Kritik und Lob » Hockey League, where they combined for 18

PHILADELPHIA -- Ask Brett Brown to describe what its like figuring out how to use his big men and the Sixers head coach makes it sound as if there are complex formulas scribbled all over his coachs board, like something out of A Beautiful Mind.If you went into my office, you would see it is a Rubiks Cube, Brown said of his minutes plan for Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor. I need an abacus.Through the first two weeks, fantasy owners of Embiid and Okafor can empathize with Brown. If you own Embiid, Okafor or some other Sixers, you will have to embrace Embiids nickname and understand that you will be following The Process. You will need some patience but some of these Sixers fantasy options could pay off for you later this season.Lets start with Embiid. The rookie is showing that his versatile game is well worth the two-year wait. Already, the raw 7-footer has a plethora of moves and you can actually see how he can do a bunch of different things but hasnt come close to mastering any one thing yet, a scary thought for opponents.One move during his rookie debut last week -- on a missed shot, no less -- might best sum up his vast talent. Embiid pump-faked a 3, put the ball on the floor, delivered a crossover before backing in his man at the free-throw line, showing the ball and pumping with one hand like Hakeem Olajuwon used to do, before turning around and missing the attempt.Embiid has a nice, soft shot from the arc. He can face up and pop the short jumper or put the ball on the floor and drive past a big man like a guard or forward. He has back-to-the-basket moves, rebounds and he already has blocked Russell Westbrook and Dwight Howard in his first two gamesThe Kansas product started the first two games with a 20-minute playing-time restriction. That was lifted to 24 on Tuesday night and he ended up playing 25 minutes and putting up 18 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks and three assists against Orlando.Brown played Embiid in four-minute segments in the first two games and Embiids minutes restriction will continue for the foreseeable future, although its rising a tad. The Sixers are cautious with their big man, understandably, and will hold him out of the tail end of their first back-to-back set on Wednesday at Charlotte.So in season-long fantasy, you will have to monitor reports on his minutes restriction and see if the Sixers have any back-to-backs and adjust accordingly. So far, despite the restriction, Embiid is averaging 17.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocks while shooting 45.9 percent from the field, including 2-of-5 from 3-point range -- all in just 20.6 minutes per game. And that is with him still very much learning every nuance of the game.In leagues where you can set your lineup daily, Embiid is worth using unless you have better options that you know will get a double-double and see 30-plus minutes that night. In daily contests, Embiid is worth using if his price is cheap and his minutes are at 24 or more. He doesnt need much time to flirt with a double-double and the blocks and ability to hit a 3-pointer makes him worth it if the price is right.There will be road bumps and inevitably Embiid will get into foul trouble as he gets more playing time. But already, he is the Sixers go-to guy.We all see different things every time he plays, Brown marveled. To start the [Hawks] game, him trailing and hitting the 3-point shot and in the second half, him up-faking and taking one dribble and making a move a guard would make to get to the rim...We look forward to when we have more minutes available for him.Okafors situation has been a bit more complicated early on. His minutes restriction was shorter until now and the second-year big man did not play on Tuesday night as he continues to come along slowly after right knee surgery. Brown also brought Okafor off the bench and primarily brought him in when Embiid sat.Okafors fantasy value will depend on his minutes and volume of touches. Hes rusty and needs to play more minutes to be more of a fantasy factor. Through his first two games, Okafor played 15 and 16 minutes and managed to get up a total of 17 shots, but scored just eight points in each game. He also is averaging just 3.5 rebounds.It will be interesting to see what Okafor will do on Wednesday against Charlotte in his first start with Embiid resting. Okafor, a former Duke standout, is expected to play in the 20-minute neighborhood,so it might be best to hold off on Okafor for now.Moving forward, season-long fantasy owners might want to hold on to Okafor and wait and see how he does with more minutes and monitor when the Sixers have back-to-backs. But compared to and because of Embiid, Okafors ceiling is limited right now.Eventually, Brown will look to play Embiid and Okafor more together when the minutes restrictions get looser, and that will be another thing for Brown to figure out. So besides adjusting to the playing time, Embiid and Okafor will also have to adapt to each others game on the court together, which could lead to some growing pains.You just feel like it is cookie-cutter stuff, Brown explained of the restrictions and playing the two together. It is a very rigid road map and that is OK. Nobody is crying about it. It is a challenge.Other Sixers to keep an eye on from a fantasy perspective:Dario Saric -- The rookie forward struggled badly in his first two games in the NBA with a total of 10 points on 4-for-21 shooting. But he finally gave a glimpse of why the Sixers had been high on the Croatian. Saric hit 9-of-15 shots, including 3-of-4 from behind the arc, for 21 points last Tuesday against the Magic. Newly-acquired Ersan Ilyasova might eat into Sarics playing time and could start at power forward instead of Saric. But the rookie should still have value in deeper leagues because the Sixers want to develop Saric and give him experience.Robert Covington -- He looks like rapper Q-Tips doppleganger. Unfortunately, Covington left his jumper in El Segundo, having missed his last 11 shots in each of the last two games. He does have six steals during that span, however, and the minutes and shots should still be there, especially with Jerami Grant gone. Its just the inconsistency that can be frustrating.Sergio Rodriguez -- Spanish Chocolate had his first double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 assists, hitting two treys. Brown clearly likes the point guard, who is averaging 12.7 points, 8.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds in 31 minutes per game so far. Rodriguez is owned in 14.4 percent of ESPN leagues, so keep an eye on how he continues to play while Ben Simmons rehabs.Ersan Ilyasova -- The Sixers traded the athletic Grant for Ilysova to provide another shooter who can space the floor for Embiid and Okafor. His value, like many of the other Sixers, could rise later this season if or when pass-first Simmons returns from injury. Ilyasova provides the Sixers with another big on nights when they rest either Embiid or Okafor as well. Monitor Ilyasova if you need a big who can provide some 3s and rebounds.Richaun Holmes -- Keep an eye on this athletic big man if theres an injury to Embiid or Okafor.Stitched Pistons Jerseys . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. Pistons Jerseys 2021 .2 billion agreement with Rogers Communications for the leagues broadcast and multimedia rights. https://www.cheappistonsonline.com/ . Emery skated the length of the ice and fought an unwilling Holtby during the third period of the Flyers 7-0 loss Friday night in Philadelphia. He was given 29 penalty minutes, including a game misconduct. But Emery did not face even a disciplinary hearing with NHL senior vice president of player safety Brendan Shanahan because rules 46. Pistons Jerseys China . Hazard cut in from the left and scored with a swerving right-footed shot for ninth goal of the season, which proved to be enough for the victory despite Chelseas forwards again lacking a cutting edge up front. Detroit Pistons Gear .ca NHL Power Rankings for the second straight week, ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Colorado Avalanche.QUEBEC CITY -- Team North America coach Todd McLellan knows the hockey world is watching. He knows he has a team full of the games next generation of stars and that whatever line combinations he puts out there will be immediately distributed and dissected on social media.Until Friday, he had resisted the combinations fans have most wanted to see. To paraphrase forward?Nathan MacKinnon after practice, hes now giving the people what they want.Coming off an impressive 4-0 win against Team Europe on Thursday, McLellan shuffled the deck and put Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel together on a top line with Johnny Gaudreau during Fridays practice. There wont be a faster line in the tournament than that one, which features the top two picks from the 2015 draft in Eichel and McDavid, two guys who will be compared to each other for the rest of their careers.It took a week for the pairing to happen during World Cup training camp, which only built the anticipation more. It was almost as if Chuck Daly had waited five days to put Larry Bird and Magic Johnson on the court together with the Dream Team in 1992.If McLellan sticks with it, this line will make its debut in Sundays pre-tournament game (6 p.m. ET, ESPN3) against Team Europe.Whatever works and whoever we find chemistry with, thats ultimately what will happen, McDavid said. If its us three, then perfect. Who better than to play with [than] those two?That McLellan was shuffling the lines at all shows just how high the expectations are for this group from its coaching staff. They shut out Team Europe in a game that showcased their speed and skill on both ends of the ice and, still, McLellan started from scratch with the lines in the next practice.He wasnt thrilled that the speed tapered off as the game went on. He wants to see more shots, along with second and third attempts on scoring. In short, he thinks this group has a lot more to give than what he saw in one game.Weve got to find out if theres better combinatioons before the tournament starts, McLellan said.dddddddddddd We didnt reach our ceiling last night. We didnt come close in a lot of avenues.Thus, the new line combinations were born.In putting McDavid, Eichel and Gaudreau together, Team North America is showing off its speed a bit -- but what makes those three potentially great is a high-end hockey sense. They can all make plays at high speed, so its not just speed for the sake of speed.Defenseman Aaron Ekblad explained it this way: They have a ton of speed, but theres no speed without smooth play. Thats what they do that might set them apart from other players.What exactly does he mean by smooth play?Slow is smooth, smooth is fast, Ekblad said. You dont want to go too slow and not do anything, but you want to go slow enough that its smooth. Hard, crisp passes are fast. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.McLellan also pleased the fans, especially those in Halifax, by reuniting?Jonathan Drouin and MacKinnon on a line with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at center. Drouin and MacKinnon were junior teammates with the Halifax Mooseheads in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, where they combined for 180 regular-season points in 2012-13. In the playoffs that season, Drouin had 35 points in 17 games.While watching his former teammate in the playoffs with the?Tampa Bay Lightning?last spring, MacKinnon saw a guy making the same plays he did against junior teammates and doing it against great NHL players.Needless to say, theyre excited about the opportunity to give it a go together in the World Cup. As are the other three.You could put a list of names in a hat and pull them out randomly and it would be fun to play with anyone, Gaudreau said. These kind of tournaments give us the opportunity to play with some of the best players in the world. All of us young guys, were having a pretty good time here. ' ' '