Harden will be absent until All-Star Weekend due to injury
Harden's Philadelphia debut came later than expected.
The 76ers officially announced that Harden will miss the team's two games before All-Star Weekend because he has to recover from a hamstring injury, and the All-Star will not play. According to the 76ers schedule, Harden will not be available until February 26 in the away game against the Timberwolves, and the fastest home debut is to play the Knicks on March 3.
Good guys, just transferred to recuperate first, what the hell happened to Harden?
Harden injured the hamstring, this injury can be divided into three levels, the first is a mild strain, generally two to three weeks can be healed, the second is a moderate strain, there will be some muscle tears, the recovery usually takes four to eight weeks, the third degree of strain is the most serious, only more than half of the muscle tissue or even complete tear, will be diagnosed as a third-degree strain, the recovery time is 12 weeks to base, do not rule out the possibility of surgery.
Harden has participated in the training of the 76ers, and has participated in all the projects, including shooting and defensive running positions, etc., it seems that there is no major problem with the body, the hamstring injury should be relatively mild, and a few days of rest is expected to be "full of blood", and the 76ers will delay his debut date to provide more preparation time to avoid rushing to the team and causing small injuries to become major injuries.
"I think it's more important to make sure he's ready in a healthy state." 76ers head coach Rivers said.
People have been exchanged, and it is reasonable to raise their bodies a few days late, but if the 76ers are not in a hurry, it is not so.
With only 24 regular season games after All-Star Weekend, the 76ers don't have much time left for them to grind into the lineup. On paper, the 76ers are very powerful, with superstars, shooters, defensive players, and a good lineup depth, the most exciting of which is the combination of Harden and Embiid. One is the former MVP, the former scoring champion, and the other is a hot candidate for MVP this season, currently leading the scoring list, such a combination looks great.
"Every time I take the ball, the opponent will have two or three people to wrap me, and now harden is here, the opponent has to make a choice, wrap me, or wrap him? It's exciting. Embiid said.
This is the so-called two bottles of "poison" to choose one bottle, but the 76ers also know that when Harden joined the Nets, the saying is that three bottles of "poison" can choose one bottle, and the result is not a self-inflicted fruit?
So the lineup of things, don't look at the "advertisement", but also look at the "curative effect".
The core weapon of the 76ers is the Harden and Embiid duo, and the biggest question is also them. Harden is more good at working with blocking and dismantling down-and-down pie-eating centers, such as Capela of the year, and Embiid is obviously not this way of playing, he prefers to kill under the basket, this season he averaged 8.9 points per game in the league, participated in the blocking and demolition outside the bounce and shooting mainly, this season every 100 covers, only 16 times are down to the basket.
If Embiid can only be used as a blocker around Harden, it is simply a cruel thing, and Embiid cannot accept it. If Harden crossed the ball in the past half, admiring Embiid's strong kill in the box, and some waste of Harden's offensive talent. The ideal state is that Harden and Embiid form a number of effective tactical coordination, combining the advantages of the two to create a three-dimensional offensive, and then pull the 76ers offensive firepower full.
There is a big gap between the ideal state and the real state, the nets ideal state is the big three fighting side by side to cut melons and cut vegetables to harvest the victory, but in the end it is just a thought, now it is the turn of the 76ers to try to make the imagination into reality, this matter is up to Rivers to do, and the regular season game for him to "experiment" is only 24 games full, you say he is in a hurry?
Therefore, on the one hand, Rivers said that hardened stars of this level, it is not difficult to integrate into the team offense, and it can be solved directly on the court, but he also stressed that after the All-Star Weekend, the training intensity will be increased, and the confrontation games will be organized so that everyone can be in step.
"When you trade in the middle of the season, that's what happens." Rivers said.
Rivers is a heavy task, Harden's patience is getting worse as he gets older, especially at this stage of development, he is in Philadelphia is a backwater battle, either a big victory, or a defeat, no middle ground.
Rivers, can you bear this burden?
Prominent journalist Mark Stein reported that the NBA coaching circle is spreading gossip that the 76ers or replaced Rivers with D'Antoni. Although the news was denied by people familiar with the matter, it still sparked discussion.
This kind of kicking out the head coach after building a good-looking lineup has happened, such as the Heat in the 2005-06 season, Riley fired the big Van Gundy, personally took charge of the whip and led the team to win the championship.
However, the Heat of that year was different from the current situation of the 76ers, Riley was afraid that the Heat was too deep, Van Gundy could not grasp it, and the rumored D'Antoni on the coaching resume, not as good as Rivers, "Old Lee" led the team to win the championship, or one of the 15 coaches in the NBA's official selection history, more than D'Antoni.
This rumor can appear mainly because Rivers has some coaching "black history", he is a coach who can bring out a team that looks like only 60 points, but at the same time can bring the team that looks more than 90 points into the ditch, the 3-1 lead is too bad to be overturned, the playoffs pressure resistance seems to be insufficient (which is quite similar to Harden), even if the 2008 championship was also questioned to rely mainly on the hard power of the Big Three, the Celtics actually played 7 games in the first two rounds of the playoffs Whether It is Rivers who won the championship with the Big Three, or whether the Big Three dragged Rivers to the top, it is still a matter of opinion.
Rivers is certainly not the perfect coach, but D'Antoni is not ah, he is really good at developing the offensive ability of stars, Nash and Xiaosi in the Suns, Harden in the Rockets period are all playing in the German coach's system, but also in the playoffs from the championship. In a sense, D'Antoni can also raise the 60-point team to 90 points, but it can't go up any further, and Rivers has at least succeeded once.
Moreover, Embiid played MVP-level performances under Rivers, and "The Great" may not fit D'Antoni's tactical philosophy, whether from now or in the future, Embiid is the first core of the 76ers.
Harden and Rivers have a good relationship, after D'Antoni left the Rockets in 2020, Harden called to invite Rivers to coach Hughes, although this did not work out, but it left a good impression on Rivers, and the relationship between the two also warmed up.
Of course, personal relationship and work cooperation are two different things, Harden and Wei Shao's personal relationship is also good, and Durant is also a brother, but the result is seen by everyone. Rivers is a very strict training coach, he was in the last season of the Clippers, last season coached the 76ers, the reason for the contradiction with the team stars (especially Simmons), and the tough coaching style has a certain relationship, Rivers is good at "chicken soup", but he is by no means only good words, the history of the top 15 level coach, will not be just a good Mr. Good.
Harden is a player who does not want to be constrained, both on and off the court, and when he first arrives in Philadelphia, he may restrain himself, if everything goes well, it is not a big problem, but if he encounters sustained twists and turns, it is difficult to say, from his departure from the Rockets and the Nets, turning his face is really faster than turning the book.
The beginning is always wonderful every minute, the passion fades and there will be a little bit of tiredness, the 76ers have put all the chips on the table, this season, if you can't touch the floor of the Finals, this summer will be very lively.