Joel: unchained.

[Ferry Avenue]

What will be interesting this year is to observe what kind of drive to win a championship is evident from Embiid on the court. Now that it's impossible for him to win the MVP, he has but one remaining motive to play at an elite level.

[Mik317]

its incredible that for months certain posters were AWOL and suddenly they are back lol

[rzzzzz]

its incredible that for months certain posters were AWOL and suddenly they are back lol

(We’re not all masochists, you know. Fair weather friends are less stressed, and saving ourselves for the post season.)

[bball4life]

its incredible that for months certain posters were AWOL and suddenly they are back lol

We don't all have access to penguins to punch when watching Embiidless basketball. (Yes that's a deep cut throwback reference)

[SixthStreet]

I also didn't waste my time watching the team during Embiid's absence. Just not good for the mood and the team doesn't elicit process era joy. It's like being forced to watch the Pistons for a couple months.

Now it matters.

[Bum Adebayo]

Hey, but then the other posters are the one accusing some of us of not being Sixers fans, maybe we are not the ones that are just Embiid fans and not Sixers fans? hmm

[Phila Tough]

if Embiid was a poor FT shooter , do you think people would still whine about him getting to the line as much? Because nobody seems to care that Giannis turns into Jerome Bettis and gets to the line. Apparently it's more natural to barge through people and get a foul than it is to get people to bite on pump fakes

[Ferry Avenue]

Embiid's pronouncement yesterday that the Sixers are the better team and will win the series against the Knicks is a watershed moment in his career. Having led a team that's stalled at the second round of the playoffs or earlier throughout his career, he stands to take one of the most talented teams he's had and stall at the first round this year if his public pronouncement is mistaken. Rest assured his statement will galvanize the Knicks, who stand up 2-0 in the series despite being publicly labeled the inferior team by the opponent's leader and best player.

That puts the onus on Embiid to take the court only in a manner in which he's giving 110% effort to propel his team not only with his physical play, but also with the demeanor of a fighter and a leader who visibly demonstrates an emotional fire and a will to win on the court. If he truly believes the Sixers are the better team and should dig themselves out of this hole, then having made his public statement in that regard HE should be the one who spearheads the effort, both physically and emotionally. You don't make such a statement and then take the floor looking like an emotional corpse.

Without such an effort marked by exceptional physical play AND emotional drive, he'll appear to be the guy in a group who incites a rival to a fight and then sits back and lets his buddies get banged and bruised up doing all the fighting. Not what a team leader does by any means.

We'll see what happens.

[EmbiidRocks]

We want to see Embiid's leadership for sure. Is he capable of displaying all the qualities a leader possesses? his teammates will be watching his emotions, charisma and passion on the court.

[Ferry Avenue]

We want to see Embiid's leadership for sure. Is he capable of displaying all the qualities a leader possesses? his teammates will be watching his emotions, charisma and passion on the court.

The pronouncement that the Sixers are the better team and will win the series while down 0-2 is consistent with leadership. Having said that and then taking the floor appearing to be his customary emotional corpse self however is precisely the opposite of leadership. If you're going to make the statement, take the floor and lead the team physically and emotionally. If you're going to be your customary emotional corpse self on the other hand, then don't make the statement, because it galvanizes the opposing team and lets them potentially feast on your team without the leadership and inspiration YOU should be providing, having yourself made the statement.

He's in quite the quandary here -- he's essentially put the onus on himself to play and conduct himself in a way he typically doesn't. It'll be interesting to see how he manages that situation. And that has to last beyond just this game tonight. He said they're the better team and will win the series -- now he has to bring it physically and emotionally for the next four or five games in a row, and that's entirely inconsistent with his history in the league.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if he sustains an "injury" if and when it appears the chips are too far down to make good on his pronouncement. That would of course make it impossible for him to back it up in the manner required -- he can simply chalk it up to the "injury." And if that happens I wouldn't be at all surprised as well if the team plays better without him.

[elchengue20]

Actions speak louder than words.

He needs to have good body language and show high determination tonight on the court at all moments.

If he can't manage to do that, nobody cares what he can say or has sayed in the past.

[phillynative]

So with two days of rest hopefully he's feeling a little better, the knee brace is a little more comfortable and he has got some treatment on that eye as well. We need to see a fight not just boxing out but eliminating guys from his space for boards.

Offensively , I want him to try to get his guys involved early,since we are at home role player should be better, and defer to Maxey as needed. This way he can focus on rebounding and defending in space more. Hopefully with being at home we get some of the sauce the refs was cooking up for the knicks at MSG

[Ferry Avenue]

Embiid gets tremendous kudos for spearheading a win in which he dropped 50 on the opponent. While I would've liked to see more visible fire and drive out of him, I can tolerate his typical level of that if he's contributing to an extreme physically. If on the other hand he has a more pedestrian output physically, he'll need to compensate for that with greater fire and emotional inspiration of his teammates in my opinion. What he can't do under these conditions (i.e., his statement that they'll win the series) is fail to show up physically OR emotionally and be a total "blah" out there in every regard, as he has been at times in the playoffs in years past.

In other words, if he's going to be an emotional ball and chain on the team, at least compensate for that with an extreme physical contribution.

[mjkvol]

Embiid gets tremendous kudos for spearheading a win in which he dropped 50 on the opponent. While I would've liked to see more visible fire and drive out of him, I can tolerate his typical level of that if he's contributing to an extreme physically. If on the other hand he has a more pedestrian output physically, he'll need to compensate for that with greater fire and emotional inspiration of his teammates in my opinion. What he can't do under these conditions (i.e., his statement that they'll win the series) is fail to show up physically OR emotionally and be a total "blah" out there in every regard, as he has been at times in the playoffs in years past.

In other words, if he's going to be an emotional ball and chain on the team, at least compensate for that with an extreme physical contribution.

He got 50 on one leg and with Bell's Palsy to key a big win.

Might be better to save your silly amateur psychologist garbage for losses, which is your usual time to "contribute" to the forum.

[Negrodamus]

Remember when Joel was wincing in pain pregame and it was a sign of weakness? Then he dropped 50 in an 11pt decisive win against the Knicks.

[Ferry Avenue]

Embiid gets tremendous kudos for spearheading a win in which he dropped 50 on the opponent. While I would've liked to see more visible fire and drive out of him, I can tolerate his typical level of that if he's contributing to an extreme physically. If on the other hand he has a more pedestrian output physically, he'll need to compensate for that with greater fire and emotional inspiration of his teammates in my opinion. What he can't do under these conditions (i.e., his statement that they'll win the series) is fail to show up physically OR emotionally and be a total "blah" out there in every regard, as he has been at times in the playoffs in years past.

In other words, if he's going to be an emotional ball and chain on the team, at least compensate for that with an extreme physical contribution.

He got 50 on one leg and with Bell's Palsy to key a big win.

When you say publicly your team is going to win the series down 0–2, you’d better. That point hasn’t been disputed by anybody here.

[mjkvol]

Embiid gets tremendous kudos for spearheading a win in which he dropped 50 on the opponent. While I would've liked to see more visible fire and drive out of him, I can tolerate his typical level of that if he's contributing to an extreme physically. If on the other hand he has a more pedestrian output physically, he'll need to compensate for that with greater fire and emotional inspiration of his teammates in my opinion. What he can't do under these conditions (i.e., his statement that they'll win the series) is fail to show up physically OR emotionally and be a total "blah" out there in every regard, as he has been at times in the playoffs in years past.

In other words, if he's going to be an emotional ball and chain on the team, at least compensate for that with an extreme physical contribution.

He got 50 on one leg and with Bell's Palsy to key a big win.

When you say publicly your team is going to win the series down 0–2, you’d better. That point hasn’t been disputed by anybody here.

No, but to come on here with your psycho-babble tripe after a performance like that is a bit bizarre, to say the least. But then, it's pretty much par for the course.

[Ferry Avenue]

He got 50 on one leg and with Bell's Palsy to key a big win.

When you say publicly your team is going to win the series down 0–2, you’d better. That point hasn’t been disputed by anybody here.

No, but to come on here with your psycho-babble tripe after a performance like that is a bit bizarre, to say the least. But then, it's pretty much par for the course.

The "psychobabble" in this instance is precisely the point that you don't publicly exclaim your team will win the series down 0-2 and then fail to spearhead that effort yourself, as has been problematic at times for Embiid in the past, and which again has not been disputed by anyone here.

Try harder.

[mjkvol]

When you say publicly your team is going to win the series down 0–2, you’d better. That point hasn’t been disputed by anybody here.

No, but to come on here with your psycho-babble tripe after a performance like that is a bit bizarre, to say the least. But then, it's pretty much par for the course.

The "psychobabble" in this instance is precisely the point that you don't publicly exclaim your team will win the series down 0-2 and then fail to spearhead that effort yourself, as has been problematic at times for Embiid in the past, and which again has not been disputed by anyone here.

Try harder.

Sorry, I didn't realize that putting up 50 and 11 was failing to "spearhead" the effort.

Guess it's Embiid that'll have to try harder.

[Ferry Avenue]

No, but to come on here with your psycho-babble tripe after a performance like that is a bit bizarre, to say the least. But then, it's pretty much par for the course.

The "psychobabble" in this instance is precisely the point that you don't publicly exclaim your team will win the series down 0-2 and then fail to spearhead that effort yourself, as has been problematic at times for Embiid in the past, and which again has not been disputed by anyone here.

Try harder.

Sorry, I didn't realize that putting up 50 and 11 was failing to "spearhead" the effort.

Guess it's Embiid that'll have to try harder.

Try to follow along. The point is that Embiid's proclamation puts him in a position to have to perform in a manner inconsistent with his history of performance in the playoffs, where he routinely falls into ruts in which he has pedestrian contributions physically while appearing downtrodden emotionally. His proclamation puts him in a position in which he's either going to have to get over the hump on that and perform at a consistently high level for four or five playoff games in a row, or alternatively perform like he has in the past and thereby fail to live up to the leadership he exhibited by making the statement. That he performed extremely well in one game doesn't make that situation suddenly disappear -- he has to sustain a high level of performance, as he's routinely had trouble doing in the playoffs in the past, to adequately back up his pronouncement in the manner a true leader should.

In essence you have a guy here who's either going to become a team leader right now, or very likely never become one. That's a story, and yes it revolves largely around psychobabble, as does lots of life in general.