The Bucks, You Say?

Parks Casino. Not in the craft beer Well, that is totally fine, because the Beer Garden also has the classics bud Light, Yengling, It's got Victory, Goose Island, Stella, Local, Domestic. Anywhere on the planet there is an outstanding beer selection waiting for you at the Beer Garden in Parks Casino. What could this possibly have to do with the seventy six Ers podcast. Well, on March twenty fourth, it is the next seventy Sixers Night at the Beer Garden in

Parks Casino. You get to cheer on the seventy Sixers, hang out with seventy Sixers Entertainment team members, and what is perhaps arguably the most important detail of all, you get one complimentary drink and light appetizers on the house from the great people at Parks Casino. If I weren't working that night, I would most definitely be there, but

working is what I will be doing instead. You should get there March twenty fourth, Parks Casino at the Beer Garden for the next seventy Sixers night should be an awesome time. Now it's time for the pod. The seventy Sixers are back from the All Star break and they returned in a big way. The final buzzer signals the end of an overtime win for the Sixers, their first overtime victory of the year. Up next another major test

Saturday Night in the primetime spot in Milwaukee Game. I still feel like I am getting to know the seventies Sixers, even at this point in the season. If the joell embeat that showed up against the Nets as the Joel embad that shows up, I have a lot of confidence in what the Sixers can do. That's ESPN reporter Malika Andrews, and she'll weigh in on all things Sixers and Bucks on this episode of the broadcast. What's up, everybody, How you doing I'm Brian Seltzer. I hope you had a

great All Star Game break. I personally was not like many of the hard working people in my department at the seventy sixers. I was not in Chicago. I enjoyed watching what was an outstanding All Star game, featured great performances from two seventy sixers, Ben Simmons and Joel Ebad from the comforts of a remote, semi isolated location, but it was great. Joe and Ben were awesome. If you had a memorable tushy tap, two really good performances by

two really talented dudes. All and off from the seventy six ers standpoints, they were well represented in the Windy City. Coming up, we will speak with Melika Andrews from ESPN. She will be in Milwaukee for ESPN's Big NBA Saturday primetime game on ABC exclusively on ABC Saturday, eight thirty Eastern.

But first I want to remind you that to subscribe to our pod feed, all you gotta do is go to anywhere you get your podcasts, type in seventy six Ers podcast or Sixers podcast Network and that'll take you to our feed, and you can subscribe on Spotify Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, tune in, Stitcher, SoundCloud, wherever you get your pods, there we shall be and we hope you subscribe right now. So I'm gonna be honest. This gig that I've got

it is not a particularly hard one. You know, as passionate as we are about sports, covering a team is not like a true, true matter of life or death. I'm not a surgeon anything as serious as that. I'm not working the overnight shift on the Northeast Extension expanding the highway. This is a relatively pleasant gig. But each year, if I'm being totally honest, I am very much ready for the All Star break to come. It's an opportunity to recharge the batteries, reset for a couple of days,

get the mind and body right. Then you know, maybe after four days I get the etch again. I want to be in an arena, see some action. I'm ready for more. And given what we saw from the seventy six Ers in the last game before the break, I was excited. I was eager to see if they could carry that momentum over. On the eve of the sixers first game back, the team practiced in Camden and there was no mistaking what Brett I was saying. The head coach sounded certain his seven foot all star was poised

for big things. I think like he is in a space that is excellent as it relates to his excitement seeing this final third home to grab the team by the throat and lead us in a bunch of different areas. I've been with him a long time, and when I look at him and I talk to him, and I hear his words, and you know, we're always sort of like you would with your children, judging their body language and all that, I just think he's in a really

good space. And sure enough, man did Joe ellenbiid ever deliver Thursday night against the Brooklyn Nets and the Sixers one twelve, one oh four overtime one. Here's duel downlow against Alan, comes into the nearer corner, it beat baseline, shoots it on Allan and that's good man. He's on the fire. Here's with running shot, Noah, he reps the rebound out Patty slams it in Joel and be with

a big time offensive rebound and a dove. Here's Joel, boy, What a move by me right on the yard right yuard a euro Step and it bead bimics his old movies he changes in afterwards embed was understandably and bolded I'm here, I belong him being the best player in the ward. You know, I just intend to just um, you know, keep coming out every single night and just play hard and trying to get wins and you know,

just go out and trying to win a championship. Love seeing Joel Embiid look good on the court, but really love hearing him sound good, confident, with that swagger and sense of self assuredness and self belief. It was a vintage Joel embiad performance and Thursday's win thirty nine points, a season high, sixteen rebounds, two block shots, the biggest one, of course, sending the game to overtime on Wilson Chandler and for my money, probably Joe's. I would put it

as his second best performance of the season. My favorite still the December game at Boston when he totally took over. But man, he was damn good in the victory on Thursday. I'll have an opportunity to back it up along with the seventy sixers when they faced the Milwaukee Bucks at fiveser Form Saturday, Night eight thirty exclusively on ABC Saturday Primetime ESPN. NBA reporter Malika Andrews is going to be at the game, and we bring it on the podcast

now to preview it. Molika, how you doing. I'm doing just fine, you know, running around like all of us are all the time. But other than that, I can't complain. It is the busy time of the regular season. In the NBA trade deadline done, we still got to buy out market stuff. But this is the true home stretch. Big game on Saturday Night, Sixers Bucks. What type of weight do you assign to regular season games once the

All Star break passes? You know, it's interesting because when we're talking about the Bucks, it seems like for them waiting and as you hear, I'm at an airport. When it comes to the Bucks a regular season game, you know, they pretty much at this point, even though they still have twenty something games left, have the one seed locked up. They have such a sizeable lead on the Raptors and

it's hard to see anybody catching them. That being said, how I evaluate the rest of these regular season games is looking at the matchups that we could potentially see in the playoffs, and so sixers Bucks is absolutely one of those matchups. They're both very strong teams in the East. They both have superstars on their teams. They have excellent pieces surrounding those superstars. And so that's sort of how much I look into that. I look at, Okay, what

things here can transfer to the playoffs. That being said, the Bucks dominated the Raptors in the regular season last year, and then we saw them, you know, lose four games in a row, which never happened in the regular season to the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference Finals. So all your notes can just be up into a million pieces. Even if you're taking them diligently and trying to find hidden meetings and codes within a regular season game, it can be such a tough call at trying to discern

what's real, what's not real, or what lies in between. Right, I certainly want to ask you about the seventy six ers, but I know that you have a history spending some time around the Milwaukee Bucks before this breakout, fantastic season they've been happening. Did you anticipate this type of year

from the Bucks coming to this extent? You know I did, because let me let me tell you why, and not to say, you know, I'm the smartest person in the room, but we got a taste of it last year, and I think that from being around Jannis, I know this. I know that Yannis is like a superhero that absorbs other people and takes on their superpowers and then comes

an even bigger cut type of superhero. Right, So when he loses in the Eastern Conference finals, when he sees what Kauai was able to do, he nods and he says, all right, all right, I see that, and I am going to rise to that occasion. Now, is it going to be perfect? I'm not suggesting that is he an amazing three point shooter or no, but we've seen him make some significant improvements in those areas, and so that should have been a foreshadowing to this season. Now, will

they win seventy games? I don't know. Are they focused on the regular season? I don't think so, because their shortcomings last year didn't come in the regular season. They came in the playoffs, and so this regular season was absolutely coming. Now the question becomes will they be able to build on what they started in the playoffs last year. Jannie isn't the first type of professional athlete to have,

at least from a superficial view. In my eyes, this type of demeanor whereas this grounded, humble, modest guy away from the court, and then when he steps in between the lines he becomes this beast. But for his case in particular, what makes him tick. Jannis has this combination

of an amazing physical gifts. His physical body nearly seven feet tall, his wingspand is enormous, right, and then you couple that with the fact that the man just never stops working his work ethic is something that I think we don't see as much with this generation of NBA stars. That's not to say they don't all take care of their bodies, they're not all looking for ways to fine tune their game. But Jannie takes it to the nth degree. He takes it even farther than I think the average

player does, and that is something that's incredibly impressive. One more question about the Bucks, then we will bring up some seventy six or stuff. What sense do you have of on their list of items about how they feel about their team? What is perhaps the biggest thing on their mind that they still despite how good and dominant they've been, they need to iron out before the playoffs start. I would say that the last big thing that the

Bucks are concerned about is just one. You know, Janie, as hard as he works, he's also had to learn to work hard at managing his body and his time. You know, in the path, Jannis has gone one hundred and ten percent all the time. And then there was this question of Okay, is he going to be rested and ready for the regular season. I think he's learned to be able to take a little bit of a

step back there. So that's one, and then the second thing for the Bucks is just whether or not they're going to be able that They're big questions really can't be answered in the regular season. Their big questions still linger in the playoffs. Their big questions are, you know, when it's coming down to the wire, who was going to hit those big shots right? Because that's what happened last year is defenders shut down Yannis. He wasn't able

to get to his sweet spots. Has his three game evolved enough to be able to hit those clutch minute three pointers or will he kicked it out to Eric Bloodsoe and regular season Eric bloodso shows up? Or is it going to be playoff Erry Bloodso that shows up those are the questions that honestly, I don't see the Bucks answering in the regular season. Those answers have to come in the playoffs. And ironically enough, that's a very similar theme for the seventy six ers, but a sense

of what they could be in the regular season. They knew the playoffs would be coming at some point, but it's ken they ultimately clear the hurdle from the past two years when they've been stopped in the second round. So what have you made of the Sixers this year? You know, it's still it's hard that you know, we say that All Star marks the halfway point, it really doesn't. It marks the two thirds point. And what I still feel like I am getting to know the seventy sixers

even at this point in the season. And I say that because they are clearly so good. They are so good at home, and they are still this waffling team on the road and we don't know night tonight which Joel Embiid is going to show up. So if the Joel Embiid that showed up against the Nets and was able to beat them in overtime, as the Joel Embiad that shows up. I have a lot of confidence in what the Sixers can do, but because they are so sporadic,

that's where the questions start to come from. Joel Embiid obviously a dynamic talent. What impressed you the most about that game he had again the nets? How long he was able to play. I mean, usually this is a guy you're trying to see stay under the you know, thirty five minute mark, and he was able to really lean in during the playoffs and I think that was something that was really impressive from him. And then you know, for him, it just so much of it comes down

to health. Can he stay healthy? He said earlier this season that was his goal to go into the playoffs healthy, and it's been dicey at times whether or not he's been able. He's going to be able to do that. Then one of the other pieces of the equation for the seventy six ers is Ben Simmons, who defensively has been fantastic this year. What growth have you seen from him in year three? You know, Ben has been able

to take a next step. You know, the thing about Ben, I don't even know if it's growth so much as just as just maturation. He's really been able to evolve, just in terms of the way he sees and reads the court and his relationship with Joel Embiid. I think

he knows him a little bit better now. Are there questions still lingering about whether or not Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons can play together while they're both in their prime and if one compliments the other, sure, but I do think, you know, he has been able to make up for the fact, if you will, that he is not the most confident shooter in the way he reads the court. But for him too, you know, Joel had this monstrous game against the Nets, and where was Ben Simmons?

He wasn't on the court, and so that kind of becomes the question. It's not so much a growth thing from either one of those two players, it's a chemistry thing. Is it that then has to be on the bench for Joel to explode like that? Or can those two things happen at the same time, And that's something we're

kind of still waiting to see. Where do you see Al Horford figuring into all of this, because of course the last two games the seventy six ers, well, they may not be married to this entirely for the rest of the season, they brought him off the bench. Yeah, and we've also seen him and Joel on the floor at the same time at times, which has been an

interesting combination. The thing about Al Horford is when I saw that signing for the seventy sixers, in my mind it was like, look, he is the honest stopper he has had. Even though Boston lost to the Bucks in five games last year, he has had a really excellent track record defending Janie as excellent as it can be, you know, guarding the reigning league MVP. But that's kind

of where I see him. I see him as the experienced voice in mind in the playoffs, and so whether or not they keep fiddling in the regular season with that lineup will be something that you know, Brett Brown has to yet to reveal. It's something that remains to be seen. But in the playoffs, I wouldn't I wouldn't be surprised to see that be tinkered with just a little bit more. And by the way, it's not a bad thing to have that be the firepower that's coming

off your bench. That's a luxury that a lot of teams would love to have. As we begin to wrap this up, while the seventy sixers is you alluded to, have been a little bit mercurial this year, especially between the performance at home and on the road, they can say that they have at least one victory against to the four teams ahead of them in the Eastern Conference. When you size up the remainder of this race, what do you see as the big obstacles for the seventy sixers.

There's certain teams you feel they match up better with than others. How do you view it? Yeah, I mean, they it's great that they have teams, they have wins over those four teams, but you know, as the Bucks will tell you, they had three wins I believe over the Raptors last year and it didn't make a difference, right, So it's sort of like you can only put so much stock into that. It's more about how those wins

came to be. And then my my my thing for the seventy sixers and I'm looking for for the rest of the season. Again, it's not so much the one specific team or one specific matchup for the Sixers. It's much more about discovering themselves, I think than any other team. Right, it's about whether or not they can win on the road, because guess what, in the playoffs, you're going to have to win on the road. It's you can't, you can't just you can't just win at home and make that work.

Will we see the same kind of really violent swings from them that we've seen earlier in the season, or will they ron that out? And then also, you know how many different looks can Brett Brown throw at a team in the playoffs, because that's the real test of the playoffs is that you have at least four games against someone to make adjustments. And the Sixers have so much diversity in their talent that they really could be throwing lots of different looks at teams and really surprising them.

And that's an advantage that they have. But for me, what I need to see from the Sixers for the rex of the season, and they know this, They've talked about this. It's not so much about what they can bring against other teams. It's who they are, just them when they're in the locker room, when they're going out in the court. What's the Sixers' identity? And I think that that's yet to be determined, and that's the edge

that the Bucks have. It's the edge that they had last year, it's the edge that they have this year. They have established who they are, what they're about, and nothing penetrates that. And I think that that's sort of an underrated X factor that comes into play when every little,

slight advantage counts in the playoffs. Last thing I'll ask you, because I feel like he's sometimes get lost in the national conversation about the Sixers, which understandably is very focused on Joellenbet and Ben's what's the national view on Tobias Harris in the year that he's been having. You know, I think Tobias is a quietly exceptional player. I think that for a lot of people, there was this overshadowing of was was Tobias Harris the chosen one over Jimmy Butler?

And what was the front office brass thinking. But if you can remove that cloud, if you can remove thinking of it as Tobias Harris versus Jimmy Butler, this was the signing they did instead of um, it's really it's pretty impressive what he's been able to do, you know, is the questions, the linger of whether or not he can hit the big shots down the stratch ship. He's the clutchman like like Jimmy was, because in that way he does have to fill that role. They don't have

someone necessarily on this team. Um that is as proven as Jimmy was in terms of hitting those clutch shots late. But Tobias is an excellent shooter. He needs to grow into that a little bit. But he's also, um, you know from from being around Tobias a little bit. Won't purport to say that I've been around him all the time. He's also an excellent force to have in the locker room for a team that's been up and down and wishywashi.

He's someone that you want in your locker room to say, hey, guys, let's get in on this, let's focus, let's look at these things that we're doing wrong. And people will actually listen to him. And so in that way too, I think he's an important piece for this team. I appreciate

amidst some jet setting Malika Andrews joining the podcast. Her handle on Twitter is at Malika Underscore Andrews Catchers a part of ESPN's coverage for Saturday's game exclusively on ABC eight thirty Eastern seventy sixers and the Milwaukee Bucks the seventy sixers. As of the recording of this podcast, they were just a half game out of fourth place in a home court spot for the first round of the playoffs.

Thanks to you, as always for listening to the pod, and be on the lookout for rewind episodes between now and next week when the broadcast returns. Brian Seltzer talked to Estime