The BroadCast: 3/5/2018 ~ With Home Stretch Here, a Visit With Bob Cooney

so much for checking it out. Our guest on this episode of the podcast, it is going to be excellent to sit down with the one and only Bob Cooney morning Man. Well, now he's a morning man, a really early morning man on our flagship station for Sixers Radio Broadcast ninety seven five The Fanatic. You can hear him each day from six to ten, and you'll hear from him and his thoughts on the state of the Sixers

in just a matter of moments. Reminder that to subscribe to the podcast, you can go to a couple of places. You can go to iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher. Type in Sixers Podcast Network. We also have our own SoundCloud page at SoundCloud dot Com backslash sixers sixers with nineteen games to go in the season, there in the thick obviously of the Eastern Conference playoff race as of Monday in sixth place with the record of thirty four and

twenty eight. Always a good opportunity, regardless of the stage of the season to touch base with Bob Cooney. Now an early morning riser is a part of the Fanatic Morning crew, and selfishly Bob a hard adjustment on this end, not being able to see around in person as much. How you doing, I'm doing well, Brian. How are you?

I'm good. I'd even say great because I'll tell you what Sunday Nights was doing the postgame show on ninety seven five to the Fanatic, And I will tell you, I don't think I have a better, more enjoyable experience on the air than the nights when I get to hear a Bob Cooney voiced ferguson commercial running. Yeah, I'm sure it's the highlight of your life. There is the enthusiasm that is booming. You gotta bring it right, Brian, you know what it's all about. Uh, well, there was

lots of energy with that. There's lots of energy at the start of Sunday's game for the seventy six ers, Yes, there was, and there's also a lot of energy at the end. It was just not on the seventy six ers side of things. Um, it was a strange game. It was kind of like, if you can remove any rooting interests, an entertaining game for sure. A lot of star power turnovers here we are again. Yeah, it's it's

the way they come, Brian, I think it's not. Uh, you know, can you live with a turnover when you're trying to run a play and the defense makes a good play on it, maybe a deny in the post or something like that, All right, you can live with that.

But but when you're trying to break an eat nothing run and you try to throw like a cross court one handed bounce pass through traffic, Uh, that I don't think Brett can live with, you know, the silly things, maybe Joel trying to throw a fancy pass or something like that, Like, you can't live with those. He's gonna have to live with. Joel's gonna turn the ball over a lot simply because his ball handling isn't there yet.

He's still raw in that in that area, I believe because he hasn't He hasn't played a lot of basketball over the last five years, and I think the last thing to come as always your ball handling. I don't just mean dribbling, I mean the passing. I mean just handling the basketball. So they're gonna have turnovers there. But I didn't like the way they played with a lead. Quite frankly, they still kept the up tempo a lot, even if twenty one point lead nineteen point leads, and

they kept staying up tempo. I think there could have been a way they could have slowed it down a little bit, and maybe that would have prevented some turnovers, and it surely would have taken some time off the clock.

For as ridiculous as the Sixers run was to start the game, when the games played at this evel, you know the opponent's gonna make it at some point, and you thought that maybe that midway stretch of the second quarter, you were like, maybe that was it, because it seemed like the Sixers got it back to a comfortable point ut of the first half, twelve point game, and then the way the Bean and the team came out to start the third quarter, like all right, they're rolling, but

on the road high stakes, and I think the desperation factor. You could see Milwaukee really knew it needed to get that game, having lost four in a row, and their guy led them to it. Yeah, yeah, he's an amazing talent on kompo Is And yeah it was. It was. It's odd, like we've seen it many times. I've seen it through the years I covered the NBA. You have also when a team jumps out to that lead, you expect the other team to make a run and come back and get into it. And Milwaukee did that in

the first half. To do it twice as odd. So that the fact that they did it the second time. Here's where I think the six Ers are going to have some problems, Briy, And it certainly seemed to be

the case on Sunday night. At one point they had ersan Ilia Silvia, you have Darius Saritt, you have m Marco Bellonelli on the floor at the same time, not three guys that are really quick afoot, you know which, which is fine, But so it seemed to me that the defense defense's design was all right, let's run the three pointers off the line, get out there, don't allow three pointers and let and make them, you know, beat you with the dribble drive where you have Joel embiad

in the back wherever it is. They did do that, but Milwaukee converted like every time, and there was a lot of three point plays in there, a lot of baskets and fouls, so, uh, you know, you're picking your poison. Are we letting up three pointers or are we running them off the three point line? And when they did allow three pointers, Milwaukee shot a pretty good percentage there

in the second half. And then it went the other way where um Onto Takumpo would would drive a lot, and he found like Zeller, why Zeller's having a game? But that's what happened because you're you're driving in odd man situations two on ones from the lane on down and in Bead stuck does he go after the ball? Does he play off? And and and I think that's where your your comeback came from from Milwaukee obviously, um And it's you know, I want to get into the hole.

And Bead playing his eighty second game thing a little bit. He's been terrific this year. Ben Simmons breakout. You can see the potential that he's got, but you look ahead where there's someone like Janis and first of all, amazingly he's only twenty three. I kind of, you know, I was looking some stuff up last night. I was like, maybe this guy's like twenty four to twenty five. Now,

he's still only twenty three years old. Unbelievable. And you're like, he has that gear where it seems like he's been in the league long enough where he can have a stretch like he did late in the third quarter where it's total, I'm a star, I'm going to take the game over. And while we've seen that in flashes with Ben and Joel, it's like it's neat to kind of think out and project given how young and relatively in

experience they are. They get a couple more seasons under their belt, you know, that seems like it's something that comes over time where you can really start to impose your will over an extended stretch of a game. I absolutely think. So let's go Ben's case. First, he's going to have to develop a shot. We all know that in order for him to take over a game, he's going to have to develop a shot. He can still

take over a game even without it. I think. You know people who say defender, all they have to do is back off of him and he can't do anything. Well, No, he can drive the ball right at your chest and then still beat you around the basket because he can use both hands. So I think for him to consistently be a guy that can close out a game, he's got to develop that ten twelve fifteen footer and I don't see that being a problem moving forward. Joe's problem

right now is simply his ball handling. You know, he's a wonderful shooter. I still think offensively and defensively, he's like a five year old soccer player. Where wherever the ball is he wants to be, And that'll come with maturity. You know, stop running after the basketball, Get where you're supposed to be, post up, whatever it may be. Get their stay there. If the ball comes to you, great, If it doesn't, you know, then you're on to the

next adventure. But both of those guys have the tremendous ability to take over a game now, and as their games grow in the cases that I just mentioned, it's gonna be mind boggling to watch them. Sunday Milwaukee a tough one for the squad. But as we step back a bit and look a little bit more big picture, less granular to barrowe off to used Brett Brown word Sixers. Right now, thirty four and twenty eight they are in the middle of the pack in a very tight Eastern Conference.

I mean, it really is crazy. Just two games out of third, which is held by Cleveland, and then a game and a half in front of Miami for eighth as we speak now, and then there's Detroit which is four games behind Miami freight. So it seems like at this point, with nineteen games to go, Sixers look like they're going to be in it. Did you think that we would be in a conversation talking about the possibility of home court advantage with nineteen games to go in

the year when things started back in October? It's amazing, isn't it? And in talking to people where the reaction everything after Sunday Night's game against Milwaukee, the loss is what the hell's going on here? You know? Part of that stuff? You say, well, all right, sit back for a second. Realistically, this could be a forty five win team, This could be a four seat in the playoffs. Tell me you wouldn't have signed up for that before the

year started, you know exactly. So you know, I was on this like thirty eight thirty nine win before the season started. That was kind of my perdition. Players getting used to each other. So they're exceeding where I thought they were going to be, which'all in all lends you to say it's been a successful season. Successful season. I think it's you know, they've had a little tough stretcher.

They got three more games on the road, if I'm not mistaken, three straight on the road, right yeah, after Milwaukee, and then I believe they close out. I want to say something like ten of their last sixteen, maybe eleven or at home. They have a nice home stretch to finish the season. I think that's gonna bode really well for them. I really I was going through the schedule like I was doing the Eagles thing like game by

game win win win, lost, win law. So I think it's going to really play out well for them, And a fourth seat wouldn't surprise me. By well, listen, you've been doing this forever, and you know, like I kind of thought to talk about, well, this is an easy portion of the schedule coming up was a little bit overblown, because, yeah, the opponents weren't quite the same caliber that we saw

for the first half two thirds of the season. But if you look at the way the schedule structured, just how condemned instant packed in the games are after the All Star break, I mean the last two weeks, and then you're throwing guys like Ben, Joel and Dario who were actually out in Los Angeles for the All Star Game, right, I mean, I think it was out of twenty five days, the Sixers might have physically been home in Philadelphia. This

is going through this coming Sunday's game at Brooklyn. I think maybe they've been at home or will be at home for about four days total. Because it's like you have that three game road trip end with a back to back that you play at home against Charlotte, and then the next afternoon you're on a flight to Milwaukee and you're on the road for another eight days. It's crazy, it is, and it's and you know, and you and I have done the travel on that. It's hard. It's

really really hard to do. It doesn't matter your opponent. That's why I thought Bride so the Cleveland win was a great win in Cleveland. Obviously all that that entails the next night to come home against Charlotte mentally and physically, that's a really, really tough home because you just beat Lebron James and all everything that was surrounding. You know, all of that that's mentally fatiguing, let alone the physicality part of it. You know that it takes to come

back and play the next night to get behind. And I'm watching, I'm thinking, you know what, maybe this is just one you gotta chalk up. And they made a great comeback and they played well, and they played hard, and I thought ersoni Eli Silva, you know, I'm a huge, huge proponent for was really good, like stepped right in and he and Joel and b looked like they played together for twenty years. That I thought was a great stretch. And I had to go back to those two games.

After the disappointment that I fell to the Milwaukee game, I had to say, Okay, they just had a really good two games stretch. Maybe this Milwaukee game was the one game where you say, all right, those things happen. And especially about the Cleveland and Charlotte wins, something that it seems like Sixers fans and followers, the team, and heck, probably people within the organization itself. I've been talking about for a good portion this year is how do we

get to a point where we close out games? And they did it on the road against arguably the best player in the league, and then they had a massive comeback against the Hornet. So actually wanted to queue up a cut. This was from Brett after the game, coincidentally enough in Milwaukee, and then get your take on Brett talking about how things go with the way the Sixers are designed, especially trying to close late games out and that sort of thing. So here we go. We have

a team that needs to free each other up. We don't have somebody. We're just gonna give it to Giannis and he's gonna dance, so bledsoe, he's gonna dance. So watch Jabari. You know, I want a wing on Middleton. I want a wing that's not who we are. Whatever we do, we have to get done as a team. We have to have violent cuts, we have to have adult screens, and we have to cut to meet him. Joel is the only real like, let's give it to Joel and let him go to work and type of guy,

and so you need body movement and team movement. That's why we leave the NBA and passes we was second and assist percentages and the past is king. So you take what we saw Sunday night where Giannis goes totally bonkers and he pretty much put the bucks on his back, and then you look at the way the Sixers got it done at Cleveland Thursday and versus Charlotte Friday. I mean, that is an interesting and juxtaposition that you got to keep in mind think about how things might play out

going forward from here the rest of the season. Yeah, yeah, Yeah. It's funny listening to Brett's cut there, and I know what he's saying. I think it's for the greater goal, Brie, Like, the greater goal is to pass, pass, pass, and move learn how to play that game. The isolation can come when these guys get to be a little bit more veteran like obviously, and we're talking about they're such babies

in this league, you know what I mean. They've hardly played any games on the grand scheme of things, So I understand what Brett's saying. Hopefully at some point they will incorporate that so that you can go to isolation that you can break down a game that if you need a basket from somebody, you have multiple people you can go to. And I don't think it's that far off. I really do think it's right around the corner. We're recording this podcast on March fifth, we turned back the clock.

One month ago, Sixers were right on the cusp of starting that big blitz and surge of the month of February. They were a five hundred team before that long homestand started against the Washington Wizards. Do you think this time a month ago the Sixers would have thought that they were going to go after someone like in our SONI Iliasova.

I guess the roundabout, kind of weird way that I'm asking this question is like it kind of felt like they were going to make a move at the trade deadline or surrounding that if someone was bought out Marco Bellinelli. But do you think they might have even exceeded their own expectations going through that winning streak and getting as close up to home court advantage as they did, and that might have put the thought further in their mind to get aggressive and go after someone like it really

was bright. It was just like validation. No, no, no no, no, because I really thought when it happened, what I said to myself was, wow, the sixers are gone. Hmm, this could be fun. Like, let's pick him up, and you know what, maybe instead of getting in at a good seed and playing in the playoffs, maybe we get a better seed and maybe we can win in the playoffs.

I honest to god, I really thought that Brian Colangelo and how much Brett had to do with it, I thought that they were I thought that the thinking at the time was, Wow, we're playing really well. Let's add another piece. Let's let's see what we can do. It doesn't kill you, obviously, as far as anything by taking these two guys on and buyouts. As I said earlier,

I was a big I was a big proponent. I never liked that they traded Ilia Silva last year, and I joked with Brian Colangelo about that endlessly, to the point where he said, all right, you can stop writing that now. But I just thought he was a great fit for this team last year, and so to bring him back it did it said to me in my head, I said this out out though a few people. I could just have seen Brian and Brett say this might be fun to bring him back and see where we

can go with it. And I think they've, you know, majorly strengthened their bench because of it. Can you correct me if I'm wrong. I think it was even going back as far as the day after the end of the regular season press conference last year, where Ryan pretty directly and publicly said, stretch four is something that we're going to have on our minds going into the offseason. And it worked great when our son was here. It did, and that again one of the reasons I just didn't

understand really what they did. But they did what they did, and that's fine. And I don't want to say they've corrected it, but you know, they revisited it. Let's put it that way. And I just think to me and you and I did it together. We watched practices with her son. It's not just games, it's it's practices and all.

And he had one thing last year. He was in a little bit of a shooting slump, and he stayed after for over an hour, over an hour over their shooting and just shooting, shooting, shooting, And then I had somebody come up to me and say, you know this is impressive because I was standing there watching and I said, it is for a veteran to stay grind of the season, stay extra hour, And the person that said to said, no, it's even more impressive because his family just came in

this morning and it's the first time he's going to see them in six weeks. And as much as he wanted practice, get over and leave, he knew he had to put in his work first. And guys like Ario SARTs see that, and you know, guys Joel Embid, younger guys, they see that stuff. And as much as he adds to them on the court, that's vitally important to the growth of this program. Looks like he and Joel have been doing it for really three games already this year.

Is It's amazing, isn't nice? Little giving go the other night against Charlotte, little backdoor cut and passed by Joel. And then and then Sunday night when they were playing Milwaukee, Urson went down the lane and just a little shovel pass or maybe it was Joel one of them. You know, they just look like they they're very much in communication

together on the floor. And it's such a different spot now because the team is at a point where it can make a decision like do we want to keep someone such as Trevor Booker who has a great track record. I thought he did well and sure you want the team to ask me to do or do you make

an aggressive push for someone like Elia Silvan. It's also kind of telling that guys, even going back as far as this summer to JJ Reddick, when you hear veterans talking about, you know, the factors that appealed to them coming to the seventy six ers. Uh style of play is one. Young talent is another. And then especially between Reddick and Bell and Ellie and Iliasova, it's like Brett Brown is at the top of the list. You know, it pretty much speaks to you could say where his

reputation lies. Yeah, yeah, when when when they picked up um um JJ during the summer, I met with the Mountain Vegas. He was nice enough to wait for me. I was just landing. He was nice enough to wait for me. I texted him in all and we talked and I and you know, for a little I just said why and he said, Brett he did. He just looked at me, said Brett. He goes listen Bob. I had offers from many West Coast playoff teams, but I just thought that the best fit was here. I wanted

to play with these guys here. I wanted to play for Brett. And that's that's big. And for all these people calling for Brett's head and all after a loss like the one against Milwaukee on on Sunday night, uh, there's a lot more to it than that, and uh, Bret's a big piece of it. And I think that when you step back and again take a longer view, you know, if you get up maybe at thirty thousand

feet in view the situation. I mean, you know, August twenty thirteen, he's talking about tempo, three point shooting, and more than anything else defense. Right now, the Sixers are a top five defensive team. Of the last month and a half. You could probably make the case statistically at least that they've been the best defensive unit, if not number one, number two in the league. Three point shooting has been steady, top fifteen, top ten, and you know

that the pace has been consistent as ever. So I think from those three prongs, now that the talent has been able to be filled in, you can see the vision being fulfilled. Yeah, and now that now when you even fill it more, now the incorporation of scheme really comes into play where not just pace, not just three point shooting, but specifically what are you doing you know in certain situations because you have the ammunition and that

you can use to do what he envisioned. You know, I know Brett still has a lot of plays in his you know that he carries in his bag that he hasn't even been able to bring out yet. So there's still a lot more to Brett Brown as far as coaching goes, I think, but I think he's done a wonderful job. And it's not just the coaching on the floor, it's the building of the culture and you

and I have seen it from day one. I remember meeting with Brett over in Camden back in twenty thirteen because he knew I was from South Jersey, asking me questions about where players might live when the facility was built in Camden and talking about that, like his vision

was so long ranging. It wasn't x'es and o's, it wasn't feeding the post or shooting threes, and it's the culture has really come to where he envisioned and it's it's only going I think, I really do think this it's only going to get better and better from here. He's wrapping up here in number five with the Sixers.

Joel Embiid has been with the organization for four years, but as of Sunday, completing his eighty second career game, twenty two point four points, just under ten rebounds, just under three assists, two blocks in just under thirty minutes a game. I mean, it's tough to argue with that. It is. And you know what I did. I went

back and I looked at the first year. Most of them were eighty one eighty two games of like Shaquille O'Neill, Tim Duncan, David Robinson, a couple more guys, and he's absolutely right there, Like he is right there with those guys. The one thing, if his numbers are down a little bit from their's, and they aren't far maybe someone I think Shack was like thirteen rebounds or fourteen rebounds a game. Shack played ten more minutes a game than Joel Embiid.

Like those guys that came in, Robinson, Duncan, Shaquille O'Neill, they played close to forty minutes a game their first year, while as we see in Joel's first year, which just ended the other night, with eighty two games, he's under thirty. So he's putting up these numbers in like ten minutes less time. So he's right there. You know, it took a while to get there, but I think I think his progression and will be exactly and probably surpass what

fandom had in mind when when he was drafted. I'm still trying to figure out what type of figure he's going to be in the context of the league. Obviously within the Delaware Valley beloved gets on the court, there have been some situations this year where you can tell it gets a little intense. Obviously Russell Westbrook comes to mind.

But then you know, there's the moments like Cleveland Thursday night where he embraces Lebron and you can see Lebron's eyes light up when he sees him, and even observing some of the stuff during All Star Weekend, his interactions with players, like that conversation that was caught on the sideline, yeah, with Horford and then like Kyle Lowry pumping him up. Yeah, but he really does seem to command a lot of respects somehow this quickly amongst some of the games the league. Yeah,

it is fun to watch. I think they see what he could be by watching him on the floor, and then they get to know him and they see just this unbelievably big personality that is so engaging and so attractive, like it's like a bug lights Like he's the guy you want to be around, you know. Um, I think the Russell Westbrook stuff is fun. I think it's good. You know, you're creating a rivalry, all right, you know, you want to be the big dog. You go after the big dog. So I think it was neat that

that Joel decided to make that a personal thing. Nothing dirty or anything like that. But I like that. I like the fact two guys can go out there and so to speak, punch each other all night long, and then afterwards, you know, kind of smile and laugh about it, and hey, I gave it my best, you gave it your best, better team one to night and then move on. So I think we're gonna see a lot more of it. And I do think that he and Ben have a

nice yin yang aspect to their personality. I do. I think Ben's more than you know, sit back watching like, oh my god, this guy's crazy. But they do play off of each other. Well, yeah, I Ben won't be the kind of guy. I don't think that that's ever going to you know, given the raise the roof and trust the process and come on, guys, get into it. But but he'll subtly do things that will get the fans, you know, like like really really into it. So I

agree with you. The yin and yang of it, I think is a good good call on your part, Like he'll give a long stare after a big emphatic dunk. Yeah like that. Yeah, No, it's it's it's the subtleness is there? Um wanted two. I think we talked about bands jump shot a little bit and not to be labor a point, has it looked to you to the naked eye that there's been a little bit more of that first uh the last couple. I do. Yeah, I think he's I think that twelve fifteen mostly twelve. I

think he's he's getting a little more comfortable taking it. Um. I think he has to obviously, Um, but yeah, I I there's so many times though he he gives it up without even I think knowing that he gives it up like like he'll be a defenderal back up and he's already looking to pass, Whereas if he was even thinking shoot as he's picking the ball up, he could just be like, Oh, they're gonna leave me, let me

pop this. So once he gets more comfortable with his shot and more confid I think we'll see it more and more because I'm in a point where I'm trying to figure out how much of it is lack of confidence, how much of it is him just being so determined and believing that his drives are his highest percentage shots because he I think it was two jumpers he made, one of them that he took on Lebron James in Thursday's game. So to me, that's like, all right, you're not going to take a shot like that at the

elbow if you don't have some belief you know. It wasn't like a rush shot, clock situation or anything like that. Yeah, But then in hearing him talk about it, because people do ask him about a lot, he's just like, I just feel like my percentages and my odds are at their highest if I can like load up and just drive it inside. Because he's got that frame that he has. Yeah, it's interesting. I don't know. Yeah, I don't. I don't think it's a problem. I don't think that's a problem

that he thinks. I mean, look, if if you're gonna ask pretty much anybody, what's your highest percentage shot, they're gonna say, oh, two handed dunk down the lane is pretty good. But yeah, he'll he'll get more comfortable with the league, He'll get he'll get more knowledgeable about I think he's a past first guy obviously. Um So sometimes when that happens, you do pass up shots that you

don't even know you're passing up. I think when he becomes really aware of that, like like I said, when he's going to throw that pass and sees the defender backing up that maybe, all right, let me hold this a half a second longer. I can make this shot, and then he takes it. Uh, that'll come. I think it'll come with play and time and obviously with the confidence of making the shot. What did you think his uh splits were going to be this year, turning back

the clock to October, I think I think it might be. Uh, it might be chronicled somewhere. I think I went something like sixteen eight and seven. All right, that's like eight and six something like that. And it was after preseason, after seeing him. M I'm pretty sure that I wrote it down that it is somewhere, but I you know, this guy's just the game's so easy to him, and he really does look like that, and he just has

a talent bride that's like nobody else possesses. You know, he's I remember first time I saw him in Las Vegas and then interviewing people that played with him, They're like, look, yeah, he's six ten, but you can't believe how fast he is. You can't believe how quick he is. You know, his handle is unbelievable. We see that stuff and we just think, oh, it's a six ten guy. Oh it's cool he can

handle button. No, but no, he's got six one guard skills and um and he's always around the basketball, you know, and it does the game just seems to come really really easy too. Or you can put something like that down on the block and post him up. I mean, it's that's the isolation I was talking about too. You know,

like you you can do that. You can you can run something opposite side where it looks like you're going to Joel and do a swing swing and then all of a sudden, oh cheez, there's been Simmons one on one on the block, and yeah, that's that's a that's a nice mismatch to have. That's the greatest thing about this team right now, they get anytime they go on the floor, they can have two of the biggest offensive

mismatches in the league. Right you know, you're absolutely and like that's cool, and you can make the arguments say, oh, but when they double team Joe, you know he turns the ball, okay, but a double team is kind of what you want. And that's why they're surrounding him with three point shooters. When he learns to catch the ball and feel the double coming, he can kick it out to the right player, or it's a kick and a pass and a pass and there's your wide open three.

So that'll all come. A double team right now is causing turnovers a lot with him and a lot of times with Simmons. But once they learn this game, that's gonna mean a lot of different things in a positive way. It's funny that sometimes you don't get to appreciate something we have a player until you get to watch him firsthand and see it a little bit for me guiltiest charge. JJ Reddick didn't quite recognize and appreciate just how excellent he was off the ball, always doing things. I'll be honest,

Bell and Ellie kind of the same deal. Like it's moving often, he gets opportunities driving to the basket. I don't know. I feel like that's something between the two of them. You can really see now and watching Bill and Ellie for about a week and a half, two weeks, why they felt like they could just kind of throw him into the packages that they have for JJ Reddick and let him go to work. Oh, no question, And

it's I tell this story a lot. When the six or signed Reddick, I went back and watched his high school state championship game his senior year. You want to talk about constant movement. Oh my god, Brian, I was tired watching Like the kid never stopped moving never. I think he went off for forty They were running everything they could at him. He just figurated through picks all over the place. Catch shoot boom, catch shoot boom. He's been doing it all his life, and it really is

if you're really in the basketball isolate him. A couple of times just when they go down the floor. Just isolate him and watch the work he puts in just to try to get off a shot, just to try to get open for a shot. It's amazing. And then once he catches it to be able to drain it at the consistency he does, it's it's it's I JJ Reck was a guy when I was covering in the league, bride that when I went to a gym and you

know me, I go out on the floor early. He was one of the guy that was must see, watch shoot before the game. He's just like the one that he had against the Bucks where it was a transition play I think, and was a bouncing ye like looks at the ball bouncing, but looks at his feet at the same timing. Sure he gets behind, snatches it and throws it like that. That comes from a lot of

time in the gym. Ridiculous. Yeah, all right, wrapping this up, what do you think we're gonna be talking about in about five weeks from five weeks from now, You're talking about how they match up with those Washington Wizards, and you're gonna say, yeah, if they take the first two games, which will be played at the Wells Fargo Center. Okay, you know they have a shot at advancing to the next series, which I hope will be against those Boston Celtics.

All Right, all right, how do you like that? All Right? I want that Celtics Sixers rivalry back. I think that that's and people have been kind of getting around the storyline. And I think that when whether it's coaches or players have been asked about it, they kind of, at least from the Sixer side, have been reluctant to say, like, yeah, the rivalry is like kind of getting back, probably mostly out of respect to Boston because Boston obviously has done a lot. But I agree with you, that would be

fantastic if it became a Sixers Boston thing. And tell me, the NBA wouldn't love it, right, young Towers, because you've had the West dominating for years and you get this rivalry back on the East coast. I mean, it would just it's it's NBA euphoria tremendous. Yeah, great wisdom, mister Cooney. Thanks man, you are the best. Mister Seltzer. I appreciate you big. Thanks to Bob for stopping by and hanging out on the podcast. Thank you, as always for listening.

We'll have a day after game rewind edition to the podcast available on Wednesday following the six or stop in Charlotte for a seven o'clock game on Tuesday night, so if be sure to check your feeds for updates, talk to you then see it