The Sixers Still Have a Lot of Work to Do
The Sixers just dropped their 2nd game in a row, the 3rd matchup of a 4-game West Coast road trip, against the Utah Jazz.
This performance certainly wasn’t exactly what one would’ve hoped for coming off of their 1st loss of the season. To add insult to injury, Ben Simmons exited with an AC joint sprain prior to halftime. The Sixers just wasn’t the expected, dominant defensive team, allowing an opposing effective field goal percentage above 50, and were uncharacteristically outrebounded 50-42. Additionally, this game magnified an issue that has continued to plague this team: offensive inconsistency.
The starting 5 needs to play with consistency and conviction.
With any new group, it’s expected that they’ll need time to build chemistry and figure things out. This new-look starting lineup is looking like they may take a little more time than fans had hoped. Although he had 27 pts in his return from a 2-game suspension, Joel Embiid was held scoreless for the majority of the 2nd half, the stretch which practically lost the Sixers this game. His other counterparts, sans Josh Richardson, were just woeful as Tobias Harris and Al Horford were a combined 7-25 from the field. As a unit, Richardson-Harris-Embiid-Horford shot 4-16 beyond the arc. Coming into the season, shooting was a glaring need, and the Sixers have yet to show they plan to quell such questions.
As talented as this group is, they simply haven’t displayed much collective consistency at all. One night its Embiid, the next it’s Harris, followed by an explosion by Al Horford. It’s always nice to see different guys lead the way, but is it worth it if the rest of his teammates are almost nowhere to be found? This group has seemingly struggled to figure out who THE guy is, and at times it’s like they’re playing hot potato. There’s nothing quite frustrating like a Harris/Richardson foregone 3pt attempt off a screen, leading to an Embiid draining of the shot clock via a ridiculously low-percentage, long fadeaway attempt outside the paint. Rather than playing within themselves and being a little selfish when necessary, this group has had a tendency to just get too cute with it on the offensive end.
To be a championship team, this squad has to do the little things right.
A frustrating issue from this Utah matchup was the Sixers’ defensive tendency to seemingly leave shooters open. With Embiid and Horford, this team will not have an issue protecting the rim; beyond the arc is where fans should hope the Sixers improve. Coming into this game, the Sixers were allowing the 4th-worst opponent 3pt%, at nearly 38%. This recent performance was much of the same, as the Jazz shot 36.4% beyond the arc. Conventional wisdom says the athleticism of this lineup 1-3 combined with the presence of players like Matisse Thybulle and James Ennis off bench frankly shouldn’t generate a bottom tier perimeter defense.
One of the basic principles in life, let alone sports, is don’t be your own worst enemy. The Sixers struggled last season with turnovers, and this year the trend has continued so far. Ranking 20th in the league at 19 per game, adding a 16 TO effort vs. the Jazz won’t help too much. Some can be attributed to early-season sloppiness, but all in all this team needs to take much better care of the ball and deliver far more clean passes to one another if they ultimately want to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy.
Don’t get me wrong, the season is still VERY young, and I have all the confidence in Brett Brown and his staff to get this team back on track. This team clearly has some holes, but time is most certainly on their side.
Featured Image: Rick Bowmer, AP
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