Basketball is back! Man it feels good. The Titans are the worst team in the NFL, the Phillies broke my heart only a few weeks ago, so it's nice to see the Sixers back in action! A full season of games, full of possibilities and hope. Not many better feelings as a sports fan really other than I guess winning it all. A very wholesome feeling for sure.
Stars Joel Embiid and Paul George will be out for this first game which is very depressing in a way, but it is what it is. The Sixers have been injury plagued for quite awhile, especially Joel. Joel doesn't appear to even really be injured. At least not seriously injured. I mean the man did just play in the Olympics a few months ago and helped bring home the gold for the U.S. It seems that he and the Sixers want to preserve him for the playoffs which Joel is NEVER healthy for. The team is not allowed to simply say they are practicing load management with Joel, so I think they are intentionally keeping his situation vague. I am personally not even upset at their plan. Joel is still only 30 years old. Joel is perfectly in his prime at the moment and so this could the best opportunity for both the Sixers and Joel to get this ring while simultaneously ensuring he can play well into his thirties in general. I am not mad at the conservative approach. Joel is a superstar, can't play it too risky here.
Much of the same can be said for Paul George. George overall throughout his entire career has been wayyyyyy healthier than Embiid but he still has had some pretty bad injuries AND he's definitely aging. He turns 35 in May and has 14 seasons under his belt not including the playoffs. George is dealing with a bone bruise in his knee. Doesn't seem to be a major injury. George is still a star and still highly productive so that's pretty great. It is pretty exciting that he is a Sixer. I guess I just want real results finally, especially after Jimmy Butler and James Harden did not really amount to any deep playoff runs of any kind. The potential is still immense here. In Indiana, George was both much younger and basically had the whole team on his back. Then, in OKC and with the Clippers, Paul pretty much had to share the ball with similar-ish players as himself in Russell Westbrook and Kawhi Leonard. In Philly, George will get to play in a more traditional offensive setup with an elite big man in Embiid not to mention young point guard Tyrese Maxey who is coming of a career season and is primed to explode in year five.
Tyrese himself is a player I am super excited to watch play in 2024-25. He has a super fun playstyle that sort of reminds me of like a Russell Westbrook/Derrick Rose/and a dash of Chris Paul. Strictly playstyle of course, not trying to say he is like some mega player LOL. But he is certainly on pace to be as good as any of those players in my opinion. He is explosive and can shoot and is actually a very positive and fun leader in my opinion. Big things can certainly be on the way for Tyrese!
The Sixers have really good depth as well with veterans and role players like Andre Drummond, Eric Gordon, Kyle Lowry, Reggie Jackson and Kelly Oubre Jr. I also like the slick addition of muscular French power forward Guerschon Yabusele who had himself a very good Olympics this summer playing with Wemby.
I like how Nick Nurse has been coaching the team. This season could be special if managed perfectly! Nurse led the Raptors to a pretty surprising title run in 2019. He seems like a great coach as far as I can tell.
The Sixers play the Bucks which won't be an easy task especially with Embiid and George out but the Sixers have great depth and coaching which may very well help them win. The Bucks of course have some legit star power in the Greek Freak and Dame but they will be without Middleton which will hopefully benefit the Sixers. The Bucks won a Championship just a few years ago and have been a good team for years and as long as Giannis is there, they will be a good team for awhile still.
I am READY. Titans, Sixers, and a SUPER awesome UFC event this weekend. LET'S GO!!!!
GO SIXERS!
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