  I think he gets more minutes in G2.

Semi’s best asset is his ability to guard the wing position.  His shot is inconsistent.  If I were Brad I wouldn’t trust him.

[Jvalin]

Ok, Brad Stevens has 35 minutes to hand out now. The remaining Brown, Tatum, Smart, Kemba are maxed.

Wanamaker
Semi
Grant
Maybe Romeo

Each pick up some minutes.Be interesting to see what Stevens does

Here's what I would do in game 2

(given that Romeo isn't 100% healthy)

PG: Kemba (35) - Wanamaker (13)
SG: Smart (35) - Brown (13)
SF: Brown (27) - Semi (21)
PF: Tatum (40) - Grant ( 8 )
C: Theis (26) - Kanter (11) - Timelord (11)

or something along these lines

Thing is, Semi didn't play a single minute in game 1. If CBS doesn't trust him, we could give Wanamaker all backup minutes at the PG-SG positions and move Brown full time at the SF position.

PG: Kemba (35) - Wanamaker (13)
SG: Smart (35) - Wanamaker (13)
SF: Brown (40) - Grant ( 8 )
PF: Tatum (40) - Grant ( 8 )
C: Theis (26) - Kanter (11) - Timelord (11)

This means that Kemba and Wanamaker would be sharing the floor for 13 minutes. Neither of them is tall enough to defend Philly's perimeter players (shortest one is Milton at 6'5). We won't be able to switch ball screens on the perimeter anymore. Hopefully, we can hide Kemba on Thybulle.

Fwiw, the C's switch 18-on ball picks per 100 possessions. That's 2nd most in the league behind only the Rockets.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I think the rotation will depend heavily on CBS adjustments. It was clear the Sixers had no intention of having Embiid or Horford guard the Cs bigs out to the three point line. That opens up handoffs and pick-and-rolls. I wonder if Brad will encourage Theis to shoot if its there more. Or if he will give Semi or Grant Williams time at the 5 to shoot a few top of the key threes. Obviously they are way undersized, but they could contend with Embiid's strength ok.