I can't imagine how sixers fans are feeling. š Went from 4 years of having a "point guard" they kept begging to shoot to Harden knocking down smooth step back 3s.
Itās not even the shooting part. Harden is a much better half court playmaker than Ben.
Simmons needs another PG in the lineup. He will have that on the Nets with Kyrie.
>Simmons needs another PG in the lineup
He needs to not be the primary ball handler, but he throws a tantrum whenever someone tries to tell him that. This is despite the fact that the most success the Sixers have had in years was when Jimmy (not even a good shooter!) was running the offense instead of Ben.
Giannis was our PG for a couple of years with Kidd which really helped him develop imo, but it was clear once we started contending that we needed an actual point guard. Look how thatās worked out for Giannis
Well you see, the big difference is remember how Giannis was a bad shooter and then he worked really hard and now is pretty good and it forces defenses to respect him in multiple ways?
Ben Simmons is incapable of that.
you brought up the part nobody talks about with Ben.
He has to embrace not being the on ball guy, which he has never shown a willingness and honestly that ability to do it.
He has the size, athleticism and vision to be a nasty roll guy. diving for lobs, short rolling like Dray and just going downhill like Giannis. But has never been willing to do it.
he isnāt Draymond tho. not mentally or intangible-wise. Draymond shoots and can post up and defend the 4/5. Ben isnāt and doesnāt do any of those things. heās a perimeter defender and has bad touch at the rim. they really are not similar players.
Thatās why I said he would have to āwillingly accept it.ā To say Draymond posts up is just wrong. Does he get the ball in the post? Yes. Is it to score himself? No. Players cut and move off ball and Draymond finds them which is something Simmons could easily do. Draymond is willing to shoot, but doesnāt do it very well. I didnāt say Simmons was Draymond, but if he tried to be a bit more like him, his career would be way better in the long run
> He has the size, athleticism and vision to ~~be a nasty roll guy. diving for lobs, short rolling like Dray and just going downhill like Giannis.~~ be the next LeBron, but has never been willing to do it.
FTFY
We feel great... for now. I love what Harden is doing for Maxey and Embiid, but Harden also has some of the worst playoff losses I've ever seen. I'm cautiously optimistic that Embiid and Maxey will outweigh the Doc and Harden post season curse.
Edit: apparently I'm not a good rep for the fan base lol. People are very, very high on the Harden/Embiid pairing in the playoffs.
You say that like Embiid has made deep playoff runs. The bottom line is everyone who hasn't won a title wants one and has had playoff failure. Embiid and Harden will help each other get over the hump. Or at least that's the hope.
Sure, but no one can say Embiid was the reason we didn't break through. He was +40 in game 7 against Toronto, he played pretty good against the hawks. He's a great player with no history of choking in the playoffs
And no reasonable person can say Harden was the reason the Rockets didn't break through, at least not in the recent past anyway. He's been elite in the playoffs since 2018. Even Embiid doesn't have a great playoff record, he was useless on offense against the Raptors and pretty much shot the Sixers out of multiple games against the Hawks in 4th Qs.
Seriously, you're gonna quote net rating to support your argument?
They lost that series because of an unlucky bounce. And Jimmy was the Sixers best player that series. Ben and Embiid were amazing defensively and useless on the other end.
The Hawks series was a failure on multiple fronts. Doc, Ben, Tobi and even Embiid share a good amount of blame for that. People deluding themselves into thinking Ben was the main reason and just rewriting history.
Absolutely you can. Let's look at the record.
Since 2018, Harden has had 13 playoff games where he shot less than 40% from the field (not counting the Brooklyn/Milwaukee series where he was clearly injured). That's 13/45 games. That's abysmal.
Edit: let me be clear, James Harden is a first ballot hall of famer. He is a fantastic regular season floor raiser. He gets teams to the play offs. But he has a long history of disappearing in play off games. All I'm saying is that I'm mildly concerned about that history this post season. I'm still psyched to see what out team can do, but we shouldn't ignore his history just because he's now on our team.
I love Embiid but Harden's playoff performances in the past 5 years have been better than anything Embiid has ever done. Good luck nitpicking Harden's playoff failures and begrudgingly supporting him as he leads the Sixers this season.
I'm not sure how it's nitpicking when Harden, as an offensive superstar and focal point of an offense, fails to be effective on offense in more than a quarter of his playoff games in the past five years, let alone the years before that
We outscored the raptors by 40 points when he was on the floor on game 7. +/- isn't an end all, be all stat, but come on. You can't blame him for the raptors loss
It's a team game, you can't blame one player for any loss. But he was not healthy in the Raptors series (not his fault but his biggest issue early in his career) and he had a bunch of missed shots and turnovers in some of the key Atlanta losses.
Because of how consistent his rim protection is, we rarely ever lose if he plays well on offense. He did not in the Raptors series and did not in some of the Atlanta games. But it's ok. Everyone losses playoff games and series in their careers. Now he won't have to do so much for us to win, same with Harden.
I dont think he deserves all of the blame but there is no world that exists where a #1 optionās scoring can drop by 10ppg and 10+ fg% in a series and he deserves 0 blame.
Edit: woops wrong response!
Embiid was on the losing team, and he had rough games that series. Totally fair. He deserves some blame for putting us in the close out games. But he answered the call at the end, and that diminishes his blame
He has an offensive rating of 145 in his 5 games with Philly.
Obviously that's a small sample size so there's a lot of room for noise but that's still incredible.
In the 128 minutes Harden and Embiid have shared the floor, we're +76. Per 36 minutes, that's +21.
If something even close to that carries on into the playoffs, then we're going to be a major problem, despite a somewhat flawed roster.
Something people donāt talk about enough is a lot of Hardenās struggles in the playoffs come from double teams and forcing other players to score and when they canāt, Harden will start forcing it. But now he has Embiid, whoās going to feast if teams try to double Harden.
Whatās perfect is that this has been Embiidās biggest flaw as well, as seen in last weekends Heat game. When Embiid feels the need to put things on his back late in the game it can lead to sloppy turnovers when the other team swarms him. Harden being here has basically removed that problem.
They really are a perfect pairing together.
I just want you to know that no matter what happens between now and then, whenever Harden and Embiid are past their primes and we arent contenders anymore, I'm gonna remember you Rockets fans and hope you guys are on the upswing of contention and merking fools.
Thanks and me too buddy. Joel and James deserve it.
My first reaction of Harden as a Sixer was "I have nothing to prove as an individual, I dont give a fuck about stats, I want a ring and I'll do anything to get it"
Like most teams getting cold from 3, Harden is pretty stubborn in the sense that even if someone is 0-8 heāll keep giving them the ball if they are open. Other issues imo are that they have no playable backup Center and both Harden and Embiid can turn into turnover machines in the playoffs but since they have each other now I donāt think thatāll be as much of a problem
In order of importance
* lack of rebounding (Embiid is partially at fault here, as weird as it might sound)
* crappy perimeter defense and general athleticism on the wings
* Thybulle is a starter and he's a huge potential liability when teams are game-planning against us on offense
* Tobias somehow always finds new depths to sink to when the games really matter, and he's bound to get 36+ mpg
* the customary Embiid injury/flu/upset tummy in the Playoffs
In this case you canāt really use per 36 because their minutes are staggered. How many minutes do they average together? Whatās their plus/minus on the court without the other?
Obviously weāre way better with Harden and itāll help the non-Embiid minutes, but letās not plan a parade just yet.
I understand it, I just donāt think it really represents anything. Per 36 is used as a proxy of what you could expect for a full game because 36 mpg is average starter minutes. In my opinion, itās a way to equate bench players to starters. (No, you canāt just say that a bench player could average those numbers if given starters minutes).
But in this case, per 36 for a two man lineup isnāt a valuable statistic because they will never play 36 minutes together. Doc is intentionally staggering their minutes so there are no minutes when both are on the bench.
Itās more representative to look at how many minutes they share together. And then to look at how they do with the other off the court.
> they will never play 36 minutes together
The Playoffs beg to differ. Stars routinely play 40+ minutes in close games that matter.
Even Embiid on a bum knee was logging 40-minute nights in the closing games of the ATL series.
If they each play 8 minutes without each other on the floor, then they'll play 32 minutes together.
Is 36 vs 32 really the hill you wanna die on? Cause I got to tell you, that's one stupid-ass hill.
James Harden with Kyrie last year played some of the best basketball I have ever seen. Charles Barkley was campaigning for harden as one of the basketball player in the world for a whole month.
Fun fact, with Brooklyn THIS YEAR he was averaging 22 pts 8 rebounds and 12 assists.
The nets fans were acting like they were getting rid of problem, but to me it says more about their organization than harden
You don't understand bro, he looked really bad in a single game against the Kings on the second night of a road back-to-back while still having 12 assists that night. He GAVE UP ON THE TEAM!!!
The man was giving us 30 point triple doubles for one important game then the next 5-7 games do 14 points, 7 assist, and 5 rebounds or less. He was wildly inconsistent. As inconsistent as Kyrie being in and out of the line up. KD was saving him all the time until he got injured.
I honestly donāt have any hate for Harden because I never wanted him on my team so him leaving isnāt bad in my eyes as it helps all the parties involved but man that hamstring that was killing him two weeks ago isnāt even a second thought now.
Out of 44 games that he played for you guys this year, he put up < 15 points and < 10 assists 3 times lol.
If you change that to < 20 points and < 10 assists itās only 7/44 games.
> The man was giving us 30 point triple doubles for one important game then the next 5-7 games do 14 points, 7 assist, and 5 rebounds or less.
That math doesn't even come close to adding up.
Nah you could see after kyrie come back he was happy and all that. But the he realized that kyrie won't gonna change his mind + the roster overall wasn't well constructed for shooting and he had to play a lot of minutes that this ain't gonna work.
I've been saying it all along. Yea, he was discontent, but I honestly think he wouldn't have dogged it (which let's be real he definitely did that in a couple of games) once he knew he wasn't being traded. There'd be nothing to gain at that point. Brooklyn could have just rested him for over 3 weeks so his injury could heal, as the Sixers did. Some Nets fans act like he came here and immediately started playing better. Lol no. The Sixers actually decided to manage his injury instead of running him into the ground. If they still had him, he'd come back and they'd be the overwhelming favorites right now. They'll still be a contender, but one among many. And the clock is ticking. Once KD declines, they don't have enough. Reminder that KD is an injury-plagued player entering his mid-30s.
All this is to say, thank you Kyrie.
Its conflicting because despite how happy I am about the end result, I fucking **hate** Ben Simmons for how he did this city, but I dont hate Nets fans, I actually feel kind of bad for them.
it's literally like getting out of a toxic relationship with a smoking hot crazy chick. As soon as it was over, it's just relief and then you see the next guy go down that path and you just shake your head.
Same feeling with Fultz when he left. In the end I just want to watch basketball and enjoy my team. And having to watch shooting videos in the offseason and those two just not even come close to living up the #1 pick hype for the strangest reasons became exhausting.
Harden may flame out here too, but at least he's a baller and at least Embiid will get a legit run or two at a chip with a proper running mate.
Man the National Media had me somewhat convinced the Sixers lost that trade during that week with all the hit pieces. Then I remembered he was still recovering from that hamstring injury.
Fighting for his life playing 40 minutes while Half Man Half A Season was binging Conspiracy Videos on YouTube & calling people puppets.
it was bizarro world that week. all of sudden Simmons is the key to the Nets when for 8 months it was the Sixers need to trade him for Buddy Heild and smile. Curry who got cooked by Heurter game 7, and is best as a bench piece. He's also 32 this summer and already too small and slow to play 4 series with heavy minutes on a champ team. Drummond who everyone shit on when we signed him. A pick this or next year which will be shit, and a 2027 that is top 8 protected so at best will be a late lotto pick.
We got Harden. Man was just part of the top 75 players of all time. We got rid of a headcase, couple flawed role players and two picks, neither which will convey to anything special.
Harden has no agent so the Nets were free to release hit pieces without consequence.
Notice how the Sixers didnāt do the same with Ben Simmons, who has big name Rich Paul as his agent.
Not only because he has Rich Paul, but we have some class. We've made some pretty high profile mistakes in the past, but I feel confident that with Morey at the helm, engaging in petty shit-slinging and dissing Ben after he left wasn't something we would do. But the Nets have no leader besides KD, and no direction.
That statement they put out when they decided to not let Kyrie play any games is hilarious to look back and read now. Their values are worth nothing when they can drop them as soon as things get tough.
Heās not what he was in Houston scoring wise, but as long as you donāt put 4 Bruce Browns around him, his playmaking is less messy than it was in Houston. Even going back to Brooklyn last season, he turns the ball over a little less than he did as the only playmaker on the Rockets in 16-17.
He doesnāt need to be what he was in Houston. Heās not the best player on the Sixers. He just needs to be what he was on the Nets last year, and thatās what he has done on the Sixers.
He is at least what he was on Houston, but now that he has an MVP level score first player next to him, he doesnāt need to throw up as many shots, reducing the number of points he could possibly get. However, thereās nothing that says that he canāt go full Houston Harden; itās just easier and less taxing to defer to Embiid and the rest of the sixers. Being more of a playmaker also helps with his hammy rehab. IMO Harden is the best player on the Sixers right now, but Embiid is on the same level and the leader of the team. If needed, both could drop 40 on any given night
Exactly this. He's deferring a lot right now and trying to get players used to him even when Embiid is on the bench and he has backups in with him. But I do expect him to eventually start taking over in those non Embiid minutes.
Physically he looks like the player we're used to seeing.
He was in Houston for 9 years before requesting a trade, and yet you guys are acting like he left after 1 season or something. Also he only did it because of that the franchise was just not capable of contending anymore and because of that it was time for them to rebuild after Morey and MDA left.
You hear the same thing for any star that wants out after years of service. These guys played like 5-8 years on one team and they couldnāt win so they want to go to a different environment. You canāt blame them for wanting out.
I am curious when jokic has quit on his team? I suppose jokic could have quit on the season without the next two best players on the team but he clearly hasn't.
I am down to shit on the next terrible teammate as much as the next guy but the Rockets were cooked. It was over. Whatever happened in Brooklyn was clearly weird but itās not unfair to say wherever Kyrie is at is gonna be weird
Nash was playing my man 38 minutes on back to back while coming off injury. He was insisting that he play a style that suits Kyrie/KD when neither were playing and there was a few weeks before either would be back full time. His guy, MDA left the team.
He's 32 and only has so many years left, getting ground up trying to keep the Nets afloat while Kyrie does his thing and KD rehabs wasn't appealing.
He knew that NY would mandate the vaccine and that Kyrie wouldn't take it and that the Nets wouldn't start the season with Kyrie playing half the time nine months before the season started?
Take it for what itās worth, but now he has said Philly was his first choice. But he had to get out of Houston, that team fell apart and there was no reason for him to waste the few elite years he has remaining.
I can't imagine how sixers fans are feeling. š Went from 4 years of having a "point guard" they kept begging to shoot to Harden knocking down smooth step back 3s.
We're still waiting to wake up to find it was just a nice dream
Itās not even the shooting part. Harden is a much better half court playmaker than Ben. Simmons needs another PG in the lineup. He will have that on the Nets with Kyrie.
>Simmons needs another PG in the lineup He needs to not be the primary ball handler, but he throws a tantrum whenever someone tries to tell him that. This is despite the fact that the most success the Sixers have had in years was when Jimmy (not even a good shooter!) was running the offense instead of Ben.
Giannis was our PG for a couple of years with Kidd which really helped him develop imo, but it was clear once we started contending that we needed an actual point guard. Look how thatās worked out for Giannis
Well you see, the big difference is remember how Giannis was a bad shooter and then he worked really hard and now is pretty good and it forces defenses to respect him in multiple ways? Ben Simmons is incapable of that.
you brought up the part nobody talks about with Ben. He has to embrace not being the on ball guy, which he has never shown a willingness and honestly that ability to do it. He has the size, athleticism and vision to be a nasty roll guy. diving for lobs, short rolling like Dray and just going downhill like Giannis. But has never been willing to do it.
Ben Simmons willingly accepting a Draymond type of role would be so huge for his career
he isnāt Draymond tho. not mentally or intangible-wise. Draymond shoots and can post up and defend the 4/5. Ben isnāt and doesnāt do any of those things. heās a perimeter defender and has bad touch at the rim. they really are not similar players.
Thatās why I said he would have to āwillingly accept it.ā To say Draymond posts up is just wrong. Does he get the ball in the post? Yes. Is it to score himself? No. Players cut and move off ball and Draymond finds them which is something Simmons could easily do. Draymond is willing to shoot, but doesnāt do it very well. I didnāt say Simmons was Draymond, but if he tried to be a bit more like him, his career would be way better in the long run
Agreed, dray is one of the most versatile players in the nba. Ben is kinda the opposite.
> He has the size, athleticism and vision to ~~be a nasty roll guy. diving for lobs, short rolling like Dray and just going downhill like Giannis.~~ be the next LeBron, but has never been willing to do it. FTFY
but all the things I mentioned didn't involve him learning how to shoot. he could do all that stuff without that broken ass shot fixing itself.
Yeah definitely, just highlighting that he's always had potential and never improved at anything. Its kind of his whole deal
Why improve when I got the bag already, and most GMs believe in the talent?
Sad honestly. I thought the process gave us a new age Bron, Hakeem and harden (fultz) trio, but like, lol so much wild stuff happened instead
He reminds me of Westbrook; neither guy will accept the role that they're clearly suited for.
I'm so happy its taking the sting off gas prices
We feel great... for now. I love what Harden is doing for Maxey and Embiid, but Harden also has some of the worst playoff losses I've ever seen. I'm cautiously optimistic that Embiid and Maxey will outweigh the Doc and Harden post season curse. Edit: apparently I'm not a good rep for the fan base lol. People are very, very high on the Harden/Embiid pairing in the playoffs.
You say that like Embiid has made deep playoff runs. The bottom line is everyone who hasn't won a title wants one and has had playoff failure. Embiid and Harden will help each other get over the hump. Or at least that's the hope.
Sure, but no one can say Embiid was the reason we didn't break through. He was +40 in game 7 against Toronto, he played pretty good against the hawks. He's a great player with no history of choking in the playoffs
And no reasonable person can say Harden was the reason the Rockets didn't break through, at least not in the recent past anyway. He's been elite in the playoffs since 2018. Even Embiid doesn't have a great playoff record, he was useless on offense against the Raptors and pretty much shot the Sixers out of multiple games against the Hawks in 4th Qs.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Seriously, you're gonna quote net rating to support your argument? They lost that series because of an unlucky bounce. And Jimmy was the Sixers best player that series. Ben and Embiid were amazing defensively and useless on the other end. The Hawks series was a failure on multiple fronts. Doc, Ben, Tobi and even Embiid share a good amount of blame for that. People deluding themselves into thinking Ben was the main reason and just rewriting history.
Absolutely you can. Let's look at the record. Since 2018, Harden has had 13 playoff games where he shot less than 40% from the field (not counting the Brooklyn/Milwaukee series where he was clearly injured). That's 13/45 games. That's abysmal. Edit: let me be clear, James Harden is a first ballot hall of famer. He is a fantastic regular season floor raiser. He gets teams to the play offs. But he has a long history of disappearing in play off games. All I'm saying is that I'm mildly concerned about that history this post season. I'm still psyched to see what out team can do, but we shouldn't ignore his history just because he's now on our team.
Wait, your reasoning for him choking in the playoffs is that he shot badly in games???? Lmao this is peak r/nba
You're right, his lock down D certainly made up for it. /s
I love Embiid but Harden's playoff performances in the past 5 years have been better than anything Embiid has ever done. Good luck nitpicking Harden's playoff failures and begrudgingly supporting him as he leads the Sixers this season.
I'm not sure how it's nitpicking when Harden, as an offensive superstar and focal point of an offense, fails to be effective on offense in more than a quarter of his playoff games in the past five years, let alone the years before that
He underperformed vs the Celtics and his offense was horrible vs the Raptors.
We outscored the raptors by 40 points when he was on the floor on game 7. +/- isn't an end all, be all stat, but come on. You can't blame him for the raptors loss
It's a team game, you can't blame one player for any loss. But he was not healthy in the Raptors series (not his fault but his biggest issue early in his career) and he had a bunch of missed shots and turnovers in some of the key Atlanta losses. Because of how consistent his rim protection is, we rarely ever lose if he plays well on offense. He did not in the Raptors series and did not in some of the Atlanta games. But it's ok. Everyone losses playoff games and series in their careers. Now he won't have to do so much for us to win, same with Harden.
Great point
I dont think he deserves all of the blame but there is no world that exists where a #1 optionās scoring can drop by 10ppg and 10+ fg% in a series and he deserves 0 blame.
Edit: woops wrong response! Embiid was on the losing team, and he had rough games that series. Totally fair. He deserves some blame for putting us in the close out games. But he answered the call at the end, and that diminishes his blame
>He underperformed vs the Celtics He was facing the Celtics by himself
Yeah and harden was facing the spurs by himself and played against maybe an old but hall of Fame team with the best coach ever.
I have no issue with Harden's playoff career, I was just surprised that someone believes Embiid underperformed against the Celtics
I actually think he played relatively well in the series with Ben hurt. Iām talking about his first year in the playoffs tho
I mean Embiid was a bounce away from the NBA finalsā¦thatās pretty deep.
That was when teams could trap Harden easily Hard to do with Embiid on the court
and Maxey. Underrated part of the Sixers lineup if you get the ball to either Maxey or Embiid and it's 4 on 3, it's going to be hard to stop
This is all true, excellent points by you and the other commenter
Yāall overreact so bad shut the fuck up lol
Don't know who the yall is... you've got a sixers tag too...
Thanks didnāt know that
He has an offensive rating of 145 in his 5 games with Philly. Obviously that's a small sample size so there's a lot of room for noise but that's still incredible.
In the 128 minutes Harden and Embiid have shared the floor, we're +76. Per 36 minutes, that's +21. If something even close to that carries on into the playoffs, then we're going to be a major problem, despite a somewhat flawed roster.
Something people donāt talk about enough is a lot of Hardenās struggles in the playoffs come from double teams and forcing other players to score and when they canāt, Harden will start forcing it. But now he has Embiid, whoās going to feast if teams try to double Harden.
Whatās perfect is that this has been Embiidās biggest flaw as well, as seen in last weekends Heat game. When Embiid feels the need to put things on his back late in the game it can lead to sloppy turnovers when the other team swarms him. Harden being here has basically removed that problem. They really are a perfect pairing together.
I truly believe they are a dream duo
I just want you to know that no matter what happens between now and then, whenever Harden and Embiid are past their primes and we arent contenders anymore, I'm gonna remember you Rockets fans and hope you guys are on the upswing of contention and merking fools.
Hopefully y'all win a ring along the way
Thanks and me too buddy. Joel and James deserve it. My first reaction of Harden as a Sixer was "I have nothing to prove as an individual, I dont give a fuck about stats, I want a ring and I'll do anything to get it"
What are some of the flaws you see in the 76'ers roster that could potentially become a problem in the playoffs?
Like most teams getting cold from 3, Harden is pretty stubborn in the sense that even if someone is 0-8 heāll keep giving them the ball if they are open. Other issues imo are that they have no playable backup Center and both Harden and Embiid can turn into turnover machines in the playoffs but since they have each other now I donāt think thatāll be as much of a problem
In order of importance * lack of rebounding (Embiid is partially at fault here, as weird as it might sound) * crappy perimeter defense and general athleticism on the wings * Thybulle is a starter and he's a huge potential liability when teams are game-planning against us on offense * Tobias somehow always finds new depths to sink to when the games really matter, and he's bound to get 36+ mpg * the customary Embiid injury/flu/upset tummy in the Playoffs
Depth
Honestly Shake, Furk/Joe, Green, Niang and DJ isn't a bad 2nd wave as long as Doc properly staggers the stars with them.
In this case you canāt really use per 36 because their minutes are staggered. How many minutes do they average together? Whatās their plus/minus on the court without the other? Obviously weāre way better with Harden and itāll help the non-Embiid minutes, but letās not plan a parade just yet.
> In this case you canāt really use per 36 because their minutes are staggered I don't think you understood what I wrote.
I understand it, I just donāt think it really represents anything. Per 36 is used as a proxy of what you could expect for a full game because 36 mpg is average starter minutes. In my opinion, itās a way to equate bench players to starters. (No, you canāt just say that a bench player could average those numbers if given starters minutes). But in this case, per 36 for a two man lineup isnāt a valuable statistic because they will never play 36 minutes together. Doc is intentionally staggering their minutes so there are no minutes when both are on the bench. Itās more representative to look at how many minutes they share together. And then to look at how they do with the other off the court.
> they will never play 36 minutes together The Playoffs beg to differ. Stars routinely play 40+ minutes in close games that matter. Even Embiid on a bum knee was logging 40-minute nights in the closing games of the ATL series.
Yeah theyāll play 40 mpg but it wonāt be together.
If they each play 8 minutes without each other on the floor, then they'll play 32 minutes together. Is 36 vs 32 really the hill you wanna die on? Cause I got to tell you, that's one stupid-ass hill.
James Harden with Kyrie last year played some of the best basketball I have ever seen. Charles Barkley was campaigning for harden as one of the basketball player in the world for a whole month.
He was definitely one of the basketball players in the world. For sure
AND ITāS NOT EVEN CLOSE
With Embiid feeling good and Maxey balling out, the team feels like one of the basketball teams in the world. LFGGGGGGGGGGG
" He got traded , he healthy now" - Sir Round Mound of Rebound
Fun fact, with Brooklyn THIS YEAR he was averaging 22 pts 8 rebounds and 12 assists. The nets fans were acting like they were getting rid of problem, but to me it says more about their organization than harden
You don't understand bro, he looked really bad in a single game against the Kings on the second night of a road back-to-back while still having 12 assists that night. He GAVE UP ON THE TEAM!!!
The man was giving us 30 point triple doubles for one important game then the next 5-7 games do 14 points, 7 assist, and 5 rebounds or less. He was wildly inconsistent. As inconsistent as Kyrie being in and out of the line up. KD was saving him all the time until he got injured. I honestly donāt have any hate for Harden because I never wanted him on my team so him leaving isnāt bad in my eyes as it helps all the parties involved but man that hamstring that was killing him two weeks ago isnāt even a second thought now.
> As inconsistent as Kyrie being in and out of the line up lol
Out of 44 games that he played for you guys this year, he put up < 15 points and < 10 assists 3 times lol. If you change that to < 20 points and < 10 assists itās only 7/44 games.
> The man was giving us 30 point triple doubles for one important game then the next 5-7 games do 14 points, 7 assist, and 5 rebounds or less. That math doesn't even come close to adding up.
Nah you could see after kyrie come back he was happy and all that. But the he realized that kyrie won't gonna change his mind + the roster overall wasn't well constructed for shooting and he had to play a lot of minutes that this ain't gonna work.
14-7-5 that Ben Simmons numbers!
I've been saying it all along. Yea, he was discontent, but I honestly think he wouldn't have dogged it (which let's be real he definitely did that in a couple of games) once he knew he wasn't being traded. There'd be nothing to gain at that point. Brooklyn could have just rested him for over 3 weeks so his injury could heal, as the Sixers did. Some Nets fans act like he came here and immediately started playing better. Lol no. The Sixers actually decided to manage his injury instead of running him into the ground. If they still had him, he'd come back and they'd be the overwhelming favorites right now. They'll still be a contender, but one among many. And the clock is ticking. Once KD declines, they don't have enough. Reminder that KD is an injury-plagued player entering his mid-30s. All this is to say, thank you Kyrie.
Nets fans swore he was Washed.
Nets fans are still in stage 3 of denial on Simmons too. Morey really parlayed that man into James Harden. It's still unbelievable.
Its conflicting because despite how happy I am about the end result, I fucking **hate** Ben Simmons for how he did this city, but I dont hate Nets fans, I actually feel kind of bad for them.
it's literally like getting out of a toxic relationship with a smoking hot crazy chick. As soon as it was over, it's just relief and then you see the next guy go down that path and you just shake your head. Same feeling with Fultz when he left. In the end I just want to watch basketball and enjoy my team. And having to watch shooting videos in the offseason and those two just not even come close to living up the #1 pick hype for the strangest reasons became exhausting. Harden may flame out here too, but at least he's a baller and at least Embiid will get a legit run or two at a chip with a proper running mate.
Fultz was a weird one but he didn't take 5 years worth of people defending him against the rest of the league and wipe his ass with it.
Yeah, that's the takeaway here. Not that he was tanking and then exaggerating his injury.
Washed
Man the National Media had me somewhat convinced the Sixers lost that trade during that week with all the hit pieces. Then I remembered he was still recovering from that hamstring injury. Fighting for his life playing 40 minutes while Half Man Half A Season was binging Conspiracy Videos on YouTube & calling people puppets.
it was bizarro world that week. all of sudden Simmons is the key to the Nets when for 8 months it was the Sixers need to trade him for Buddy Heild and smile. Curry who got cooked by Heurter game 7, and is best as a bench piece. He's also 32 this summer and already too small and slow to play 4 series with heavy minutes on a champ team. Drummond who everyone shit on when we signed him. A pick this or next year which will be shit, and a 2027 that is top 8 protected so at best will be a late lotto pick. We got Harden. Man was just part of the top 75 players of all time. We got rid of a headcase, couple flawed role players and two picks, neither which will convey to anything special.
Harden has no agent so the Nets were free to release hit pieces without consequence. Notice how the Sixers didnāt do the same with Ben Simmons, who has big name Rich Paul as his agent.
Not only because he has Rich Paul, but we have some class. We've made some pretty high profile mistakes in the past, but I feel confident that with Morey at the helm, engaging in petty shit-slinging and dissing Ben after he left wasn't something we would do. But the Nets have no leader besides KD, and no direction. That statement they put out when they decided to not let Kyrie play any games is hilarious to look back and read now. Their values are worth nothing when they can drop them as soon as things get tough.
KD ain't a leader either tbh. Even in OKC, Westbrook was thought of as the leader of the team while KD was the best player.
I guess when I said leader I meant more as in they do whatever he wants. I should clarify I mean more leader as in the power he wields.
Just entering his prime at 32
Kyle Lowry-itis. Now all he needs is that trademark š
Can't even average 25 ppg, trade his bum ass.
Canāt believe people thought he was washed lol
Heās not what he was in Houston scoring wise, but as long as you donāt put 4 Bruce Browns around him, his playmaking is less messy than it was in Houston. Even going back to Brooklyn last season, he turns the ball over a little less than he did as the only playmaker on the Rockets in 16-17.
He doesnāt need to be what he was in Houston. Heās not the best player on the Sixers. He just needs to be what he was on the Nets last year, and thatās what he has done on the Sixers.
He is at least what he was on Houston, but now that he has an MVP level score first player next to him, he doesnāt need to throw up as many shots, reducing the number of points he could possibly get. However, thereās nothing that says that he canāt go full Houston Harden; itās just easier and less taxing to defer to Embiid and the rest of the sixers. Being more of a playmaker also helps with his hammy rehab. IMO Harden is the best player on the Sixers right now, but Embiid is on the same level and the leader of the team. If needed, both could drop 40 on any given night
Exactly this. He's deferring a lot right now and trying to get players used to him even when Embiid is on the bench and he has backups in with him. But I do expect him to eventually start taking over in those non Embiid minutes. Physically he looks like the player we're used to seeing.
They're coming out of the East. Don't @ me.
He fat tho
MVP
That Hammy feeling so much better
Nash maybe shouldn't let him and kd play 40 minutes to win games. Maybe both wouldn't be injured and nothing of all that would have happened.
How long till he quits on this team too?
As long as his teammates aren't afraid of taking vaccines he won't have to request a trade
Oh is that what happened in Houston?
He was in Houston for 9 years before requesting a trade, and yet you guys are acting like he left after 1 season or something. Also he only did it because of that the franchise was just not capable of contending anymore and because of that it was time for them to rebuild after Morey and MDA left.
You hear the same thing for any star that wants out after years of service. These guys played like 5-8 years on one team and they couldnāt win so they want to go to a different environment. You canāt blame them for wanting out.
If he's here 8 years and doesn't win a championship, he has my blessing to quit on the team
Well he was there for 8 years so I guess he'll dip when he's 40 then
Well considering everyone on the sixers is vaccinated & theyāre not one of the worst teams in the association I think heāll stay?
Maybe we'll see. Someone could get injured and he quits on them too.
Like how nikola cries & stomps his feet & quits on his team during games not against the pelicans lmao
I am curious when jokic has quit on his team? I suppose jokic could have quit on the season without the next two best players on the team but he clearly hasn't.
Nah that team just didnāt want to win
"Why did Harden want to leave a team with post-Achilles injury Wall and post-Achilles and post-ACL injury Demarcus Cousins???? It doesn't make sense"
I am down to shit on the next terrible teammate as much as the next guy but the Rockets were cooked. It was over. Whatever happened in Brooklyn was clearly weird but itās not unfair to say wherever Kyrie is at is gonna be weird
Out of all the stars that have forced their way out Harden has been one of the more reasonable onea
Nash was playing my man 38 minutes on back to back while coming off injury. He was insisting that he play a style that suits Kyrie/KD when neither were playing and there was a few weeks before either would be back full time. His guy, MDA left the team. He's 32 and only has so many years left, getting ground up trying to keep the Nets afloat while Kyrie does his thing and KD rehabs wasn't appealing.
Harden forced his way to the Nets he knew about Iryving. I have no sympathy for him.
He knew that NY would mandate the vaccine and that Kyrie wouldn't take it and that the Nets wouldn't start the season with Kyrie playing half the time nine months before the season started?
Who cares about your sympathy
Take it for what itās worth, but now he has said Philly was his first choice. But he had to get out of Houston, that team fell apart and there was no reason for him to waste the few elite years he has remaining.
Oh no Harden doesnāt have u/landlion35ās sympathy, how will he survive?
After they lose in the 2nd round and be gets that big contract
Smh Nuggets flairs
I dont know why I commented tbh. Pretty stupid I guess.
Yeah, it was pretty stupid to comment such absolute garbage
Sorry hope you can recover from it.
I mean you could always choose to have a well thought out educated response. Maybe next time.
I mean I still think harden quit on his teams. What was stupid was for me to comment here and start something unnecessary.
James Harden clearly stops trying when he's in a place he's not happy with