After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

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Additional terms apply. That's BetterHELP.com. Thursday, it's Thursday, May 18th. I don't know how we got here, but it's Thursday, May 18th. And I'm not kidding about this in my neighborhood right now.

Are you ready? It's 35 degrees. The northeast is a little nutso. And I would think in Boston, not only is it cold, in fact, a friend of mine in central New Hampshire had to pull all her plants inside because they were supposed to get a hard freeze tonight. But it's also cold, cold inside Boston.

Well, inside TD Garden, used to be Boston Garden, inside TD Garden. And Jason Tatum, he's the poster boy for cold shooting in the fourth quarter with the Boston Celtics. And this is even with the Heat only scoring 20 points in the fourth quarter. It's crazy. The second half, you know, the Heat nearly outscored the Celtics in the third quarter by, okay, let me rephrase.

Sometimes I have this idea and it sounds one way in my head and it doesn't come out that way. The Celtics had 50 points in the second half of their opener against the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday night. The Heat nearly outscored them in the second half with just one quarter, the third quarter.

It still sounds awkward, but I should have just given you the numbers, right? Heat had 46 points in the third quarter. That's most ever in their playoff history. The Celtics barely managed 50 in the entire second half alone. Now, the Celtics had put themselves in a great spot with their first half. But similar to what the Denver Nuggets did against the Lakers in the West opener, we saw the Celtics look like a different team in the second half against the Heat, partly because they let their foot off the proverbial gas and they stopped going to the hoop. And again, this is just like the Nuggets.

I'm about to pound the desk here. I'm watching and thinking, what are you doing? Did you not learn from the Denver Nuggets? Do you remember how Denver set the tone and built a 20-point lead against the Lakers on Tuesday night? They were making a beeline for the hoop.

They were running. They were pushing the tempo. The formula was defense, rebounding, push the tempo, go to the hoop. Well, that's what the Celtics were doing. Marcus Smart had 10 assists in the first half. He had more assists than the entire Miami Heat team did in the first half because they were pushing the tempo, because he had his head up and he was looking for cutters to the hoop.

He was looking to set up his teammate. They were catching that Miami Heat. It's hard to do because the Miami defense is very good in transition, but they were working to find an advantage and they were working the paint. They had a ton of points in the paint in the first half.

40 maybe, don't quote me on that, but it was somewhere around 40. Similar to the Nuggets, work the lane, pound the paint, nose to the rim, and then in the third quarter, um, stop doing that. They stopped doing it. And not only did the Heat pick up their intensity, not only did the Heat play that defense that is a hallmark, but they started hitting their threes. Jimmy Butler, moving all over the court and with him goes the defense.

And because of that, he was able to set up his teammates who were open. Man, this was a clinic in the third quarter. Really in the second half, even though the Celtics made the final score respectable. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Good morning to you. Glad to have you with us. We are in the wake of the opener of a third consecutive series in which the Heat have stolen home court advantage. This is not a huge revelation, but this is what I came up with. As I'm watching last night, and again, we're seeing the pattern from Miami over and over and over again. How many times do we see this in the playoffs already?

It doesn't matter how far down they are. No, I get it. The New York Knicks are not the Boston Celtics, but the Miami Heat are still the same. Oh boom, that was.

That was the idea. It doesn't matter who they're playing. The Heat always have an answer. Because their formula.

Their winning formula. It's not based on who their opponent is. Now, can they make defensive adjustments? Sure. Do the matchup change? Absolutely. Does their offensive game plan change?

Well, yeah. But when it comes to the Heat, they have an identity. They know who they are.

They don't try to be something they're not. They win. And not every game, but they win because they stick to what works for them.

And of course, the hallmark, as I mentioned, is the tough, tenacious physical defense. They make their opponents look ugly. That's what they want to do. They want to wear down their opponents and make their opponents look like garbage.

And then they fight. They scratch, they claw. They never give up. Even when they're down 13 points in Boston, in the opener of the Eastern Conference Finals, even when they are watching the Celtics pound the paint and they're giving up way too many shots near the rim.

Even when they know they played a pretty abysmal half of basketball, they always come back with an answer. Ooh, yes. Let the cup runneth over with the struce juice. Working from the left wing now. Moves it to Martin. Working right baseline. Leads it for Jimmy. Three ball, right corner pocket. Nothing but net for Jimmy Buckets. Jimmy working the right side.

Pritchett on his back. Bouncing him all the way to the paint. Snaps it to Martin. Fakes the pass. Fires a three and rips the net.

Jimmy goes left. Pauses at the left elbow. To struce for three. I got a carafe.

Put that struce juice in it and knock it back. Three for four for Maximus, who's one of us. Jason Jackson on Miami Heat Radio. Franchise playoff record, 46 points in the third quarter. They outscored the Celtics by 21 on their own floor in the third quarter. Now, it wasn't as easy in the fourth quarter for the Heat offense.

Here's the struggle for the Heat. Their offense can go from red hot to ice cold in the span of a couple of minutes. And we've talked about this before over the course of their postseason run. They were one of the worst statistical offenses in the NBA this season. Partly because of injuries, sure.

But also because they were just bad. What you have right now is a Kyle Lowry who can score 13 points in a single quarter. What you have right now is a bunch of shooters that find an open spot. They spread the court. When Butler or Lowry or Bam Adebayo drive, they can dish. I mean, Butler forces the defense to chase him all over the court.

He approaches the hoop from every angle. But what the Heat do well offensively when they find a rhythm is they spread the court. So the defense and the Celtics, they've got long guys. They've got long arms. They've got lengthy defenders. Jason Tatum, Rob Williams, Al Horford. Doesn't move quite as well as the other two.

But still, we'll get around. He shadows you. Marcus Smart. But if you spread him out, then they have to track back and forth. When you spread him out, then that length is not quite as effective. Now, it doesn't work if you don't hit the threes. All right, so the Heat had to do that. In the third quarter, they did, though.

They spread it out. And the defense became less effective. And all of a sudden, the Heat were a world beater on offense as well as defense. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio.

Now, it wasn't completely over. As I say, in the fourth quarter, they go ice cold. So Jimmy Butler, he's got trouble scoring. They can't seem to buy back-to-back buckets.

It's one or two here or there, just enough to keep them in front. But we've seen what the Celtics can do, whether it's home or away, in the fourth quarter. Marcus Smart, hand back to Tatum. Tatum with nine on the shot clock. Tatum against Bruce. Tatum, left hand, right hand. Up makes, throws a bad pass right to Jimmy Butler.

That, I'm putting that one on Tatum, not on Jimmy Butler. He was just standing there and Tatum threw a right to him. Tatum turns the corner.

Yeah, he traveled. Back-to-back turnovers by Jason Tatum and crunch time. And Miami is closing in on Game 1, a seven-point lead with 1.57 to go. Jimmy Butler, right hand dribble to the free throw line. Butler elevates. Twelve feet jumper, no good. Celtics stay alive because Butler's missed a bunch of shots in a row. Boston down seven.

Ninety-eight seconds to go. Jaylin Brown throws back to Al Horford, now Brogdon straight away. Brogdon, right hand dribble, coming strong in the paint.

Swishes to the left hand. Wild shot, no good. Offensive rebound. Horford kick out. Tatum up fakes, travels again. And Jason Tatum, coming off a game for the ages on Sunday, has committed back-to-back-to-back turnovers in crunch time in Game 1 tonight. I turned the ball over.

Threw it to Jimmy. You know, that was on me. And, you know, I don't want the shot fake. You know, I just got sped up a little bit.

So, you know, just got to slow down a little bit in those moments. Jason Tatum, three consecutive possessions with three turnovers. And here's the crazy part.

He has three turnovers but doesn't even attempt a shot in the fourth quarter. That doesn't even make sense. How is that possible?

His name is Jason Tatum. He resorted, resorted. I was going to say resorted, then I was going to say reverted. It came out resorted.

Of course it did. I mean, this hour was going so well. He reverted back to his alter ego, Jason Taylor. It's not quite as drastic as James Harden and his disappearing act, but considering what Jason did in the fourth quarter of Game 6 against Philadelphia and then what he did and where he picked up and how he closed out. He and the Celtics closed out the Sixers in Game 7. Maybe you thought he was due for one of these, but he did have 30 points.

It's just that in the fourth quarter he took no shots, as in zero, as in nada. Gross. Still drunk from vacation. Stupid.

That's not true. Jay. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio.

Don't let Jay fool you. That was not from last night. About last night though. The Celtics, as I say, they're hanging around, they're hanging around, but Jason Tatum, who last year actually set a record for most turnovers ever in a single playoff run.

He looked more like that guy. As opposed to the guy who just set a record for most points ever scored in a Game 7. Still, because the Heat weren't hitting their shots because Jimmy Butler went through a cold streak himself, he was still out there and available.

Let Vamp work on the other side. They gave him some room. Horford all over. He has to get off the ball.

Get it to Jimmy. Three left on the shot clock. He elevates for three.

Leaned in and bounced up and in. Jimmy Butler has lost his mind. 34 points.

Two of four from the land of milk and honey. Damn right. I did. Damn right we did. And the best part about it is we still don't care what none of y'all think, honestly speaking. We don't care if you pick us to win. We never have.

We never will. We know the group of guys we have in this locker room. We know that Coach Poe puts so much confidence and belief in each and every one of us.

Coach Pat as well. And so our circle is small, but this circle got so much love for one another. We pump constant confidence into everybody. And we go out there and we hoop. We play basketball the right way, knowing that we always got a chance. Jimmy Butler, damn right. Damn right.

The same guy who told us that they were going to be the first team to win four games in this series. Part of their formula is a chemistry and a confidence that doesn't waver. It does not waver. It doesn't matter what they go through. And that's forged through the fire.

I know that's very poetic, but it's true. They have been through a ton of adversity, as have the Celtics. Because of that, they are unwavering in who they are and how they play and what they do.

They believe in it. Damn right. Now again, you've got to have a Kyle Lowry who keeps you close in the second quarter. Do you know the heat? Now he had 15 points in the game. He had almost half their points in the second quarter. 13 of his 15 come in the second quarter. Kyle Lowry is vintage. I mean, Jake can probably beat him up the court in a foot race.

But he's still crafty and smart. With the ball in his hands, he knows what to do. He sets up his teammates. He and Butler love playing together, too.

It's a special kind of relationship. Typical of, say, trying to think of a good wide receiver quarterback combo. Let's go, you give me one.

Give me one that's really productive. Or we'll go tight end. We'll go Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce. Because that's the kind of productive relationship that these two have. It's fun. Bamson is amazing. I think it's just great to be a part of this run he's been on since I don't know how long it's been now. But that's what he does. He's one of the best players in the world for a reason. It's just a joy to watch him. For a guy, he wants it so bad and he works so hard at his craft. It's important to enjoy his success. He gives us all the confidence to be successful and be aggressive and assertive. That's what makes him special.

He's not all about him. It's about our group and our team and everyone else. You can't quantify it.

There's no analytic to it. Just the feeling of stability in the locker room. Even when you're down nine in the first half and we played poorly. But you have to credit Boston because they made us play poorly.

There's just a settling effect that it's impossible to quantify. We're in striking distance. Let's just settle into our game. Jimmy will make a bunch of plays. Bam will make a bunch of plays and we'll be alright.

Everybody can just fit into their roles. But that's what the great players do. I feel like we did a really good job on the defensive end. We shared the ball on offense. Made some shots. Got a win.

But that's not enough for us and we want to get another one in two days. Jimmy Butler, he is the centerpiece, but he does not do it all alone. I mean, yes, he continues to score 30 plus. And his defense, it's tenacious.

He takes such pride in it, which I love. Bam out of bio, can jump out of a building. So there's a great athleticism there. We talked about the three-point shooting, which last night there were 16 of 31 from deep and the Celtics couldn't match that.

They didn't shoot well from beyond the arc. But it's know your role. Oh my gosh, you know what just popped into my head? Know your role and shut your mouth, you jabroni. Why? Travis Kelsey has ruined that phrase for me. He's ruined it. I was just trying to give you some analysis about a basketball game, knowing your role, and all I can think in my head is Travis Kelsey. Know your role and shut your mouth, you jabroni.

You gotta fight for your right to party! That's not the heat culture, all right? But this is the problem. This is the problem when we've got these athletes who we continually use here on the air to make you all laugh.

Then they get stuck in my head. All right, so back to knowing your role. Marriage of Brony. The heat, they know their roles. They embrace their roles.

They buy in. And as Butler tells us over and over again, it's relationships. And yes, these are all important elements of chemistry, but there's no guarantee.

Chemistry, it can't be measured by analytics. You cannot buy a bunch of players, put them together, hope they have chemistry. No, we're human beings.

We have hearts, we have souls, we have personalities. Sometimes those things have to be put on the back burner so that we can form a team. And sometimes when you come together, there's this incredible synergy, and the heat have captured it. Winning helps, it certainly helps, but it's only part of the equation. So we're asking you on this night, what other teams in pro sports have the kind of chemistry that actually gives them an advantage, like the Miami Heat, because it is evident.

It's evident. Now the Celtics have it too. They're just a little more hit or miss, and for some reason they hate playing at the Garden. When did Jaylen Brown call out the Celtics fans last week about game seven, because they've been booing him, and he said, okay, I'm going to turn this around on you. Well, there's still only 500 at home in the playoffs, which blows me away.

Really does. A team that good. But the Heat are good too. The Celtics missed seven free throws. They lost by seven. They also shot just 10 of 29 from beyond the arc.

And according to Jaylen Brown, that's not even the biggest problem. You'll hear from him and the Celtics coming up. Huge third quarter for the Heat. And after they got the lead, they weren't going to give it to you. They'll wrestle you for it. They'll fight you for it.

They're not going to give it up easily. You can find me on Twitter. Well, find us on Twitter to answer our question, After HoursCBS.

And then also on our Facebook page. Glad to have you with us on a Thursday morning. Now it's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports. Attention, listeners. I'm pleased to announce that Radio Rental is returning for another installment of Terrifying Tales. If you happen to be new here, I'm Terry Carnation, current proprietor of the Radio Rental Video Store, where I possess a collection of the scariest true stories you've ever heard, all told by real people. Mark your calendars for, oh, apparently it's available right now. I'm a little late with this promo.

Listen for free on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. Stop me if you've heard this one before. Different year, same song, Bam out of Bile in the paint. Shut off by Horford, floats it out towards Jimmy Butler, who barely stays in the front court. Three on the shot clock. Jimmy Butler has to launch a three. It rims in, and that's going to do it for game one.

They head for the exits at the Garden. We came out too cool. Like, it was just almost like we was just playing a regular season game. Like, it's the Eastern Conference Finals.

Like, come on. We got to play with more intensity than we did today. And we just got to be better, including me.

This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. That's Jalen Brown, says they have to play with more intensity. I get it. It's a group of human beings, and we don't always have the right attitude, the right approach. We're not always ready. But for heaven's sakes, how do you not have the intensity in your own building with those crazy fans who the last time they saw you, you were crushing the Sixers in a game seven and they were louder than they'd been in years, according to people who were there.

The Garden was shaken. So you go from that to not having enough intensity to cool. I don't I don't understand that. I hear what Jalen Brown is saying, but I don't understand that. Malcolm Brogdon, he's got something else to add about their mental approach. They're tough just mentally. This is a mental game at this point. We know their tendencies.

They know ours. But, you know, extra possessions, offensive rebounds. I think they played with more poise on the offensive end than we did on our offensive end tonight. They got every shot they wanted to and really took their time. We played harder than they did in the first half, so naturally they're going to respond.

And when you're playing at a certain level, especially against a team like this, you can't just think that what you did in the pass is good enough. And so we have to adjust our mindset regardless of what we're doing in one quarter. We have to raise our level of urgency.

We have to raise our mindset knowing that they're going to respond. And I think it's just goes back to like who can stay the more competitive physical detail team the longest. And so we do it for long stretches. And, you know, we just have lulls at times.

We got to be better at not having those. The Heat can look terrible on offense, but they very rarely have lulls on defensive rebounding. And that's what has carried them this far. That's who they are. It's their identity. And they take pride in it.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. So Jalen Brown, Malcolm Brogdon, Joe Missoula, all talking about the mental side, all talking about the intensity, all talking about the approach. You hear those words. It's not about their skills. It's not about whether or not they can beat the Heat, match up with them.

They've got plenty of tools. Their superstars essentially cancel each other out, right? Jason Tatum, even though he didn't take a shot in the fourth quarter, still had 30 points. He led the team. Compare that to Butler's 35. OK. Jalen Brown had 22. Bam Adebayo had 20.

OK, so there's your duos. But it's the other guys that brought it offensively with Kyle Lowry, the 15 off the bench. Even Caleb Martin again with another 15 points off the bench.

A lot of his is driving to the hoop. Gabe Vincent, Max Drews all had 15. Those four guys accounted for 60 points. That's huge.

It's huge. The Heat have a shorter and shorter bench. Well, you know, the Celtics didn't. They're not going super deep on their bench either. Actually, Peyton Pritchard, who didn't play a lot previously in the playoffs, they gave him a run with 12 minutes.

He actually was matched up on Jimmy Butler at one point. I'm not sure that's the most advantageous to the Celtics. Other than Malcolm Brogdon and then Derek White, they didn't have a lot off their bench either. They went hard with their starters. Brogdon and Williams getting the minutes there.

So you're going to see adjustments. The Celtics, they started out exactly the way they wanted to. And then the third quarter? Lost our offensive purpose. Lost our game plan discipline. Allowed them to get out in transition, get second chance shots. Didn't guard the three point line.

We just gave up 46 points in the third. So, you know, that's defense and transition and offensive rebounds. And, you know, not closing out the shooters.

So, you know, some things that we really got to focus on and go over tomorrow and practice. Lost our offensive purpose. Lost our game plan discipline. Allowed them to get out in transition, get second chance shots. Didn't guard the three point line. You know, he was so salty postgame and especially when he was asked about timeouts.

So I'm not I'm who knows, depending upon where you are in the country, how much attention you pay today. This may come up about the fact that when the Heat were going on their 13 to one run, Joe Mazzola did not call a timeout. And before we hear from the coach, Marcus Smart, were you expecting a timeout during that extended run by the Heat when they flipped the script? Joe's real big on a lot of times not bailing us out on stuff when we're playing like ****. So, you know, we got to look ourselves in the mirror. You know, Joe could call a timeout and then what?

We come out and do the same thing. So it's on us. Joe and his coaching staff, you know, they put in a lot of work to come up with a game plan and put us in the right spots to succeed. But they're not out there playing.

So, you know, we got to come together and we got to start helping each other out, you know, on both ends. I mean, that's a veteran response. Marcus Smart is not going to blame the coaching staff when these guys know what to do. Remember these these this core specifically, but it's almost the entire lineup that was part of their NBA Finals run a year ago. It's not different, guys. It's the same guys. It's Al. It's Robert Williams. It's Jalen. It's Jason. It's Marcus. It's Derek. Even Peyton getting on the court tonight.

Now Brogdon's new, but he's part of a championship team in the past. So, yeah, I appreciate that Marcus doesn't put this on the coach. What is he going to call a timeout?

We're going to go out and do the same thing again. So he doesn't expect Joe to be calling a timeout. And Missoula, apparently he's established that pattern.

But Missoula is tired of hearing about timeouts in the playoffs. You can tell just by his answer. Now, initially, I have to tell you the truth. When I heard it, Jay and I heard it and we thought, oh, wait, what?

But then we figured out, oh, man, he's being sarcastic, which, you know, sarcasm is my love language. Going up against Spolstra, who's constantly making adjustments on the fly, willing to kind of call timeouts and change things up so quickly. How did you balance like trying to let things play out in the ways you usually do versus like having to seize control? I called two in the first quarter. Thinking more like the third quarter. No, I don't call two in the first quarter. Save it for the third quarter run.

The reporter's not really sure what's happening there again. Thinking more like the third quarter. When he asked Joe about timeouts, Joe says, well, I called two in the first quarter. The guy's like, um, I was actually referring to the third quarter. Oh, and then Joe comes back with, well, I guess I shouldn't call any in the first quarter and just wait for the third quarter. Don't call two in the first quarter.

Save it for the third quarter run. It's the silence after it for me. The reporter had no idea what to say to that. Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer. And in this case, Joe's like, well, duh.

I just love how sarcastic he is. Well, what would you do differently? Well, I guess I wouldn't call two in the first quarter and I'd wait for the third quarter run. As if that third quarter run was expected, but just he refused to play. Thinking more like the third quarter. Don't call two in the first quarter. Save it for the third quarter run.

Zing. How many people do you think in the room knew he was being sarcastic? Because it took me a minute to figure it out.

Yeah, I will say at first I kind of, because he's a first year coach, I was like, I don't know, that would be pretty bad. He's tired of timeout questions. He's had enough of your timeout questions. That's what he thinks of your timeout questions.

Oh, goodness. You know, I don't take sports too seriously around here unless the situation calls for it, but generally not so much. They're entertainment. We are. And are you not entertained? All right.

On Twitter, A Law Radio, also on our Facebook page. What other teams besides the Heat actually have an advantage because of their chemistry? Some great answers for you. Daryl Morey tells you why he is responsible for Doc Rivers firing. And are we going to have time to get to the Becky Hammond?

Oh, we have Keith. Never mind. Daryl Morey tells you why he's responsible for Doc Rivers firing, but then we have a Sixers insider. So, no, we're not going to get to Becky Hammond on the show. We'll get to it on our next show. She responds to the allegations that got her suspended for two games by the WNBA.

PGA Championship starts today. Eh, whatever. We're going to talk about Doc Rivers and the Sixers. That's straight ahead. Good to talk to you here on the show this morning. My job to evaluate everything and we felt like that was the best move for helping us get to our goals going forward.

It was carefully thought out and I recommended it to ownership and they accepted it. This is After Hours with Amy Lawrence. The voice of Daryl Morey, president of basketball ops for the Philadelphia 76ers in his exit interview, essentially doubles as a eulogy for the team and its season.

That was on Wednesday. He takes full responsibility for the decision about Doc Rivers. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

We're pleased to welcome insider Keith Pompeii of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Keith, what did you make of Daryl Morey's comments and his explanation about the Doc decision? You know, after I left that list after, you know, listening with that, Daryl had to say, I left with more questions than answers. You know, it seemed like to me, like you said, a eulogy for Doc.

But, you know, for instance, he said this was my decision and this and that. Well, I mean, everyone thinks that and from certain people are saying that Doc felt like James Harden is the reason why he got fired. He felt like James got fired. And to me, it just felt like Daryl, you know, was trying to. Cover up something if there was something to that, you know what I mean?

So I walked away with more questions than answers. And if that makes sense to you, Keith, why would people think James Harden got Doc Rivers fired when James Harden is a free agent who's opting out of his deal? I mean, simple. Well, like if James Harden wants to or if the Sixers want to keep James Harden, James Harden would love to play for a coach who will, you know, make better use of his skill set. I mean, if you look at it, when James Harden said, this is what I'm trying to do, I'm trying to opt out.

I'm going to opt out of that thirty five point six million dollars. But I want to go to a place that's going to give me a freedom to play where I want to where I want to play. And when you look at it, the 76ers offense was geared towards do all and be being the first option option and everything was set up to him. So, you know, James would like to go somewhere where he could be, I guess, maybe closer to the Houston James or where he can be the focal point.

And they could spread the floor and people feed off of him. But in Philadelphia, it was more about, you know, James, you're going to be the facilitator. And what we're going to do is we're going to make sure that we go out.

We're going to run our office and Joel and be. Is it Doc Rivers fault that James Harden shot one for eleven from three point land in the last two games of the series? No, not at all.

Not at all. And with that, I think that Doc became the fall guy. Right. You look at it sometimes your history, kind of, you know, like the analogy I want to say is there's a guy who who's been arrested several times before for maybe shoplifting. And then he goes into the store and somebody says, hey, there's a shoplifter in here.

And then the cops come and arrest him. And it wasn't him. It was someone else. Well, I think that Doc's problem was that his inability to get out of the second round and all those other years kind of like caught up to him. But he wasn't the problem. The problem was, like you said, James Harden struggling a shot. You know, James Harden had arguably his worst game in Game seven.

And I think that you look at it and you say, oh, this is the 10th time in a row that Doc couldn't get out of the second round. Let's get rid of him. So I feel like, yeah, it wasn't his fault this time, but it was he was the easy person to let go. It was the easy choice to let him go. Right.

He was the most expendable. That that certainly seems to be the case with a bunch of veteran coaches. Keith Pompeii is with us from the Philadelphia Inquirer in the wake of more changes with the Sixers. It's after hours.

CBS Sports Radio. Do these Sixers want James Harden back enough to pay him a max deal? You know, that's the million dollar question. And we're talking about million millions of dollars. That's the question.

I didn't mean no pun intended. But but the thing is, the reason why I'm saying is because I think James kind of sort of has the Sixers under a barrel. And it's just because when you look at it, let's just say you made this trade for Ben Simmons. Right. And Ben Simmons is struggling in Brooklyn.

And we all get that. But you also gave up a drastic to Brooklyn. Now, you don't have any cap space. So if you lose James Harden, who are your point guard options to come in here and can you get someone like you really don't.

So I feel like and the fact that, you know, we're hearing this stuff about Houston. You know, I feel like the Sixers have to think long and hard about this because, A, if James leaves, it's going to be a bad look. But then if you give them so much money, like a max deal, what is he going to look like three to four years from now?

So that's a tough question. But at the same time, they don't have any other options out there. They just don't they don't have any drastic that the Sixers are in a bad situation right now. And it looked it seems like James is about ready to take advantage of that. Any idea what Joelle Embiid wants other than winning, of course.

You know, as far as you know, I think, you know, you know, that's a great question. I think Joelle was extremely happy with what he had in Doc Rivers. I mean, you know, he became a guy who developed and turned into the MVP. And each year he'd gotten better.

You know, I think that, you know, it was funny beforehand before Doc became the coach, Joelle was high on them hiring Mike Cantoni. Right. But I don't know how that's going to work now. Now, let's say you could still love it. But at the same time, it's going to be under different circumstances. You know, I think Joelle would love for things to stay kind of like the same where he's the focal point. But he would also love someone that's going to be able to get them out of the second round.

But maybe I'm not answering your question because I haven't spoken to him lately. But it just seems as if that I think the situation they were in, Joelle enjoyed it. It was just a matter of they just couldn't win the big one, like things just didn't go their way. He didn't stay healthy. I mean, he felt like that they had a chance to win the way things were.

But he wasn't healthy. People struggled late in the playoffs. And Joelle was thinking like, hey, if we did a lot of things right, if guys would have made shots, we would have possibly moved on and been able to play for the championship.

I just have about 30 seconds, Keith. But knowing what you know of this team, I do find the irony in the fact that Mike Budenholzer and Monty Williams may interview for the job. What do you think is the right coaching fit? You know, that's a good one.

You know, it's weird. I think maybe Nick Nurse could be the right fit. I do. I think Nick Nurse to be the right fit championship coach. And, you know, I think he's a great X and O guy.

I think he didn't get a lot of credit because of Kawhi and the situations that happened in Toronto afterwards. But he's a very good coach, a very good coach. Interesting. I like that answer. And as you point out, there are a bunch of championship coaches that are available.

That's the crazy part. All right. You can find Keith Pompeii on Twitter at Pompeii, P-O-M-P-E-Y, on Sixers.

Covers them for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Not a dull moment this offseason, that is for sure. Keith, thank you for a couple of minutes this morning live. And we will talk to you again soon. All right. Thank you. Thanks for having me on your show.

Absolutely. Keith tells us he's a morning person, so that was easy. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. I'm certainly fascinated by the number of championship coaches that are available and what this means because there are a bunch of openings in the NBA. Watch it be like musical chairs like we get with quarterbacks in the NFL in the offseason.

All right. You all are answering my question of which teams have the type of winning advantage because of their chemistry that we see with the Miami Heat. Like this one from Joe on Twitter, ALawRadio. For their entire 27-season history, the Baltimore Ravens have preached stability and continuity to the nth degree. Players around the league constantly talk about it.

X players often come back to bask in it. So Joe goes with the Ravens. The Mark says, as a Packer fan, it pains me to say this, but the San Francisco 49ers.

Luis goes with the Lakers, primarily AD and LeBron. And then on Facebook, a bunch of your votes for the Kansas City Chiefs, which makes sense. We'll talk to you tonight. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio. Boom! Thank you for your generosity.