Pros and Cons: Sixers vs. Pelicans
Well, we have basketball.
Adam Aaronson, whose legal name is Sixers Adam (@SixersAdam on Twitter), covers the Sixers for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez. He believes cantaloupe is the best food in existence, and is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.
After the Preseason From Hell, the regular season is finally here, as the Sixers faced the New Orleans Pelicans in their season debut. Let’s get to Pros and Cons.
Pro: Joel Embiid thrives as a passer
Embiid established himself early on as a jump-shooter, forcing Jonas Valanciunas to step out and attempt to defend Joel in space. Embiid put Valanciunas in foul trouble, and began drawing frequent double-teams in the post.
Embiid flourished against those doubles, consistently manipulating defenders with his body and his eyes as he found open teammates. Embiid made strong strides as a passer last season, and with even better spacing around him this season, he can continue developing those skills.
Con: Who is the backup point guard right now?
Shake Milton is missing time as he nurses an ankle injury. For as long as he and Ben Simmons are inactive, Tyrese Maxey is the only NBA-ready point guard on the roster. During Maxey’s resting periods, it was Furkan Korkmaz who assumed ball-handling responsibilities. Korkmaz had some nice plays, including some big shots in the fourth quarter, but his lack of credibility as an initiator will be a problem as the Sixers try to figure out their point guard rotation.
Furkan had an impressive preseason, and did an amicable job tonight given the circumstances. But the units without Maxey were often flustered by ball pressure and seemed disorganized.
Pro: The all-bench lineups… worked?!
Doc Rivers went to multiple lineups devoid of a starter tonight, as a frustrating trend from last season looked sure to disappoint again. But, to Doc’s credit, his bench units played well on both ends.Â
The first lineup (Korkmaz, Joe, Thybulle, Niang, Drummond) started out a bit sloppily, but quickly found its footing. The same unit had a suboptimal second half performance, but was at the very least competent overall, which itself is a massive accomplishment given how these lineups performed last season.Â
When Maxey replaced Joe in the fourth quarter and the heavy-bench lineup added a bit of ball-handling, it routed the Pelicans, thanks in large part to big-time shot-making from Korkmaz. With Furkan leading the way, the bench went nuts on both ends of the floor. It’s hard to imagine a more encouraging debut for the Sixers bench.