Rich Hoffman Discusses The Sixers Bad Start Of the Season
The Sixers are not out to a very good start. They continue to lose games, and the heat is being turned up on coach Doc Rivers. And to discuss what is going wrong, Rich Hoffman from The Athletic joined the show. See what Rich Hoffman had to say when he joined “The Best Show Ever?” earlier today.
On The Struggles of the Offense Recently
“There is a reason why. James Harden is not playing right now. That gets into the Tyrse Maxey conversation about what type of player is he. Is he the type of guy who can carry the offense by himself? or is he more of an off-the-ball type of guard? It’s a tough spot when you have Joel Embiid who frankly in his last two games has been sharper than I thought he would. I feel like they have gotten decent play from him. They were a disaster last night when he was off the floor. They went 4 minutes without scoring. And they had that small ball lineup that couldn’t score.”
On What Has Gone Wrong Under Doc Rivers
“In the first week or so, it was just apathy. Just poor defense. And that was when I thought this is what can get somebody on the hot seat. They just aren’t getting back in transition. You are not playing hard enough. And that is unacceptable.
In the recent games its been weird. I think they are defending better. But their offense has been an absolute disaster. In this month without James Harden, they just need to find a way to manufacture points. And it is a little tougher. Last year they were in a similar situation. But they had a guy in Seth who could manufacture points. And this should be Doc Rivers’ specialty. He is an offensive coach. He has to find a way to manufacture points. Because they really don’t have a chance if they are going to score at the level they’ve been.”
On Tyrese Maxey’s Recent Struggles
“There is a boom-or-bust nature to his game. He has these games where he is unbelievable, and has an A+ game. But these last few nights he has been a D- or an F. He doesn’t really have the B- or C games. That is part of his playstyle. He is not the playmaker James Harden is. Harden can have a game where he shoots 3 of 15 from the field. But he’s orchestrating the offense and getting guys shots. For Maxey that really isn’t the case. The 3 ball is not really going in and that is a big issue for him. I definitely think he is pressing a little bit… And that is on Doc, and the rest of the team to get him into the right role. Because if he continues to play like this, they are going to continue to lose games at a high pace.”
Listen to the full interview with Rich Hoffman below…
