The Philadelphia 76ers have a meeting with the Milwaukee Bucks coming up on Christmas Day and it has everybody talking. These are the two front runners in the Eastern Conference to represent the East in the NBA Finals and everybody has their opinion.
For Sixers stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, they haven’t been playing up to their All-Star levels that they have been questioned in the past. Specifically, Embiid took his hits from TNT’s Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley as they questioned whether he wants to be great or not.
On Friday, ESPN’s First Take broadcasted from Philadelphia and they took on the East race and Stephen A. Smith, who picked the Sixers to make the Finals in the preseason, is beginning to question that pick after Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo continued his romp over the league after a great performance in a win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday.
Smith said:
Here is my issue. The Greek Freak is a monster. He is coming. He doesn’t have any friends, he doesn’t work out with anybody in the offseason, he doesn’t want to partner with anybody, he doesn’t want to get along, he’s got a attitude against anybody not wearing the same uniform as him. If you are a star like Joel Embiid, you have to see this and say ‘Yo! I’ve got to step my game up!’ If Joel Embiid does not step up and start playing like the monster…it’s not enough…if you’re a star in this league, if you see somebody where you know a confrontation is imminent, you’ve got to elevate your game. That’s Embiid.
Max Kellerman then took a shot at Simmons in terms of his shooting:
He’s averaging five threes taken a game…he’s not a pure shooter. He’s going to have to take them to get better at them and unlike Simmons, he’s not scared to shoot them. He shoots them.
The Sixers will need Simmons to expand his perimeter game before the playoffs begin to have a legitimate shot in the Eastern Conference and coach Brett Brown knows it.
The Sixers first have to take care of business against the Dallas Mavericks, the Washington Wizards, and the Detroit Pistons before the Christmas matchup with the Bucks. [lawrence-related id=21720,21712,21703]