It’s easy to blame the Philadelphia 76ers offense for a dreadful 1-4 start that quickly placed them as the league’s most disappointing team. There was a stretch when I was completely out of sight. The ball will stick. the body does not move. It’s an aesthetic migraine for anyone wanting to see fluid basketball taking place between James Harden, Joel Embiid, and the increasingly irrepressible Tyrese Maxie.
There’s some truth to this Carp about the offense, but Philly has too much talent to fall short of “fine” when it comes to getting the ball into the basket. The Sixers are the only offensive team in which he ranks 9th in his rating. it was more efficient on the half court Boston. 2 teammates not connected With more assist baskets than Harden and Embiid.
Far more detrimental to the Sixers so far is the undeniable fact that their defense is hot junk. 4 teams only The Sixers are giving up more points per possession and don’t need to look long under the hood to understand why. Produced the highest opposite 3-point frequency everwith a contest rate of 53.6 percent—Third worst in the league according to Second Spectrum— for all field goal attempts.
The Sixers keep their offense away from the basket, but so far all opponents cut them down when they got therephotograph Group 76.6 percent.This is happening with or without Embiid whether you are in the game, which proves to be either a fluke or a harbinger of impending catastrophe.Philadelphia allows a whopping 138.9 points per 100 possessions when Embiid is on the floor without it his notoriously lethargic co-star.
Regardless of who is playing, Philadelphia has been ineffective on half court, as it is important enough to ultimately determine how drastic a season-long change should be in Philadelphia. , please read this next part slowly. far The worst transition defense in the NBAWhen I say “much” I mean the league average of points added per 100 transition plays is currently 3.4, Philadelphia allows 9.3. In off-live rebounds, the team has him scoring 1.7 points per transition play. Memphis is his second worst team with 1.43.
Converting these numbers to a basketball court yields:
As with transition defense for all teams, some of these outcomes are related to shot selection and floor balance. If the Sixers miss a 3, they quickly die and earn 1.26 points per possession.But what is of particular concern here is that they then worse make basket (1.31 points per possession).
Only a few games into a season with serious title ambitions, Doc Rivers is already tinkering with his zone defense.
When they’re not rushing back into transition, the Sixers find themselves rolling in the backdoor cut, ruining pick-and-roll coverage and refusing to close out talented outside shooters. be. Effort seems optional.
Every article written in just 10 days of the NBA season has a mandatory caveat added. Embiid will eventually set the tone and likely liquidate shot attempts that his opponents are very comfortable with while defending the rim. (They’re converting a ridiculous 75% Everyone may start to realize how important it is to take that first step on defense when trying to win an NBA game.
However, some of this cannot be fixed internally. Philly’s personnel are questionable, which is worrying given a brisk offseason in which Daryl Morey was trying to fix the problems seen on last year’s roster. Lots of responsibilities. But even he cannot solve all problems by himself. In Wednesday’s game against the Raptors, Toronto put Maxxie on the ball into his screen, tossed Pascal his Siakam downhill, and stepped up Embiid from Scotty his Barnes.
Maxxie is 6ft 2. Harden is… Harden. Tobias Harris is hard. The Sixers need to be Doberman Pinscher against a list of seasoned forwards and Eastern Conference wings (Jason Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kevin Durant, Jimmy Butler, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Chris Middleton, etc.), but against the Raptors You need PJ Tucker. He started the game, giving Siakam enough space to do a cartwheel. Siakam responded by hitting about 17 jumpers in a row.
If the 37-year-old Tucker can’t at least haunt his opponents in these matchups, the Sixers have no plan B. Montrez his Harrell off the bench looks like his third big man of diminutive size. All-Defensive Mattis Thybulle, who has made two appearances as a member of his team, has played a total of six minutes this season. His ability to produce turnovers is useful, but at the known cost of ruining Philly’s spacing, which is a no-no when trying to underscore Harden and Embiid.
De’Anthony Melton and Danuel House Jr. are theoretically better two-way options built for the playoffs, and ostensibly this roster is built for prep. But so far both seem confused. Georges Niang is an eternal target. His second-most-played lineup (Embiid, Maxie, Melton, House, Niang) in Philly is minus 16. Defense rate 139.7 The offense couldn’t hit three balls well.
It’s early again. The Sixers have a very talented roster, and 5 games isn’t a worthy sample to fire or trade anyone his size. However, if things snowball from this slow start, changes may be needed. Currently, the Sixers’ defense looks incapable of even winning a playoff series, let alone contending for a championship. increase.
