Look no further, but the Sixers are less than a week away from their first game of the 2020-21 regular season, a Friday night setup with the Indiana Pacers, the last one between Philadelphia and the United States. real basketball. It’s hard to say whether or not they’re prepared from single-game tests, but they’ll have to do it independently.
You’ve already seen the rookies and the group of banks has started to take shape. To let Doc Rivers explain, Philadelphia has established almost the entire expected ten-man rotation, with little mystery about how they will settle on opening night against Washington.
“I have good sense,” Rivers said Thursday. “At least for four [players]sure i can say it in my mind. But I’m just looking for them to play well, to play together and to have their way when they have all five on the ground. They won’t be able to play the way Joel and Ben play and this group plays because they don’t have Joel and Ben on their team. So they have to play a little different and then they have to figure out what that identity is like.
“You will find out, I guarantee it. In the end you will [figure it out]”I mean, when you keep watching this same group.”
Immediately, your mind turns to who the four players with closed points behind the headlines are. There are three that have no doubt: Shake Milton, Dwight Howard and Furkan Korkmaz. The first two should be obvious, and while some fans will be fond of the inclusion of Korkmaz, his name has appeared throughout the camp in a positive light, with no surprises given Rivers ’affinity for shooters. movement.
Matisse Thybulle’s place in this group feels less secure than one might think. The sophomore winger didn’t enter the game until 1:27 a.m. Tuesday in the first quarter, especially the last man he replaced to complete the formation of all Philadelphia benches. Mike Scott, who Rivers talked about during camp, entered the game before Thybulle and left slightly after Thybulle in the second quarter. If it looks like it’s looking at a half preseason, sure, but it’s the only data point we have and the Sixers are taking these preseason games pretty seriously with the season starting so soon.
Rivers, like many other coaches throughout the league, tends to rely heavily on veterans, sometimes at the expense of developing a young player on the bench. With the head coach conveying his desire to get shooters on the ground again and again this preseason, it would come as no surprise to see him lean towards the veteran with a considerably longer history from Thybulle’s defensive depths. .
This would leave us with a fascinating battle for the final rotation spot, a clash of styles between Thybulle and Tyrese Maxey, the rookie keeper who impressed in his debut against Boston. On the one hand, you have the longest and most dynamic defender, the man who can cause quick breaks with his ways of playing, but a limited defender who fought on Tuesday. Maxey is smaller and has his own questions to answer as a shooter, but he is a tenacious defender of the point of attack and one of the softest ball operators they have on the list.
Whether it’s the battle we’re over or not, the head coach still doesn’t shake hands: Rivers tried to stay as inaccurate as possible in what he wants from the final player in this group of five men.
“The shot is very important. The defense is important. Who can reach the team? [concepts] and run things better, “Rivers said Thursday.” I mean, there are a lot of little things. We may need more size. See me. In practice we run out of many groups and therefore come out as a judge. And tomorrow, we will try to organize many different groups with this group. “
This enigma is well reflected in the group the Sixers have put together for this year. Rookies have usually been able to have an instant impact (or at least hit the ground running) in recent years thanks to a strange balance on the roster. Looking ahead to 2020-21, the Sixers have a solid top five, a sixth natural man and a safety center, the same shooter off the bench and good competition for ninth and tenth places, flexibility to change things as you wish. Rivers. to play it. We’re seeing a situation where it’s plausible that one of the two recent first-round options could mount the pine to start the year.
If it’s Maxey who sits down to start the year, it won’t be due to the lack of gratitude from his teammates. The rest of the group has excited the young guard since he arrived at camp, his desire to help the team shine at all times. That includes, Dwight Howard told reporters Thursday, during the first game against Boston.
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“When he first came into the game, I thought maybe he was moving a little too fast and they were putting a lot of pressure on him. So when there was a timeout, I pulled him to the side and said, ‘Hey, just slow down. It’s okay to be fast, but don’t be in a hurry. Don’t let the defense dictate where you want to go, “Howard said Thursday.” And he went back there, he slowed down, he started making plays, he got a couple of floats, some good passes, he got the offense worked smoothly. I really like where the head is, he is very eager to learn. Very disciplined, he is always in the gym working on his game. “
This is what you want to hear about your rookie, and it coincides with a point Rivers made about teammates after winning Tuesday in Boston: Young players are an important part of setting the tone and culture of a team. Young guys who are willing to listen, Rivers believes, are key to a team coming together.
If we’re disabled beforehand, I guess Maxey sits on the bench to begin with, but if he does, I don’t expect him to be out of the mix for long. On Friday they will have one more chance to sort things out against a solid Pacers team, a group that absorbs their own change of coach and change of philosophy.
Stay tuned for these first-half rotations, as they will tell us a lot about how this group is organized for the regular season.
Other notes
• New acquisition Danny Green, one of the most popular favorites for this writer (at least on defense), he apparently has a preseason on the defensive side of the floor.
“Danny Green has been amazing,” Rivers said Thursday. “You’d think a 1000-year-old guy wouldn’t be so good, but he’s so smart that it helps.”
(Data check: Green is a few years older than me, so I hope he doesn’t graze it yet. Of course, my ankles would turn into paper mache if I tried to defend NBA players right now, but that it’s a problem of mine, not an age problem.)
In any case, Rivers is also encouraged about the possibility of protection against elite tires for 48 minutes a night, with Joel Embiid able to pass the baton to Dwight Howard, one of the league’s great tire protectors who continues to defend a high level in its twilight years.
“When you look at our defense and if you do, and you still have to score above Joel or Dwight, that makes things difficult,” Rivers said. “And what we’re trying to encourage the guards is because we have Joel and Dwight behind us, you can get closer to your boy and be more aggressive.”
• Through the first preseason game, Rivers is pleased with the way the Sixers have done when they play on free transition offense, acknowledging they have more work to do on fixed plays. Expect it to be a highlight Friday against Indiana.
“I thought we were running what we call random: it’s a kind of disorganized organization that after failures I thought we did really well there, because our spacing was good and everyone was attacking and aggressive, “Rivers said.” I thought when we ran fixed things it was when we were fighting, and that’s a clear sign of a team that hasn’t run this much and they don’t know all the little nuances of each set. We drilled a ton today, we will drill it again tomorrow during the match. “
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