u/dtru2005

Can we get a list of missed appearances for this cursed season just to commemorate probably one of our worst seasons ever? Just post what details you can recall and I'll edit them in, so far I've got:

1. Reece Walsh - Broken Face/Cheekbone

2. Deine Mariner - Acute Compartment Syndrome

3. Billy Walters - Torn ACL (carryover from 2025)

4. Corey Jensen - Blood Clot/Pulmonary Embolism

5. Karapani - Banned from Valley/Speeding in Unlicensed and Uninsured car whilst failing to display P Plates under the influence of alcohol

6. Ben Te Kura - approved absence to try NFL

7. Blake Mozer - Broken Jaw/Concussion

8. Cameron Bukowski - Broken collarbone

9. Patrick Carrigan - Syndesmosis (ankle) injury

10. Payne Haas - Grade 3 MCL

11. Kotoni Staggs - Suspended/Plantar Fasciitis injury

12. Jordan Riki - Plantar Fasciitis injury

13. Gehamat Shibasaki - Grade 2 MCL

14. Xavier Willison - Concussion

15. Aublix Tawha - Ankle Injury/Broken eye socket

16. Jack Gosiewski - Broken Ribs

17. Ezra Mam - Shoulder/Leg injury

18. Adam Reynolds - Calf Injury

19. Ben Hunt - Grade 3 MCL

20. Brendan Piakura - "Lateral Compartment" leg injury

21. Deloise Hoeter - Broken fibula and syndesmosis injury

22. Grant Anderson - Grade 3 MCL

23. Va'a Semu - Chest Injury

I might just be yapping but I have a feeling that McCain is at least in a better situation designed for him to contribute. One big thing that sticks out to me is that Mark Daigneault says it "was difficult to integrate him into the system", meaning they took the time to explore his strengths and integrate them into the offense.

I have a feeling that the reason this team struggles so much is that we actually just don't have a good offensive system. Nick Nurse is great at ATOs and by all accounts a brilliant basketball mind but what he lacks is the ability to develop lower end players and instill certain offensive principles within the whole team. It's been mentioned before that our whole identity is get Maxey/Embiid the ball. Partially this is because we have a very classic NBA hierarchy where the top 3 iso and call their shots (which is common and everyone does it). No doubt they are very talented, but as the spurs vs okc series is showing, you need to balance it out with rotation players who have clear instructions and offensive principles and are being coached to maximise their strengths, as well as your max players synergising well woth the depth.

You can see this especially in OKC where they are playing smart and making the extra pass and read with 0 hesitation (yes it's easier when you have JDub, SGA, and McCain as your guards and a fuck ton of depth) which is how SGA got the ball to Caruso who whipped it to JWill who shot it with 0 hesitation and dip, abd McCain to JWill as well. It's a culture thing, teams with strong culture know they will get rewarded for playing well and playing as a team. We never have that. Embiid and Maxey often make bad decisions during critically important times because they are so used to doing everything and when an opponent sells out to stop them then the team doesn't have answers to punish them. We also just truly lack a proper point guard who can create good assists, our best passing gas been a washed PG who isn't a PG, and VJ who's literally a rookie.

I think next season, we truly need some sort of offensive identity that's obvious enough that stupid fans like me can recognise what actions the team will take in certain situations, and actually execute them with speed.