Ready or Not, Sixers Set to Open Season

The Sixers are one day from tipping off the 2020-21 regular season.  Ready or not the hometown five will host the Washington Wizards with a new-look in the front office, on the bench and on the floor.

"I can't wait for it to get started," admitted new Sixers head coach Doc Rivers on Monday.

"I think everyone is anxious as far as that goes.  How ready do I think we are?  I really don't know.  This has been such a short camp. We are what we are right now and we need to accept that and bee good enough to win the way we are."

The team brings back some key members of last years squad with Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris returning to the starting lineup. Also back from last years mix are reserves Shake Milton, Mike Scott, Matisse Thybulle and Furkan Korkmaz.

New from last year are rookie Tyrese Maxey, Seth Curry, Danny Green Terrance Ferguson and Dwight Howard.

"Its a quick transition," acknowledged Harris. "One thing is for sure, this thing will take time.  It not going to be there day one, but we'll continue to work day-after-day and get to where we want to get to."

Where exactly do the Sixers want to get to this season?  Expectations are all over the map.  This teams core of talent rose to as high as a No. 3 seed two seasons ago, but slipped down to a No. 6 seed and first-round exit last season.

Brett Brown was let go, and Doc Rivers was brought in, but is simply changing the coach enough to change the expectations?  The Sixers are banking on it.

Obviously the team added more than just Rivers on the bench, they tried their best to change the culture of the whole organization, bringing in Daryl Morey as team President.

While Brown was a constant, Simmons and Embiid both still remain. If the team wants to go from second-round exit to NBA Title those two players will need to lead them there, regardless of who the coach is.

While fans want Simmons to shot more, many would like Embiid to fire less than his 3.5 three's per game.  A constant call from Sixers fans is to get Embiid down on the block more and score in the low-post.  However, don't expect to see any less of Embiid from behind-the-arch this season.

"I don't really care (if Embiid shoots a lot of three's)," explained Rivers. "I think Joel is a talented player.  He clearly will have the ball in the post, a lot. He also will have the ball behind the three, he'll have the ball in the post.  I've never been into shot selection like many people do. "

Rivers has said he doesn't care if Simmons shoots more jumpers this season, or if Embiid takes less three's.

Should be an interesting season, I'm already looking forward to Sixers twitter.