Enemy Chatter: Did the Sixers screw up going to Simmons?

We often wonder what opposing teams, their beat reporters and bloggers are saying about the Celtics. Here’s a look at some enemy chatter from Philadelphia

In a game full of turning points, the final might have come here

TJ McConnell came into the game for Ben Simmons with the Sixers trailing 72-66 with 3:39 remaining in the third quarter. As you can see, the Sixers outscored the Celtics 27-19 with McConnell (an un-drafted free agent by the way) in the game.

Simmons was re-inserted with 5:29 left to play and the Sixers leading by 2… and the Celtics closed the game by outscoring the Sixers 17-10.

By now you’ve probably heard that Simmons was a -23 in the game while McConnell was a +16. You’ve also probably heard the question of whether McConnell should have come out in favor of a player soon expected to be crowned Rookie of the Year.

It’s not easy, and Sixers fans have been struggling with this question today.

From Liberty Ballers:

Ultimately, the decision to go back to Simmons over McConnell was an incredibly tough one. I think Brett Brown made the safe call. Losing the game with McConnell still in there and having to answer questions about leaving the likely Rookie of the Year on the bench would have absolutely been the worst case scenario from his perspective. Brown said after the game that he didn’t regret any of his rotation choices. In the moment, I just don’t believe it gave the team the best chance to win the game. Hopefully though, Brown’s decision pays dividends for the team in the long-term, with Simmons turning things around starting Saturday afternoon back at home for Game 3.

Fair point. If you’re worried about perception, losing with your first overall pick in the game versus losing with an un-drafted guy in there is definitely safe if you’re choosing how to lose.

The Rights to Ricky Sanchez guys debated this on their podcast.

They’ve done a lot of things this year that are about winning right now. That are about giving minutes to guys who are older and who aren’t going to be here, things like signing JJ Redick is right now, Marco Belinelli is right now, Irsan Ilyasova is right now, Amir Johnson is right now. This roster is half right now guys. Not playing Markelle Fultz during these playoff games is right now. All of these things are right now. I understand it.. I’m not even saying I totally disagree with it, but it is sort of half-pregnant kind of move to say like ‘well but this particular decision is about the long-term, it’s not about winning this playoff game right now.’

This is the heart of this conundrum: Do you put Simmons back in the game because he’s “the guy” and you feel like you ride with the long-term solution? Or do you roll with the guys who were rolling and tell your future star “this is what it takes win.. and if you want to be great, you have to be better in these spots?”

This is something we discussed at length on the Locked On Celtics podcast.

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My main point here is that if you think Simmons is going to have his confidence shot for his career by being benched at the end of one playoff game in which he admitted he sucked… then he’s not going to be a star player anyway.

Let’s face it, the best of the best (the type of player people expect Simmons to become) turn things like this into chips on their shoulders. This is their turn to the dark side of the force that turns them into Sith basketball Lords… not something that shatters a fragile ego forever.

Maybe McConnell would have run out of gas and it wouldn’t have mattered, but there isn’t a single observer of that game that can argue the Sixers weren’t playing better when McConnell was in the game. From a strictly tactical decision, the opportunity to steal a game on the road should not be ignored. This was their chance to steal home court advantage and they blew it.

There was a lot that went into this Philly loss, but the fact remains they had a late 4th quarter lead and the took out the player who obviously fueled the run that got them there. This is a decision that will sting for a long time if Philly loses… especially if they lose in 7.