Quarter-Life Syndrome

It’s a special “quarter-life crisis” episode as host DJSportsZone celebrates his birthday with co-host Jordan Sabel — and the best gift the basketball gods could provide: a fully healthy Philadelphia 76ers roster. After months of injuries and uncertainty, the Sixers’ “Big Four” are finally back on the floor just in time for a crucial seven-game push to close the regular season and avoid the dreaded Play-In Tournament.

Inside the Sixers’ Resurgence:

• The Return of the Stars – The duo breaks down the immediate impact of Joel Embiid and Paul George in a 157–137 blowout win over the Chicago Bulls, highlighted by a franchise-altering 51-point third quarter.

• The Hornets Thriller – A recap of the gritty win over the Charlotte Hornets, featuring Tyrese Maxey’s explosive dunk over Miles Bridges, Embiid’s clutch late block on Brandon Miller, and Paul George sealing the game with a defensive lockdown of LaMelo Ball.

• The “Free Throw Merchant” Debate – The hosts react to the Charlotte broadcast labeling Embiid a “free throw merchant,” pointing out the irony after the Hornets actually attempted more free throws as a team.

• Persistent Problems – Despite the recent wins, DJ and Jordan remain critical of lingering issues — including brutal rebounding (getting out-rebounded 53–41 by Charlotte) and a struggling transition defense that allowed 30 fast-break points to the Miami Heat earlier in the week.

• The Road Ahead – With seven games remaining, the hosts preview the final stretch of the season, including a highly anticipated showdown between Embiid and Victor Wembanyama in San Antonio. The big question: can the Sixers climb to the 5th or 6th seed and avoid the Play-In “torture”?

2025 NBA Awards Debate:

The episode wraps with the hosts making their picks for MVP, Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, and Coach of the Year, sparking several heated debates over the league’s closest races.

A mix of analysis, reactions, and bold takes, this episode explores whether the Sixers’ long-awaited return to full health can finally spark a late-season run — or if the team’s lingering flaws will resurface when it matters most.

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DJSportsZone: IG/Facebook/YouTube/TikTok @djsportszone

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Welcome to second round syndrome. Round two. Fight. Welcome on into second round syndrome. Your talk for the Philadelphia 76ers and the NBA. I'm your host, DJ SportsZone. With me is my co-host, Jordan Sable. Jordan, this team, they're back.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

Yes, DJ, they're back. Let's go. But first, we got uh I think today's a special recording day, is it? Right, DJ? Oh, is it? I think so, right? It's your birthday, is it, right?

SPEAKER_01 0:40

It is my birthday. Uh, it's time to live my quarter life crisis. Uh, yes, it's it's crazy that we are first of all, it's crazy that this is show number 17, right? And I know you you joined a little bit halfway through, but it's crazy that we've done 17 shows now. And first of all, we appreciate everyone that's listened, even just for a second. It means a lot. And please make sure you you you like it and let us know all your thoughts on the podcast so far. We're always trying to improve it. But it's really special that I get to celebrate my birthday with not just you, Jordan, but our listening audience either on our audio platforms, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, iHeart, and Amazon. But you know, also again on our video version as well. But we got to talk about the 76ers. That that is obviously way more important than my birthday. But I think that's honestly one of the best birthday gifts that the uh basketball gods could have given is giving us a healthy 76ers team. Because since our last show, they played a few games, right? That Chicago Bulls game, Joel Embiid comes back from his injury, and Paul George comes back from his 25-game suspension, which is awesome. I mean, it was basically a blowout 157 to 137. Now, granted, I mean, 137 points giving that up is not good. They did score 51 points in that third quarter, by the way, which is insane. The Sixers, which we've talked about this pretty much every single episode. They've been one of the worst third quarter teams ever. The fact that they were able to do that is great. Fourth quarter, I think they gave up like 53 points, which is crazy. But I mean, Joel and B was not on the floor at that point. It is what it is. Then the last two games, Saturday against Charlotte and yesterday against the Miami Heat, we got back not only Kelly Ubre, but we also got back Tyrese Maxie. And if anything, I believe we got back Tyrese Maxie ahead of schedule, right? As soon as those two were able to come back, they made sure to come back. Now, the Hornets, I did not think they were going to win that game because the Hornets have been honestly a really good team this season. They've been the biggest surprise, in my opinion, in the entire NBA, just because Konkanipel has been such a great addition. I mean, they drafted him number four overall in this draft. But then you have guys like Brandon Miller, who I don't think it's talked about enough. Brandon Miller is such a good player. I mean, he was number two overall, by the way. Like, we forget that he was behind Victor Wembenyama. I mean, like, we we kind of forget about that draft after Wemby. It's like who came after that? Yeah, it was Brandon Miller, and he's been so good this season. And then Lamella Ball has stayed healthy, right? And that's been key for them as well. And you know, their their depth at the center position is solid. I mean, you look at guys like Musa Diabate and even Ryan Kalkbrenner, but specifically Diabate, he himself had seven offensive rebounds. You know how many, how many offensive rebounds the Sixers had as a whole team? Seven. He had the same amount of offensive rebounds as the entire Sixers roster. So those two bigs are so good for Charlotte. And again, I think they could make the playoffs this year. It wouldn't shock me if they were just they just missed it. At this point, teams one through 10 are decided, right? The teams that are out, we already know they're out, right? And that goes for both the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference. But I was very glad they won that game because they were down by like 15 points. It looked hopeless, and then you had guys like Paul George step up, you had Tyrese Maxie step up at the right time. I mean, that dunk over Miles Bridges was insane from Tyrese Maxie, and then you have Paul George. I mean, Paul George has been a disaster since signing with the Philadelphia 76ers, but arguably these last well, I'll I'll specifically talk about the Chicago game and the Charlotte game. That's arguably been the best he's played since putting on a 76ers jersey. And that even shows, like specifically, you look at that last possession, Jordan. They had a chance to win the game, right? I mean, Brandon Miller could have won the game for them himself, but Joel Embiid wasn't even guarding him, he just comes out of nowhere and blocks that shot, which was crazy. And then on that final possession, Lamello Ball, who was hot at that point in the game, they're putting Paul George on him, and it worked. He was successful, he was locking down Lamello Ball and made him miss that possibly game-winning shot. I mean, Paul George has been so good. What had like overall, what have your thoughts been so far on Paul George since his return from that suspension?

SPEAKER_00 5:38

Well, I've been impressed with his mentality. I mean, it he could have definitely came into the the rest of the season and kind of just like laid off the rest. Like, I mean, like, but for him to come into this this the rest of the season out, he put up a really good performance statistically, even against the Hornets, but 26 points and 13 rebounds, a nice double-double there for uh for Paul George. And uh, I'm just so impressed to see his like his character and work ethic kind of back to uh a younger self, which is something we've desperately needed. We've needed that third piece of the puzzle to add into Mac CNM beat. And now with him coming back into things, things are really on the up and up here. Um yeah, I was just impressed with his two performances there, and and I'm glad to see him back coming into to the team and playing this well. It's it's much needed, and I'm it's glad I'm glad to see it happen.

SPEAKER_01 6:31

Yeah, it's crazy that this team won that game because you look at the rebounding numbers, like it's insane. So Charlotte out rebounded them 53 to 41, specifically offensive rebounds 21 to 7. As I said, the Sixers had just as many rebounds as Musa Diabate himself. I mean, they were getting out-rebounded by Kobe White, right? Like, that's crazy. Kobe White is what 6'2, 6'3? I mean, he's a smaller guard, and he just got to the team at the trade deadline, just playing for Chicago beforehand. So, I mean, it's just so impressive that the Sixers were able to come back. I mean, the the fourth quarter itself was incredible. I mean, they were able to limit Charlotte to only 17 points, right? They they outscored them 26 to 17 after you know the third quarter, tying them 28 to 28. It's just so impressive what we're seeing from this team. And Joel Embiid, it doesn't matter how many times this guy gets injured, he can always score. I just I don't understand it. I mean, Joel Embiid had in that game 29 points. He shot eight of 19 from the field, three of six from three, uh, six rebounds, and he had two blocks, and he shot 10 of 13 from the free throw line, which I think is hilarious because uh the Charlotte broadcast, Eric Collins specifically, was calling Joel Embiid a free throw merchant, which you know, again, I think is hilarious when you look at a guy like Brandon Miller who shot who had 10 attempts. Why why does three more attempts make you a free throw merchant? I don't I don't really understand it. Like, what what is the definite what is the definition of a free throw merchant? Like, again, I know we've talked about like Bama de Bayo's uh you know 80 80 point game. Like he had like 43 free throw attempts. Like, that's a free throw merchant.

SPEAKER_00 8:13

I I think you know the way M B draws fouls, I guess, can make it look like he's a free throw merchant but I can say that about anyone. Yeah, you could say that about SGA, you could say that about Atabayo and his uh historic game, obviously. But it's a backhanded comment, and I personally I do like their announcer a lot uh for their games, and I think he's probably one of the more exciting ones in terms of the way he gets super loud for like big moments that happened, but I think that was a poor comment to say. I know you their team lost, yeah. But I just think that was not the right approach there to kind of go off on that. Sure, he led the game in free throw attempts on a player level, but come on, Brendan Miller had three less. Uh that's just how the game is in the NBA now. You have to expect free throws.

SPEAKER_01 9:06

Also, Jordan, who do you think had more free throws as a team? The Sixers or the Hornets?

SPEAKER_00 9:10

Probably the Hornets.

SPEAKER_01 9:12

It was the Hornets. They shot 32 attempts. The Sixers had 29. So we got it stuff like that that doesn't make any sense. Like I just I just checked myself there that that stat. That's what I don't understand.

SPEAKER_00 9:21

It's a we're also gonna get Embiid the ball the most in the game. He's our best player, best scorer. He gets the way he draws people in to defend him, he can he scores with people up in his face. And what they're gonna make contact to his arm or whatever. Um, that's a foul. That's a foul in the NBA, and he's gonna get the free throws for it, whether he scores the bucket or not. If not, he gets two. He scores the bucket, gets the and one, he gets the free throw. That's just kind of how the game works now. Um, I just think it was a poor comment, and just uh it's not it's not um describing Embiid as a player. I don't think it's right.

SPEAKER_01 9:59

And it's not even necessarily that he just gets a lot of free throats, it's how he gets it, right? He knows how to draw fouls, right? The best players in the league, whether you're talking about SGA, whether you're talking about a Jalen Brunson, a James Harden, right? These top players that we've seen, LeBron James, they all do it. Giannis Ansatacumpo, they know how to draw fouls because they have a high basketball IQ. There's a reason why most of those guys, except for Brunson that I've named, have won an MVP before, right? Joel, LeBron, Giannis, SGA, right? They all know how to get to the line. That just means they're smart basketball players, and there's nothing wrong with that, right? I understand if they have I'd say maybe 15 or more, that's when it starts to get a little excessive. Okay, that's fine. But even then, I mean, maybe maybe when you start to get to 20, like it's hard to put a number on it because it always depends on the player and the scenario, right? Again, and the ref and the refs as well. I mean, like again, 43 free throw attempts, that's excessive on any level. I don't care who you are, what kind of player you are. I mean, especially for Bam, who usually only averages about 20 points per game. Okay, maybe that's a lot. Joelle, I mean, he averages 30 points in his sleep, and he just came back from his 100th injury of the season. So it's just impressive seeing what they're doing there. Now, when you look at the Miami game, it was a little disappointing, right? And the good thing about the Charlotte game is they won the tiebreaker, right? Because this is really like uh a five-team like race for the last couple spots in the Eastern Conference. You look at it right now. I mean, obviously, Detroit, Boston, New York, Cleveland, they're pretty much set one through four. I mean, maybe there's a little bit of wiggle room, but it I it looks like it's gonna be those four teams in that order. But other than that, you look at five through ten, Toronto, Atlanta, Philly, Orlando, Miami, and Charlotte, it could go in any way, shape, or form. Because right now, the fifth seed is the Toronto Raptors. They are 42 and 32, right? The Charlotte Hornets are 10 and they're 39 and 36. That's not that much of a difference, right? Any of these teams like Miami, they've lost a ton of games the last week or two. Same thing with Orlando, right? I mean, just uh a couple days ago, I saw Miami and Orlando drop down to the 9 and 10 spots, right? And now, you know, Orlando is back in eight, and Miami's in nine right now. So it's so close. So Charlotte, they were able to win that tiebreaker, which is huge. The Miami game, unfortunately, they did not. Now, it was a competitive game. You do have to look at it of the Heat were playing without Norman Powell. Now, they still have a talented roster. I mean, Bama de Bayo, I know I I've kind I've been going at him for that 83-point game, rightfully so, but he's still a talented player. I mean, he's still one of one of the better centers in the NBA. He won the gold medal with and beat in Paris. I mean, he's still a very talented player for the Miami Heat. He helped them get to two NBA finals the last couple of years. And Tyler Hero is a great player. I think Andrew Wiggins has been solid for them since getting traded there in that Jimmy Butler trade. They got some decent young players, Jaime Hawkes, Jovic, I mean, Davion Mitchell. But the Sixers had a chance to win this game. Now they were down by once again 15 points, and they were able to tie the game, right? Going into that fourth quarter. But then, in my opinion, Jordan, it felt like they took a step back and stopped trying for a couple reasons. One, I mean, I'm gonna keep hammering this home. They cannot rebound, like it is so bad. And we said this kind of even earlier in the season as well. But it's especially when they're all healthy, it's just they can't do it. And we, you know, you gave praise to Paul George for the 13 rebounds that he had against the Hornets, but there just wasn't that effort in this game. I mean, rebounding, it was 57 to 42, offensive rebounding, not as brutal, but you still gave up 16. It was 16 to 9. That's still not good, right? You're not gonna be able to win many games if you can't grab rebounds. I mean, off those 16 offensive rebounds, they gave up, I believe it was 19 second chance points. You can't do that, especially when it's a 10-point game. I mean, that those 19 points, that matters. I mean, that that's the difference between winning and losing a game is the rebounding. So that's number one. Number two is their transition defense sucks. Like it's so bad. There were so many times, especially in the second half, where players would just drive to the rim and there was nobody in sight. There was no sixer defender even close to the rim. They just kind of let them go at it, and it's not the first time we've seen it. I'm sure it won't be the last. But like, in particular, Tyler Hero, he had 30 points in that game, right? Tyler Hero has not been that good uh this season, mainly because of injuries. But it seemed like he had no trouble getting to the rim. It seemed like Bam Adabayo had no trouble getting to the rim, which he had 23 points. I mean, Larson had 20 points in this game, 20 points and 10 rebounds. Right? I mean, Bam also had 16 rebounds. Andrew Wiggins was phenomenal defensively, right? I mean, he only had 14 points. But you look at, I mean, he had three steals and two blocks. I mean, he was all over them. It kind of reminded me of like the uh a TJ McConnell kind of on those inbound passes, right? Andrew Wiggins was kind of that pest on on those inbounds. So number one is the rebounding, number two is awful transition defense, and then they're not able to play against a zone defense, like they just had no answer to Miami zone, and you could tell in the fourth quarter. I mean, Maxi shot one of seven from the field in that fourth quarter. Paul George took only three shots, he was a one of three. He had a phenomenal first quarter, 11 points. And then after that, three points to the second quarter, three points to the third quarter, two points to the fourth quarter. VJ Edgecombe didn't even attempt a single shot in the fourth quarter. That's a problem. I mean, Joel had 10 points, so good for Embiid, but Embiid can't do it alone. And when Maxi isn't making his shots, and I feel feel like a lot of the shots he was taking in the fourth quarter were not good shots, to be fair. But you need other guys to step up. You need VJ to step up. You need Paul George, who's been kind of their success point the last couple games. You need him to step up offensively. You need some of these other guys like Quentin Grimes and Kelly Ubre. I mean, Justin Edwards only played a minute in that game, but you know, he he's been pretty good in the past. You need some of these other guys to step up. I'm also kind of surprised before I throw it back to you, Jordan, that they didn't play Andre Drummond in this game because I thought when they played him in the fourth quarter against Charlotte, that was kind of the turning point. Now, I've been kind of anti-Andre Drummond this season. I think he's just been so bad. I think some of his antics on the court have been just wild to me. But when they put him in, he was actually pretty good defensively in that game. I mean, you needed rebounding, he helped you get there. I mean, I believe Charlotte had zero offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter, right? He was solid. They didn't play him a single minute. I mean, they played a Dembona for 14 minutes. And again, a Dembona, he can get you blocks, but just because a player can get you blocks doesn't mean they're a great defender, right? And that's where you run into uh a problem when you have a Dembona. But I'm shocked that Nick Nurris, especially with the depth that this team has, because this team is extremely deep when they're healthy. I mean, you know, they didn't even play guys like Jabari Walker, they didn't play, you know, Campaign, the legendary successor of Jared McCain, right? I mean, they didn't play Trendon Watford, they didn't play the legend Kyle Lowry, which I'm glad they didn't play Lowry. But, you know, they have a deep team, they have many options that they could go to, especially when you need rebound, right? Or a defensive spark. Why not just try drumming out for a couple of minutes? If he stinks, then pull up. But I don't understand what Nick Nurse was thinking in that moment.

SPEAKER_00 18:22

Well, you know what's gonna happen. He's gonna shoot a corner three and miss, and then shoot another corner three and miss. But in in real talk, I think what what kills us is second chance points. Um, I don't have the exact statistic of like obviously what the second chance points were. Um, but I assume we probably get killed on that just based off the offensive rebounding numbers, and and those numbers were terrible, and they consistently are. Um, and that kills us. I it kills, and I watched a lot of college basketball recently. That kills teams in college basketball, it kills teams in the NBA too. Can't get that first rebound, and teams are at this point shooting 45% on shots. I mean, the math does itself, they're gonna make the second shot pretty much regularly there. So if you you need to secure the first rebound, and we've talked about this consistently. Uh, even without MB, we were seeing them struggle rebounding. Now, with Embiid, they still struggle rebounding. So, like, I think rebounding is the number one thing, and it will always be the number one thing with this team so far. Um, Drummond is not gonna fix rebounding for the whole time. He may get something.

SPEAKER_01 19:32

It spurts, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:33

Exactly. He's not gonna fix it full time. Embiid is not going up for rebounds all the time anymore, obviously, because I'd prefer for him to stay on the ground and not go up for anything and get super injured. He's obviously trying to take care of himself um for his future. There's just other teams have those players that are just gonna go in there and fight and get rebounds, and I just don't think the Sixers have that currently. And and again, that plays into the second chance points thing where if you're not going for these rebounds, you're gonna give up the ball again and let them go around again, you get a refreshed shot clock, and they'll shoot it and like I said, regularly score. So I think in in this game specifically, second chance points probably killed us, um, which goes hand in hand with offensive rebounding.

SPEAKER_01 20:18

Nine 19 and 12, by the way, in second chance points.

SPEAKER_00 20:21

Yeah. So I mean, I kind of it's not as big as I thought it would be, but it's still a sizable factor of seven points, which I'm not sure. I don't remember how much we lost about it. 10, but I mean you could have made a closer game, right? Uh if we kept it as close as possible.

SPEAKER_01 20:37

Yeah, and again, the the stats, the reason why the Sixers lost this game, again, we we've talked about the rebounding, but they gave up the the heat had 30 fast break points. It was 30 to 11, and then they had 18 more points in the paint. It was 60 to 42. Again, you're not gonna win games that way. I mean, the Sixers need to find a way, especially when you have two of the fastest guys in the entire NBA, and Tyrese Maxie and Vijay Edgecomb, you've got to find ways to get those guys to the rim. And then on the other end, you have to find ways to stop Miami in this case from getting to the rim so easily. I mean, you you need that rim protector. Embiid is solid at it, but he's a lot slower than he's been in the past, right? A lot of it's because of the injuries, obviously, and he is getting older, right? He's not Paul George level yet, but you know, again, he he's already it, you know, 30 years old. So it's already gonna be tough to stop that. That's why it needs to be a full team effort, it needs to be everybody. I mean, again, you can't wait for the ball to come to you when it when it comes to rebounding, you have to be the first one to the ball. Um, I I I kind of used uh Josh Hart, for example, with the New York Knicks. I mean, he killed the Sixers in that first round series a couple years ago because of offensive rebounding. It wasn't just Mitchell Robinson, it wasn't just Isaiah Hartenstein. No, it was Josh Hart. He was a big part of that, and you know, he's only you know six. Six, you know, six seven, maybe. I mean, he's not a very tall. I see you smiling over there. You know, I know everyone's six seven out. Um, but he he's a great example of uh a guy who's not a big, but somebody that puts rebounding first. And you need a guy like that. Now, I think Kelly Ubre should be that guy, right? You have Dominic Barlow, who's a solid rebounder, but you need some of these other guys. I think VJ could be that guy, right? Paul George. I think Nick Nurse really told Paul George in the second half of that Charlotte game, we need you to go get rebounds. And that's what he did. I mean, most of his rebounds came in that second half, right? I think 10, if I'm correct, 10 of those came in that second half of that Charlotte game. So, and that's what helped them win, right? So there's definitely a roadmap. Now, the next several games, we'll see how it goes. Are they going to be healthy for every single game? Probably not. Now, as of recording this tomorrow night, they they're gonna face the Washington Wizards. That should be a win. The injury report did come out. The only one who's obviously still out is Jennai Broom. He's not gonna be playing the rest of the season, but he doesn't matter in this case. Everyone that should be on the court is gonna be available. So that should be an easy dub. I'm not worried about Washington. They are literally trying to lose games, right? There's only seven games left. So starting off with Washington on the road, cool. Then this is where it gets interesting. They do play a back-to-back uh that Friday and Saturday. Friday against the Timberwolves, Saturday against the Pistons. I'm kind of curious to see what they do with that. I would probably say that they're gonna play in that Pistons game because the Timberwolves game doesn't really matter as much. And maybe, I mean, they were able to pull out a win against the Timberwolves uh a month ago without most of their guys, so maybe it happens. And you know, who knows? Maybe Anthony Edwards has to use the bathroom again at tip-off, and they're able to get a good start. Did you hear that? That's actually what happened uh yesterday. I think Mike Conley had a start in his place because he had to go uh go to the bathroom in the beginning. Uh, it was so funny. The their head coach, uh Chris Finch, uh said nature calls. So, you know, that was that was kind of funny. So who knows? Um, but I I think they'll play in that Pistons game, if I had to choose one, and then after that, it gets a little bit tough because they have a three-game road trip, San Antonio, which that's probably gonna be a loss, but who knows? We haven't seen uh that Embiid and Wembinama matchup in a long time, so I think that will be a ton of fun to see, especially in San Antonio. Then they face Houston, which Houston is uh an interesting team, they're they're not very good. They're gonna make the playoffs, but I think because they don't have a point guard, they don't have many shooters, their set center depth isn't great. And at this point, I think when you put Kevin Durant on a team, it's just not an automatic championship team anymore, right? That idea when he went to Brooklyn, right? When he went to Phoenix, now being in Houston, it's tough. Now it's hard to say that because they haven't had up their full roster all year. Fred Van Vliet hasn't played. Maybe it'll be different next season, but we got to talk about this season right now. I mean, they're they're gonna make the playoffs, but you know, I'm not too worried about Houston. They're probably gonna be a first-round exit, but Sixers could could probably win that game. I think Embiid won't have a problem against Alfred Shen Goon. I think the last time Embiid uh wrecked Shen Goon. He put up a post on Instagram mocking Furcon Korkmaz about it, which was kind of funny. Um, so they they face Houston and then they got two more games left. One on the road, and I think they win both of these games easily. Uh, which actually this next game is a back-to-back from the Houston game. Thursday is Houston, that Friday is the Pacers, and the Pacers are trying to lose games at this point, so I don't see any problem there because again, trying to lose games, and then they end it with Milwaukee, which Milwaukee is done for. I don't think that's gonna matter too much for them. I think that's an easy win. I don't even know. I know we've talked about Giannis possibly coming back. I don't know why he would at this point now. Milwaukee's officially out. Um, you know, the only thing that is a positive for the Milwaukee Bucks at this point is that Glenn Rivers is now gonna be in the Hall of Fame, apparently. So I guess good for Doc. But Bucks, that shouldn't be a problem. So if anything, they should be able to win most of those games. I think the only ones, assuming that you know they're all healthy, that they could lose is Detroit. But again, Detroit, they don't have Cade right now, so who knows? San Antonio, I think they lose that game, but you know, I think it'll be an interesting matchup. It's so different because we talked about a week or two ago that they were gonna lose most of these games because they didn't have their healthy roster. If for some reason Jordan this ends up working, they the Sixers might have found a way to hack the system, right? Paul George, I I thought it was so funny in that press conference that he had. He was basically saying he was glad he had that 25 games to rest, right? I mean, it's kind of funny because it he was suspended, obviously, for a negative reason, but he might have had a point that he might have needed that 25 games to get his body right, to get his you know mental health in the right place to finish out the season. Because at this point, I think he basically admitted, I'm too old, I'm too washed to play a full 82-game season, but I'm good enough to play the games that I need to play to hopefully go on a nice run in the postseason. So who knows?

SPEAKER_00 27:22

Yeah, that's very true. What do you think? Uh, four and three, five and two, six and one.

SPEAKER_01 27:28

Hmm. Let me think about that for a second. So we got Washington win. Minnesota. Because I'm gonna assume I'm assuming Minnesota they're not Embiid and Paul George aren't playing. I'm gonna say they'll win Minnesota. Detroit, I'll think I'll say they'll lose Detroit. So that's uh, you know, two, two and one. San Antonio lose, they'll win against Houston, so five five and two, five and two.

SPEAKER_00 27:56

I was probably around the same thing as yeah, I think five and two as well, sharing those losses with uh the Spurs and Pistons. It's just the team never plays well against uh teams that have a greater than uh 500 record, but any team that's under 500, we're I think I saw a statistic uh that said we're 24-4 against any team that's under 500, so any team with a losing record, and then teams that are over 500, we have a record of 17 and 30. So the statistics there aren't great. Um they they they have a shelter. But now that we're back, I wanna you know put more of an emphasis on these are early season statistics than they go through the whole season. Obviously, we didn't haven't had the fully fit squad yet, and now we do. So I wanna I do want to say that maybe you can throw those in the trash, but um they I think they are valid though to put point out that the team hasn't played well against good teams. Um, but we'll have to see here. Maybe they can get a shocker against the Pistons or go to San Antonio and you know Embiid can throw a dunk on Wemby or something. Who knows? Well, it'll be fun.

SPEAKER_01 29:07

I mean, it's tough because right now, at this point, it doesn't really matter. They just need to win as many games as possible. They're not working at this point. The remainder of the games they have, it's not about winning a series. That's what the last two games are for the Charlotte game and the Miami game. Now, at this point, it's win as many games as you can because you need to at least get that six seed. Right? Obviously, it'd be I think it would be better to get the five seed, because I would rather face the Cavs than the Knicks in the first round. But it's not about okay, um, they need to win the series against the Timberwolves, they need to win the series or tie the series, or I I guess they would win the series because they won the first game, but it's not about winning the series against the Timberwolves, it's not about tying the series against the Pistons because I believe they lost the Pistons before. Um, I forget if they played them two or three times in the past, because some Eastern Conference teams you face three times, some you face four. So I forget exactly. Um but it's not about that, it's about winning as many games as possible to not have to deal with the plan. Let Atlanta deal with that, let Miami deal with that, Orlando, Charlotte, let them deal with that. You do not want to be in that spot. And I've mentioned this before. The last thing you want is to still find a way to get, you know, win those playing games and then have to face Boston in the first round or face Detroit in the first round. Because I I assume they'll get Cade Cunningham back at that point, but we don't know, obviously. They have not provided an update. I have no insider knowledge on that, so I don't know. But assuming Cade does come back, I don't want to face either team. I just don't. Right? And in Boston, they'll get Nikola Vucevic back, so they should be fully healthy. Obviously, Tatum's back. I think he's played very well since returning. Jalen Brown is gonna be in that MVP conversation. I I don't want to face either of those two teams. I just I don't. So you gotta find a way to get out of the play-in spot. And I don't want to face the Knicks, but I'd rather face the Knicks than the Celtics or the Pistons. Because I think the Knicks are not, I mean, they're a good team, obviously, but they're a very flawed team. And we've seen that over the stretch. I mean, Mikhail Bridges has not been very good, right? Carl Anthony Towns has so many hit or miss games, right? We we don't see enough from OG and Anobi, right? You know what you're gonna get from Jalen Brunson. That's kind of it. Other than that, it's kind of a wild card. They don't have that defensive effort, that defensive mentality with uh with Mike Brown that they had with Tom uh Tom Thibodeau. That's gone, right? So we don't know what's gonna happen with that, but I think the Sixers have a chance, especially. I mean, Joel looks healthy right now. We obviously we don't know if that will be consistent. We don't know what it's gonna be in two days. We don't know what's gonna be two days from now. But Joel looks better now than what he did against that first round series when he was on one leg and how had half his face numb and paralyzed because he had bell Bell's palsy. We don't have that right now. Knock knock on wood, but we'll see what happens with that. So they just need to win as many games as possible, and then we gotta go from there. If they're in the playing, I'm gonna be a little bit worried. I think they could still win those playing games with everybody healthy. If you if you face Atlanta, that's a little bit scary because they've been really good lately. Charlotte, at least this has shown me that they can compete with Charlotte. I still think they could beat Orlando in Miami. I mean, Orlando, they do have the the series again, so they would have home court um in a playing game. It it could go in so many different ways, Jordan. Like it's it's just so crazy. I can't tell you exactly how it's gonna go, especially in the Eastern Conference.

SPEAKER_00 32:51

Right. Do you think five and two is enough? Like five wins is enough to get to that six line.

SPEAKER_01 32:59

I think the Sixers do have a chance. I think the Sixers might have might have the easiest schedule compared to those other teams. Because I think the toughest would be Minnesota, Detroit, and San Antonio. Uh because again, the Sixers have beaten Houston before. I don't think it's a problem. I yeah, I I think the Sixers do have a chance to do it. Uh, it it just depends if they could stay healthy. Because again, two uh they do have two back-to-backs in that stretch. But again, some of those games, like one of those back-to-backs, is with Houston and Indiana. It doesn't matter if they play against Indiana. I mean, you know, I think they'll win that game no matter what. So, you know, we're gonna kind of keep looking at the schedule. Uh, and I think it's gonna be very interesting. Before we go, I just think it'll be fun just for uh our our last couple of minutes, just uh quickly uh before the season ends, because there only are about seven or eight games left between all the teams, just kind of early picks here for our end of the season awards, like MVP, defensive player of the year. We're probably not gonna go to every single award just because you know some of them uh are a little bit more open than others. Like I think six man of the year maybe isn't as clear. Most improved could go either way. But let's start. So, first of all, I I think we could just get DPOY out of the uh out of the way. There's no debate on that. I think we both can agree it's Victor Wembinyama. Who cares who comes in second or third? I think Wemby is easily the best defensive player we've seen in a long, long time. That it's just blatantly obvious. I mean, last year it uh it was Evan Mobley who won, I believe. And I mean, again, Evan Mobley is a great defensive player, but he does not have the stats that that Wemby has. I mean, you can't even get close to the paint with Wembin Yama there. So I think that one's easy. I mean, do you agree with that though?

SPEAKER_00 34:43

100%. I mean, when he was playing in Philadelphia against the we were when Philly was playing the Spurs, so um he put up, I think, like five blocks in the first half, just something like that. Like, that's ridiculous. That is that is DPOI, like level talent and a this well deserving of it.

SPEAKER_01 35:00

So yeah, so yeah, we we both agree with that. Uh, we'll just quickly go over rookie of the year because I think we both kind of have have that lock. Now, if you would have told me uh if you would have asked me this question a couple months ago, I would have easily said Cooper Flag. But I think Cooper kind of had the disadvantage just because the team he went to, right? Because originally he was planning on playing with Anthony Davis and maybe Kyrie as the season progressed, uh uh Klay Thompson. Now it's a different situation. Now it's a tanking team. He's playing with you know a bunch of two-way guys, and again, Chris Middleton and Klay Thompson past their primes at this point. They traded away AD. Again, Flag's had a great season. I think he'll definitely come in second, but I think this is easily conknippable, right? I mean, he he turned that he turned that franchise around. I mean, he's averaging what, like 44% from three in his rookie year. I mean, it's crazy. He deserves it. I mean, he turned Charlotte back into. I mean, have they ever even been a relevant franchise? But like now they're here. They kind of are like what Detroit was a couple of years ago. Okay, Detroit, or I should say what Detroit was last year. Detroit, okay, they're winning games again, they're now in the playoffs. Now, Charlotte, they might miss the playoffs just because again, the East is so tight, especially at the bottom of the standings. But if they don't make it this year, they're making it next year. It's happening, right? Charlotte is coming, so I think that is it's easily concluded. VJ, I think he'll be in the conversation. He might get third. Um, because I I think feel like Dylan Harper has the disadvantage coming off the bench. So I would go, I'm not gonna do a top three for everyone, but Khan's winning, and then I'll put Flag at second and VJ at third.

SPEAKER_00 36:48

And Khan's just so efficient with his offensive ability that as like a rookie, you kind of have to look at that and say, Oh, that's that is the rookie of the year right there. I mean, his statistics are are leveling up some all-star level players, and he's only a rookie. I think I think in that case, even from statistics and just from the eye test, too, you kind of have to give it to him. And yeah, he definitely is my rookie of the year, 100%.

SPEAKER_01 37:12

Yeah, one player turned that team around. I mean, again, I I gave a lot of praise to uh Brandon Miller and Lamello Ball staying healthy. I gave praise to the their bigs and Diabate and Kalkbrenner. But Kong could, I mean, he's been healthy this year, 74 games, averaging 18.9 points per game, 48 for the field, crazy as a rookie, and then again, 43 from three. That's tough to do. I mean, five rebounds, three assists. Those are great numbers, and I think he's only gonna get better. Honestly, Cod Knipple reminds me of like Klay Thompson. I think he could kind of be that Klay Thompson type player once he starts getting into his prime. So I think it's I think that's a pretty decent comparison. We'll see where he goes, but I think he's gonna win rookie of the year. Now, let's go over MVP because I think that's gonna be the big one. And then maybe uh before we go here, we can just quickly touch on on a couple others here. But MVP. I think this is a tight race, Jordan, but who is your MVP?

SPEAKER_00 38:17

It's SGA.

SPEAKER_01 38:19

Yes, I agree.

SPEAKER_00 38:20

End of story.

SPEAKER_01 38:21

Yeah, no, it's uh I mean, and I think the biggest reason why is look at their record, right? SGA is the reason why. Let's look at it together here, shall we? Oklahoma City Founder are 60 and 16. That's crazy. And SGA did this with without Jalen Williams pretty much the entire year, right? They they were the number one team in the NBA last season. Obviously, they won the championship, and they had their healthy roster, right? I mean, Jalen Williams is SGA's right hand man. He didn't have that. The Thunder have dealt with so many injuries, and SGA stepped up. I mean, you look at this dude's numbers. I mean, he he averaged 31.6 points per game on 55 from the field, 55 from the field, and 38 from three. While still averaging four rebounds, about six assists, 1.4 steals. I don't know how you give it to anybody else. Now, I know there are two others that are going to be in that conversation, or two or three others that are gonna be in that conversation. I think Wembinyama will actually come in second, right? And I know some people might argue about Nikola Jokic. It also depends on if he ends up finishing with that 65 games, because I know there's only a few games left, but he can only miss one more, I think it is. But Victor Wembinyama, I don't think he'll get it yet just because this is his first year in that conversation. I think next year he definitely could could win it, you know, win that MVP. But SGA, I I definitely agree with that. So if I had to pick a top three right now, I would go SGA, Wemby, and then I'll put Jokic at third. If Jokic gets disqualified, I'll put Jalen Brown in at three. Just because again, Jalen Brown is. I mean, I again I thought Boston would be so bad this year without Tatum and you know, trading the guys that they traded, getting rid of Poor Zingis, Holiday, Luke Cornette, Al Horford. I mean, they they found a way to stay more than relevant. They they've been a top two team in the Eastern Conference all year, and it's all because of Jalen Brown. Um, I would have loved to put Cade Cunningham on that list, but you know, he he's not gonna make the cut at this point. So that's my MVP. A couple other ones to touch on. Most improved player. So most improved, I would say Wembenyama, but I think it's tough because he is the number one overall pick. I would love to say Wemby, but I'm I'm gonna go with uh more of an open answer here, uh, that that maybe some people aren't thinking of. But I'm gonna throw out Jalen Johnson's name. Because Jalen Johnson, I mean, especially now when you look at Atlanta, that could be a playoff team. I mean, when they had Trey Young in the beginning of the season, it looked like they were once again gonna be that like nine or ten seed. I mean, I think they could give uh a team a run for their money in the first round, and it's all because of Jalen Johnson. I mean, he's an all-star of the season, I mean, he's a triple double threat on any night uh that that he wants to. I think Jalen Johnson could definitely win it. I mean, what are what are your thoughts on on that for most improved?

SPEAKER_00 41:23

That's possible. I mean, I I've seen that Keonta George is getting his name thrown around as well. I mean, the Jazz are just you know, they're not had the greatest season, obviously. They ace Bailey didn't hit as as well as they were trying to make him hit. And then also I think Denny Afty has a chance to even with the Portland team. Who I think they're trying to get into that play-in spot. Um, will they hold on? Possibly it uh up for debate, but well they're they're gonna be in the play-in.

SPEAKER_01 41:53

It's it's the question is are they gonna get into the playoffs?

SPEAKER_00 41:56

Exactly. Yeah, I think all of those three are up for debate, and they're probably gonna be the three contenders.

SPEAKER_01 42:01

Yeah, I definitely agree with that. So my only thing with with Denny versus Jalen Johnson is Jalen Johnson is is one of the main reasons that the Hawks are gonna be in playoff contention this year when Denny Avdia and the Blazers, the Blazers are not gonna make the playoffs this year unless something crazy happens in the play-in. I just don't see it.

SPEAKER_00 42:23

I think the most improved player thing is just like them as like a statistics type of player, what their progression is from year over year.

SPEAKER_01 42:31

Um, but I I look at the story too.

SPEAKER_00 42:33

Yeah, I mean, that's it's really up to whoever votes on this stuff.

SPEAKER_01 42:37

Yeah, there's no set rules. Like for me, and again, my opinion could be different than yours, or any of you listening at at home or wherever you're listening uh to second round syndrome. But for me, I mean, again, the Hawks, especially now that we see what the Hawks are now compared to where they were even when the trade deadline happened. I mean, they got great pieces in adding CJ McCollum, and you know, Alexander Walker's been great for them this season. You also can't forget uh Yekka Okangwu. They've been great, but Jalen Johnson's been the main reason for that. I mean, I think because of Jalen Johnson, that's the reason why the Hawks decided to move on from Trey Young, because they found that centerpiece that they could build around. So that's kind of what I look at the overall story. Again, would I be against Danny Avdi winning? Not one bit. Um, but if I had to pick one guy that took their team from mediocrity to a team that could give maybe, you know, let's just say they faced the Boston Celtics in the first round. I I would not pick it, Landon. Don't get me wrong, but they could take them to seven games. I could see it happening because they're such a good team, they have such great talent. So that's why I'm going with Jalen Johnson, but I do like Denny Abdi in there as well. Keontae George, I don't know, just because the Jazz have not been good this year at all. Um, maybe in the future, maybe next year, once they start competing, once they, you know, we see what Keontae George looks like with. Jaron Jackson Jr. and Laurie Markinen and Walker Kessler being back. We'll see what happens with that. And then the last one I want to talk about because I I don't really have anyone yet for six man of the year. Maybe I have to think a little bit more on that. But Jordan, who's your coach of the year? I'm asking this mainly because Joe Mazzula was asked about this very recently. They basically shut that down, saying coach of the year is a stupid award, and don't ask me that question again, which I think is kind of insensitive to you know every coach who's ever won that award. I understand that you're more focused on the players, their achievements, the team success, but I think it's still a very honorable award to get. Who do you think should be the coach of the year?

SPEAKER_00 44:45

I don't know. Uh I gotta say Mark Dagnall again. Um okay. I just think with him not having Jalen Williams for the whole time, and honestly, just the success of the Thunder, I think you have to give that to them just based off of a merit and sporting merit.

SPEAKER_01 45:02

Yeah, I wouldn't be against Mark Dagnall. For me, I want to go with Mitch Johnson, right? The head coach of the San Antonio Spurs. For those that don't know, Greg Popovich is not coaching the Spurs anymore. It's Mitch Johnson who was a descendant of Greg Popovich. And I don't think he's missed a beat. I think he came in and has uh pushed this team to success. I mean, I think they're gonna be uh a tough team to beat over the next several years with all the talent that they've accrued. I mean, he was able to take these young talent like Victor Weminyama, Stefan Castle, your guy Dylan Harper. I mean, they're very solid pieces. Devin Vassell as well, Keldon Johnson. It's tough to turn young talent into great players. And between Popovic and in previous seasons and Mitch Johnson this season, and even obviously halfway through last season when he took over head coaching duties. Um, I think Mitch Johnson definitely deserves it. But Mark Dognot, I definitely think, should we be in the conversation? Uh, I think you should also throw like JB Bickerstaff in there just because of the Detroit Pistons. Joe Mizzula will definitely be in that conversation as well, even though clearly he hates the award. But I think just because of how good the Boston Celtics are, you gotta throw Joe Mizzula in there. I think those are the only ones that I would consider. Um, you know, maybe JJ Reddick's name gets thrown out there, but I I don't think he'll be a top three candidate by any means. But you know, the Lakers have been very impressive recently, so you know, maybe he gets some consideration. But if I had to personally pick a top three, uh, I'm I'm going with Mitch Johnson. I'll go with Mark Dagnot, your answer, and then I'll go with JB Vickerstaff. But again, I wouldn't be surprised if any of those three win. Or, you know, maybe maybe there is a dark horse that that that comes out of nowhere and gets those awards. But it's gonna be very interesting. Maybe when the season is completely over, we'll talk a little bit more about that. Maybe our opinions change. We'll definitely react to the uh to the awards as they actually get announced. All NBA teams, all defensive teams, we're definitely gonna react to those, but it's gonna be very exciting. The Sixers, we only got seven games left to go, but you know, it feels like we still got a little bit of work to to uh cut out for us just because we got all of our players back, Joel is back, Paul George is back, Tyrese Maxi, Kelly Ubre. This team is healthy again. Will it last through the rest of the regular season? Will it last through the playoffs, through possibly a couple playing games? We don't know. We just gotta hope for the best. But we always appreciate you listening to second round syndrome. If you did like listening to the podcast, make sure to like, share, subscribe, give us a five-star review. We post new episodes every single week. So make sure to hit that notification bell so you never miss an episode. You can find us on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, iHeart, and Amazon. I'm DJ Sports. We got Jordan Stable here, and as always, we will see you next time. Peace out.