Elite defense, offense needs work, and Tyrese Maxey, No. 1 option: Let’s play Sixers real or not real
The Inquirer’s Chris Hine and Gina Mizell discuss the Sixers' 7-1 start to the season and the star-studded roster that helped them get there.
The 76ers, who are now a few weeks into the season, sit atop the Eastern Conference standings with a 7-1 record. When the franchise put together a star-studded cast this summer, there were questions about whether they could all mesh together and if there would be growing pains to start the season. The words “sacrifice,” “teamwork,” and “roles” were floated early and often.
Well, eight games into the season, they appear to be figuring things out. LeBron James has served as a leader, Tyrese Maxey has become the primary scorer and Joel Embiid has been a force and rim protector. Meanwhile, Jaylen Brown and VJ Edgecombe have played superb perimeter defense and filled in as wing scorers.
That said, it is still early in the season and the Sixers will have to prove themselves in the postseason where it counts. With that in mind, The Inquirer’s Chris Hine and Gina Mizell discussed what’s real and not real about the Sixers’ hot start to the season on the latest episode of Sixers Extra.
Watch the full interview below and subscribe to the Sixers Extra podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Gina Mizell: Let’s move on to our game called real or not real. I kind of off to the side in passing asked [Sixers coach] Nick Nurse about when does he actually start believing stats and he gave kind of the 20-game standard thing. So we are not there yet, but we’re still gonna just look at some numbers, look at some developments so far early in the season, and kind of determine if we think it’s real or if we think it’s overblown or not real in some way.
So let’s start with a positive for the Sixers team because, again, they are [7-1], and a huge reason they’re [7-1] is because of their defense. They were as of Monday afternoon third in the NBA in defensive efficiency, 104.9 points allowed per 100 possessions, and have just been really good on that end of the floor, especially in kind of those crunch time, clutch moments in the second half when they’ve had to sort of makes a lot of these comebacks and put themselves in position to win. So, can they keep this up? Is this real or not real?
Chris Hine: I think mostly real. Maybe not top-three real, but top-10 real, I think so. And that’s where you want to be if you are going to be contending for a championship. I definitely think that with the ability to guard on the ball and the multiple guys who can be point-of-attack defenders in this starting unit, especially having a guy like Dean Wade coming off the bench and Embiid playing at the level that that he is, I feel like it is sustainable as long as Embiid is healthy and playing at this level.
But even then, on nights like the other night when he wasn’t playing in Charlotte, when they had to lock down, with a small-ball group for three to four minutes to close that game, they were able to do it. And we’ve seen Edgecombe have moments early this season. Maxey is improving defensively and has made it a point to say, “I’m getting better defensively,” and Jaylen Brown has had his moments. I think back to the [season] opener when he made life difficult for [Knicks guard] Jalen Brunson, and you see these guys able to step up and make life miserable for an opposing offense. So I think that this defense is real. I’m going to put my vote in that column.
GM: I think it’s real if Joel Embiid can stay healthy and continue to look like he has, because I don’t know if I ever thought he would get back to this level of mobility on that end of the floor. And he came out and said after the opener, I want to get back to being an All-Defense-caliber player, and so that’s clearly a focus for him and a priority and important to him.
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So if he can be that legitimate anchor and be able to move and be able to protect the rim and do all that stuff that has troubled him before coming back from those knee injuries and those surgeries, then I do think this defense has a really high ceiling.
GM: Let’s go with this … Is the offense going to be a work in progress for the bulk of the season? Real or not real?
CH: I think real. I do. I think this is going to take some time to sort out half-court wise. I really do. It’s clunky on some possessions. They know that and they’re trying to talk things through. There’s some standing around going on, and then when you have guys who are just really good in isolation, it’s “OK, well, this possession is going to end with Jaylen Brown isoing, or this is going to be Tyrese isoing,” and it’s through Joel at the end of games. We saw in that Indiana game, they went back to kind of old reliable Joel-Tyrese, two-man game because it’s muscle memory.
GM: Yeah, let’s build the Maxey leading scorer conversation into this point too, because again, as of Monday, he was averaging almost 30 points per game, 48.6% from the floor, which is quite good and more efficient than he has been in the past couple of years. Not as good from three.
But he’s only taking 7.7 per game, and he’s at 35.2%. So the shooting will eventually come up naturally because he shoots better than this from three. And his assists are down from past years, which on one hand they have more ballhandlers — they’ve got LeBron James there — but you know, again, maybe it is a tiny indicator of the way the offense is running right now.
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But this was sort of similar to the roundtable we did last week as well about Maxey being the leading scorer, and if that is a good thing for the Sixers. Do you think him being the bona fide No. 1 option is the best path forward for the Sixers team?
CH: I think so? And I put a question mark at the end of “I think so.” Yeah, you just hope that if that’s the case that, and all indications are that this team has set the egos aside, but you have Jaylen Brown on the team, who was coming off a career year for himself, now coming to this team, and if Tyrese Maxey is a leading scorer, just making sure that’s OK with everybody. Right now, you’re winning, and everything’s going great. And they’ve put the egos aside; they’re buying in defensively. They’re doing all the things that you need to do to be a winning team.
Inquirer beat reporters Gina Mizell and Chris Hine go behind the scenes of covering LeBron James, Jaylen Brown and the Sixers’ star-studded roster, and debate what’s real and not real about the team’s hot start. Watch here.
Watch the full interview below and subscribe to the Sixers Extra podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
