This podcast is part of the seventy six Ers podcast network, presented by Stern and Cohen Law.
Search seventy six ers insiders wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome in Serious Sixers in sixty Halloween edition Here in the studio with Lauren Rosen. I'm Matt Murphy. A fun, jam packed Halloween edition of Sixers in sixty, our weekly show here on the Fanatic, Excited to be with everyone. Anything happen overnight?
Lauren, Well, Happy Halloween to you too.
Matt Murphy as d Anthony Melton, will describe it moments from now. In an exclusive interview for six Ers and sixty, It's spooky season and it's not what you think. He's talking about the role that Tyrese Maxey has assumed this season and enhanced role obviously with today's report events that trade has not officially gone through yet, but whether whether or not Tyrese continues in his in his current role which seems like a weather or not an or not.
D Anthony Melton says, he's gone so good. It's about to be spooky season, and I agree, Matt Murphy.
This is our second edition of Sixers and sixty for the twenty twenty three to twenty four NBA season, and it's Tuesdays in this time slot from six to seven pm. If the Sixers have a seven thirty game on a Tuesday, for example, this show is expected to air from six thirty to about seven to twenty leading into pregame on
the here on the Sixers Radio network. And as Lauren just said, we have an exclusive interview coming up next with de Anthony Melton and another one with his backcourt mate and the Eastern Conference Player of the week, Tyrese Maxi of the Philadelphia seventy six Ers, who start the campaign two and one. We will get into what has impressed us most thus far with our fanatic basket ball
insider Connor Thomas tonight. But Lauren, this is a team that obviously a crazy day, but it was a crazy off season, crazy summer, and they had some doubters, which Tobias Harris touched on this week.
Yeah, I figured that he was sort of the best one to describe what the last weeks and months for this team have been like. Considering the fact that though he's in his fifth and a half season with the team, he is one of the longest tenured Sixers of course behind for concork Mas and Joelle Embiid, but he's seen a lot in his time here, and when he speaks,
he usually does so with authority. So after the Sixers' second win of the year and second win in as many nights on Sunday night against the Portland Trailblazers, Tobias was asked what it looked like for this team to go into a season with so many question marks, not knowing who the starting lineup was going to be, who was going to be at camp, who wasn't, And Tobias said, flat out, we never had any question marks. Have a heck of a team, and I think they showed that
in Games one through three. Of course that narrow loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. This is a team that feels like they should be three and oh right now, and with today's events, obviously they're going to go full steam ahead with the group that got them to this place where they could be three and oh. Two of the top ten easily scorers in the NBA right now on
this team. Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the first time, Tyrese Maxi with the ball in his hands more officially than it ever has been looking dominant.
And he's a huge part of why Tobias says that in the locker room they never had question marks.
It has been awesome to watch Tyrese Maxi paired in the backcourt with the Anthony Melton, who will hear from in a chat next and we will later in the show talk with Connor Thomas about that James Harden trade that we've been alluding to, and we'll also touch on the upcoming schedule because in our maiden voyage last Tuesday of six Ers in sixty for the new season, I talked about how it was a fun start to the season, but maybe I I kind of regret saying that because
it was an odd weekend back to back that they took care of business and impressive, impressive fashion in Toronto and then home against Portland. So an impressive two and one start for the Philadelphia seventy six ers. And let's jump into my chat with Sixers guard the Anthony Melton. Here with the Anthony Melton coming off the Portland game, two and one start to the season, it's the early going.
We were looking at the box score with Tyrese Maxi and we're talking about his ten rebounds your eight assist it's kind of bragging about having more rebounds than you, but you had more assists. So what are your thoughts on how the box score shook down?
I think exactly how you said it.
I mean, I was bragging up bout my eight assists and I was Diamon out there, and of course he's.
Trying to what help me with his rebound.
But when I saw him like have like I think like six six sevenound, I said, okay, you might go to get ten out there. They say I'm trying to. So I mean, I think it's a testament to him that he just showing, you know, he's trying to expand his game every which way, and for me too, trying to expand my game.
You mentioned to Lauren in your walk off interview after the game that you worked on playmaking this summer. What goes into working on What did you do to work on it?
Just bar handling, bar handling, coming off pick and rolls, understanding reads, being a pass with both hands. I think that's definitely emphasis, you know, finding people understanding offense.
And we're speaking here on Halloween days. So now moving forward with you and Tyrese, MAXI solidified as the six series starting backcourt. He just got named Eastern Conference Player of the Week thirty six and six averages. What gives you confidence in him?
I mean, I mean, I've always had confidence in Tire's you know, from the time I got here, just you know, from our workouts and stuff. I mean, you know, and for Halloween's sake, you know, it's gonna get real spooky out here now, So you know, I think he's excited.
I'm excited, and we're all excited. So let's just get to it.
Ending with this, what are your top three Halloween candies and your bottom three Halloween candies?
Top three is Snickers Kick Cat. That's that's that's tough. That's tough. Actually I'm gonna go four because, like, you.
Know what I mean, Snickers, Cat, Twigs and Reces because I can't leave I can't leave Twigs and Reces out, you know what I mean.
But Snickers and Cat have to be in cut, no one, I can't. That's the thing.
Okay, bottom four, I mean bottom three definitely get a core one. I don't know who eats those. You gotta be criminals to eat those. But other than that, I don't know any like whoppers. Fire whoppers are fire fire roleses fire too.
Okay, well, then what else is it that?
I like?
The sour ones?
All sour candy, sour straws.
They're not that sod, but like the sour You know that those circle ones.
What are they?
Are they called war warheads?
Are the warheads? Yeah? Those bottom three?
All right, there you have it with the Anthony Milton.
Thank you, you're welcome.
I don't think I should have let the Anthony Melton off the hook picking four top Halloween candies.
Gotta go. None of those are even that good.
It was Snickers, Twigs, Reese's and Connor.
Can you pick us up? Kick Cassy.
We welcome Connor Thomas as this week's fanatic basketball insider. I just said, okay, and he's like, it's got to be four one. I can't get rid of any of them, so I think I should have asked him to get rid of one.
But that's okay.
We got to make tough decisions sometimes as adults, and de Anthony proved incapable, and that's disappointing.
As I mentioned earlier, and as we talked about earlier, Tyrese Maxi joins us later on here on six Ers in sixty and we asked the same question of him, and he if you thought d Anthony Melton carried on a little bit about candy, Tyresee might have talked twice as long about his top and bottom candies.
He thought long and hard and de Anthony's top candy all has some stuff in common, like they're all found on the same shelf with the vending machine, if you will. And his bottom candy all also had some things in common.
Tyree's much more varied.
There's a variety of palette choices in his top and bottom. So I'm I'm glad we've teased that now at length.
And these interviews from our show here will be available on the seventy six Ers Insiders podcast as well. But thanks to the Anthony Melton for joining us, and again Tyrese MAXI coming up right now. It's Connor Thomas, our fanatic basketball insider, and we won't talk only about candy. We will talk about the Sixers. Because overnight, in the wee hours of the night two o'clock in the morning or so, per ESPN's Adrian wold Schnarowski, a reported trade
went down involving James Harden, PJ. Tucker, and Philip Patrushev going to the LA Clippers. And what is being reported is the return is Marcus Morris, Robert Covington, Nick batoum kJ Martin, a bunch of picks I'm gonna rattle off here twenty twenty eight unprotected first round pick, two second round picks, twenty twenty nine pick swap, and an additional
first round pick from the Oklahoma City Thunder. Connor, thanks for joining us, and what was your initial reaction and where are you at now as the day has played out?
Yeah, thanks for having me, guys. I mean my initial reaction. I woke up at like ten am. My phone was blowing up. I thought I had some emergency going on. It was crazy to see the hour of it and to wake up to that news.
It was awesome. I love the return.
I thought this was going to be much more like the Ben Simmons situation and that it was going to be a long road throughout the season to try and find a trade, especially because we heard that the Clippers were stepping away for the foreseeable future just like a week ago, and now the trade gets done. I didn't think that you were going to get this many picks back in my wildest dreams, and this gives you the versatility to make other moves.
That's the biggest thing.
Like this had to We knew James Harden was not going to bring back a return that was going to turn you into contender, but he could bring back enough of a return you could turn that into a potential return for a contender. So this was a good first step on a two step journey. And I'm glad that you don't have the distraction anymore of the questions about it and the conversation surrounding it. This couldn't have gotten done at a better time and for a better return.
I love it.
The man of the week is Tyrese Maxi, and I think the way that he started the season made this. I'm not going to speak for the front office or the staff, but for in the minds of the fans, it made this easier on them because he's the player of the week. He averaged thirty points and he really, as he says, left no doubt this week with where
his game is at and how he can run this team. Lauren, you talk about the ball being in his hands, and Nick Nurse talks about his shooting and his speed, and they're running an offense that has more player movement and ball movement and different types of offensive looks. So I think the MAXI factor is at the top of the list reaction wise to the trade, no.
Doubt about it.
We mentioned it our Eastern Conference Player of the Week, his first such nod, but probably many tyres are in the early running of the season. Three games down, thirty point three points, six point seven rebounds, six point three assists per game, and guys, that is comparable to prime Steph Curry and I get it, small sample size, just three games, but we've been watching Tyrese every day of his career, and a small sample size usually grows into
a staple for this young player. I'll remind you, guys, some of Steph's best seasons thirty points, six point seven assists.
Let's see this.
Is twenty fifteen sixteen thirty points, five point four rebounds, six point seven assists. One of his other great seasons thirty two points, five point five rebounds, five point eight assists. We're looking at very comparable numbers. It's the early running, but if today's events are any indication, he's going to continue having opportunities to make more games stack up the way that he has in games one through three, and I'm so excited.
Guy, Oh, how could you not be right?
As the usage thing is so cool to me for Tyreeves getting that opportunity because he showed it and flashes to start. Then with the Ben Simmons situation, he got thrust into that role and then Harden comes in takes over obviously as he should with the pedigree he has.
But now Tyres gets another chance at center stage running that being like the king of the back court for the Sixers, and I think for a young player who's still growing into the type of NBA player he's gonna be, this is an awesome thing for the point in his career he's at. I hope this sample size is something we see like repeated over a numerous amount of games this year, and the work ethic speaks for itself.
With him, it's awesome, it's exciting.
Even Game one, and Lauren, you will touch on this when you and your sit down with him in the next segment. But against the Damian Lillard led Milwaukee Bucks, he didn't back down and he finished that game with over thirty and it wasn't his best game by any means. And before that one, he said, it's the battle of the number of Zeros on that night in the NBA, and he was up to the task from opening night, and.
Matt, you know, I like to be conservative about about that stuff. So as soon as I let that tweet fly the Battle of the Zeros, I was like, Ooh.
I really hope that this is a good battle, Like you never know.
It's Dame's first game, he's such a hallowed player in this league.
It's Tyrese's first game of the season.
Did I just put too much pressure on someone? Did I set him up to fail? No, they went toe to toe. Terrese had a slow start and ended up helping, if not handling, the Sixers back into that game. And then I will say Sunday night in the locker room, Damian Lillard struggled a little bit that night, and a couple players came into the locker room saying, hey, Tyrese, did you see the score of what's going on in Milwaukee?
Because it looks like it's MAXI time. And I thought that that was an apt way to describe what's gone on in Week one.
Matt Murphy and Lauren Rosen here with our Fanatic basketball insider Connor Thomas on this week's Sixers in sixty Here on the Fanatic and Connor. Part of the return includes more wing players in this reported trade with for James Harden, and it's a lot of depth. And someone like Kelly Oubre has been a standout off the Sixers bench already. They got him, they picked him up late in the offseason. So now with this, you know a ton of wings.
How do you see that potentially shaking out? Who are some guys you're keeping the closest eye on.
Yeah, I mean I'm really looking at Nick Batoomb, kJ Martin. Those are guys that because when you talk about Morris and you talk about Roco, now, Roco can play defensively really really well for you, and he's got the three ball. We know from his time here, and he's developed a lot as a player since leaving Philadelphia. We know what we're getting with him, so I'm less it's almost like I know him, So I'm less excited to watch him play than the other guys we haven't seen in the
Sixers jersey before. But also with Morris, more towards the back end of his career. These guys, here's how I see these guys playing out right. We know the rotations get shorter come playoff time, but we also know that with the Sixers, especially with Joel Ebiid and some of the other players that they have like Tobias Harris, gets a lot of usage. You need to make sure they're as well maintained going into the postseason as possible health wise.
So if some of these guys eventually get moved later for a player who can help you, I see them as kind of a buffer to get you through the regular season.
With all due respect to those players.
You need guys that can play competent minutes for this team, and I think all those guys can, but you can also move them for an individual player who will make the rotation shorter come postseason time. It's a stepping stone to where you want to be, and I think you've got some good quality NBA veterans that can do that for you.
kJ Martin was in the Dunk Contest alongside Mac mcclough, a Sixer at the time who won the Dunk Contest, but in Salt Lake City last year, kJ Martin was part of that field. When it comes to what has impressed you the most, Connor with the Sixers start to the season, we talked a lot of Maxi. There will be more Maxie talk coming up with in the interview other than Tyrese. What has impressed you about this team?
Kelly Oubres looked like the holy grail of what Sixers fans have wont it for so long. We've been talking about athletic wing who can create their own shot for so long, and they've gotten wings that can shoot it. They've gotten wings that might be able to get to the cup a little bit. But he's looked like the full package as far as a guy that can come
off the bench and create scoring. I mean, we know in past year's Tobias Harris has played a lot of time with bench players in that type of rotation because you need somebody who can score the basketball at that rate. And Kelly Ubra has now gotten to a point at least through a small sample size where he's looked like he's given you that scoring punch off the bench. So I've been so impressed with what he's done shortly. I know we talked about consistency with him, and that's going
to be a key. He's got to keep doing it and I don't know how realistic that is, but if you can get that type of scoring from the bench, that's been a big week spot for the Sixers teams of the past.
I love that so.
Far without even shooting it all that well right as well as he can. Yes, Ubra still scoring and leading the bench, scoring most nights without making as many threes as he's accustomed to making in his career. Again, coming off that twenty point season in Charlotte. Talking about Joel Embiid though Lauren his approach has been different from what we've seen in past seasons.
It's interesting.
The first night of training camp, Nick Nurse asked this team to keep an open mind, and he's been very open about the fact that he wants Joel Embiid to try new things, to experiment with things, to fail at things, and toss that stuff out to try new things that work and keep that in their playoff toolkit.
Right.
I think we really really.
Saw it on Sunday against Portland and the home opener with Joelle's defensive aggression. I want to talk about his six blocks. He's leaving the team in blocks again. Early days but three blocks per game is exactly what Nick Nurse was hoping that Joel would bring in terms of intensity on the defensive end. He's been vocal about the fact that he wants Joelle just swinging at st The more swings you take, the more likely you are to hit and hit he did in a really, really big
way with those six blocks on Sunday. So watching him sort of round into form offensively obviously as the three games have gone along, I mean, his performance on Sunday was quite literally a historic performance.
Would have loved to see.
Him go five to five, five, five, not quite not quite there, but to see him grab those or swat rather those those six blocks and.
See them come in different ways.
Seeing him really get after it this early in this season on that end of the floor, I know, is something that the coaching staff is encouraging and it's awesome to see him answering the.
Call this early early days. But seven assists per game as well, he's coming off four point two assists per game, and there's more dribble handoffs dhos with Maxie and you had a clip of this as well on social media, and Nick Nurse has talked about Maxie's speed driving to the right, but then his prowess of going to the left and shooting. And we've seen that play a few times involving the two man game of Embiid and Tyrese Maxi and him shooting that three from the left wing.
Absolutely, the two of them worked out together, Joelle and Tyrese over the summer in a pretty significant way compared two years past. They worked with Joelle's longtime trainer, Drew Hanlin together in LA They've been working together now in Philadelphia. They're spending time before and after practice shooting on the same basket together. That chemistry is something that they built in Tyresee's rookie season.
We talk about that in the interview that's coming up.
But watching the way that they've gone from sort of this big brother little brother relationship to a true partnership of two guys that really like each other and really respect each other has been such a treat. And I think that we're really just getting started. I know I'm high on them for Game three, but when you think about some iconic duos that we've had in the past, all the ingredients are there.
When you look at tyres.
And Joel together, I mean they look awesome and the Embide thing just real quick, Like, it's so cool to have Nick Nurse here because he was a guy when he was the head coach of the Raptors that did such a good job of taking Joel Embiid out of his comfort zone. And when you get a guy like that to now tell Imbeide what he was doing against him and what he needs to change about his game to become even harder to guard, it's a great thing.
There's an interesting chemistry with this team that's building only through three games.
I can't wait to see it continue to develop.
Embiid, Maxy and Kelly Ubre as well. Also it Drew Hanlin, a guy that works out with him in the offseason, so an interesting connection there. Connor favorite Halloween candy. Oh, it's races, come on, Like.
There's top three, bottom three, top three, bottom three, top three.
I'm going Receas, I'm going kit Kats is a great pick and I gotta go to the Nesley crunch bar. That one's awesome, big time underrated. The worst milk DoD suck candy corn shouldn't even exist. That's basically like eating candle wax. And the last one are candy buttons still a thing? Do they still make those?
I think so?
Yeah? Those are terrible.
Carry three for three and being bottom three today.
I would put it in there too, and we'll find out if Tyrese Maxy has that. Well, we just found out, but I spoiled it.
I spoiled it.
But Candy corn if you asked me too, it's six for six and being bottom three.
What a ridiculous excuse.
For a candy sit down with Tyrese, Maxi and Lauren Rosen coming up on the other side, Connor Thomas, thanks so much for joining us.
Thanks for having me.
Guys.
We'll be back on sixers and sixty. Have you suffered a work injury? You need a lawyer called Stern and Cohen Workers Compensation Lawyers sterncohenlaw dot com. The consultation is always free. We will ring the insurance company's bell. Go Sixers. Welcome back to a Halloween edition of Sixers in sixty, our weekly Sixers show, Matt Murphy and Lauren Rosen Tuesday nights, six to seven o'clock. We hope you'll join us all
season long. We'll have guests all season long, and a lot of times those will be seventy six Ers players themselves. We heard from Deanthony Melton, We will hear from Tyrese Maxi in just a moment from this morning actually following the team's practice. Kind of an odd stretch of the schedule after the weekend back to back, which were games two and three of the season. It's not often that you get three days off between games.
Three games in four days, three games and four days to start the season, and then three days off consecutively, like you said, strange, but gave the team an opportunity to get some well deserved rest yesterday. A road home back to back always a challenge, but particularly when you have to clear customs in the middle of the night, is a road home back to back challenging. And the Sixers did that on Saturday night and still came out swinging literally on Sunday, talking of course about Joelle's six
blocks in that one. But yes, well deserved rest. Back in practice today, another practice day tomorrow, hopefully featuring some new faces for the crew, and then back into competitive action on Thursday.
And this, of course is.
A season long five game homestand with an extra three days of rest, so this is by far the longest chunk of time the Sixers are going to be able to spend in Philadelphia getting really comfortable with one another as the season continues to get off the ground.
I was very much enjoying Tom mcguinness's description of the travel back from Toronto during the last game against Portland and terminal A and all that that entailed. It was entertaining as always from Tom. And you can listen to all Sixers games here on the Sixers Radio Network throughout
the season. We will talk towards the end of the show tonight about what the upcoming schedule looks like because for as much as the weekend back to back from a logistics standpoint was difficult, Portland at the time hadn't won. They have since won, But there are some big name opponents coming to Philadelphia in this home heavy month of November, which is right around the corner because it is Halloween.
You talk about being well rested, for those who woke up to the trade news, they may not be well rested today or this evening, and Adrian wo Wojnarowski from ESPN was reporting that James Harden, PJ. Tucker, and Philip Patrushev going to the LA Clippers for Marcus Morris, Robert Covington, Nick Batoomb, kJ Martin, and a whole lot of draft picks, including an unprotected for round pick in twenty twenty eight and an additional first round pick from the Oklahoma City Thunder.
But we mentioned how much Tyrese Maxi's development plays into what now happens. It's been him and de Anthony Melton starting in the back court. And something that you asked him about, or he has talked about and others have talked about is the new coach, Nick Nurse, the impact that he's had in giving them confidence, and some of that includes awards at practice, which is in Sixers All Access on the Sixers YouTube channel.
Check that out.
But you can give us a little bit more about what they're playing for in practice and when they evaluate game tape, what they earn points for and things like that.
Yeah, for a visual representation of what I'm about to explain, make sure you check out Sixers All Access that's on the Sixers YouTube page. A really awesome job from our in house producers gathering all that footage at training camp and beyond, and Matt, as you alluded to, Nick likes to make sure that the team as little ways to get extra motivated throughout practice. It's a long season. You gotta pepper in ways. I mean, this is true of
anyone in any job, right. You don't have to be a pro basketball player to need things to motivate you in the day to day grind of your job.
It's just facts, no matter what. Right.
So one of the things that they're doing is having little contests within not just games, but practices today for example, And the players don't know when practice is going on, what exactly is being charted for that day, what exactly will be rewarded that day.
So sometimes it's deflections, it steals its eagles.
That's a great question, madam. So glad you asked. It's exactly what it sounds like. It's when players Nick Nurse has emphasized the fact that this is a team that has a ton of length, and that's not something that we've talked about. Even the guards, a lot of them have many wingspans. Absolutely, so this team has been abundant in length since its inception in the off season, but Nick Nurse encouraging the guys to really show off that
wings span, show off those wings. Those eagles wings definitely a little bit of a nod to the market in which Nick is now coaching, right, But an eagle is anytime that you're spreading your arms out on defense, right, getting back, spreading your arms out, immediately, showing that length and literally.
Rewarded, yes, literally the whole time, run down the court like that.
The idea is that you're intimidating the offense. You're dissuading them from going at any particular defender on the floor. You're making passes a little bit harder. I mean, it seems even someone who hasn't played the game like me, understands this. It is very simple, right, But not all teams are doing it. The Sixers are doing a lot of it. So now that we've talked about it, watch them on Thursday night. You'll see the eagles abound.
Right.
So sometimes, as Tyrese mentioned, they're tracking eagles. They're tracking deflections, they're tracking blocked shots, they're tracking.
Diving for loose balls.
Everything is being tracked by this coaching staff and at the end of practice there are certain things that are rewarded. So following Sunday Night's win, today in practice, the Sixers were rewarded for blocks, Joel Embiid with a game high six blocks. Tyrese Maxey was rewarded for his ten rebounds. And Tyrese has been great all season. He's been great
for his whole career. But one thing that I didn't have on my bingo sheet for Sixers Blazers on Sunday night was Tyrese Maxi career high ten rebounds in a single game. So Joel and Tyrese were celebrated after practice today. They put on these costumes, they get the rocky theme song plays and they're given boxing gloves and robes and belts, and Joel had a weird hat.
It was a whole thing. They were happy.
Look, we're all kids at heart, we all love being competitive, and the Sixers, of course, are a heightened version of kids at heart that love to be competitive. And we get to see that at the end of practice. They are competing in these practices. These practices are not easy, so to watch them cracksmiles at the end for winning these little games within the game.
It is always a lot of fun.
You're sit down with Tyrese Maxey is coming right up here on Sixers in sixty Matt Murphy with Lauren rose in right now. And the difference is that, unlike NBA players, you and I, if we were spreading our our Eagles wings our wingspan is not as high as our height or as tall as our height.
So theirs is my wingspan least a lot to be desired. For those that don't know, I'm five to three on my best day and my wingspan doesn't come close to that really really high mark. Interesting, but enough about it the fact that's what you learn on six ers.
And second, enough about our playing careers. I think a couple of notable stats I want to throw in about Maxi before the interview is the nineteen assists to three turnovers and the fifty six percent three point percentage fourteen of twenty five. Perhaps that is not a surprise, but the nineteen assists to three turnovers is perhaps better than you could have hoped for him to start through three games, and asking.
Him after the game in Toronto, at that point he only had one turnover on the season. I asked him what he was proudest of, his scoring, his assisting, or his lack of turno and he said that the one turnover is actually the only thing that he was upset about. So far okay. I said, well, then what are you the most proud of? And he said that one turnover
because protecting the ball is so important. It's something that he's been criticized for before, not necessarily a tendency to turn the ball over, but whether or not Tyrese Maxi at age twenty two, as a fourth year six or playing alongside the reigning MVP can do a good enough job taking care of distributing and really running the floor as a point guard.
So far, so good. He knows he has a ways to grow, right, but we're.
Seeing it on a game by game level embiid seven assists.
He's been cutting down on the turnovers a bit as well, which is not to be like totally expected with the way that Nick Nurse has these guys playing, but we've talked a lot about it and now we're going to get to at the Eastern Conference Player of the Week after averaging thirty six point seven rebounds six point three assists per game, Tyrese Maxi chatted with Lauren Rosen this morning after practice.
Hyr Snaxy Eastern Conference Player of the Week for the first time. What was your reaction when you heard the news who told you my mom.
My mom told me, I know what she was really talking about. But then she was like, it's on Twitter. My grandmother knows everything, so she told my mom and then my mom told me. So I was just like, okay, that's cool. I didn't really know it. No official into the sixty star posting. So that's great. Meant it meant a lot to me because not because the individual war, because we've been winning. You know, that's the only way you get those type of wars. Just like Joel Lasher
gett the MVP. We had the only reason why he could get that because we were winning. You know, he was helping us win. In so it means we're doing something right and I'm happy for it.
I want to ask about your relationship with Joelle, and I want to go back sort of to the beginning. True or false that he challenged you to score forty points the night that you scored thirty nine points against Denver.
True. True, He asked me could I score forty and I totally yeah, and then you know it happened. I think that's just kind of where the relationship began. You know, A little big brother, a little brother or whatever you want to call it, but I appreciate him because for when the MVP, when someone I have a guy that Calber has confidence to you to score forty your night tip game of your NBA career after you haven't been playing really or you played a little bit, but not
to that caliber caliber. It's great, man, and I appreciate of loaning for that.
And at the time, you were nineteen years old, No, I.
Had just no twenty years O lordy, you were twenty years old. Yeah, I just turned twenty.
And this is someone who's already in the MVP conversation. Right. So now we fast forward three years and you guys have developed a partnership that's now going to be even more sort of in the eyes of everybody, really prominently, right, So how do you describe the distance between that night when this is someone that you sort of look up to and don't really have a relationship with to now when you guys have like a true tough partnership in this league that people are taking notice of.
In week one, crazy you know, kind of crazy things happen fasten fast like this. My my time here is so much has changed so much as we've been through a lot, but it's all good, good things. Man. You know, it's all positive. There always been positive Organs actually been positive. Coaching staff is positive, in the team around, it's pretty positive. So when you have that, we have guys that go out there and want to compete, it makes it easier.
It makes it easier. And when you have somebody like Joel who believes in you, it makes the game way easier. You can go out there, you can play free, you play concert and play yourself and play through mistakes.
Three really strong performances from you so far. In Milwaukee. I know you guys felt just short, but you were great than in Toronto, where you own some real estate. It is my understanding these days, maybe the mayor of Toronto. And then at home coming back against Matisstible in the Portland Trailblazers. What stands out to you so far in terms of your three good performances.
I think that we've had a chance to win every single time, you know what I mean. Like, that's the like I keep telling, I keep saying that if that's the main thing, if whatever I can do to help my team be in a position to win games at the end, that's that's what makes me happy. First game, I feel scoring, not turn the ball over, second game scoring, trying to get Joe Well involved, playing defense.
Hitting shots.
Last game, shoot, I had ten rebounds for the first time in my career. So it's like this, This coaching staff has challenged me to do different things and lead, and I think that's what I've been trying to do. It helped us win games and it's been working out so far, so I keep it going.
Is the rebounding thing and your attention to defense this season related because they weren't like fake rebounds, They weren't long rebounds to get you out on the break. They were real rebounds. Right, Yeah, where's that coming from?
I don't know. You know. I was telling my dad the other day. He was he was committed Joe Will, how hard he was going to the glass, how hard he was blocking shots. He was asking, like, what do you think that that would? I said, you know what, honestly, I think it's I think it's Coach Nurse, Like he's giving us these awards, given us these congratulations, were going to the glass, rebounding it for boxing now, for being your Eagles, for being in the help, you know what
I'm saying. So it's like we're it's a game within the game. So you know what I'm saying. It makes guys go out there and compete way harder, and then it also makes our team better. So it's like because nurses psychologically making us go out there and do different things that we maybe haven't done in the past.
And it's working.
What makes you proud of a biggest sis night or a big rebounding night.
We don't know, man, Maybe maybe it's six night. I mean, my guys are going and guys are making shots and we're having fun out there.
Last question, Three favorite Halloween candies and three least favorite Halloween candies.
Least favorite it's candy corn in there? Can Can that be one? Candy corn is one?
Mmmm?
Lack of taffy.
This is least Okay? What flavors specifically the latta.
The yellow ones yellow, the yellow one. Uh oh God, think of another one. I don't like anything dark chocolate. Dark chocol's pretty nasty. Milk chocolate is pretty good, but dark chocolates pretty disgusting. Favorite Jolly Ranchers flavor green watermelon. I like those, those are pretty good.
Justice for cherry, the best flavor.
Cherry is good too. Yeah, so jolly ranchers. It's difficult, Esius gotta say that.
Is that like a branding thing or is that like an actual thing?
No, I actually like them. I just don't eat them anymore because people always used to give them for my birthday and stuff, so I don't eat them like that anymore. I'm very self to eat them. And I like, uh, those little what they called like sour straws, but they're in like the single packages. My mom just brought me signed to pass out sour yeah, like sour pastras, but they're in a single package thicker. Yeah, exactly exactly. They're
in a single package. My mom just brought me signed to pass out today.
For I was gonna say, are you going to be entertaining?
I'm gonna go to the JAS Halloween party and then I'll come back and out and it's trigger treaters though, have some fun with him, laugh a little bit if they come, who knows.
Well. I hope you have a great time tonight at Halloween. Tyrese Maxnee, thanks for joining us.
Appreciate y'all. The Joel Embiid Halloween party tonight.
Sounds like it, but as you pointed out during the break. He did indeed entertain trigger treaters. It looks like pre party, which you love to see.
I was wondering about that because I didn't assume the party was late at night. But I'm like, who's going to be trick or treating at Tyresee's after a party?
Well?
I always did to go out earlier and earlier these days. By the way, Welcome back to six ers and sixty Matt Murphy and Lauren Rosen. Thanks to Tyrese Maxey for chatting with us today. With you on Halloween. But yeah, I was a little confused with the timeline. I think he had it flipped.
Well, happy to see that Tyrese, who has always been since the day he got here.
Man at the people Halloween no.
Exception Halloween party for Joel Embiid. I wonder how many people will dress up in costume.
We'll have to wait and see. I wonder. I wonder when that some content?
Yeah from at sixers, right, I think there should be yes.
Good stuff, good stuff.
I love it.
Thanks to Tyrese Maxi for joining us on six ers in sixty. His start to the season has been not just a story here in Philadelphia, but across the league, culminating in the Eastern Conference Player of the Week award, and you listen to different shows, you watch different shows, it's it is a league wide story right now. And Nick Nurse being the new coach and Joel Embiid following
up his MVP season with a strong start. Somehow they're each still managing to get their scoring numbers, which is great to see this two man game, but Embiid's doing it in a little of a bit of a different way as we talked about. But through the first three games, is there a moment or something that has stood out to you because we've kind of glossed over the games, like we've said the record we've given Maxi and embiids per game stat, but each of those games told a story.
They could be three and zero, as some of them have said. They come up a point short in the opener, which that shouldn't get lost throughout the season. That they lost one to eighteen one seventeen to the Milwaukee Bucks on the opening in the opening game for both teams. It was two days after the NBA opened up with Opening Night, but they overcame a nineteen point deficit in that game and ad Anthony Melton banked three at the end, made it just a one point loss in their loan loss.
So when you kind of look at those games more in depth, Lauren, is there is there something that you liked that's more of a team observation.
It's a good question. We've talked about Eagles already on this show. Of course, stretching the wingspans and making sure that this team is a team that's really hard to play against. That was part of Nick Nurse's opening statement, which has media.
Day resulted in a lot of steals and blocked shots.
Too, kills, blocks and deflections, and what Coachner said at the outset of becoming the coach of the team is the biggest impact he wanted to make was to make sure that when folks leave the arena at the end of a Sixers game, win or lose, they feel that that team played really hard tonight.
And I think that you're seeing that, And.
Of course that's more of a defensive observation, a little bit less of a quantitative observation. But how's this for quantitative observations, Matt. The offense is working too, It's not just a defensive team at this point. The Sixers now fourth as of Tuesday, evening fourth in the league in field goal percentage. They're sitting at fifty percent from the field right now, fourth in the league as well from three point percentage from three in three point percentage rather
forty point seven percent from deep. So we're seeing great things on offense. We're seeing great things on defense. Leading the league in blocks, not just Joell the team leading the lead in the league.
To have him, but they had seventeen in his six block game.
Yeah, yeah, great stuff, great stuff from the team across the board. You love to see the team leading the league in defensive stats and offensive stuff, making those top fives this early in the season, especially in a new system, it's foreboding of good things to come. Foreboding feels like a Halloween ward. But looking ahead at some good things and some scary things for opposing offenses.
Well, some measuring stick games on the schedule coming up, Lauren Rosen, because not quite Toronto on Thursday at seven pm, because they just beat them by seven on the road.
Can't look past to anyone, but we will do that for the sake of our sixers and sixty show here as we wind down with Saturday, the Phoenix Suns Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Bradley Beal big three, but it's really only been a big two now, just Durant in their next game they will play Tuesday night, and their record will be different by the time we next talk to everyone. But Bradley Beal has been out with backspasms and he continued he remains out, and Devin Booker has since sprained
his ankle. So the Phoenix Sons, who entering their game with San Antonio, are two to one. They'll be without two of their big three, but still a tall task and will monitor their health all week.
And then, of course, to close out this long home stand, the Sixers will host the Washington Wizards, the Boston Celtics.
Yeah, the Suns, and maybe the Celtics more so is the big measuring stick game, because the Celtics have looked very good and you saw them in DC.
I did see the Wizards and the Celtics play each other last night in DC, so.
A scouting scouting trip, a scouting trip for me.
The Wizards in rebuild mode, struggling a little bit, but trying some new things, some new faces on that team. We of course will see them next week, and then the Boston Celtics. Look, Matt, I'm not gonna lie to you, really really good, and of course they outmatch their opponent last night significantly, But cool to see those teams face off and get a little taste of what's to come for these Sixers.
Raptors Thursday, Suns, Saturday at one, Wizards and Celtics Monday and Wednesday on this season long five game Homestand and then I want to talk on Sixers and sixty next week the N Season Tournament. I'm really looking forward to chatting about that. You gotta do it and the courts, the colorful courts. I'm all in.
We love the colorful courts.
I am all in on the N Season Tournament. But that will do it for this week's edition of Sixers and sixty for Lauren Rosan on Matt Murphy. Thanks for listening to Sixers and sixty.
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