[MUSIC PLAYING] This is 12-time Olympic medalist Natalie Coglin, wondering who you should root for at the Paris Olympics. I'm hosting my new favorite Olympian, where I will introduce you to Team USA's brightest stars and the causes they are championing. It's hard to explain, and I don't think I really like talked about this with anybody. Get ready for the Paris Games by checking out my new favorite Olympian, wherever you listen to podcasts. The Paris Olympics brought to you locally on NBC and Peacock by Nissan. [MUSIC PLAYING] [CHEERING] [MUSIC PLAYING] Oh, what is up, greetings, salutations, good tidings to all. It is the "Sixters Talk" podcast brought to you by Wilmington University. Will you work? It's Danny Pommels, Noah Levick, big game Amy Fadoule, then very our producer extraordinaire, making things happen behind the scenes. And it's a pleasure to be with you guys. I feel like it's been a while since we've all been-- Yeah, I mean-- --never going to the same podcast. It's weird, because Noah and I show up to work each and every day, every week, without fail. We don't take 15-day vacations. Noah takes vacations and still works on those vacations. So yeah, Noah and I have been here. We've had great chats, and then now you come up and just hold-- muck up the whole process. But yeah, Noah, it's good to see you, Danny. It's good to see you. Here I am, third wheeler. Third wheeler. That's exactly what it is. Yeah. I am good to see you guys. I went on a little ballpark tour. My wife has ambitions of trying to see all 30 majorly baseball barparks. So we bit the bullet and drove through Ohio into Detroit. So Cleveland's Cincinnati Detroit. We checked off all of those ballparks. Which was your favorite? Well, I would hope-- That's a good question. That's a good question. So really, you were hoping to-- Well, Cleveland is, you know, first place team, and they were playing the Orioles. That was like a great series. It was a pack house. They were hanging on every ball and strike and hit and a strikeout or what have you. And so the scene there was great. I know you will have something to say about this. Cincinnati and the Skyline Chili, I passed on that. Well, they were heaping it. It was just everywhere. It didn't look as-- Was it coming here to Philly and be like cheesecks? Well, that seems like a lot of meaty cheese. You know what? You know what? I don't think the two were comparable. But it was just-- It was almost-- You didn't try it at all? It looked like a meat soup. I like my chili a little thicker and a little-- maybe with beans in it. There's no beans in it. But they were putting it on nachos. They were putting it on the-- Yeah. I'll tell you, the best thing you can get is a chili cheese sandwich. And it's like they have these little ones and they take the little dog out. So it's just the chili and the cheese. Delicious. Well, they pile up the cheese on top. And it's not even melted. It's just like shredded, just like a mound of it. John Piazza, one of our editors, said that something-- I think you recommended the mini chili-- Yeah, the little cheese. Right, right, right, right. And I take the dog out. So they call them chili cheese sandwiches. So I saw people getting-- No, that was probably like the entry level point for me. I kind of passed on that. We did-- they had some great nachos, though. And just the jalapenos were-- And you didn't put any skylunches on there. Nah, nah, we passed on there. Well, I know your eating habits and your bougie nature would never, so-- Well, how about Detroit kind of caught me off guard? I didn't know that was a Little Caesar's headquarters. Yes. And it's Little Caesar's-- Everything's called Little Caesar's arena. Well, you know, I'm like naming rights or naming rights. Like, you know, people will grab them forever. But I just feel like Little Caesar's-- it's just kind of-- the options as far as the concessions were a little underwhelmed. You know, in Philly, we have, you know, the chicken and peat's cheese fries. We have Rita's-- Thank you, I know. And it's great. As far as the regional delicacies, it just wasn't as-- like a Detroit style pizza. I don't know if I want to go to Little Caesars for that. You know what I'm saying? But we're a little divergent, but I had a good time. It was a great trip, road trips we really enjoy. And, man, but that flat drive from Philly to Pittsburgh on to Turnipike, you know exactly where I was going. You know exactly where I was going. That is a tough one. What's worth the flat drive from Philly to Pittsburgh or driving across Ohio? Because there is nothing in Ohio. There is. There is. It is a little more scenic. And you know how the-- Literally, Turnipike has those walls on the spot. It just feels a little just-- you're just confined and it's just-- Could you not go to-- Did you guys not want to go to P&C Park? Oh, no, no, no. We've been to P&C. We've been there last year, me, Michela and Bella, and Fabula. I felt like it was like a postcard looking out for that thing. But while we were having good times on vacation, our schedules have varied. But Joellen B seems to be in the crosshairs of the ire of people in the basketball world, particularly the French fans who just have enjoyed booing him throughout the entire Olympics. Noah, you look at what he's going through, the choice he made. Obviously, he has said he wanted to play for his country of Cameroon, had they qualified. He kind of dissed France and decided to-- I mean, maybe not dissed him, but chose to go with USA where he has grown up and gotten to know these guys and become more acclimated with, you know, made friendships with all these other NBA players rather than go play for France. So I don't even know what that would look like with him, with him, with him, and with him, but he's drawn some ire of people for his conditioning for the way he's fitting in with the team USA. Do you feel like some of this stuff is warranted? Or are people reaching a bit and kind of going for the low hanging fruit? Because it is a heat adjustment for him to go from being the obvious focal point of the Sixers to trying to fit in and get acclimated with these other guys. Yeah, I mean, he definitely doesn't seem to mind it. We see him egging those boos on. And he's very familiar with hearing a boo or two. I think, look, he did just as far as his quality of play, not start well. He had a really rough debut. And then, boom, he gets that DMP. So there's understandably going to be a lot of scrutiny as far as Steve Kerr's lineups and his rotations and where Joel Embiid fits and all of it. So I guess from that perspective, it's understandable or fair. But I mean, I think he had a really nice game in the quarter final against Brazil. And I don't think there's any way to slice that one other than a strong performance from Joel Embiid. But yeah, he does seem to naturally find himself as a source of controversy or in the spotlight or what have you. And I think the love of professional wrestling and that kind of heel dynamic shines in these spots, where he's doing the DX celebration. And he's asking for more boos. And he's just embracing that not everyone's going to love him. And in these particular Olympics with these French fans, the boos is going to be the default response whenever Joel Embiid touches the ball. So yeah, it's definitely not a kind of situation where he can just cruise through and be super under the radar. He's going to get a negative response from the fans and doesn't really seem to me like that's something he's on a custom to or that's bothering him at any deep level thus far. I mean, Amy, he shows up and shows out though against Brazil. Yeah. So it was so great because he played well in the last tune up game against Germany. And then he did not have a good debut. And then no one mentioned he had the DMP. You have to go back and remember that Jason Tatum had a DMP and the opening game against Serbia. So I thought he acquitted himself exceptionally well. It's an adjustment. We talked about it last week. Tyree Smaxie said at his press conference, when I asked him about, what do you think about Joel Embiid with Team USA? And he goes, you have to remember, here's a guy that did not grow up here playing in the AAU system where you have these kind of super teams that all come together and you're meshing all of these. And then he didn't play for any kind of team USA or team anything leading up to that. And all those guys have, even if they hadn't been on Team USA big, they've been in Team USA the U-19 or they've been on these AAU all-star teams. So they've been more kind of accustomed to meshing their talent with other talented teams. Everybody start to finish is really good. So I was glad to see him start out very strong. Steve Kerr talked about it after the game against Serbia that they had to make some adjustments. Maybe the offense not going all the way through Joel Embiid. You know, it's a work in progress. But the thing that I like to see about him, he's having fun over there. And you talk about his conditioning, and I know we're going to get into that with what Charles Barkley had to say. But no better way to get into condition for the season than playing actual basketball. And he's doing that. So I don't, you know, people are looking at him like, oh, does he look heavier? I don't know, I'm looking at him. He looks like how he looks. Like he looks, this is what he looks like. Maybe we're just, we're too close to, you know, looking at him all the time. But he doesn't look that much different to me. And I think being around these players in this environment has just been nothing but a positive overall there. He's enjoying it. And when he did the DX Chop against the Brazil, and then he has Snoop Dogg doing it, I thought, well, now we've re, this is peak pop culture moment. Like everything's crossing over. Snoop is now a Joel Embiid fan. And I think that, you know, I can't wait till he rings the bell one time for a game. 'Cause that would be just the ultimate crossover for me. I love it, I'm here for all of it. - He needs to trademark thrust the process. I think he needs to try to hop on that, man. And just have that as like a put it on t-shirts, mugs and everything else. But yeah, I mean, his personality just shines. Like in these big moments and things like that. And even the little gestures and, you know, under the radar for a seven foot two dude is like, you know, relative. But I think that and then of himself, he relishes these situations where he's in the spotlight and gets opportunities to display his skillset and show some of his personality. So it's like the best of both worlds for him right now. The thing that I think that basketball wise might be really beneficial is that he is suddenly on a super team in a sense with Paul George and Tyrese Maxi, maybe super team light, but still a team with three all star caliber players. And, you know, Paul George has been an MVP conversation. He's finishing the top three in the past. He'll be his one, one finished runner up twice. So with that dynamic, how will him be fit in in moments where Paul George is taking the final shot or dominating the game and be has to kind of take a back seat and be more of a defensive presence. So maybe this is a good primer for when he does play in the regular season and has to defer his skillset a little bit and not be the focal point as much. So maybe this kind of parlays itself into an opportunity where he can accentuate his defensive presence and maybe this is a year where he can have, you know, be in the running for one of the things he said he wanted in the past was NBA defensive player of the year. So maybe that will be something that will kind of get him to the finish line in a more healthier state because he's not having to do it on both ends and be the top scorer and the number one option and the big defensive presence last line of defense on the other end. So I'm looking at it optimistically and I feel like Joel would be just pretty honest and open. So if it was getting to him and we would probably see that a little bit more and with the criticism he's facing by some people with his play and how he's fitting in, did they forget how he finished the season with the bells, Paul'sy and the knee and all the other Nick up injuries and still in this dog fight series with the Knicks and, you know, putting up big numbers and things like that. And that series, I think people forgot a little bit of where he was health wise and how quickly he pushed that to the side and was able to start playing for his country. So I'm giving him a longer leash to maybe some of these other people. And Charles Barkley, like you mentioned, Amy will talk about in a bit, but I don't think the criticism is as warranted. And I guess in beat is a little bit of the low hanging fruit where people can like attack him and not dig as deep to try to criticize other people. But I don't know, that's just as respected. Do you guys feel like it could parlay itself into playing well in the regular season with the Sixers because he'll maybe have to defer a little bit to Paul George offensively or Tyree Spaxi? - I do, but it's, you know, the five exhibition games and around that same number for the Olympics. We're not talking about a giant sample size. I think we're just thinking more about being in that environment with a bunch of superstars and a bunch of really smart players, too. Like you see LeBron James making passes to Joellen B that a few men in the world could and just yeah, very high collective IQ on this team. So I think none of that ever hurts, but I think bottom line is you want Joellen B to return healthy and ready for the next season. And he would love to do it with a gold medal as well. Steve Carter told reporters that Embiid had, I guess, minor ankle discomfort, which is why he sat out the second half against Brazil. So seemingly no reason for concern, but anything on the Joellen B health front, we kind of have to make a note of it and Sixers perspective hope that all is okay for the rest of the Olympics. But yeah, two really high pressure games to come if the US is able to get through Serbia. And as we said, Embiid had a really rough start to his Olympics against Serbia. And they're coming off an incredible comeback. Came back from 24 down against the Aussie boomers. So they'll go into that match up with a lot of confidence. And I imagine something of a nothing to lose kind of mindset. Like the US is going to be heavily favored. And Yokocho will try to lead that squad to something special. So yeah, I'm really curious to see how Embiid fairs there. And I think any game with a lot of intensity and playoff ish or something like that stakes. It cannot hurt as far as what he brings into next season. But for me, bottom line, like if he's healthy and he's feeling feeling good when next MBAC season begins, that's the most important and best possible sort of outcome from the Sixers. - Yeah, I think to your point, about trying to keep him as healthy as possible. So his usage rate doesn't need to be at 90% or whatever it felt like it was at times because we all know the numbers of-- - Tom pivotal levels. - Yeah, exactly. With Joel Embiid, what the Sixers did and without him, just the drop off was just, I mean, they cratered when he was not out there. So that in and of itself, trying to get to a point by adding Paul George would do that. And Joel Embiid now at least having a taste, Noah's point being really good about, it's not like they're playing 40 games together in this style, it's really, you're looking at maybe 12 total or 10, I guess probably, and now at this point, when you look at everything. So you're looking at a dozen or so less games for them to kind of get all on the same page and kind of take some of that experience and extrapolate it out to an 82 game season is a little much, but at the same time, it is something that he can utilize as far as, all right, well, I've been in a situation before where my team doesn't have, 'cause I feel like he felt that rightfully so. He saw what his team did when he was not on the court and how those leads would vanish or there was just a huge uphill climb. It would have been a close game and he had to come out and then they were down 12 points, it seemingly with the snap of a finger. So things like that, I think, when going forward, anything that he can take away as far as keeping this guy healthy as possible, Paul George talked about it on his introductory press conference, like one of the reasons I'm here is so Joel Embiid can stay as healthy as possible. So you don't have to utilize him as much and that he can be ready for the playoffs because that's what it's all about. They don't even mince words about it. It's not like, hey, if we have like, this is what our whole goal is, is to get Joel Embiid as healthy as possible to the playoffs. And if him getting in good shape because he's played in the Olympics is one of those steps, if him learning how to defer or not be the focal point of the offense because he's played in the Olympics is another one of those steps, then that's great. Everything that leads to him being as healthy as possible in the playoffs, that's all that matters. That's the end all, be all in this one. But I was glad to see that he started out well. I'm glad Noah brought up the tweak in the ankle or felt something in his ankle. The thing is with these guys, that team is so stacked and Brazil obviously was under man. I think at one point during the broadcast for those who watched it, Dwayne Wade said like, yeah, I think they're a little bit under, well, a lot of it. Yeah, they're just like, come on. You can't sugarcoat it. At that point, it was like 60 to 30 or something crazy. So the good news is if you do have any kind of discomfort or whatever, they can take you out. You're not going to lose any sleepover because you've got 11 other players who are some of the best in the world, including LeBron James, who I believe turned 75 years old this week. One thing, hey, listen, these marquee games Noah mentioned are coming up. They're going to get their metal tested. Style of play ain't the same as the NBA. No defense if we say a little bit of a smaller court. You know what I'm saying? So they pack it in in the paint a little bit more and it's just not quite the same basketball maybe in beat as used to. And that could play a factor until it as well. Yeah, especially when you talk about like when he sees the double team and they come over, that it is a little bit more narrowed. And I feel like it looks like he's crowded more just because of the way that the spacing is. But they've got good shooters around them, namely Steph Curry. And then you throw in Devin Booker in there and it's like, okay, well, they're just, they're going to be just fine. So I still stand by my rolling straight through. We'll see how they do against Serbia though. But France handed it to Canada pretty easily. That was on for any team with Dylan Brooks is going to have a severe hamstring. They're going to be just like that guy is just he's. They're in the world championships. It looked like it worked out just fine though. Sure, sure it did. He's doing the difference maker on that team. Victor Webb and Yama blocked his shot seven rows back. It was, he met him at the rim and just shoved the ball out of his face. I was like, okay, well, that's not going to go your way, Dylan. Maybe don't try that again. And Jamal Murray, like I don't know what's going on with him, but that was very surprising. He did not have a good Olympics at all. Terrible. And a seemingly Shay Gil just mentioned in that on his Instagram. Like, you know, he wasn't quite all he should have been. 14, yeah, but like 14% from three. I don't know, maybe he's heard or something. I don't know, that was strange. Before we move on, before we move on, Amy, and pay some bills really interested to hear from you and Noah. There are some things that are too good to keep a secret. Like how your MX Platinum card helps you have the perfect trip. I'd like to check into the Centurion Lounge. Or how it seems like you always get those hard to snag tables. Ooh, yum. And how you get the most out of select can't miss events. With access to the Centurion Lounge, Rezzy Priority notified, and MX card member benefits at select events, you'll have to share. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Terms apply, learn more at americanexpress.com/withamax. This episode is sponsored by AutoTrader. Credit scores, down payments, interest rates, carbine can be a numbers game. But you don't have to be a math expert to get the keys to your dream car. Just use Kelly Blue Book My Wallet on AutoTrader. Crunch your numbers and get your personalized results so you know exactly how much you'll pay each month for your car. It's like having a magic wand for your wallet. Presto, the car you've been wanting is now within reach. So hit the road and leave your calculator at home. Find your next car on AutoTrader.com. About any Olympic moments so far that have really captured you or pulled you in. That Cole Hawker 1500 meter finish, I had tears. I was at work and I'm Brian Brennan and I are a producer for Sixers pre and post game. Are yelling, yelling at the tellers. That was crazy and I feel a little goosebumps now talking about it. Nothing like a great underdog story, particularly the way the stagger was. He comes from fourth, the finishes all the way and then that scream. He let out after he crossed the finish line. That was phenomenal. I watched it like four times in a row. That's amazing. There's so many moments. I mean, you could also like just a sidebar before I get to like one of my favorite moments. We sit here, especially when we watch track and field and we just try to guess like how fast do you think you could run one lap around? Whatever it is, forget it because they're going to smoke you. It was Sydney McLachlan when she ran the 400 meter hurdles, so she's jumping over things physically. Every other person in her race, she ran faster over hurdles than they do flat. You heard time would have been the fifth fastest at the 400 meter flat and she did the hurdles that way. The hurdles, she jumps over stuff. Well, during the Olympic trials, she lost both of the nails on her big toes. It's a... No. You need those. Right here. He's really nice. He's like my faith. Yeah. The Hawker was a great moment. I just finished watching U.S. water polo advance to the semifinals. Tremendous match. Even though all the rules of water polo, it's like soccer, slow basketball and a little bit of hockey. You've got to be in some crazy shape, man. You've got to be in some crazy shape. If they would have a turnover and I'm like, get back and I realize they've got to swim like an entire length of the pool and then they've got to rise up and shoot it and then you can... There's a lot of like... Underwater. Underwater, yeah. The curricular that they show you, like bathing suits being pulled and whatever else and then you get sent to like a penalty, it's bananas, but that was very exciting. So anything... I've watched it all. I've watched table tennis. I watched dressage. I watched all the Olympic field. Play for faith. Adopting the women's U.S. water polo team. They played tomorrow against also a semifordor final against Australia. I watched the discus. We had a medalist in the discus and then the hammer throw. Tremendous. How do you even learn how to do the hammer throw? Don't know. Confused by that, but that's amazing. And they just invent sports like steeplechase like, hey, here's a big hurdle. And now there's water. Right. And you're really tired, so you're probably going to fall. Just jump over this. I love it. I can't get it. I'm so bummed that the Olympics are every four years because I'm so locked in on everything. Every time I turn on, whether I'm streaming it or whatever, I find something new to watch. It's just... The hocker is such a great one. I was like physically just like standing up at my desk yelling for this guy because they had such preamble to it and they're like, I've got a good kick, sure does. I did. He was awesome. This is definitely cemented for me that I'm much more of a summer games person than winter. Occasionally I've been back and forth. I really love the short track, just the chaos of it with winter, but as you said, the summer has like a million events that are just so freaking entertaining. The pole vault world record to me was really exciting. Yeah. Mondo. Yeah, just seeing someone achieve like historic excellence in this event that's been going on for over a century or whatever, I think that's always pretty cool, seeing how far you can push yourself and perform under the greatest spotlight ever. So I thought that was amazing. I just went down a little rabbit hole with the long jump and just Bob Beaman still having the Olympic record from 1968 is kind of mind-blowing to me because you see all these records that are sent every event now. And of course the technology and the training is world-class and yeah, just the enormity of that accomplishment, I think is kind of awe-inspiring to me as just an all-time Olympic record. So Bob Beaman, 1968, he just like blew that field out of the water and still has a record all these years later. So yeah, I think anytime like someone sort of gets the most they possibly can out of their body and does it at this historically great level, I'm always left in awe and always wanted to watch. How about that picture of Mondo and Shakeri Richardson, freshman year LSU. Yes. And I'm like, oh, so their track team is obviously good. Also, shout out. No, I see you're wearing whole city. Is it because I went to the Liverpool match last week? So you decided we're whole city Tigers today? We talked about it a little. Yeah. I thought maybe no, put that on specifically, I should have had my red jersey on, but I did not. Yeah. As I said, no anti-liver pool. I see one here. It looked like it was a fun, fun, well done. It was. Yeah, very well attended. It was a lot of fun. So Danny, when you were on vacation, we were talking about, I guess we taped, I don't know what day we did our podcast on, I guess it was on the Tuesday. And then Wednesday was, I went to Shawnee, Shawnee, and I went to Phillies, Yankees, and then we went over to Exfinity to watch Team USA win against South Sudan. And then we went over to the link to see Liverpool Arsenal and like one of their friendly kind of lead-up matches. So it was a full day. So no one. You, Shawnee, and Shawn. Yes. Okay. I'm like, Baker can't hang with that. He can't. Honestly, like it got to be second half of the Liverpool match. And I thought, you are able to hang either. Strong. I am bitter. It was approaching 10 p.m. And we're going on like 12 hours now, almost of sports, but it was great. It was great. I saw our buddy Jim Curtin over getting ready for the Liverpool match. He just didn't have a, he said he didn't have a fighting interest, but that he hates Arsenal. So I think that answered everything I needed to know about that. But it was fun. Yeah, well, the, what concert was it last night? Zach Bryan. Zach Bryan, the rain, the crowd, the, oh my gosh, the delay, the delay concert, I think they'd left it like 1230. The concert was over. Yeah, I think it was close to one because I had my brother, oh, Jim wanted me to tell you hello, Daniel. For those of you who don't know, Danny and the manager of the union went to high school together. And Jim is not a liar. But I think he fudges a little bit when he says Danny was an actually good basketball player. He was a good basketball player too. Nah. Yeah. Jim, I can imagine Jim also played soccer at Villanova, but we call him Larry Bird. You call him Larry Bird? I could see. Yeah. I told you before, when he decided that he wasn't going to play his senior year of basketball to focus on soccer, it was like, what? Excuse me? Yeah. But he had the vision, man. Yeah. And as our Danny pomels is in fact, are we back on the basket ball player? No, he said good. Not decent. He said good. I think he did say good. One final thing before we move on, and it's my sound a little homerish, but NBC has been doing a bang of job with the Olympics, man. It is just so much fun. So much. I haven't heard anyone say a bad word about it and everyone I know has been watching between Peacock and USA and NBC itself, I just like it's been phenomenal. The whole Snoop Dogg ambassador thing has been a great levity piece to the whole Olympic thing. So I just think, you know, props to whoever, um, I know Pauline, one of our PAs, she's up in Stanford, right? Well, she used to. I don't know if she did this year, but she's the past couple of Olympics, she was working with them and people like her help bring this thing together. So just real big shout out to NBC and all that they have done. Let's take a quick time out. We're half hour into this thing. I haven't really talked about anything else, but we will get to a final goodbye from a 76er who is long in the tooth here, maybe longer than he should have been. But let's show some love to our title sponsor Wilmington University. Find your higher education home at Wilmington University, where your academic success is celebrated by caring community, explore your opportunities at willmu.edu. Celebrity Cook Steve Monorano brings his Italian American cooking back home to Philly, enjoy Monorano's prime at Rivers Casino and Steve Stangus meatballs with Sunday gravy prime steaks and more, make reservations for Monorano's prime on open table. We will get to a goodbye from one of our former process 76ers, but we do need to tie a bow into the Charles Barkley Joellen B. criticism. Charles Barkley was a guest on the Paul George podcast P podcast and like Charles Barkley does, he let it all hang out, gave his honest opinion on where Joellen beat is and his thoughts on Paul George's teammate. The word embarrassed about his performance was used by Charles Barkley. I thought that was a bit heavy handed and harsh because like the things I mentioned, his injuries, the bells palsy at the end of the last season and how he's bounced back from that. And not only had he had the injuries but his performance with those injuries, I thought was pretty remarkable. And him being acclimated and learning with this new situation and opportunity playing for Team USA, I don't think people and particularly people criticizing him like Charles Barkley need to be as pointed about their thoughts and criticisms because I feel like he should be giving a little bit more leeway and he has looked like someone who's trying to figure it out as opposed to someone who sucks. You mentioned Jamal Murray, I would think that that's more someone who didn't play up to snuff, yeah, as opposed to Embiid who's just trying to be something more than what he has been, which has been someone who fits in with what's going on rather than being the focal point. But I'm sure you guys heard or caught wind of what Charles Barkley had to say. Fair foul. Foul. Foul for me. Noah? I mean, you can say whatever he thinks and feels, he's clearly showing no hesitancy about that previously. I mean, look, I think it's, again, valid that Embiid had like, you know, DD minus game and his Olympic debut, Team USA. Still one via blowout and then, you know, he's played like pretty well overall since then was good in the Puerto Rico game and had been set strong and the win over Brazil in the quarter finals and then had the much dissected DMV. So, like, there's just not much to go off of if we're trying to criticize his performance other than, yeah, he was bad in one of the games that they've had thus far. As far as the conditioning, I think all the context you noted is relevant. I do think it's always in Joellen Beat's best interest to be in AA plus condition. I think back to how last season ended when, of course, it's going to be much harder for him at the end of a long series and dealing with the knee and the bells palsy, but Nick Nurse tries to give him the full 24 minutes of that second half in game six and he faded really badly. You know, he was ineffective in the fourth quarter and Ficke was an obvious problem there. So sure, like, if it's possible for Joellen Beat to be a little bit better in the cardio department and be a little bit sharper from a conditioning standpoint, that's great, but like, I haven't seen anything thus far to indicate he's woefully out of shape in these Olympic games. And again, like, we're not going off, off of much evidence. He's playing five or six minutes with the starters. And then the second unit comes in and I think he's looked perfectly fine as far as being able to get up and down the core and being able to switch out on the perimeter and do normal Joellen Beat stuff as far as the way his body's moving out there. So yeah, I think it does seem pretty hyperbolic to say he's been embarrassing or anything along those lines. I don't think he's been brilliant overall, but I think the bottom line is everyone will be paying close attention for the semifinals against Serbia and we'll all make our judgments and how he does there. But yeah, I guess I guess I would lean much more toward the foul category if we were doing one of the two there. Yeah, I totally agree with Noah because I think that it's, I mean, there's always criticism is always going to be fair when you don't have a game like maybe he was expected to have. And I think Charles Barkley is always going to be a little bit more critical of Joellen Beat for two reasons. One, because he plays for the Sixers and I think people look to Barkley to really kind of weigh in on the team that he is obviously plays for, has some affection for, still lives in the Philadelphia area. But two, I think for guys like Charles Barkley and he's said it, I think it frustrates them to a certain degree because they see what he can do. They know who he can be. They see the greatness in a guy like Joel and beat and when it doesn't always translate to the court, I think that's frustrating. And you hear, you don't hear it as much, but you've heard it over the years with Joel and beat's career, maybe not the last three years as much, but certainly in the beginning of it, you know, the kind of lack of attention to his conditioning and how he is nutrition and how he takes care of himself. I think that he's come into his own. I think he's had a certain maturity with that and realizing that I can't just go out there and play basketball and everything will be fine. If I really want to achieve whatever it is, I have to take care of my body. Stuff like that really rings true with a guy like Charles Barkley for things that he also had to go through in order to keep himself in shape. So I think that that's where some of it is like what Charles specifically brings to the table with his own personal kind of journey in the league. And I think a guy like that sees how effortless it looks at times for Joel and beat. And I imagine, and Barkley said it, like they want him to be the MVP every year because they know he can be it. So guys like that get frustrated when they don't see it translate necessary on the court. So I think it's just, you know, to go back to some expression used earlier, it is low hanging fruit to see if he's struggling just to point out the fact that it's conditioning, not weighing into the fact that he had, you know, a pretty severe knee injury that hampered them all of the second half of last season into the playoffs and then the bell's palsy. So it's you're just looking at a guy like thinking and it's lazy and I, you know, I'm sure you guys do too. You follow people that are not from Philadelphia and they weigh in, oh, you know, just Joel and beat Barkley was right. You know, he looks lazy. He's slowed down the court. Okay. Well, tell me you didn't watch a liquor Sixers basketball without telling me you didn't watch a liquor Sixers, a lick of Sixers basketball because one, that's how Joe, he's not the fastest guy. He's never going to be the fastest guy, but he's got great footwork and he moves around like he's supposed to. And I feel like it's just it was too easy of a shot and it was too strong to say he, it was embarrassing. I don't think it was embarrassing. I understand that he struggled in that first game, but I thought he played well against, you know, the other teams that he's faced, you know, you mentioned the Puerto Rico game and then obviously the DNP, but, you know, he played well against Germany in the final tune up and then he played well against Brazil. And I think going forward, try to look at the full picture with Joel and B. Don't just examine one game or one half of a game or even just the opening of a game. I think that's a little bit short-sighted on that. But yeah, I mean, it's, any criticism is fair when it's coming from a place like that of knowledge, Charles Barkley's played for Team USA. I mean, they are the original dream team and they rolled through the original dream team I read it the other day and I know we've talked about it. They faced nine players who had played in the NBA. This team will face 61 at the level of competition is a lot different. So while they're winning these games and it does look easy at times, it's not easy competition. There are real NBA players at times and a couple of them on the opposite side. So it's not like Joel and B can just go out there like he's playing, you know, down here in South Philly and just back somebody down and shoot over him. So I feel like it was a little too far for me using the word embarrassed is what if he wants to be critical of what he thought his conditioning was or his player is adaptation to the international game. That's fine. But I don't think calling someone's play embarrassing at that level at that stage was really necessary, especially a fellow, not just a fellow Sixers, but a fellow team USA member. A little much for me for Charles who, you know, but he always says whatever he wants to say. You draw a great parallel though between maybe, I don't know if envy or whatever the word is right there between. I just think that these guys have a hard time like they look at like you should be doing this because I you're too much talent more talented than I was. Yeah, and the conditioning thing because he even outlined that famous story on the podcast about how he ate his way to 300 pounds before the draft to avoid being drafted by the 76 years because he heard they didn't have enough money to sign him and then Moses Malone had to tell him he was too fat and then he helped him get in shape and et cetera, et cetera. So I'm sure it took a lot for him to be what he was as NBA player after reaching that weight and having to, you know, maintain that weight and whatnot and and let's just be honest, Joel and beat is a more talented player just in the unicornness of that he is and being able to, like we saw, that crazy three point touch that he showed against Brazil and, you know, what he does on a defensive end. So, you know, all of envy is the word, but there's definitely a contrast, a parallel there between. Yeah, but I think when Barkley makes comments like that, I think that it comes from a personal place for him. That's just my, you know, take. I know he's talked about different times with specifically to him be when people talked about his conditioning. I know he's talked about like, you know, his struggles with that. And Mark Jackson's been very open and honest about it too. He said, listen, when big men go out and we are out with injury, like it takes us infinitely longer to get back. It's just the nature of our bodies, like we just can't get into game shape as quickly as these, you know, wily little guards, it's just, that's a statement of physiology. Mark's spoken about it numerous times on our pre and post game and I think Barkley has too. So, I think that that's to me, like that was like the frustrating part for when I read why I read it. And then I listened to it to see what, if there was anything taken out of context on the podcast P and I was just like really like, you're embarrassed because you think he's out of shape like, you know, it kind of seems like a personal statement than it did a basketball statement to me. That's just me. Our producer have been very chime in on the chat here and saying, Amy, the steeplechase originated in Ireland in the 18th century as an analog. So a prologue is first, I guess analog is after to a cross country thoroughbred horse race, which I've actually been to people, the church, people chase horse racing. Oh, okay. Oh, you have. I have seen the steeplechase horse race. I can see you with the riding boots in the hat and I don't ride them. I want to witness, no, I'm, I'm, no, a horse Kentucky. There's a little Kentucky is the, oh, we stayed in Covington, Kentucky. We said in Covington. Right. It's right across from Great American ballpark right there, lovely right there. Fabulous. I would never have known it is a nice clean. It's a lovely town. Very walkable. I was talking about Covington, since I had, I love it right by the water there. Covington. Very nice. I just, I was, did you realize the road around Great American ballpark is still called Pete Roseway? I did see that. Yes. Because we parked in Rose garage, you'll never have to see very much, but I've also been very talking about break dancing. You know, did you read? So there's a great article. It's in the Inquirer. Mike Silsky wrote it. He's been over there and there's a lot of local ties, people that grew up in the area. I did a story on Justin Best, who was in the foreboat, a foreman boat that went gold, first gold for the foreman crew. And I think 64 years, shout out to him, we went to Drexel from Haverford, but there is a break dance. She's breaking, she's breaking. That's what they call it. I feel like I'm talking about it, like the boogaloo. On Friday, she went to Penn. She's like a, she was a super executive with Estee Lauder and she left her job after going graduating Penn. Shut up. After job, like a high-ranking executive, can you imagine that call to your parents? You graduate from Wharton, you get this great job and she's like, just kidding, I'm going to pursue break dancing. And they're like, I'm sure that they're supportive because now she's in the Olympics. But I don't know how that phone call would have gone over. If Shawnee calls me one day after going to Penn, I would say, no, you're not. My parents would have probably been really nice, but I'm a different parent. I guess. Aren't those stories? Those stories are just the fabulous part of the Olympics. Great story though. I'm looking forward to her. I have to look up her name, but Sealski has the article on it. I just saw it pass through because I know they started on Friday. I can't get enough of the 51-year-old Turkish guy who shows up for the shooting event. Everybody else is like crazy things and he's just like, I'm ready to go. I got my musical. I'm in good shape. What do you think people thought when I looked at him, I'm like, oh, great. Here comes Fred. You're the best quote to you, Seth. He said, that's just how I am. I'm a natural. I'm a natural shooter. I'm a natural shooter. I'm a natural shooter. The memes that came out of that sentence though were great. I'm a natural shooter. And then I started seeing, like, you know, they showed Ben Simmons at the Met and with his quote, he was like, I'm a natural shooter, I was like, oh, of course, but the Internet is undefeated. That guy rolling up wearing a t-shirt being like, hey, yeah, I'm here. Where's the competition? Right. The hamburger was like, I'm ready. Ready to shoot now. Let's go. If I had the attachments, I could have won gold, but that wasn't important to me. We all have these, like, patch things. I don't, there's things that have the wind that they can measure it. And he's just like, no, I don't mean any of that. I'm a natural shooter. You guys take your fancy... 51-years-old. It's the Olympics in the middle. Yeah. Guys, I feel like this is just my intuition. I feel like FurCon Korkmoz comes from money. I feel like he comes from money. Why? Well, just his demeanor, the way he carries himself, he has a certain air about him. I think that's the European kind of face, don't we? Okay. But then of all the teams that probably offer him a contract, of an NBA veteran, he ends up in Monaco, where it's just boogey books. What teams do you think offered him an actual NBA contract? I'm sure his home country offered him one. You don't think Turkey? Yeah. No, I was talking about, I thought you meant like an NBA team. No, no, no. I'm saying, all the European teams that he probably could have played for, he goes for the one with the... Put your, put your, put your, your feet in his shoes. So if Saudi Arabia called and said, "Hey, we want you to play in our league," that's one offer for you, let's say Turkey called, that's another, and then the third one is Monaco. I mean, he could have played Spain, he could have played for Tel Aviv, because somebody had to take Greece. I'll go with this. Monaco. Daniel Monaco is the answer. How about like Captain, like what if like Tahiti offered you? Where do you think he would go? Oh, go play with the White Howard and... Yeah. Would you like to play in, no, not Taiwan, weirdo. Or Tahiti. No, no, I feel you. I'm just saying, in general, any of those other... Do you want to go to Russia, or would you like to go to Monaco? Yeah. I don't know. Do you want to go to China, or do you want to go to Monaco? I'm going to Monaco. Six months after his time with the six years was over, he finally releases a thank you to the team. And I was longer than Tobias Harris, but... It was as long. But his time as a 76ers over, people still have feelings to offer a con that I quite don't have. Can you kind of make sense of that? Is it just a sense of mentality of him being a part of the process? I just feel like he was a player they stood cut ties with long before. They tried to. He was like a bad penny, just kept showing up. They tried to. They did cut him. And then he came back. That is true. I mean, Brett Brown, I'm sure has something to do with that, obviously. But he's gone. Do you feel any sense of mentality, you know? Is there any... You know, I enjoy covering him. He gave me a quote or two that he didn't have to stay late to talk to me. Anything there? Yeah. No, he was always a solid guy. Definitely, you could tell it weighed on him at times, of course, when he wasn't playing. I'm coming in, yeah. Wished he was elsewhere, but I think he always tried to stay professional. From a media side, I think it was just cool to see his English evolve. And you saw the sense of humor come out more. I think that's always neat to see someone just grow in comfort there and their personality shines a little bit more. But yeah, I think as far as fans of Furk on Quirkma, as I imagine, a lot of it is he was always audacious. Like, he always was going to take the open shot or the not so open shot and believe fully in his game. And look, like he had a two-year stretch there where I think he was a pretty good offensive player. He made about 39% of his threes on decent volume and obviously had a little bit of skill with the ball in his hands as well. Of course, the defense, I think, improved a little as he went on, but still wasn't something you saw as an asset with his game. And yeah, I imagine overseas he'll have the ball in his hands a lot more and chances to really show what he can do and be in a central role. Still pretty young, 27. So maybe he finds himself back in the NBA one day if he thrives overseas. But yeah, I think it's not a shocker that post-sixers, he was not able to latch on, unfortunately, for him with another NBA team. But yeah, it seems like he's in a good place and happy to take the next step with Monica. Good old Monica. I will say that his summer internet videos were way better than Ben Simmons summer internet videos. Remember when we realized that he could dunk in that one video that had fire in it? I was like, this is amazing. Yeah, I love that he will break out of the reverse dunk when you least expected it. Oh, look at this, he had videos with fire in it. So to know his point about the English from where he started to where he ended, that is something that's always been just so impressive to me. No matter what the sport is, non-English speakers come here and then they're asked to give interviews in English, preferably, and they want to for a lot of reasons. The fact that they can do that with the confidence and the eloquence that they can is always impressive to me. I would never be able to do that. So I thought he was always very, very well liked and well regarded by his teammates. I think that always says a lot. The guys really enjoyed having him on the team at different times. He is who he is as far as a player. He might get another chance to be the 15th guy, 14th guy down on the roster because I think he does have skills offensively, but I think he, when I looked at his game, especially in the last two years, six years, I was like, that's, he's an international, he's a European player. And he's going to be his Monaco, lovely, lovely, tiny Monaco. Needs to make shots at a pretty high clip, I think, in order to crack it in the NBA. You know, it certainly helps. He's like a real six, seven, and he's a big guy. Yeah, I think has flashed some defensive ability at times, but yeah, he's definitely, I think, in a spot that seems to make sense for him at this stage of his career. I believe Monaco is in the top French league, so he'll get some good competition and play Euro league opposition and have chances to show NBA scouts watching that he's still cut out for that league. But yeah, it's kind of wild how long he did last on the Sixers. You know, Chairese Maxie, I guess, right now was Joel Embiid's longest tenure teammate for a little stretch there. We had like Firk on Quirk Maas and Sheikh Milton kind of around the same tenure with him be Quirk Maas longer. Quirk Maas was a 2016 draft pick, late first round, and yeah, he had a fascinating staying power in Philly. And yeah, it was nice of him to give a shout out to the fans here and to send his well wishes to the city. I probably enjoyed this bromance with Matisse Thiebel, the most. That was always fun. They were enjoying each other. Exactly. It was just fun seeing them link up and the smiles on their faces when they would be around each other. The little pranks they will play and things like that. But Firk on Quirk Maas, a true process mixer, man, a guy who was right in that mix during that time. But yeah, anything else before we go know what's happening on the website, I'm sure you are anticipating what's to come here with this 76ers team and Joellen beat in the Olympics. Yeah, that's the main thing, a note, right, right, and off all the games. So yeah, have that on your schedule for tomorrow, 3 p.m. Eastern, USA for Serbia. And yeah, should be fun to watch. We'll be fun to watch. Of course, these teams squared off in the pre ramp up to the Olympics and wasn't as close as you might have thought. But we'll see how things go here as Serbia is looking to be in that on that podium somehow some way and they got to get through the USA to do it. But we'll be fun to watch for sure. And you don't have to wake up in the break of dawn to actually see the game. So there's that. But for Amy Noah, I'm Danny Palmells, our producer have been very thanks for listening and watching the six year's talk podcast brought to you by Wilmington University. We'll meet works. We'll see you next time. a.m. a.m. a.m. a.m. a.m. a.m. (applause) [BLANK_AUDIO]
