Tobias Harris Needs To Play Well Tonight, For His Own Sake
The 7th-seeded Sixers host the 8th-seeded Miami Heat tonight in the first round of the NBA Play-In Tournament. It has been a crazy season for the Sixers from start to finish. Don’t forget, James Harden was on the roster for game 1 of the season. We then saw how incredible the team played before Joel Embiid got hurt. We also saw the flip side when he was out. A player that was here from start to finish, and has been since February of 2019, is Tobias Harris.
Harris could be in his final season with the Sixers. His contract is up and he will enter the off-season as an unrestricted free agent. It seems like Daryl Morey is a big fan of Tobias Harris, but who knows what the future holds for the 13 year veteran. Tonight’s game should mean a lot for Harris.
I have talked about my dislike for Tobias Harris the player a lot. I don’t think I am alone when it comes to that. I don’t think he “stinks.” I have said often that he is a 20-point a game scorer on many teams in the NBA, but I don’t think he has been a fit on any Sixers roster that he has been a part of.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – JANUARY 12: Tobias Harris #12 of the Philadelphia 76ers reacts against the Sacramento Kings in the first half at the Wells Fargo Center on January 12, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Tobias Harris Can Silence His Critics
Tonight, he could silent his critics for at least one day, but it isn’t just based on how he plays during the game.
When the Sixers were eliminated by the Miami Heat in the 2022 NBA playoffs, Jimmy Butler was “caught” on camera questioning “Tobias Harris Over Me?” as he walked off the court. There was MUCH more to the story than the Sixers just deciding to keep Harris “over” Butler. His quote was misleading, but bottom line, it was said.
If you are Tobias Harris, someone who has been questioned a ton during his time in Philadelphia, you cannot be a ghost on the court tonight against Jimmy Butler. If the game goes poorly for Tobias Harris and the Sixers, this video will circulate across NBA social media platforms all night and all day tomorrow.
I am not asking for Harris to drop 40, but I am asking him to show up which he hasn’t at times in playoff games past. But don’t do it for me, do it for yourself.
Watch Kincade & Salciunas on the 97.5 The Fanatic YouTube page for discussion about the latest breaking sports news in Philadelphia.
6 Things Sixers President Daryl Morey Said When He Joined Our Show
Tyrese Maxey Passed All Tests With Flying Colors
“One big question coming in was Tyrese Maxey. We knew he was an amazing player, but we thought we’d get a better sense of where he’s at with, some of the other roster changes. And we got an even better sense of how he can play as as one of the primary guys when Joel was out. He passed everything with flying colors.”
Boston Is The Best Team He Has Seen Since The Warriors
“Boston’s a juggernaut. I mean, they’re the best team I’ve seen since the Golden State teams we went against when I was in the West. I think the other teams all have question marks. We are one of those teams. We need we need health. We need we need a few things to go our way. The Celtics don’t need a lot to go their way.
We feel very good about matching up with everybody where, you know, in terms of the Celtics that we do match up with them. More than most teams we think we match up pretty well. But they’re playing at a at a really high level. We’ve got to play them eventually if we’re going to reach our goal of winning the championship. So yeah, it’ll be it’ll be a challenge whenever we face them.”
Sees His Team As One of The Favorites
“I think we’re in this weird position of having some significant challenges during the regular season. But we feel like we’re one of the favorites. I don’t see three or 4 or 5 teams better than us. When when we have everyone, which, unfortunately, we don’t have everyone. But we have the horses. We feel like we go in as one of the favorites, but we’ve got the added challenge. It’s pretty rare you have to win one more one-and-done, to maintain being the favorite right up front.”
His Team Is On An Upswing
“In the past few years there was some negative news right before the playoffs. Now we’re on an upswing.
We’ve got Maxey on his ascendency. We have Joel still at this peak. When he’s when he’s been out there this year he’s been better than even his MVP year. We’ve got a mix of veterans that have won tons and tons of playoff games, some of them against me like Batum and Lowry. We’ve got guys who are, showing the league what they can do like the Oubres of the world.
We’ve got an upward trend. We’ve given ourselves an extra battle with Miami. But I feel like going into the playoffs, we have everyone playing on a really nice upward trend.”
His Ideas For the NBA Playoffs Format
“I think they should add more things to make the regular season meaningful. I think the top two teams should get byes. I think there should be even more of a Play-In tournament from seed 5 on. Home court should only go to the top few teams.
Obviously, it hurt us this season. But I do think it’s the right direction for the league. We generally have the least interesting playoffs of any of the major professional teams in terms of the better teams beating the worst teams. So adding drama like this is a positive for the league, even if it’s not positive for the Sixers this year.”
It Was Torture For Him Score Board Watching on Sunday
“Generally just torture. I like the planning part of the job that’s, you know, let’s figure out how to best way to win the championship. Because during the game, especially when it’s, you know, waiting for results from other teams, there’s really a lack of control there. It’s really mostly torture.
Especially when a game going your way is like 8-to 10-point lead and then it flips on you. That’s the part of the job I probably would take out if I could. I wish it could be just the methodical planning without a bunch of randomness if we could avoid it.”
