That was Exactly What the Sixers Needed...

That was exactly what the Sixers needed. Nice dub to get this week started. Let's talk about it all. Let's break it down on this episode of Sixers Tag. Just what's going on, everybody. Christian Pedersen back with another episode of the show, where Sean and I bring you guys daily content. Doing my recap a little bit late. My apologies, the intern, my toddler, under the weather. So last night I was split in game watching and dad duty. So I'm a couple hours late on the game recap. Thanks, everyone, though, for sticking with us. Like, subscribe, comment, share, follow, all those other YouTube-y buttons. The final score, I'm sure you are all well aware of it right now, was, like I said, exactly what the Sixers needed. And I think that on a lot of levels, this game perfectly encapsulated what this team is already, but is going to probably continue to be this season. And that is maybe potentially the best team in the NBA, but also a team that is going to be susceptible to some runs. The Pacers had one big sprint where they had a seven-zero run, and it got dicey or whatever, but ultimately, the clutch shots were there, the big moments were there, the big plays were there, the overall control of the game was in the Sixers' favor the entirety of the time, and I think that previously, like, when we played the Bucks, I overreacted, I was like, oh, that was brutal to watch, and y'all got on me, and so, as we level out, I'm not gonna say, like, oh my god, this game, I'm not gonna say any red flags, I'm not gonna say any negativity, I am gonna break down the numbers as we go through it all, but all in all, I thought that This one, A, continued to be a demonstration of not only having that dog in them, but that this game looked like we largely can't 100% certainty say that the chemistry issues have been figured out. But there was times where the ball was moving with so much grace, precision, and speed. Sequences, specifically, I think it was all encapsulated with the Tyrese Maxey falling backwards layup where Embiid gets the ball, gets it to LeBron, who then just, like, LeBron almost, like, just knew where he was going with the ball before the ball even got to, boom, Maxey, boom, bucket. And to me, it is fascinating to continue to watch the ever-ascendance of Tyrese Maxey as, like... The true finishing piece of all of this, and I love to see it, and I think some of you will be like, yeah, no duh, he's on the up and up. But we didn't know exactly what this was going to look like until we actually got out there and playing, and now we're closing in, getting closer to having an actual sample size. It's fantastic to see that that's how this is, but like I said, chemistry issues. There's still some overall potential if you want to nitpick, because in all of this, I suppose I'm supposed to be somewhat of a, In totality, not just Rose you read, but, you know, objective, unbiased reporting. I don't know how to buy it. Go Sixers. MB. Over three from beyond the arc, he has seemed a little bit underwhelming in his three-point shooting. Some of us were hoping that he would be backing out a little bit more and not having to go banging in the paint. Maybe with some of that weight loss was going to be a little bit more bouncy. Not like, but that's like, I'm starting, you got to nitpick at this point in the season. Over. Overall, VJ did not have his best shooting night. But Jalen Brown, double-digit numbers on the rebounds. A significant drop in Adem Bona moments. Don't know if that is just situationally liking to have Embiid out there. He's healthy, let him cook. Or if that was some lost confidence in him. We did not see, not that I was expecting to see Taco Fall back, but Taco Fall back to being a full participant in practice. We did not see him join in. The rest of the bench, though, huge. The aggregation of minutes from KCP, Anthony Simons, and Dean Wade. So I think that all in all, this was closer to being like what the real formula is going to look like. I know that Sean's got a video coming out later today on Anfernee Simons being an X Factor. So definitely, that's why I always say subscribe. We got a bunch of content coming out. I'm not going to steal the thunder on that. Give or take a little sprinkle in of a Caleb Love or LeBaron Phyland, who I would have liked to have seen. Like, give me two minutes of LeBaron. Let's just start. We're up six, we're up eight, we're up ten, whatever, in the second quarter. I would say, like, just what is it going to hurt? I don't know. All in all, though, I think that this was a pretty good template for, like, Minutes wise and rotational wise, what the master plan is going to look like going forward pending any other major roster changes. The final numbers, the free throws, does seem like this team kind of ebbs and flows some nights depending on who's going to the line, but close to 90% take it. Three point shooting, again, a little bit colder. Talked about this now multiple times that this is a team that I don't think is shooting at their highest potential clip of what they are capable of. So, you know, again, try to find little things to nitpick. The rebounding technically out-rebounded again, but this one was significantly closer to even, obviously. Only behind them by two boards, slightly behind them on both the offensive and defensive sides who did not win the battle on it, but... As I said, template-wise, for what this could be, I think that we saw, as long as we're close in the boards and not getting out-rebounded by 10, 15, 20 boards, this is a team that will keep it competitive and be in control and not be, like, you know, struggling. I know that's impossible in retrospect to be like, oh, well, if you eliminate that one run from the Pacers, we would have blown them out. But if you eliminate the one streak of, oh my gosh, they went crazy for three minutes. We were in control of this game. So I think that that's what you're seeing, is that if the rebounding is close, ball movement, clutch shooting, the overwhelming talent on this team is just there to absolutely pick up the pieces. And that has me extremely hyped. Hope I'm not catching something from the intern. Points in the paint maybe is my other contention of like, okay, we've got to pay attention to that. And we'll see how that continues to evolve. I don't know if that's going to just be like... tangential to the rebounding of we're just not going to be there for putbacks and so it's just going to be lower or if that's going to come with the territory of where our guys physically shoot the ball from and like I said you gotta I gotta find things so that I you didn't like me being Oh my god, this is so negative so I guess I gotta try not to be the like oh sunshine and rainbows this is so positive but all in all man what a game I think Maybe hyperbolic for me to be like, statement game, early, this early in the season, given where the other wins have been. But this... It felt, again, like a really good chapter to add to this season's book. Now, I've got two more games this week, and so I'll be back with previews on all of those. Like I said, Sean's got content coming out. So we've got plenty of coverage for you. I'm not going to dive into that, but I feel like this is a really solid, you get this dub, then you go to practice, and you break it down, and you just have really good vibes and momentum going back in to taking on the Knicks. Let me know what you thought of the outing. And as always, like, subscribe, comment, share, follow, all those other good things. Hope you guys have a great rest of your day and an even better rest of your week. And as always, go Sixers. Talk to you guys next time.