While the Sixers‘ backcourt play has understandably garnered most of the attention during the team’s 5-1 start, veteran forward Kelly Oubre Jr. has been a key contributor as well, writes Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (subscriber link).
In Sunday’s matchup with Brooklyn, Oubre was tasked with slowing down Michael Porter Jr., who had a season-high 32-points in his previous game against Atlanta. Not only did Oubre limit Porter to two first-half points, he scored 24 of his own, including a career-best 22 in the first quarter alone.
“So [Kelly] set the tone big-time on that,” head coach Nick Nurse said. “And, again, I really believe this to be true: When you start the game super focused on D, that really usually translates to the other end, too. It really does.”
Oubre, who will be an unrestricted free agent next summer, is averaging 19.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.2 steals on .526/.416/.800 shooting through six games (38.0 minutes per contest).
Here’s more on the 76ers:
- Kyle Lowry became the 12th player in NBA history to play 20 seasons when he checked in for garbage-time minutes at the end of Sunday’s win against the Nets, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. The six-time All-Star, who was born in Philadelphia and played his college ball at Villanova, is a key leader in the locker room. “That’s a Hall of Famer we’re talking about,” Tyrese Maxey said. “Jersey’s probably getting retired in Toronto. And he’s up cheering for everybody, motivating people, talking in the locker room. I’ve got nothing but love and respect for K-Low and we appreciate having him.”
- In a column for The Inquirer, Pompey (subscription required), Pompey wonders whether VJ Edgecombe will be able to reach his full potential offensively playing alongside a ball-dominant center in Joel Embiid. Edgecombe has been the league’s top rookie in the early going, averaging 20.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 5.0 APG and 1.5 SPG on .495/.421/.824 shooting in six games (39.0 MPG), but has often ceded touches to Embiid when they share the court, Pompey explains.
- Embiid’s defensive mobility has been limited in his four appearances this season after undergoing another knee surgery in April. In a subscriber-only mailbag, Pompey speculates that the former league MVP may have lingering issues with the knee, though he acknowledges it will probably take another month or so to determine if Embiid will look like this going forward or if he’s just trying to work himself back into playing shape. Pompey also tackles questions about Paul George‘s play-making and how the nine-time All-Star forward might impact the team’s defense when he makes his season debut.
- In case you missed it, second-year guard Jared McCain is expected to make his season debut on Tuesday in Chicago.
Dump Embiid. Or just let him ride the bench with injuries.
can’t thank ace bailey enough for not wanting to be a sixer
Why is Morey still here ????
He extended Embiid in 2024. So he can sit and heal. It’s time to retire Embiid. Medical retirement.
It’s such a frustrating time to be a realistic Sixers fan.
On one hand you have this really really good group lead by two young guards in Maxey and VJ. Oubres been awesome, Bona has been great, Grimes has been massive and McCain is coming back aswell.
But on the other hand you have these two aging and offensive injured vets in Joel and PG. Both take away touches from our promising group, both and too slow and banged up to play as good as they used to, and both command basically all of our salary cap for the next 3/4 years.
Daryl Morey won’t do anything about it cause his job is on the thinnest of ice, he will keep this group together and sell everyone on our ability to compete for a championship of everyone can stay healthy but us fans know we have these massive limitations and our roster isn’t as good as OKC’s, Denver’s, Cleveland’s etc etc.
What we would like to see is Morey out the door and dumping off PG and Embiid and building around the young guards. Who cares if Embiid gets us a playoff series win we know we ain’t getting a chip. I’d rather build up the young guys and be better in the long run while playing an exciting brand of basketball now.
Morey acquired all of these players. He fleeced the Mavs out of Grimes. He drafted McCain 16th in a weak draft. Signed Undrafted Justin Edwards who quickly became a rotation player. Drafted VJ, who looks like he’s stealing ROY from Cooper Flagg which was otherwise unthought of.
He also maneuvered a gap year where they were 20-29 into a 24-58 finish to even get the #3 pick and draft VJ.
The idea that he’s a bad GM is just stupid and reactionary. There is an actual process here under the surface, but you’ll always have dopey fans who act like he is Joe Dumars / Troy Weaver making actively negative decisions that 95% of people realize right away are horrible asset management, team fits, etc.
They weren’t the only team offering big money to George, who fell off harder/faster than was reasonably anticipated. And the Embiid extension doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme because it would have happened with 29 other franchises, it’s necessary to lock up an MVP/star level player (esp an enigmatic one) to keep him happy/engaged and not a destructive force like a Jimmy Butler.
It’s two weeks into the regular season. A 5-1 record is fools gold. They are not a contender with Adem Bona as the starting center. They are not a contender with Two-Way players starting at the four. They still need Embiid. They still need George. That they have this record (which we expected last season) despite minimal/non-existent contributions from key players should be a good thing.