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Whatever the Sixers end up being this season, it won’t be boring.

The Wells Fargo Center was about 80% full for preseason basketball on a Wednesday night, with at least 99% of fans booing Kris Humphries whenever he touched the ball or entered the game.

This was our first look at Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz playing against someone other than their own teammates or random Australian blokes, and our first true understanding of how other teams might defend the pair of debuting rookies.

Memphis coach David Fizdale had a GREAT quote about Simmons pregame:

“He’s a freak talent. He’s not really lacking in any areas. His unselfishness is probably one of his greatest attributes. The fact that he does that with such great size, he is really today’s NBA.”

“He is really today’s NBA.”

I like that.

One Sixers rookie looked pretty damn good last night while the other looked not-so-good in a meaningless tune-up game.

1) Who does what?

Ben Simmons was announced as a guard during introductions and that’s how he played, starting alongside Fultz but as the primary ball handler bringing it up the court.

He scored the game’s first points, including a layup in transition, which we’ll see a lot of this year. Simmons assisted on a JJ Redick three before hitting Richaun Holmes for a big alley oop layup from half court. He had four points, four assists, and a pair of rebounds in five minutes of play, then took his first break at 2:17 in the first.

I thought Fultz looked a little lost playing off the ball. He didn’t see a ton of the rock and the Sixers’ half court sets were somewhat sloppy, with the best offense coming on Simmons’ ability to drive to the hoop, draw defenders, then dish to an open teammate. Both he and Fultz had fantastic first half drives that exhibited their vision in close proximity to the rim.

I think the second play here was Simmons’ best pass of the night:

He came back in with three minutes left in the second quarter, then played more in the second half. The rookie finished with six points (2-of-8 shooting) and added seven rebounds and nine assists. Simmons turned it over only once in 21 minutes.

Here’s what Brett Brown said about him after the game:

“I mean, his breakaway speed, his ability to get to the rim, the pace at which he plays I love. His ability to see things, find corners, when defensive players nudge him he can find stuff well. The finishing at the rim, I thought we struggled as a group. We’re going to work with Ben on finishing at a high rate.”

Fultz played 22 minutes and went 2-for-13 for four points. He added two rebounds and three assists. Both of his field goals came on gimmes– one a layup on a brilliant pass from Simmons, and another on a breakaway dunk.

Neither shot the ball very well. Simmons barely even looked to shoot. Most of his stuff was right around the rim (which Brown mentioned), while Fultz missed on a few jumpers.

I also didn’t think that Fultz looked lethargic or lackadaisical out there. Let’s not read too much into body language after one preseason outing.

Kyle: My guess is Fultz was proud of his defensive effort – he talked to Molly Sullivan about it before the game – which at this point might be more important to his growth seeing as though he’s clearly a gifted offensive player. But he did struggle on that end of the floor, with most of his drives resulting in ugliness in the paint. But there were flashes, including several impressive spins and a few slick passes. Fultz will be fine. He’s not as polished as Simmons, who is two years older, more physically mature, and had a year to sit on an NBA bench and watch. Don’t press the panic button.

 

2) Guarding a “guard”

It’s kind of pointless to look at the matchups when Memphis was missing a few starters, but this really was our first look at how other squads might guard Simmons.

James Ennis matched up against him to start the game, which was reciprocated by Simmons at the other end. When Ennis came out, that duty was passed off to JaMychal Green. That’s a 6’9″ and a 6’7″ forward matching up against a 6’11” “guard,” if that’s what we’re calling Simmons.

Nobody could really stay with him and he was able to get to the rim rather easily. His finishing in that area was one thing, but the ability to pull defenders and kick it out to Redick, or Robert Covington, or dish it off to Joel Embiid a la that Holmes sequence could be monstrous this season.

 

3) Big man usage

Speaking of Embiid, he didn’t play, nor did Amir Johnson, who sprained an ankle in practice this week.

Richaun Holmes started the game and played 16 minutes. Jahlil Okafor was only recently cleared for 5v5 action, but played 18 minutes.

In the first half, and really throughout the game, Embiid’s interior defense was sorely missed. The Sixers were soft down low and allowed Memphis to open up a double-digit lead just before halftime. Brown described his team as “all over the place” defensively.

There was one goofy sequence where Holmes appeared to suffer an eye poke, which allowed Memphis two straight offensive rebounds. At the other end, he committed a hard foul on Wayne Selden, which resulted in some jawing.

Kris Humphries played seven minutes and struggled right off the bat, hence the boos, which carried over from Sunday’s scrimmage.

Emeka Okafor made a fourth quarter cameo and played nine minutes.

More on Jah later.

 

4) Someone who can shoot the ball

JJ Redick hit his first three pointer and completed a four-point play with 2:43 remaining in the second quarter. He finished with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting and hit both of his attempts from deep.

His shooting ability is going to be key in spacing the floor and giving teammates room to operate. I mentioned Simmons’ and Fultz’s ability to drive to the basket and draw defenders, but it was the same situation on the aforementioned four-point opportunity when T.J. McConnell pulled some Grizzlies out of position:


The veteran Redick is one of the better quotes on the team, and offered up this honest post game assessment, admitting that there were more negatives than positives on Wednesday night:

 

5) Rotations and time

With the first sub at 5:28, Jerryd Bayless came in for Fultz and Justin Anderson, and Jahlil Okafor replaced Redick and Holmes, respectively.

At full health, I’d think that Bayless and Dario Saric are first off the bench. Saric was rested for this game and wore a fantastic velvet suit on the bench:

Nik Stauskas got 18 minutes off the bench and scored seven of his nine points off free throws.

Furkan Korkmaz got a bit of time in the fourth quarter, along with James Michael McAdoo.

Jacob Pullen and James Blackmon, Jr. didn’t get in until the game’s final minutes.

 

6) Vegan Jah

The younger Okafor finished with a healthy 13 points and six rebounds.

Get it?

Healthy? Because he’s a vegan now?

Whatever; I’m trying to ignore my preconceptions about Okafor and evaluate him based on this preseason alone. That said, I thought he looked pretty good out there, moving well on a lighter frame and not seeming to have any issues with that knee.

I thought his best bucket was this spin move:

Okafor’s probably the most polarizing player on the team right now, with hot takes ranging from the far end of the spectrum, (cut his ass he’s terrible!) to an assortment of praise (Okafor > Holmes).

Evidence:

There’s never been any question about his scoring ability, but you wonder if he’s limited to his strong right hand and whether or not his defense has improved. Brett Brown gave him a shout out for his defense post game, and I thought he looked decent in that department, which may or may not be amplified by the fact that nobody else was great around the rim.

Whatever you believe about Okafor, I think there’s an intrigue surrounding the guy as we start the new season. Pantera once wrote a song called “Yesterday Don’t Mean Shit,” and that’s how I feel about Jahlil Okafor in 2017.

 

7) National anthem non-stories

Some players linked arms during the national anthem, as you can see here courtesy of Investor Jeff:

You can see Fultz, Okafor, and Holmes in there. White players were involved, too, including Korkmaz, who isn’t even American. Other players had their arms behind their back and Redick has his hand on his heart.

For what it’s worth, Memphis players didn’t partake in any sort of anthem display.