With all of the Eagles and Flyers stuff going on, I felt like it made more sense to wrap the Spurs, Cavs, and Pacers games together into one article.  We don’t need a standalone post for a 27-point road loss on the second night of a back-to-back, do we?

If it feels like a blur, it probably is. This is the part of the season where the games start to bleed together. You’re likely running around trying to get holiday things done while the team slogs toward the inevitability of the buyout market as we near the halfway point of the 82-game schedule. That’s all good and well, but unfortunately the Sixers are now hitting a hellish stretch of the schedule that includes a home game with Toronto followed by five straight road games against Boston, Portland, Utah, Phoenix, and the Clippers.

Let’s reset and refocus here, because they’ve lost three of four and are now sitting in fourth place at 20-12. We’re judging the Sixers not necessarily game-by-game, but trying to identify what their post-Jimmy Butler trade strengths and weaknesses are. What does this squad need? What are they good at? Where are they lagging behind? It’s a cumulative grind towards the playoffs.

I think it’s four things: perimeter defense, depth, the power forward position, and managing Joel Embiid. If we’re justifiably looking ahead to the postseason and how this team matches up against the best squads in the east, then these things would probably go into the Sixers’ “premortem,” as Brett Brown likes to say.

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Picture this: you’re entering your first NBA season after being drafted first overall. You tweaked your ankle in Summer League and fans are eagerly anticipating your debut as the final piece of a young core. At the same time, your mother has had indoor security cameras installed in your home. In a sense, stepping off the court doesn’t allow you to get out from in front of the camera. Welcome to the reported life of Markelle Fultz.

Over the past two seasons, many have been focused on positing theories as to why Markelle morphed from a consensus #1 overall pick to a shell of his former self on the court. All along, I’ve been equally if not more interested in learning how the circle around Fultz may have contributed to his unprecedented fall from grace. Enter Candace Buckner of The Washington Post who shed some light on Fultz’s quasi-secretive inner circle. While she was able to get Markelle’s former trainer Keith Williams on the record, the most insightful bits in the piece were related to Fultz’s mother, Ebony, which went well past the typical AAU-helicopter parent.

Let’s go back to the indoor cameras:

During Fultz’s first season in Philadelphia, Ebony had cameras installed inside his New Jersey home, according to several people familiar with the setup who described the indoor surveillance as unusual. The cameras have since been removed.

Well thank God for that. Per Buckner’s sources, Ebony has also requested that people involved with her son sign non-disclosure agreements for reasons unbeknownst to the referred parties.

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Sixers head coach Brett Brown was on the 97.5 the Fanatic morning show today with Marc Farzetta, Tra Thomas, Bob Cooney, and Jamie Lynch.

Not surprisingly, the discussion began with a couple of questions about Joel Embiid’s post-Toronto comments, those fleeting couple of hours where he expressed discomfort with his role via an article from the Inquirer’s Keith Pompey. All of that was squashed rather quickly, but Brown shed a bit more light on the situation today.

Transcript:

Farzetta: We haven’t talked to you since it came out, but it feels like it was one of those stories that could have caught wildfire, Joel Embiid voicing his frustration then quickly shifting to ‘he loves everybody,’ – it seems like that story more or less blew over.

Brown: Yeah and I think that it should have. I think when people read into it , we all sort of get the passion Joel has. I think a lot of it was a reaction to us not wanting him to play and trying to force-feed a rest. It’s a snap shot of him wanting to play. We move on. I do not believe the story had the legs it needed to continue.

Farzetta: Did you have any takeaway from the story, of Joel being a perfectionist at least?

Brown: There’s always lots to take away from a story, and the following day I was with him for probably four hours on an off day. It’s just a constant reminder how you have to stay on top of things with the coach. You daily sort of fight for the soul and spirit of the team and try to keep our ecosystem balanced. There’s some subtle truth to using Joel, and part of his challenge, which is a strength and a curse, is he can score and he can be used in so many ways. He’s not Shaquille O’Neal. He can be, but he’s also able to step out and do some things. His versatility at times makes his life a little conflicted in a positive way. He’s that skilled. The point is that we all bunker in and get back on track as a team.

More after the jump:

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I wouldn’t pin last night’s loss on any one thing specifically.

Start with the fact that the absences of Jimmy Butler and Mike Muscala forced Brett Brown into playing what essentially amounted to a seven-man rotation, with T.J. McConnell and Landry Shamet receiving 29 and 20 minutes, respectively.

That’s one thing.

Then you could go free-throw shooting, where the Sixers only hit at 75% on 16 trips to the line while Brooklyn shot 86% on 43 attempts. You can say that number might be bloated due to the late 4th quarter scramble, but it was lopsided well before then, with the Sixers still in single digit free throw attempts midway through the final period.

After that, you can look at Joel Embiid, who had 23 points on 10-15 shooting going into halftime, but put up only three more field goals in the second half.

You could make a note of JJ Redick’s 1-7 mark from three point range. Maybe jot down 17 turnovers in your notebook.

You could also spend some time talking about Brooklyn’s efficiency from the perimeter and about the constant struggles the Sixers have with this team.

Brown and his players touched on almost all of those subjects after the game, but before I go quote-heavy, I want to start with the two fourth quarter sequences that essentially put this one to bed.

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Via team President Chris Heck:

#OnBrand x @sixers

Christmas Day snow in Boston?

2018/19 @nike Earned Edition pic.twitter.com/cTNmeswE28

— Chris Heck (@chrisheck76) December 12, 2018

Looks like a white version of the Rocky-inspired City Edition uniform. They’ll wear these on Christmas Day and a few more times during the regular season.

Thoughts?