Markelle Fultz, Year Three: He's back! Big....?
- Thread starter PedroKsBambino
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Fultz looks amazingly raw in terms of running through picks and keeping up with his man of defense. The kid has not played a whole lot of basketball.
He also had a pullup blocked so we have no way of knowing how many feet it would have landed short of the rim.
Jokes aside he took it in slow motion and it was blocked extremely easily by Plumlee.
Jokes aside he took it in slow motion and it was blocked extremely easily by Plumlee.
5/13 from the field, looks like no attempts from beyond the elbow, no free throws, four boards and eight assists.
Fultz looked awful in all aspects of the game in his first rotation almost like he wasn't an NBA player. The second half was a completely different story as he ran the offense effortlessly with precision, set up teammates perfectly, and knocked down a couple jumpers.
Overall, much better than I expected.
100% this. The first run was brutal but pretty understandable, and it was great the team played well despite him so he could get the rust off a bit.
The garbage time stint was so different, demanding the ball, driving and pulling up.
I was surprised they didnt let him do some PnR, I think this is the big extra weapon he brings, a shooting and driving threat in the PnR.
But you could see improvement. That first pull up fell and the second was pure. Worth being aware the chatter is that he looks great in practice and no one can cover him well. We shall see.
Was proud of the family support.
An unmentioned aspect of the Fultz saga has been the fan support by a crowd that tends to eat prima donnas alive. Everyone sees Fultz as a 19-year-old kid thrust into a spotlight. The standing ovations last night and chants of his name were obviously a good thing for Fultz to hear.
Philly has always been a great basketball city, which is why the past five years really sucked. But home court advantage is back. 76ers have maybe one home loss in last three months.
Philly has always been a great basketball city, which is why the past five years really sucked. But home court advantage is back. 76ers have maybe one home loss in last three months.
I'd love 5+ years of a dynamic Celtics-Sixers rivalry again. LeBron there would make them really really hard to beat. Though he's best when he's ball dominant (shooting or passing) and that kind of negates Simmons.
Kyrie, Brown, Rozier, Tatum, Horford, Hayward, Morris, top pick in 2018
vs
LeBron, Fultz, Simmons, Saric, Covington, Embiid
Holy cow.
Kyrie, Brown, Rozier, Tatum, Horford, Hayward, Morris, top pick in 2018
vs
LeBron, Fultz, Simmons, Saric, Covington, Embiid
Holy cow.
Checked the specifics here, they are indeed 16-1 at home since losing to Boston in mid-January, impressive.
Sure looks great on paper but what does Simmons do in that lineup? His skillset gets replaced by LeBron and he's an awful compliment to him.
Edit: Didn't see BaseballJones post but yes, same point. Embiid and Simmons with the perfect future 3rd wheel in Tatum would have been frightening long term. Colangelo really screwed the pooch with that one as Fultz is also somewhat redundant to Simmons.
I could see the 76ers not signing Redick. Fultz takes over as scoring guard next season, with a lot of rough edges to smooth out as he grows up.
I can't imagine Simmons and Fultz playing together to eliminate any floor spacing for Embiid. Right now they run much of their offense with Simmons on the low block......you need shooters on the floor with him.
Philly has historically been a great college basketball town, and it is a great pro sports town, but the Sixers have been fourth amongst the pro teams a lot of the time. You're presumably younger than me so your "always" may go back less than mine, but in the early 80's there was a lot of bitching (including from Dr J) about the lack of attendance and support for the pre-Malone Sixers. In 1981 they had an epic game 7 against the Bucks on a Sunday afternoon in front of only 6,000+ fans.
They did show up for the next series, against the Celtics.
I'm 70 and go back to Paul Arizin and Guy Rodgers but I agree to your point about attendance issues from time to time. When an old fart like me talks about good basketball cities, I'm thinking back to the talent that grew up in the city -- beginning with Wilt, Rodgers and so many over the years. The Sonny Hill League and other organized summer hoops leagues drew good crowds and offered spectactacular hoops, much like the Rucker League in NYC.
Good point. It's going to be a huge challenge for Brett Brown, who loves Fultz's ability to penetrate and create within 10 feet of the hoop.
Those guys were Warriors, though. The Dubs have always been lovable and fun to watch.
Very funny and true. A piece of Philly left with the Warriors in 1963. They had Wilt at center and 6-11 Nate Thurmond at forward for a couple seasons. Rodgers and Hal Greer in the backcourt. And still the Celtics beat them.Those guys were Warriors, though. The Dubs have always been lovable and fun to watch.
Lakers since the 13-14 season, 123 wins. Philly, 118 wins, and counting. The Process was a better plan than the cluster-rebuild that the Lakers tried, but the Cavs' gifting them cap space might level things out next year.
The NBA is a better place when the Sixers and Lakers have good teams. Same with the Knicks, but they are hopeless.
The NBA is a better place when the Sixers and Lakers have good teams. Same with the Knicks, but they are hopeless.
I could be wrong as I am a lot but I do remember one of our home losses being played in London.
This is with the benefit of hindsight, though. Fultz didn't look like a non-shooter at the time of the draft, and his progression since then has been... unusual.
They lost at home to Indiana on March 13, 101-98. Was that the London game? I was hospitalized at the time and could have missed it.
No. They lost in London to Celtics in which they were considered the home team.
Since that loss they are 16-1 in Philly, losing to Indiana, as you said.
2 points on 1 for 2 shooting, 2 boards and 5 assists so far tonight. Late in the third quarter, 8 minutes played
Fultz collided with Embiid's head on a routine handoff at top of circle, knocking the center out of the game.
Looks like Embiid fumbled the entry pass and dropped his head to Fultz's level while trying to control the ball. I was wondering how their heads could collide when Embiid is at least 9 inches taller. That's a play they run 40 times a night -- guard cutting off center at top of key.
Embiid went for x-rays at local hospital.
Fultz has been out of position on many sets in these first two games which is understandable being a rookie who is now finally playing at the end of March and this one is 100% Markelle as it is the cutters responsibility to rub his man off the screener.......not run himself INTO the screener. Sadly for the Sixers this one caused an injury to Embiid.
Tend to agree with you, and the general idea that you don't put someone this raw and inexperienced into your playoff rotation.
yeah it didn't look violent enough to result in a concussion, but stitches wouldn't surprise me.
/IANAD
/IANAD