The Philadelphia 76ers have struggled out of the gates in the 2022-23 NBA season. They are currently 1-4, the start no one predicted despite some tough games at the beginning of their schedule.
If you are expecting to challenge for a championship, you are going to have to win some games against upper-echelon opponents. The 76ers have failed to do that yet, as they have already lost to the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors.
If these losses continue piling up, some changes may have to be made. Could the firing of head coach Doc Rivers be one of them? According to Zach Lowe of ESPN, that is something that has been suggested by Bill Simmons, as Simmons believes Rivers will be the first coach fired this season.
That isn’t something that Lowe necessarily agrees with, but he did admit that it is being discussed in league circles. Alas, Lowe doesn’t believe that is realistic given the current atmosphere around the team.
“Doc Rivers, Bill Simmons has been saying for weeks on his podcast Doc could be the first coach fired,” Zach Lowe recently said on his podcast. “Certainly people are chattering about that in the league ecosystem, but I don’t know how much that chatter is actually reality and this is Daryl Morey’s team. This is this is the [Houston] Rockets reunion tour. This is ‘I waited on my long lost love James Harden. I waited and waited and got him back this is it. Like this is the team and they’ve just got to be better than this. To me, offense is fine. We’ll see that’s that’s where I give them time, right it takes time to get that snap. Start trying in transition defense because what’s on the floor right now is embarrassing.”
LATEST NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Doc Rivers & Philadelphia 76ers Updates
James Harden is looking like an MVP again, finally over the nagging hamstring injuries that have bothered him for more than a season. With Harden rounding into form, it means that there are some things that need to be ironed out on both sides of the ball.
Philadelphia has to find a way for him and Joel Embiid to coexist despite their strengths not meshing perfectly. Embiid needs to embrace becoming a roller to the rim a little more, as it will make things easier not only for him but the rest of the starting five as well. They are too good of basketball players, especially on the offensive end, to not figure it out.
Defensively, as Lowe pointed out, is where they need to make the most adjustments. In the last few seasons they could rely on their defense to win them some games if the offense went stagnant, but that has not been the case yet this season.
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There are some concerns that Embiid didn’t come into the season in the best shape, which is hurting their performance on that end of the court. As the anchor of the defense, Embiid is not performing up to standards. Hopefully, that changes as he rounds into shape. It is still early, but the 76ers cannot dig themselves too big of a hole to climb out of.
