76ers' biggest question stays unanswered (and 6 other things you missed) in opener

Philadelphia 76ers basketball is back. Kind of. They played a game at noon on a Thursday in Abu Dhabi, but they played a game nonetheless. It wasn't pretty! The Sixers lost 99-84 to the Knicks, who trotted out most of their real roster, to be fair.

If you missed this one due to NBA TV region-blocking the game in Philadelphia (nice, cool, good job, NBA), you were at work, or you just didn't really want to watch the Sixers get pounded by the Knicks... I don't blame you! But here's what happened.

1. Shooting remains the 76ers biggest question after awful showing

That was tough to watch. The Sixers shot 3-35 from 3-point land, which they should probably never do again. Some rust is to be expected this early on, so I'm not in full-on panic mode yet, except regarding my physical health after watching some of those attempts.

Again — it's October 2nd. The team is in the United Arab Emirates. These are closer to scrimmages than real NBA games. I don't want to make any overarching declarations about what this Sixers team will or won't be in 2025-26.

But after finishing No. 27 in 3-point percentage and No. 21 in 3-pointers made last season, then not doing much to address that need in the offseason... The question of whether this team has enough shooting still looms, and will be perhaps the main story (aside from health, of course) to follow this year.

I am pretty confident the Sixers will shoot better than 8.6 percent from deep in most (hopefully all) of their games this year. But even when this team is fully healthy, there are far fewer 3-point snipers on the roster than you'd like to see on a team that wants to compete.

2. Tyrese Maxey is still good and cool

If you want some positives... Tyrese Maxey!

You didn't need to watch this game to know this, though. Our perfect king was effective as a scorer (5 -12 FG, 14 PTS), set up his teammates well (4 AST), and did the little things (1 STL, 1 BLK) that stars aren't usually interested in doing during the preseason. This guy rocks.

3. VJ Edgecome made things happen

Perhaps the most intriguing part of this game was, to the surprise of few, rookie VJ Edgecombe. The No. 3 pick's strengths (and his areas for improvement) were on full display in an encouraging debut in Abu Dhabi.

His rebounding, bounce, distribution, defensive pressure, speed, and finishing upside were evident from the start. At one point, he tried to dunk on Mitchell Robinson from about 15 feet away, a blind confidence you must respect.

His offensive creation, ball-handling, and consistent jump shooting will be areas of improvement. We knew that, for the most part, and there's reason to believe all of them can improve rather significantly.

For the most part, Edgecombe played well beyond his 20 years, which is awesome to see. He finished with 14 points on 4-13 shooting, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists, including one on this play in which he rips a rebound from Mitchell Robinson, keeps his head up on the break, and throws a perfect lob to Adem Bona. Chills.

4. Sixers defense was not so promising

If you watched the first five minutes, you probably thought the Sixers defense looked pretty good! If you watched the next 43 minutes, you might think everyone was wearing 30-pound shoes made of lead. It felt like the Sixers were chasing the Knicks around for most of the game.

This one I'm not too worried about yet. Again, October 2nd.

5. Adem Bona is close to being a rotation piece

If he learns how not to commit a foul every 45 seconds, Adem Bona could get plenty of minutes this year. At points, he looks like the perfect rim-running center the Sixers can never seem to find. At others, he looks overmatched, leading to fouls and some desperate defense.

The team seems to love Bona, and you can see why. You just have to squint a little bit sometimes.

6. Dom Barlow was in the starting lineup

This could be a product of Nick Nurse experimenting in the preseason. Still, it's noteworthy that Barlow — who is on a two-way — got the start over Jabari Walker and Trendon Watford, two other offseason frontcourt additions.

Right now, I think starting Barlow is more a case of Nurse figuring out what Barlow provides, rather than him "liking" Barlow more than Watford or Walker.

Barlow did play the best out of the group though, posting 6 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal in 30 minutes. Walker ended with 9 points and 5 minutes (though most of those stats came in garbage time) and Watford didn't see the floor at all.

7. Eric Gordon played

Society has moved past the need for Eric Gordon minutes, in my opinion, but it's October 2nd, so I'll reserve any judgment for later this month.