The last few games the Sixers have played have been a mess. Granted, without Joel Embiid, but with the talent on this team, these games should not have gone the way they did. Lets dive right into this shitshow of a team.

The Bulls game was maybe an all-time low for me this season. I couldn’t even go on twitter for 2 days after the loss. I made me hate my life, people have no idea how these losses effect me daily. This was a gimme game that the Sixers were granted despite Embiid being out, the Sixers had an extremely better team on paper and should have beat the Bulls by at least 10.

The Pick and Roll:

Zach LaVine whom my cousin Ryan and I are on record being extremely high on coming out of the draft, completely murdered the Sixers on the pick and roll. They ran the exact same play it seemed like every possession and looked like the Bulls got a great shot out of that set every single goddamn play. The pick and roll has been around since basketball was created. Listen, i am a big Brett Brown guy, but why the fuck is it year after year after year, the Sixers continue to struggle with pick and roll players? Think about it, Kemba, LaVine, Harden, Dinwiddie, DeAngelo Russell, Lillard… i could go on for days…. how can we not figure this out? I have no answers. I sure as hell hope Brett Brown has some answers quick with all these players they accumulated this year that are ABSOLUTELY  capable of defending the pick and roll. It’s unacceptable for a team with this much talent to not figure out the pick and roll for at least a 4 play sequence during a game, UNACCEPTABLE!

Jimmy Butler:

Elton Brand brought in Jimmy Butler to be this end of game, ISO specialist, lock down defender, decent 3 point shooter kinda guy that honestly when the trade went down this year i was extremely excited for because i have seen Jimmy Buckets drop 40+ on the Sixers before. Jimmy Butler has not been anywhere close to the Jimmy Butler that the Sixers traded for. Jimmy Butler has become extremely passive, has become a terrible shooter, a terrible 3 point shooter, and in my mind not a lock down defender on that end of the floor that i thought he was prior.  Yes, he hit 2 game winners from his favorite spot on the floor (right wing), but since then i would put $1,000 on the line to say he has air-balled about 5 shots from the spot since those game winners. If Jimmy Butler is going to earn anywhere close to a max contract this summer, he is going to have to pick it up and go on a crazy run closing out the end of the season including the playoffs.

End of Game Situations:

The Sixers have been extremely poor at executing end of game situations since acquiring Tobi and Butler. I think i have a theory on whats going on here. The Sixers run an up-tempo offense, Ben Simmons is faster than anyone in the league in my mind, when he gets a rebound he can outrun anyone on the court, which is a very very good skill-set, but at the end of close games, Ben Simmons is an udder liability. Ben Simmons should not be on the court due to his inability to shoot and inability to consistently hit a foul shot. Therefor the Sixers have Butler or Harris bring the ball up the court late in the 4th quarter. The Sixers are not accustomed to doing this unless its late in the 4th and are begging for a bucket, therefor the team is extremely rusty at executing routine plays with the lineup they throw out there. The plays are either JJ Redick running around screens for DHO’s, Embiid posting up one on one 15 foot from the basket or Tobi and Butler running an ISO which never works and needs to be changed YESTERDAY!

The Bottom Line:

Brett Brown needs to figure the rotations out. Is it Jon Simmons or Ennis as the last guy coming off the bench? How do the Sixers keep scorers on the floor along with bringing in the 2nd unit? Can we get Embiid enough rest with our thin center position due to injurys? These answers need to be answered within the last few weeks of the season. If Brett doesn’t find a solution, then i am fully on the “fire Brett Brown” train, it hurts me to say it but it will be the reality.

How will the Sixers finish tight games? Do we feed to the turnover prone Embiid at the end of games and hope for the best? Do we keep Ben Simmons in the game for the last 2 minutes? Do we still continue to run ISO ball with Tobi and Butler? Do the Sixers continue to force to ball to JJ for him to take tough shots? Nobody know’s the answers to these questions but i sure as hell hope they are answered soon because this poor bastard of a team i have been watching the last few games would get beat in a 7 game series by the fucking bullshit franchise of the New York Knicks.

Go Sixers! #heretheycome

• Wood