Stephen A. isn't giving the 76ers a chance to win the title this season 🤷‍♂️ | First Take

I watched the Celtic team walk down the league. They were down double figures, get themselves back into the game. Okay, now you get to the point where you watching Al Horford lock up Joel Embiid. Now we get to the fourth quarter, and Marcus Smart, I don't have a problem with that three-point shot in regulation. Some may say the ball should've been in Jaylen Brown hands. Some may say it should've been in Jason Tatum hands. By the way, Jaylen Brown only shot three shots in the fourth quarter and in overtime. But getting into overtime, and you're down one with 15 seconds to go, you have to call a timeout. You had two of them. And this has been a problem with Joe Mizzoula the entire season. For some reason, he wants to take these timeouts home. What are you taking them home for? You taking them home for dinner? Let me get a filet, some mashed potatoes, and two timeouts on the side. What are you taking them home for? At that point, you could've called the timeout with 15 seconds, drew up a play, got a shot at the basket. If you didn't, then you foul. At the worst, you go down three and Philly go down and make two free throws. All of a sudden, you get another timeout. You get a chance to draw up another play to at least send it back into double overtime. But you said, no, that's what we like. Come on, bro. At the end of the day, you cannot keep relying on the arroys of your team and Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown to keep bailing you out in late game situations. You have to help them out. This one was on Joe Mizzoula. That was more about Joe Mizzoula to me. Perk, I know you watch the Celtics as close as anybody in this network, but I'm gonna absolve Joe for three reasons. Number one, Jalen Brown, no matter what the strategy is, no matter who's matched up, Jalen Brown cannot leave James Harden in the strong side corner up by two points at the end of the game like that. Cannot do it. He knows that. He took accountability after the game. He made a great play. He made a great double team and a great contest. Can't do it. Basketball 101. Number two, in the next possession, no matter what his play is designed, whether it was called in the timeout or whatever, if you are down in that situation, you cannot leave the shot till the very buzzer. You have got to get yourself an opportunity and an offensive rebound when you are down. This is again, 101. You can even make the argument that you should go earlier because of the timeout. So if you miss and they get the rebound, you can foul and still get another opportunity. Absolutely unacceptable for them to be so lethargic. And I guess you could say it was the coach, but the players have to know that. And number three, even if he had called timeout there, Perk, even if he had called timeout at the end of regulation, what the play that they would have wanted was Jason Tatum on Tyrese Maxey. That was their pet play down the stretch. That was the matchup that they wanted and they got that play. They got it. Tatum was just too slow to get into it and not aggressive with it when he had it. And so that's the thing. You can blame him, Perk, but it was the player. I was talking about the timeouts and overtime. The same thing, Perk. Perk, they got, I agree, but they can't be so lackadaisical and late. They got the play they would have wanted. If he had called timeout, they would have drawn the same thing. It was just too late. Well, let me say this. First of all, I agree with both of you to a certain extent. Number one, you can't make that mistake if you're Jalen Brown, or leaving Harden alone in the corner, doubling up on NB. Okay, you can't do that, especially the way Harden was clicking. You know that Harden, having two 40-plus point games this postseason, he's only the second sixer in history to have done that. Allen Iverson was the first, okay? So you gotta give him love for what he's doing in that regard. But I would also say, Harden being as sensational as he was yesterday, and he was sensational. Can't talk about choke job in the postseason, not after that performance. He was big time. Give him love. He deserves it. That's the same momentum and intensity. He deserves that love and respect today. No question about it. But I'm gonna point to Missoula. And what I'm gonna first say to Missoula is, real quick, this. We love the fire in your belly. We love the fact that you were gonna call out the media like that. We love the fact that you can be feisty and all of that stuff and you're never seen smiling. That's your damn business. We don't give a damn. Be you, brother. Be you. But in the same breath, take the heat that comes with it when you deserve it. I get where you're coming from, Wendy, in terms of what you're saying, but we have to make sure we pay attention to something. And put Wendy up on the screen, because I want to see Wendy when I'm saying this, along with Perk. You know, there was a coach there named Emei Udoka, right? In his first year, he did what Brad Stevens, a damn good coach, he's now the president of the basketball operations, couldn't do in seven years, took him to the finals, okay? We all know, because of the turmoil that Udoka found himself in, that's how Missoula got the job. There is no question that Missoula's gonna be measured against that. That's part of the reason why he can be so sensitive, in my opinion. I don't know the man, I'm just guessing. Having said all of that, when you're down one, and you have two timeouts, excuse me, you call a timeout, you ensure that you may not get just one possessions, but two bites at the apple. Because say you missed a shot, then they get the rebound, you foul them. You only up one, they go to the free throw line, worst case scenarios, they get two, and then you got an opportunity to come back and tie it with the three. Giving yourself more bites at the apple, more chances to win a basketball game, is a coach's job. I understand it's something he's done before, and I get that Wendy, but that doesn't make it the ideal decision. And clearly the way that the play ultimately was handled, all right, at the end of the day, you gave yourself one shot, when you could have given yourself two or three. That's coaching. Now that doesn't mean that it's God awful and a man can't coach and oh my goodness, fire the dude and all of this other stuff, or he ain't you doker. No, it doesn't mean any of that. It just means that he made the wrong decision in those last 10 seconds. That's all it means. Because your job as the coach is to put your team in the best position to win. And the best position to win in a one point game is giving yourself as many bites at the apple as you possibly can. More time. He didn't do that. More time. That's what every coach has to, you talk to them, Wendy. You know what these coaches tell us. We ain't talking about me, you and Perk and just giving and pontificating and giving our opinion about something. We're talking about what coaches tell us their job is. That's his job. And he didn't do that last time. Yes. Period. I don't believe they can win the title. I don't believe it, okay? You know why I don't believe that? Because I don't believe they're gonna beat Boston. That's why. I ain't even get to Miami and New York. I don't think they're gonna beat Boston. I'm watching a Boston Celtics squad that's making a myriad of mistakes, that seems out of character, that's depending and too reliant on a three point shot. And then I watched a timeout yesterday take place. And Missoula said, there's another level we could go to defensively, you know. We gotta do it. And they put the clamps on the sixers. And came storming back and took the lead. I watched Marcus Smart make plays. I watched Al Horford start recording not one but two blocks on him B. I watched him B. Joel and B throwing pump fakes and being hesitant to go up because Al Horford was defending against him. That's what I saw. And I'm like, wait a minute now. I watched Jason Tatum have a couple of blocks. I'm just saying, the Boston Celtics, to me, are the better team. Got love for Philly. Wouldn't be mad at all if Philly won. Rooted for Doc Rivers, my man, my brother. Love him to death. But I just feel like, listen, yesterday, as is, as was, rather, the case in game one was an aberration. Okay. I see the Boston Celtics winning this series. Do I believe James Harden making me believe the Sixers can win the title? No. Because I don't believe what games one and game four, you will see that the rest of this way. And that's respect to James Harden because I'm very proud of what I saw from him. And he deserves respect and props. I don't believe that's happening again. All right, we got a quick take. That was Doc Rivers who sounded off after the 76ers game four win about Jason Tatum appearing to push off right before his crucial three-pointer into overtime. Stephen A., do you think Doc is right? He's 1,000% correct. It was a push-off. It was an offensive foul. It should have been called against Tatum. It's not one of those calls that you don't make in that situation. You absolutely, absolutely do make a call like that in that situation because the push-off was too flagrant to ignore. But it was ignored. Doc Rivers is absolutely right about that. And he is right to ask a reporter to be committed. They ain't gotta be worried about getting fined. If you're a reporter, you can answer that question. Ain't nothing gonna happen to you. You shouldn't be scared to ask that question. It doesn't change. It would be one thing if you're looking for an answer from Doc Rivers. But he gave you his answer. So the question is, what are you willing to say? I have no problem with it whatsoever. He was right. I know this is a wildly unpopular opinion, but I was okay letting it play. I get it. I understand both sides. I think for me, if there was a little bit more extension than maybe you make the call, it's a tough call. I understand why Doc is fired up. I certainly can understand your perspective, Stephen A. But I was okay with letting this one roll.