The Year in Review series is back on the Atlantic Files with the Philadelphia 76ers being the topic of discussion this week. Mike and Alex take a deeper dive into the Sixers season and pull out some of the reasons why they came up short in the playoffs, and what will allow them to compete for a championship in the years to come.
Coming into the season, both Alex and Mike had low expectations for the Sixers. Then, Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid happened. Mike had a higher standard for the Sixers though as he believed in Simmons,
“As long as Ben Simmons could give 75% of what everyone expected, I knew they’d be good”
When trying to predict the kind of season they would have, and even about the LeBron sweepstakes, Alex was not as confident,
“We needed to see if Embiid could be healthy for more than 35 games, and at that point we haven’t seen if Simmons could score much against NBA talent. On top of that, you’re putting all of your faith into guys who are 23 and under, so it seemed like a learning process type of season”
Mike and Alex both agreed that versatile offensive players should be the main targets of the team. When the game came down to crunch time, they needed someone who could score at all levels of the court whether it be off the dribble, or off of a catch-and-shoot. Alex believes that will end up being Markelle Fultz as early as next season.
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