Mailbag Monday | Examining the 76ers' Depth

wins in the league. Bild has the seventh footer on him and he takes them all the way to the cup for two. Did you see the left handed reverse layup using Narrima's protection. Oh my goodness. We focus on the Sixers depth and respond to your calls, DMS and mentions right here, as we always do. On mail Bag Monday, we got a street going on for the second Monday in a row. We can say, Lauren Rosen, this is

a Victor mail Bag Monday. It's the morning after. My brain's a little bit foggy because it was a later game that expected on Sunday at the Garden. But I am still trying to piece together how in the heck did the seventy sixers pull out that one o one, one hundred overtime dub against the Knicks. Well, Celts, I look at the Sixers through similar lenses. We talk about sort of who pays the bills on these podcasts, and so I'm always prone to look for the positives. But

you say, how did they pull out the victory? I gotta say, how did they have to pull out the victory the way that they did? There were just a few things that didn't have to happen. And that's what Doc said afterwards, that's what Danny said, That's what Tobias said.

That was the general vibe. But a win is a win when I look at it, it's sort of like, Okay, let's cut down on a couple of those sort of egregious errors that you might not make ever again in the rest of the season, and then it's a more traditional, close but not as wacky victory that was a little bit too wacky for my taste and too wacky for their tastes as well. Clearly, when Matissa's three pointer went down to get a four point game eighty six eighty

two with under two minutes to go. I thought, listen, if Matisse, with all due respect to his offensive game, if Matisse is knocking down a potential dagger, three sixers are in good shape, that was not the case. I do think that we all sort of breathe the sigh of relief that three seemed like clockwise and momentum wise and possessions left wise, that that was going to be

the end. That was not the end. You got to feel for Tobias Harris on those free throws where he had the opportunity to ice the game to Bias is not someone that usually makes excuses. So if he says after the game that his hand was really hurting and that he was genuinely having a really hard time putting those shots up, I totally believe him, and he must be just kicking himself that it could have ended there and it just didn't. So good for him for making sure that he made that right at the line at

the end of overtime. Then Danny Green, coming right out of the gate an ot bang answered the Burks three with one comes back down another go ahead three, answering another Alec Burke's bucket. That speaks to vet value right there. He was tremendous for sure. Selton, you mentioned Danny and Matisse as guys that had sort of the big shots down the stretch, at least from the field, absent Tobias

Harris's free throws at the end of overtime. But I think it's interesting when you look back over the game since the All Star Break, almost every sixer, if not every sixer that's played rotation basketball since the break, has had a really big, meaningful moment at some point along the road. These guys have all stepped up really on both ends of the floor to make these victories happen. For concorcmus is the one I'm thinking of, and he had a big moment and sadly it wasn't in a win.

But everybody that's played has really proved that they can make things happen late in games, and I think that that's really exciting that Danny and Matisse were the ones that were able to take everybody home last night on the offensive end. And I did think it was fitting that there we were with five point three seconds left, moments after Tobias Harris hit a three over Julius Randall. After Randall hit a single joint three over him the

corner to send the game overtime. There was the loose ball foul Randall to shove in the back of Tobias. Tobias goes to the line five point three seconds left, he knocks down the free throws because I think, you know what, his offensive game was not the type of offensive game we've come to expect from Tobias this year. The three turnovers in the final minutes of the game, it was like, I'm not saying it was just on him.

It seemed like he and Ben were not on the same page, and it was just like, what the heck is going on with that? But for him to hang in there, I thought he did play as good a defense as he could have on Randall pretty much throughout the night. Made it tough for him. That was a great shot that Randall made to send the game to overtime. I thought it was nice for Tobias to be there

at the end and clinch the win for sure. I mean, he's found ways to make it happen in tight games twice this week against the same team, but all season long, he's found ways to win tight games, to make it happen when it matters most so props to Tobias for stepping up. I mean, I can't imagine a more nerve racking way to try to win a game then at

the line in overtime. I mean, that's just a lot of crush yourselves fittingly and talking about fitting themes, the theme for this episode of mail Bag Monday is going to be how are you feeling? Primarily the primary theme. We're going to touch some of the topics, but we really wanted to zero in on in this what we put on the at Sixers ig story sticker on Sunday.

We do that every week to call out a question for your responses for every mail Bag Monday is how do you feel about the seventy sixers depth heading into this stretch of the season based on how the team

has come out of the All Star breaks. We're gonna run through some of those responses, but I thought that it was timely the way the game went down on Sunday for that to be our main focus point for this week, because not only do you have Matise doing some good stuff and obviously Danny Green, but I think shake Milton, just based upon the game going into overtime,

if the game and ended regulation. I think a lot more people would have been talking about Shake Milton and the boost he gave the Sixers with his twenty one points. So yeah, I thought it was a great another great effort in a testament to the seventy sixers. Six and one now without stretches of both Joel Embiid and Simmons since the All Star break, and noteworthy, the team has only lost once since Tobias Harris was not named an All Star in twenty twenty one. These are facts, and

it was closed. These are facts. We cannot dispute them. We can also not dispute the ways that you can get in touch with us for mail Bag Monday each week. We already reference one way every Sunday on at Sexers on their Instagram story, look for the mail Bag Monday question respond and we'll start running through some of those. We get a ton of responses through that. We can't get them all, literally, like a couple hundred. So thank you,

thank you, thank you. Please do not take offense if we do not get to your prompt response on Instagram. You can get Laurena and I in the mansions on Twitter at Brian Seltzer at Lauren m Rosen, And of course, our preferred method of communication is always the voicemail two five four zero three seven six three seven two on five four zero three pods. Leave a message. Whenever you could just wake up in the middle of night, can't go back to sleep, call us, leave us a thought

about the seventy six ers. Do it. We will gladly play just about every and all voicemail that you send in. We're here for you during times of insomnia. We're here for you. If you stayed up last night to watch that game, I mean, my goodness, that was really something. All right with that, let us open up the mail bag talking about the seventy sixers depth. You have one new message. Yes, the Sixers with the most wins in the NBA since the All Star Break with six of them.

The bench has been a big part of that. We asked you what encourages you the most about the seventy sixers depth Daddy Underscore bills on Instagram. Seventy sixers winning without key players. This team is tough. I agree. Listen to me. The bottom line is this, I don't care how the Sixers and winning games. Just win as much as you can, right now without Choellenbiid, they were without Ben Simmons, without one of the best shooters in the league,

Seth Curry. They've got the Gnats and the Bucks right on their heels. They're playing Lauren. I think like they really do want that number one seed. I just think that's talk that they throw out there. Yeah, they certainly are. They're winning winnable games, and they're also winning losable games. You have to think about the fact that this team is built around Joel Embiid and he has not been available over these last few games where the Sixers have

found ways to win. It doesn't matter if the wins are pretty like you said, but I think the more losable games you can win. And keep in mind, this is a team that's now above five hundred on the road, So as they head into a few more road games, let's give them a little bit of space to maybe

struggle a little bit. Maybe they won't. I think it's been really interesting to watch them sort of exceed expectations without Joel, without Ben, without Seth, without any combination of those three, because we've seen all the combinations of without those three guys, who, like we said yesterday, are three of the four primary offensive options for this team, and they're finding ways to get wins even if they're not pretty.

They're still wins and I'm down with them. Nuggie Underscore Fresh It's encouraging to see that Sixers can still win games without Embiid or Simmons. They play well as a team all Caps and team. Yeah. I think from me, Lauren, to speak to your point, I'm done even thinking about the well they can't win on the I was done with it they can't win on the road thing a while ago, but I'm also now done with it. They

can't find ways to win without Ben and Joel. I think if we get later into the year, right we know Doc Rivers said as much. To get to where they want to go, they got to have their best players. But I think that for right now, they've shown that they can tread water in the regular season. They have enough talents. Nate Underscore Dog three gs for seven on Instagram. The versatility and how quickly players can adapt to different

roles and being very efficient, I would say yes. Eighteenth different starting lineup used by Doc Rivers on Sunday against the Knicks. The seventy Sixers have played what forty three games. I mean that is an ever changing ecosystem, and yes, the Sixers have adapted. I think that's a great point. Well, they're really playing as a team, and I love that the fans have sort of started to recognize what they've been at least telling us in media, but also showing

us on the core. This is a team that's developed a winning culture and they're willing to do whatever it takes. Nobody cares who starts, who comes off the bench. That's become something that's genuinely very clear. Doc Rivers told us he sort of tells the guys right before the game who's going to be starting. He doesn't do say anything extra, he doesn't ask for anything extra, because the guys understand that, regardless of where they're playing or who they're playing with,

the goal is to win. Tobias Harris has actually set it a couple games in a row now that he really believes in the system that the team has created, and clearly his teammates believe in it as well. He says, they've built a winning culture and we're now starting to see that culture seep into let's say, any lineup that the team throws out there move it on. You have one new message. What encourages you about the seventy six ers depth Scott underscore w lufc. I don't know how

to pronounce that, says Matisse, Thybal's efficiency batist thible. I'll be honest. I don't like making bold proclamations, but so far, when I go back to my sneaky second half of the season prediction I did through out there, I would expect Ematise to knocked down a couple more threes. Hey, our man is doing it, Matisse against the Knicks, two

for five from three. He is now ten for nineteen from the outside since the All Star break, and perhaps even more than that, he kept on firing after an early miss Lauren in Sunday's game against the Knicks, and the ball found him in the final minutes and eat a big one, as we said, to make it a

four point game. Yeah. To me, the willingness to take that late shot is maybe the most important of all because he has struggled offensively this season because he has been prone to defer to his teammates, which makes sense when your teammates are Seth Curry and Tobias Harris and Shake Milton when those are your options, it makes sense that you might not want to be selfish with the basketball. But to see him take that confidence, take that shot and have it go in, I think is really huge.

And I'm glad that he kept shooting after having a little bit of a tough stretch because that confidence can be really key or really detrimental for a young player. So to see him keep going and then to see him keep it up on the defensive end two, which is where he makes his money, incredible. It's been really awesome to see him come back from the break the way that he has. I mean, the blocks of Matisse.

I know we always talk about his steels and his ballhawking, some of these blocks the last couple of games have been off the charts. I mean, I'm thinking, I think we're probably both thinking of Darren Fox that block from behind, and then he saved his own block and got it to a teammate. And I think that that sort of getting it back to a teammate was luck because he was lucky that his teammates were behind him where that pass was. But the instincts. Doc Rivers was asked about

that play and called him inspector gadgets. It's really funny to see the way that Doc has has started admiring Matis's game, and the way that Matis is finding new things to do, new things to add it does seem like he's continuing to get better, which is cool. Did you get the Inspector gadget reference? Sort of? I was down with it, but were you familiar with inspector gadget. I'm asking you this. You get a little bit younger than I am, and I just I was curious if

the masses understood the reference. I understood the reference. It's not the one that I would have jumped to immediately, but I understood it. Once he said it, I had a chuckle and I admired the little spinney like I could see it in my head. I understand, love it, love it. Sticking with our igs, roll call, you have one new message, Nolan J forty five. I feel that seeing Tobias playing such good basketball shows that the Sixers have more than just two stars. Listen. I don't think

you can make I don't think it's any coincidence. Why don't I say this that Tobias in two games against the Knicks has played particularly aggressive and I know that it wasn't the cleanest game for him on Sunday, but you could tell that he did have a little bit extra to him. I think in both those games against the Knicks, I mean no doubt about it. He says that he takes these things personally. He's the one that's he's said it, so I don't have a problem echoing

what he's said. I think at the end of the day, his teammates have also expressed the fact that if Tobias was putting up is putting up the numbers that he is as maybe a third option on this team, a second or a third option on this team, he would be putting up better numbers as a primary option on another team, like, for example, a Julius Randall type of player. And I think that Tobias knows that, and I think he goes into matchups understanding that he has an opportunity

to prove who really is the best player. And I think that this week has shown us despite the struggles from the second matchup between the two teams, we got a few voicemails we gotta get to you have one new message. Two voicemails that came in building on that theme Tobias Harris appreciation for him. We got these that rolled in Lauren after the first game against the Knicks last Tuesday, the I'm an All Star proclamation game from Tobias Harris. As you put that game away, let's roll

the tape. Hey, I'll tell you what. Watching tonight, Tobias Harris sent a message to the league and especially the Julius Randall. He should have been an All Star, not Randall. The way this team is playing right now, he's gonna lead this team to high place along with Ben and Joe. Well, thank height, Yes, love that reading the matchup. Within the matchup, Tobias should have been an All Star ahead of Julius Randall.

And yeah, I think that along with Ben and Joel, he does have the opportunity to lead the seventy six ers on a long, healthy run. I think, especially when you look at the way he's been playing late in games and again there we're coming off of what was not the prettiest win. We know this, but he still was able to get to the line and make the win happen in a very high pressure situation in overtime on the second night of a back to back, when he had been struggling when he had just missed a

pair of free throws. And I think that that's really impressive. It speaks to his mental strength. And then when we talk about his physical strength and the way that his game has grown, we've seen that in fourth quarters and in overtime periods all season long. It's been really cool to watch his evolution. It's been really cool to watch him and become a primary option in crunch time. It's been really cool to watch Tobias Harris this year. Some

more love for Tobias on the podline. Yeah, I'm watching The Dark Night right now, because that's how Tobias has has been playing. He's playing like The Dark Night. He is an all Star. Billy knows he's an all Star. He doesn't have to prove anything to anybody. Just know we level and he's all, fuck you, we come up with a chip, let's go sixers. Tobias has kind of become a bucket. I think, Lauren, when the man shoots the basketball at any level, I'm expecting it more often

than not to go in. And I think that's sort of the ultimate intangible test, Right when it leaves someone's hand, do you think it's going in yes or no. To me, it's almost always yes with Tobias, and especially honestly late in games. Late in games, I feel very at peace when the ball is in his hands. And I don't know that that's a quality that he's always had, or in fairness, that he's always had an opportunity to develop, and this year he has had the opportunity to develop

as a closer, and he's done it pretty brilliantly. Tobias is a starter. We're talking about depth. Death can be found all around. You have one new message Ethan Sip on Instagram. What does he love about the seventy six ers depth Shake Darum Milton. I like that twist on Shake's nickname, Shake de room Milton. That's funny. I gave him. I gave him the Shake Curry tag last night when

he took that really depthy three. That was something that Shake has been shooting well from three since we've known him and his entire career, but really taking a few feet back from the line and just going for it and seeing it go in with confidence like that was a little bit Curry esque to me. I was really impressed with Shake's confidence over the last couple of games.

Another player that has struggled a little bit over the few games before that and has found a way to continue shooting with confidence, playing with confidence, and it paid dividends in this back to back. It's funny because on March first, he had the big game against Indian the seventy six ers win, he dropped twenty six, and the same date that he went for thirty nine against Doc

and the Clippers last year. And then right like you just said a little bit, Wyatt for shake a couple single digit games coming back from the All Star break against the Spurs in the first game against the Knicks, and you're kind of thinking, you know, maybe shakes do for a bounce back a couple of games, and lo and behold, it could not have come in a better time because without Seth Curry, the need for Shake and what he does and what he brings that much more important.

And here he's been the last two games. He's combined for forty nine points, get into the foul line, and he shot eighteen for thirty two from the field and two for five on threes. Really impressive stuff and always excited to see a young player that really puts in the work and really puts in the time you have one new message being into wind down the mail bag. Sammy Saheen Underscore loves fur cons confidence. Yes, I think that fur Coon's confidence has been on full display these

last couple games. The world is a better place when we have a fur con core Cupas who is firing on all cylinders and confident. His efficiency has gone up a bit. And even though he didn't, you know, win the game against the Bucks a few games ago, loved seeing him knock down that corner three to help send the game to ot And he just plays with so much joy celts. When Furkon is doing well, you can tell. You can see it on his face, you can see it on the faces of his teammates. So those guys

love him. They love watching him succeed. When he hit those first few threes last night in New York, you saw the bench erupt. He got the bench involved in the first minutes of that game. And it's really cool to see the way that they all sort of rally together and rally behind one another's success and support each other when they need those confidence boosts. Furkon Cork was another one who had a little bit of a tough stretch,

he got hurt. He wasn't playing the way that we've become accustomed to seeing him play, and now he's sort of back doing that old furkon corks buzzer beater three situation. It's been great to watch him the last few games. One more from the bag for this week. You have one new message. Mark Rothbart on Twitter says, I'm saying it again. Dwight Howard is my favorite Sixer, setting an example of how hard you have to play to be a winner. He is my Sixers MVP. A couple great

points within that comment. Number one, This has nothing to do with what Mark said specifically, but just in a general sense. When will we start seeing number thirty nine seventy Sixers jerseys at the center. I think we're due for it. I think it's coming right up. Seltz. Fans have so rallied around Dwight, and Dwight has embraced the fans. It's been one of my favorite things to watch since fans came back into the building. It's just the constant

interaction between Dwight and the fans. He loves them, he wants to hear from them, good or bad. He's ready to engage with them. He's embraced them wholeheartedly. He's all about the frost he freeze out and the way he's embraced the fans. He's also clearly embraced his teammates. He's been such an interesting acquisition for the Sixers this year, and it's been a pleasure to get to know him as a someone that's talking to media, as someone that's playing,

as someone that's getting to know the fans. Dwight has been a true unexpected delight all season long. Listen, we've got passover coming up. We've got Easter coming up. Put it on your list for Elijah. Put it on your list for the Easter Bunny. The number thirty nine Dwight Howard, seventy Sixers Jersey City Edition, earned edition, statement icons, whatever you want, Number thirty nine Jersey He's earned it. He's earned this support and he is not just a great

vibes guy. He is playing an essential role right now without Joel Embiid and also there were a few games without Ben Simmons. He is the second leading rebounder in the NBA since the All Star Break. That's in total rebounds, behind Rudy Gobert. If I'm not mistaken, No, I'm sorry behind Yonis Valanciunis of the Grizzlies. So Dwight has the second most rebounds, he has three double doubles since the break.

He has been phenomenal just crashing those boards. The Sixers have needed that, and this is all coming off the bench playing fewer minutes. It's something we talk about with Matisse a lot as well. Some of these guys on the bench for the Sixers are beating out starters on other teams, being more productive, more efficient than guys that

are playing heavier minutes on other teams. It's really cool to see the way that this bench has rallied together, and Dwight Howard is no doubt a huge part of that. And to bring this Lauren all full circle. Coincidentally, the seventy Sixers will be at the Lakers later this week on Thursday night. I think that what you see from Dwight Howard and Danny Green in particular, these are veterans that have come in and I know it's cliche and easy to say, well, they want a title last year

and they've been around a while. They know how to win. If you've watched the Sixers this year. I think that you can see a direct connection between how the Sixers have handled certain situations and the tone that these two players have set, whether it's Dwight being goofy or being aggressive on the floor, filling a role despite being a future Hall of Famer coming off the bench, Danny Green knowing when to insert himself all that stuff, when to throw a postgame party after a win or a loss.

I think these veterans know what they're doing, and I don't think it's by accident that they were on winning teams last year, especially for someone like Danny Green. The guy hasn't been on three title teams by accident, doubt about. It was really interesting to hear from Doc Rivers that in that win over New York on Sunday night, Danny was the most vocal Sixer in the huddles. He was talking about how they weren't going to let this one get away from them. He was in all of his

teammates ears. He was playing sort of maybe even an assistant coach role for the group. And that's something that you need from your veteran leaders, especially the ones that have been through a lot, that have seen it all, like a Danny Green, like a Dwight Howard, and even like a Tobias Harris. The three of them, I think all bring really interesting perspectives, different skill sets, different strengths, and their young teammates have been praising their leadership all

season long. It's been cool to see that sort of leadership veteran triumvirate grow over time, and Danny Green no doubt a huge part of that good stuff. On this week's mailbag, thanks to everyone who chimed in on Instagram, on the pod line on Twitter. We love it Mailbag Monday for you, and we love hearing from you, so thanks so much for submitting all that stuff. We got what we got coming up this week. We got a

deep dive on Friday with the Von Gibbs. Per usual, we'll all be sleep because are watching these late games that we'll be able to react to, not only a Lakers game that will feature perhaps no Lebron, no a d maybe no Marcusol. Trade deadline is also on Thursday, so there will be things to discuss Lauren later this week. It'll be an interesting one. Looking forward to talking to you through it also, and if you missed it over the weekend, New episode of Tom's Talks dropped on the feed.

He chats with the one only fur Concorkmas, So give it a listen and one final shout out before we say so long for this week on the mailbag, Congratulations be Ball Paul Paul Read named the NBA G League Rookie of the Year for his great performance inside the Bubble in Orlando. That news came down earlier this afternoon. Awesome stuff from the Bluecoats and Paul Read. All right, give the look out in your DMS if you're the swag Bag winner for this week. Thanks is always. We'll

talk to you next time. See you