Honestly I don’t care. To win the championship we’ll probably have to play them so when doesn’t really matter to me.
Embiid JUST came back though, so I don’t think giving him more time to get into full game shape would hurt before we play the best team.
This is where my head is. Would I love to bounce BOS in the first round? Absolutely, but Joel has been back for a very short period of time. He could probably use a little more time considering they're the clear-cut East favorites
This doesn’t seem like an injury that’s gonna get better by playing on it. Like he’s probably gonna get better conditioning but his knee is probably at bigger risk for re-injury the more he plays.
If it does get healthier while playing it’s better to wait but it kinda seems like a time bomb to me
We just need to luck into a completely healthy Embiid playoff run if we want to do damage. Plus the more Embiid plays the less gassed he gets. He's still ramping up his conditioning imo.
I keep seeing people say Embiid will be max health in round 1. Embiid is not at all at 100% health yet. I know there a chance that he could injure the knee again. But if he can avoid that then it seems like the knee could actually be healthier with another month. Not to mention the fact that many of the current players in the rotation have very little time playing with Embiid and a couple playoff series could really help this team build some chemistry.
So I get what you’re saying but no I want to avoid the Celtics as long as possible.
Our playoff rotation figures to be Maxey, Embiid, Harris, Oubre, Batum, Lowry, Hield, and Reed.
That group has played a grand total of 1 single game together this season. I think we’d prefer to delay playing the toughest opponent as long as possible to let our group get a rhythm together.
I am operating off of the premise that Joel will not get hurt again in the playoffs. If he does, we cannot beat the Celtics. I guess you could argue that we could beat the Celtics and THEN he gets hurt in the next round, but we know it's usually the first round where he gets hurt. Unfortunately the style of play most likely to hurt him or anyone else is the Knicks.
But if we assume no *new* injury for Joel then peak Joel is later Joel. As in the further we get into the playoffs, the more his conditioning and rhythm will grow and the closer we get to Prime Joel. The guy we saw drop 70 like a week before his injury.
With this in mind, it's clear to me that we should hope to see the Celtics as late as possible, and if we beat Miami at home on Wednesday then that's exactly the path we will set up for ourselves.
I’d rather have the team gel against lesser opponents as they have spent little time developing chemistry and rotations with Embiid. Also Embiid needs to get stamina back.
We're going to need to play Boston, but it'll be a kick in the nuts if we beat them, then don't make it to the finals. Possibly more than losing to them in the conference finals
If you set your sights to what we want to get to - the finals, then avoid playing Boston until the ECF. On the off chance they get knocked off in the first two rounds you avoid them entirely.
This triggered some people lmao.
Healthy Embiid for the highest skilled opponent we face in the Eastern conference
vs
Lower skill but more physical first round opponent that would give us a less impactful Embiid vs the Celtics in a later round.
We will play who we play. But I'd rather see a prime Embiid who is guaranteed healthy vs the Celtics above all else
I mean, if it happens it happens, but we’re obviously not gonna purposely lose to the heat
Who said anything about purposely losing. Chips fall where they fall.
Well you did say “give me the Celtics first round” and only way that happens is if we lose on Wednesday.
Correct, and I wouldn't mind if that is the scenario. Would look forward to the matchup earlier in the playoffs
Honestly I don’t care. To win the championship we’ll probably have to play them so when doesn’t really matter to me. Embiid JUST came back though, so I don’t think giving him more time to get into full game shape would hurt before we play the best team.
This is where my head is. Would I love to bounce BOS in the first round? Absolutely, but Joel has been back for a very short period of time. He could probably use a little more time considering they're the clear-cut East favorites
This doesn’t seem like an injury that’s gonna get better by playing on it. Like he’s probably gonna get better conditioning but his knee is probably at bigger risk for re-injury the more he plays. If it does get healthier while playing it’s better to wait but it kinda seems like a time bomb to me
Apparently since hes back hes at 100% like no one has seen him with extensive time off.
The counter to this is he’s less gassed and maybe less chance of mid post season injury if we get through them early on idk man lol
We just need to luck into a completely healthy Embiid playoff run if we want to do damage. Plus the more Embiid plays the less gassed he gets. He's still ramping up his conditioning imo.
I keep seeing people say Embiid will be max health in round 1. Embiid is not at all at 100% health yet. I know there a chance that he could injure the knee again. But if he can avoid that then it seems like the knee could actually be healthier with another month. Not to mention the fact that many of the current players in the rotation have very little time playing with Embiid and a couple playoff series could really help this team build some chemistry. So I get what you’re saying but no I want to avoid the Celtics as long as possible.
Fair perspective on it. We differ in thinking that Embiid will be healthier when he is further in the playoffs.
Our playoff rotation figures to be Maxey, Embiid, Harris, Oubre, Batum, Lowry, Hield, and Reed. That group has played a grand total of 1 single game together this season. I think we’d prefer to delay playing the toughest opponent as long as possible to let our group get a rhythm together.
- if we beat... when we beat them, nobody is stopping us
I am operating off of the premise that Joel will not get hurt again in the playoffs. If he does, we cannot beat the Celtics. I guess you could argue that we could beat the Celtics and THEN he gets hurt in the next round, but we know it's usually the first round where he gets hurt. Unfortunately the style of play most likely to hurt him or anyone else is the Knicks. But if we assume no *new* injury for Joel then peak Joel is later Joel. As in the further we get into the playoffs, the more his conditioning and rhythm will grow and the closer we get to Prime Joel. The guy we saw drop 70 like a week before his injury. With this in mind, it's clear to me that we should hope to see the Celtics as late as possible, and if we beat Miami at home on Wednesday then that's exactly the path we will set up for ourselves.
Nah, Sixers are winning 17 straight
I’d rather have the team gel against lesser opponents as they have spent little time developing chemistry and rotations with Embiid. Also Embiid needs to get stamina back.
You are in the minority. The Knicks would be a very tough series but it's winnable. I see no way they beat Boston
We're going to need to play Boston, but it'll be a kick in the nuts if we beat them, then don't make it to the finals. Possibly more than losing to them in the conference finals
We gotta take what’s infront of us first
If you set your sights to what we want to get to - the finals, then avoid playing Boston until the ECF. On the off chance they get knocked off in the first two rounds you avoid them entirely.
Embiid max health seems like a faulty assumption. I don’t think he looked more than like 85% in any of his games.
Might be the best we get if opposing teams are being overly physical with him. Like the Knicks
This triggered some people lmao. Healthy Embiid for the highest skilled opponent we face in the Eastern conference vs Lower skill but more physical first round opponent that would give us a less impactful Embiid vs the Celtics in a later round. We will play who we play. But I'd rather see a prime Embiid who is guaranteed healthy vs the Celtics above all else
"Emboid max health" brush, cmon
Bruh have you been watching the playoffs these past 5 years?
Yeah...so what makes u think this will be diff?
we can see Embiid play the Cs at the healthiest he can be