Hey, finally some game film to take a look at. I’ll try to do a shorter video post to follow each “observations” story on the day after Sixers games.

If you’ve got a better title than “fadeaways,” leave a really snarky comment below.

I could go in about 500 directions here, but let’s keep it simple with a couple of team topics.

Using defense to create offense

Part of the reason for the big second quarter in last night’s 120-115 loss is because the Sixers had a couple of key defensive plays that led to transition buckets. That’s going to be a strength all year long. We’ll have a treasure trove of film on Ben Simmons operating in space.

Watch Joel Embiid get a hand up here to swat the ball and allow Simmons to flush in transition:

https://youtu.be/0GOYRAzLs4c?t=3m26s

That looked more like a Robert Covington type of play and it cut the lead to five.

About four minutes later, they went in front on this well-timed and aggressive Dario Saric backpedal block:

https://youtu.be/aTWrEbW-oQ8?t=3m28s

There’s really nice awareness here from Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot to get forward in transition before Amir Johnson even snags the loose ball, which is a sure bet with only Kelly Oubre (#12) in the vicinity:

The Wizards actually did a decent job of getting back here, but T.J. McConnell does better to pick his head up and see TLC behind the much less mobile Marcin Gortat. If TLC doesn’t make that initial push to the basket you’re looking at a 2v2 with Bradley Beal probably getting back into position. Heightened senses are key for a Sixers team that can run it out.

On this one, Embiid does a nice job of holding his ground in transition, then, similar to the Saric block, he just times his swat perfectly and doesn’t even have to go full extension or even come off the ground. Simmons takes it the other way and finishes strong at the rim:

https://youtu.be/FRv65oLjwAI?t=4m41s

Joel can sometimes leave his feet early when defending down low, but this is a great example of reading the play and keeping it simple.

Those are the types of things you’re going to see all year long. The Sixers outscored the Wizards 36-24 in the second quarter on the strength of these transition moments, which also included a JJ Redick pull-up three pointer and three defensive rebounds by Simmons, who is going to be leading the charge from those starting points.

 

Picking, rolling, and interior defense

The Sixers really struggled in the fourth quarter in this area, with Embiid a bit cold coming into the game and Amir Johnson having fouled out with less than six minutes remaining. Saric was playing a bit of center with Richaun Holmes injured and Jahlil Okafor left on the bench.

Wall and Gortat started executing on the pick and roll:

 

https://youtu.be/aTWrEbW-oQ8?t=8m24s

Nothing crazy here, it’s just really well done.

Washington spaces out Otto Porter and Oubre and stacks Beal at foul line. Gortat rolls off the pick, Redick follows Beal out of the paint to prevent the kick out, and Embiid leaves his feet. Wall has three options on the play:

It’s just bread and butter stuff, like watching a pretty college football read-option. Gortat has soft hands around the rim, which complements Wall’s ability to be patient and wait for Embiid to commit before dishing it off. Jerryd Bayless is trailing the play from the start.

This one was another killer, with Gortat finding space between Saric and Simmons, who are the biggest guys on the floor for the Sixers in their “small ball” lineup:

A bit of snoozing there.

Gortat scored 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter. The Wizards collectively had five of their 16 offensive rebounds in the final 8:21. Joel Embiid only had a pair of fourth-quarter defensive boards to go along with a put-back on the offensive end. The Sixers had issues down low towards the end of the game and that was a big reason why Washington was able to close this out.