The BroadCast | Mailbag Monday - Showing Love for Shake

a Sixers game. Their matchup on the road, second night of a back to back against Oklahoma City was postponed as a result of precautionary measures surrounding a positive test that resulted from the seventy Sixers game against Memphis on Saturday, A very tight, close game. The Sixers came up two points short. What would you end up doing with the

free Sunday night, Lauren? I had a family virtual birthday situation, so I was going to be balancing that with the game anyway, and so it was kind of nice that I got to just focus on one thing instead of having split attention. It was meant to be a Rosen family gathering virtual style, uninterrupted. Indeed, great, excellent. Well, we just try to make use of our our free nights

and we can. I ordered some Chinese with a wife, kids, went down to bed at a reasonable hour, and we watched the first two episodes of Your Honor on Showtime. Not sure if you've heard of it, Brian Cranston, new show. I've heard it's excellent. Actually, someone just told me about that show yesterday, so I might have to check it out. I was glued, I was fixed to it. I had to cut myself off after two episodes because it was getting late. My wife fell asleep after the first one,

but she even still liked it. She watched one and then fell asleep. So usually her quota for an episode on a night watch is like one, so we got one out of her, and then she fell asleep for episode two, and now I'm gonna have to go back and rewatch episode two with her. But it's good. I like it, So that love that for you, guys. I'm glad you got to have it non basketball evening as a couple. We'll take him when we can get him, you know, the little things, Because there have been, of course,

a lot of basketball evenings. It was trending at one point last week Lauren that I thought we were going to have a semi regular mail bag Monday. We haven't had a lot of them yet, but we're shooting to have as many regular, normal ones as we possibly can. And I thought we're gonna have a normal one. But then, of course Sunday night's game was postponed. So last we left off with the sixer is a tough defeat against the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday by two points, a game

they could have won. Yeah, a game they should have won, probably not, So I was trying to think of how can we theme the mail bag this week to try and sing sunshine, unicorns and rainbows. I don't think we have to force it too much because Shake Milton has been frigging awesome. He has been just phenomenal, perhaps the best sixth man in the league right now, continuing towards a potential award at the end of the season. I've heard buzz for I'm curious what you think about this.

I've heard buzz for Shake Milton most improved player. But I would argue that this improvement started last season. So if you're just noticing it now welcome, But I would say sixth Man of the Year type situation feels a little bit more on the news for mister Milton. But it's cool to even have his name being brought up

in discussions like these. I mean, if we had said a year ago that he was going to be considered for these types of awards, you would know that he was going to have quite a year, and he has. I don't think the two needs to be mutually exclusive. I think that you can have a most improved Shake Milton and a best sixth man Shake Milton all about it. I mean there's a lot there's a lot of people on this team that are going to be candidates for awards. Yes,

very cool. We talked about that, yeah, on our Friday Deep Dive with Devon last week, which I enjoyed. We'll have another one coming up this week. Talked about Joel embiid MVP possibilities, Tyrese Maxie, and the conversation for some of the highest rookie honors. We always know Ben Simmons is going to be a prey, an All League defensive candidate, So I agree with you. I think the seventy six ers about a month in individually, guys are shining and

standing out. I would add Tobias Harris potential all star. I would say that when the Coach of the Year Executive of the Year conversation begins, we should have a couple of people in the conversation there. If things continue the way that they have been. I mean, obviously they've counted more losses than they've wanted to in the last few or let's say week and a half, but all the losses have been undermanned. Right when the core group

is together, they haven't lost yet. So I am curious to see, once they can all get back together again, however long that might take, how good they will continue to look, and how they will grow. Because if you remember Celts before, guys had to go out with health and safety protocols. Before Joel has had to deal with his irritation. Let's say, because it feels like the injury isn't as serious. The folks that make those decisions don't want us to look at this injury as something super serious,

so let's call it an irritation. But those guys were all saying they think they can get better, and then we lost a lot of people for a couple of weeks, so I'm excited to see how they sort of capitalize on what they were saying prior to becoming as shorthanded as they've been. That was a ramble. I apologize, but I think you know where I'm going. Ramble perhaps, but

well articulated points and valid points as well. I think so much excitement surrounding this team in recent days has had to do with the continued emergence of Shake, Milton. Like you said, Lauren, for people who have been in the know with the Sixers, shouldn't be surprising to see Shake continue to do great things. We saw it emerge around this time last year, and whether it was during the hiatus coming back in training camp after missing a week due to health and safety protocols, our guy has

not missed a beat. So this is going to be a Milton mail bag Monday. Let us dip in. You have one new message. We're going to start with someone who's become a good friend of ours in terms of submissions through the Graham Nicole dot France. She's chimed in a couple of times and I wanted to start off with this prompt from her. I see how consistent Shake's been, even after sitting out due to health and safety protocols.

I threw up on my Instagram, which is at Seltzer six or snaps what's impressing the most about Shake and Nicole talking about how consistent he's been. And yes, the man has come out and he has scored fifty nine points in his first two games back from a week's absence. Pretty damn good. I thought it was funny after the first game back when Tobias Harris, Shake, Milton Matisse Bible

came back from their week away. Tobias said after the game, I need to know where Shake has been staying, because he must have some sort of great gym setup, because he really came out firing, I mean, the first game back to set a season high. He obviously didn't misbeat it, and it is interesting that that could potentially be a little bit of a silver lining when these guys have to take time away that is precautionary, not because of an illness, that they can at least get fresh legs

under him. Because we talked about that with all three of the guys that came back, they all looked pretty fresh, pretty spry out there, which is a rare sight when the season is as condensed as it is this year. I couldn't agree with you more. That's something that I've been thinking of more and more in the back of

my mind. Is just especially when it comes to Shake, like, yeah, the guy looks fresh, and maybe this time where he just, even though it was a few weeks into the season, had an opportunity to reset recharge might have done him some good because he's come out and he has played fantastic. I mean, just looking at some of his numbers over the last two games, he's combined to shoot twenty one of thirty three from the field, and he's five for nine from outside the arc, twelve or thirteen from the

free throw line, and eleven assists. I think he's just had a really well rounded two games where the Sixers talking about Miami and then at Memphis. And that's even considering in the first half of the Memphis game he had a bit of a slower start, and Doc Rivers said it looked like he was trying to get his teammates involved, but that Doc would prefer that when he's hot, he stays hot, keeps going, keeps shooting, keeps commanding attention and commanding touches, and as soon as he did that

in the second half, obviously he exploded. So interesting to hear that Doc wants him to be even more aggressive than he has been because it feels like it feels like Shake is still developing right, Like this isn't peak Shake Milton yet and that's really exciting. Thank you Nicole Franz on Instagram for leading us off on this week's mailbag. You have one new message. Next up, We're going to Glubin Flubin also through igs saying Shake Milton. What impresses

you the most about him? And gluben Fluban says his physicality and ability to now finish through contact compared to last year is amazing. I concur I think for me this has been one of the things I've enjoyed watching The most about Shake this season is the man lowers the head down, steam rolls through traffic, gets the rim finishing and we're seeing the rewards of that. Of course, he's scoring, but he's also getting the line more, which

I think Bode's great for him and great for the Sixers. Yeah, he's not scared of anybody. Then he'll tell you that he feels like he can match up with anybody in this league. He has no problem going for it against top defenders. And that comment makes me think of what Shake told us in his preseason interview that he had gained a bunch of weight, and we sort of said, okay,

like maybe he has. It was kind of hard to tell, we hadn't seen him play yet, but it sounded like maybe he was I don't know, overselling the weight that he had gained, but I see it, Selts. I think he looks like he has built up a lot of muscle and he's able to drive through traffic that way because his body can absorb that type of impact now. So props to him for like really making the most of a condensed offseason. We talk about this season being condensed,

but they didn't have that much time away. So for him to build muscle and to change his body in that time that they had is really impressive to me. It's funny to that end. I was looking through Giffee to post a gift of Shake the other day, and I was trying to see if there was anything current from our gift station that we had for our meady

days this year. There was not, but My point to all this is that I could tell that there was not because I was seeing some of the gifts from previous seasons, and I'm like, that looks like a young Shake. Shake today looks like an older, more physically mature, chiseled Shake, tough, Shake well, And that's a conversation that we keep having with a few of these guys. Shake Milton all of a sudden, not a youngster on this team. Same with a Ben Simmons, with a Joel Embiid, even a Matisse Thyble.

Like these guys are are young ish, especially Shake Matisse, but they're not like these young gangly kids anymore. Like these guys are are are making moves and taking steps in a cool direction. I agree Shake is playing like an adult. Shake is not a surprise. He's not some standout kid that's coming in that no one's heard of. Like he is an adult and an established player in this league now, and I think that's really cool considering

the story and the path that he took. Gluben Fluben, thank you very much to the voicemail line we go you have one new message Chapters. Night's game was canceled. I was mostly disappointed in just being not being able to see Shake Milton play. It is a pleasure watching him play so smooth, and you just root for a guy like that. I am with you, Adam. I too

was bummed that Sunday's game was postponed. I mean, I did enjoy being able to spend some time in each Chinese and watch Your Honor with my wife, But I was looking to see how Shake Milton backed up yet another great game on Saturday in trying to lead the seventy six Ers to what was hopefully a rebound and a win after the road trip got off to a little bit of a bumpy start. He is really smooth. That's one of the things I thought. Adam hit the nail on and he said, it's easy to root for

a guy like that. And shake story is a terrific one. I mean, on the surface, right, fifty fourth pick three years ago got it. That's a great story to see someone doing what he's doing. But the fact that he was injured his third year in college probably knocked him out of the first round and the Sixers were still able to get him, and he's fought through injuries and being in and out of the lineup with the Sixers, especially through his first two years, really the first year

and a half, and here he is. He's been a great success story. And we know how hard the guys put in the work behind the scenes. Well, he spent time, plenty of time in the G League those first two years were more G League than NBA, and then when he spent time more so with the Sixers last season, it took a long time for him to get an

opportunity to even play. And so we have to keep in mind the way that Shake Milton stayed ready and prepared himself without getting legitimate NBA minutes, and then all of a sudden, was just totally ready. Like you said about a year ago, when Ben Simmons was out, Shake came in and he was completely ready. It didn't take him any time to ramp up to the competition, It didn't take him any time to adjust to NBA play

versus G League plays. The amount of work that he must have been putting in behind the scenes can't be understated. He really came into a league that he maybe wasn't prepared for at the beginning, and all of a sudden looked entirely prepared for. This is a guy that really puts in work, and I think it bodes well for the future that he's going to continue to work at this rate. Sky's kind of the limit for our guy, Shake. Keep going back to some of the insights about Shake

that his mom, Lisa gave us. During the off season, we did a Mother's Day feature on a couple of players and their moms. We had the chance, Laura and I did to speak with Lisa Milton, just giving us insights into the shaping of Shake. It might be worth a reshare at some point soon. I think it might be time when I get it back out there, let people dive into some of Shake's backstory. But yeah, I mean, like, hey, he not only was committed to basketball because his dad

played with him. When his dad passed away, he had to take on a lot of ownership, helping out his mom with the family, all that stuff. He is a determined, focused dude, There's no doubt about it. Yeah, and just an elite human. I really enjoy Shake. He's very kind, He's very a little soft spoken, and talking to his mom and seeing where he came from really was special. I agree with you, maybe time for a reshare of the conversation that we got to have with his mom,

who was, by the way, lovely. It's not a surprise that Shake ended up lovely, but yeah, really cool to see where these guys come from, because we forget that they didn't They didn't pop out of the woman into the world NBA players, like someone had to raise all of these people that are now big stars, and it's really cool to see where they all came from, especially a guy like Shake who had to work for everything

that he's gotten. Adam, thank you for that. On the voicemail line again, you can hit us anytime with any type of Sixers thought you want two on five four zero three pods two on five four zero three seven six three seven more in the mail bag with Shake

Milton in a moment. But Lauren and I want to tell you about a really exciting announcement the seventy sixers made earlier on Monday, Martin Luther King Day, and that is the seventy Sixers by Black program Yes Love It Sixers dot com slash by Black local owned black businesses have an opportunity to apply Lauren for some awsome assistance funded by the seventy Sixers as part of their twenty million dollar investment towards championing racial equality, and it was

awesome to see this program launch on Martin Luther King Day very appropriately and just seeing how it's going to try and assist local owned black businesses is really refreshing

and exciting, very important, very good to see. And like you said, Sixers dot Com Slash by Black, that is an opportunity for any business to apply to become an official partner of the team, which I think is really cool, really special, and I hope that a lot of businesses are going to be able to be rightfully highlighted by this initiative. So if you're listening out there and your local black business owner, sixers dot com slash by Black, more information there about how you can apply for grants

assistance and that is open through February. The second is part of these seventy Sixers by Black program. Back to the Milton Monday mail bag we go. We'll return to our social mentions. Mott Liam on Instagram. What is impression the most about Shake Milton? He's holding his own on defense Defense spelled larn d e f e n ce. So I'm wondering from where mot Liam hails, perhaps from across the pond maybe we have to look up where defense is spelled to the C possible possible, and he

says aggressive offensively and some serious finishing skills. We talked about the aggressive offense and some serious finishing skills, and I think that when it comes to the defensive side, Larn, I mean, that's that's really where Shaik has a great opportunity to continue to grow over the course of his career.

And so far the numbers are pretty good. He's sub one hundred with his individual defensive rating, and I think that that's an area where his strength, his increased strength that we were discussing, is going to help him that much more as well. He's made big time strides on the defensive end, and it's something that he and Doc Rivers both expressed. We're going to be already for Shake this year because he is so good offensively that Doc

didn't want him to be a liability on defense. He wanted to be someone that he could trust on defense, and Shake wanted to be that person, and he's totally answered the call. I do think he's done a really good job defensively. He's definitely not a liability over there, and we forget Shake milton seven foot wingspan on a six five guy, So there are opportunities for him to be a really good defender, especially when it comes to

that length. And it's been cool to see him express his desire to grow and then grow rather quickly on that end, no doubt about it. I think that is only going to make him that much more of a complete player once that continues to round out. Thank you very much, mott Leam, you have one new message. Alex Penny Underscore also on Instagram talking about Shake Milton's defense being on the rise. Alex his comment also said he is a genuine baller. His advanced stats have him at

top forty. Is to the point about Shake being a genuine bawler. I think, going back to what you said, Lauren, with that like quiet confidence, this is like I'm not messing around Shake. I like this attitude from Shake. I think I'll say this. I think at one point, like right, there was the soft spokenness and like maybe a gentle

side to Shake. I think he's still soft spoken, but I think the gentleness shed I think this is a more kind of like mean has the wrong connotations, but intense, like I wish I could use some other words here that are coming to mind more easily. But hopefully everyone out there is is getting the picture I'm trying to paint here. It's just like I'm not messing around. Shake insert some other words. Well, it's a confident shake. I'm

willing to go with confident. I think you can be gentle and confident at the same time, and you're on court persona and off court persona do not have to match, So I would say this is a very confident shake Milton's. It's the way that Doc wants him to be playing with his foot on the gas all the time, and it is cool to see him bring that drive, that determination, and that confidence to the court on a nightly basis.

Because this is not a guy that's timid. This is not a guy that's trying to give up the ball. When he has it. He knows what to do. He knows how to find his teammates when that's the right move, but he also knows how to take it into his own hands and get buckets. So props to shake. Seriously, this has been This has been really awesome to watch. Maybe one of my favorite plot lines during my time with the Sixers is seeing how well he has advanced in such a short amount of time, something that Alex

Penny also brought up. He alluded to some of the advanced statistics having Shake up pretty high one advanced at least from the last couple of games. That I love his effective field goal percentage, which waits three pointers made more than two pointers is over seventy one percent. I mean, his game has just been so well rounded, especially as of late larn and I love the fact that Doc Rivers is doing nothing to try and dampen his confidence. If anything, he wants to empower Shake that much more.

And his teammates are too. His teammates are totally gassing him up, like they love watching Shake succeed. And that's been something obviously without fans in the building, it's it's been a bummer and it's been weird to watch basketball. But you can get a better view of the bench

and the way that people interact with each other. And I do think every time that Shake scores, it's that it's not that his teammates are surprised, it's that they almost can't believe what they're seeing, Like they know that Shake can do it, but they continue to be excited and Surprised is the wrong word, because they all know that he can play the way that he does, but there's this genuine sense of excitement every time he gets

a big bucket. And then after the game you hear guys like Dwight Howard to Bias Harris saying he needs to keep going, he needs to keep doing it. He's so huge for this team, and those are of course, really respected veterans in this league that really believe in this guy. So it is cool to see the way that the group has rallied around him and continue to

be so willing to celebrate his success. Let's say, I don't know, Lauren, if this would necessarily people smarter than I would have to make an official ruling on this, if this would necessarily qualify for an advanced stat quote unquote, it might be a more in depth, multi layered stat. But something else that ups out is Shake's success. We talked about this earlier. With driving and finishing, he is second behind Ben Simmons and not buy a lot in

drives taken per game. Ben's averaging twelve and a half drives per game, Shake right around eleven and a half. But Shake his points He's averaging seven and a half points on drives per game, and that is by about two and a half points better than the next closest sixer, which it's actually two of them, Tobias Harris and Tyreese Maxie.

They average around five points off drives per game. So I mean that's just those in the numbers that reinforce what everyone's eyes are seeing that this guy's getting to the hole and he's not missing when he gets there. When you talked about his EFG with his threes, the fact that he has both of those stats, the drives and the threes together means that he's playing really efficient basketball and doing a really good job at things that

are difficult to do. He's it's really cool to see the way that he can sort of score from anywhere, and particularly in the areas that some guys in this league struggle. In Shake, Milton does not strug. Just to give that number of the number of well the average number of drive points per game that Shake scores, give it some context. He's tied with Jason Tatum and Donovan Mitchell, right behind James Harden, not too far behind Jimmy Butler

or Damian Lillard or Zach Levine. About a point and a half behind Kawhi Leonard, the league leader in drive points per game, Luca don Chich at around thirteen and a half and Bradley Beale right after him at twelve and a half. So just putting into perspective where Shake is, I mean, some of those guys at the top are at a higher level. But again mentioning a few of the names that Shakes clumped with right now, that tells you how much good the guy's doing. Good company to keep.

That's all I got to say. That's incredible, It's awesome. I'm not sure if there's much more that we need to say, great company. We will wrap up this week's Milton mail Bag Monday with some rapid fire. You have one new message, a couple responses, aren't I got on Twitter when I just threw out there, Shake Milton is blank. Fill it in. Keizy at eug Kesy says Lou will two point zero a walking bucket. Mah, I'm here for it. I think the Lou comparisons are interesting because we talk

about six men that Doc Rivers has coached. But I would dare to say that that Shakes game might be even more versatile than Lou Wills. That might be a hot take, but I do think that the comparison is a nice one. But I think Shake can be even better, especially at the at the rate that he's growing. I think eug kesy one thing that I look at is that if you go back and it's amazing how long ago. It's like fifteen years ago. And check out Lou Will's

first two years with the seventy six ers. He had a very minor role, and then it was in year three when he started to break out average double figures for the first time and really start to emerge. Shake's timeline right now this is year three, so I think that what we're seeing in the first month and the season perhaps could follow a similar arc and parallel in terms of the storyline. Year three going to be a

potential breakout for Shake Milton. I think on a national level, people around here saw what was brewing last year towards the end of the season, but I think across the league people are really going to respect Shake once this season is said and done. Knock on wood, everyone stays healthy. Shake Milton is Wahwa Dan says, a certified bucket getter. When he shoots it. I think it's going in. I agree,

can confirm, can confirm, certified bucket getter. Shake Milton a great story for the seventy six ers as we shut down this week's mail bag Monday, A Milton mail bag Monday. I have no problem dedicating a full mail bag to one player Laren when said player warrants it. And I think that we can say that about Shake right now, not at all. It was fun to do this for tyrese Yes a week ago, two weeks ago, a week ago, and it's fun to do it for Shake this week.

And maybe next week we'll have a new breakout star or consistent star to discuss. So thanks for submitting all your questions, guys, we really appreciate it. Going back to what we talked about at the top of the pod, what am I rooting for for next week's mailbag Monday, I'm working and hoping for what we would call a quote unquote normal mailbag Monday. I would be down for that.

Let's get through the week, you know, would crossed. Got a couple of big games against the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons, and then in the middle of next week, in about ten days, at home against the Lakers. So the schedule getting fun over the next couple days. Again, let's knock on wood cross fingers, hope that everything is good on the health and safety protocol front and these games get in. Lauren Rosen, thank you for this mailbag Monday.

Thanks for always doing this with me Celts. It's fun before we sign off. Coming up this week on the seventy six ers podcast network main Fee Tomorrow, it's going to be the latest episode of Coach Check with our guy Matt Murphy and Blue Coach general manager Matt Lily talk about all things Coats. They had a draft recently, so Matt and Matt are going to do a deep dive into what lies ahead for the Blue Coats bubble. And then on Friday, we'll have our latest deep dive

with divine givens. Subject to be determined depending the outcome of what happens this week. I'm Brian Seltzer saying so long. Thanks. It's always for chiming in on the mailbag. If you submitted and we read you're prompt you're on the lookout at Brian Seltzer on Twitter, and we'll announce the winner in a couple of days, see you