Insanity has gripped the Sixers‘ fan base yet again. Another early postseason exit has rocked Philadelphia, and the fans aren’t raising cats in reference to Ben Simmons. Instead, it’s more like pitchforks and torches, as he receives tremendous blame for the embarrassing loss at home to the fifth seeded Hawks.
On the podcast, Chris and I offer analysis on what went wrong in this decisive game and how Philly lost the overall series where they should have been heavy favorites to win. We vent our frustrations, like everyone else who showed loyalty to this team this past season and even prior to “the Process” years.
We explain who showed up and who did not, in an effort to try and make sense of the debacle. The only player who gets sort of a pass is Joel Embiid, who played on a torn meniscus. We take shots at the coach, as Doc Rivers is criticized again for blowing series leads and point advantages in playoff games.
Ben Simmons played 34 minutes in the 4th quarter of Games 4-7 of this series (76ers lost 3 of the 4 games).
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) June 21, 2021
He had 0 field goal attempts in those 34 minutes. pic.twitter.com/NXhOdR88Pt
Sunday’s Game 7 loss will bring about widespread reflection and evaluation in Philadelphia. How do the Sixers move forward?
The ugliest performance, of course, was displayed by the polarizing figure himself, Ben Simmons. Why did he disappear in the fourth quarter of every game against the Hawks? It is easy to say he was afraid of getting fouled, but we dive a little deeper to dissect the psyche of the Sixers’ “star” who pocketed almost $30 million this season.
We finish up with a conversation about who stays and who goes. Should Philly let free agents like Korkmaz, Green, and Scott walk out the door? Should we include any of our young players in a trade deal in order to get Simmons off the team? We answer these questions and more on this episode of the Sixer Sense Podcast.
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