Jaqua92 wrote:It's egregious. Embiid is also the only mvp caliber player to have a significant drop off in PPG and effeciency when FTA attempts are reduced. Comparing Embiid, Jokic, Giannis and SGA this year in games with 6 or less free throws, Embiid has by FAR the biggest PPG and effeciency fall off.
His game is genuinely dependent on free throws. Like Harden. Without bending the rules, he's a 29 PPG scorer on 60%ts
So, ignoring the fact that FTs are part of the game and always have been, it isn't quite accurate that his game is "genuinely dependent upon FTs." That isn't how it has been in the RS. In the playoffs, he is often unhealthy, and you can argue that he struggles against more physical defenders with any kind of size, for sure. But the dude is quite dangerous from 10 feet out to the 3pt line. Less reliable from 3, but that's not a huge chunk of his game. He cuts well around penetration, and he has legit post moves. You see spins, you see pivots, he seals well.
It's a little derivative and inaccurate to reduce him to nothing but FTAs. He has plenty of shotmaking. It's sort of the same deal when people try to say that D-Rob or Karl Malone could only score when they were drawing FTs, because that wasn't accurate either. Jumper-heavy? Sure. Fades against physicality? Also sure. But "genuinely free throw dependent" is sort of an empty phrase because everyone needs to use FTs to prop up efficiency. That's how it has always worked, for ever in each era of the NBA.
That in mind, for the RS...
These past 3 seasons, Embiid has been a 20.96, 23.1 and 24.5 ppg scorer when you entirely remove FTM. Right there, you know it's BS that he is "genuinely dependent upon free throws."
Jokic has been at 21.96, 19.6 and 21.9.
Giannis (and I have no idea how you added him as if that was a sensible plan, given that he's been a 10.7 - 12.3 FTA/g guy these past 3 seasonS) has been at 21.6, 23.2 and 23.4.
SGA these past 2 seasons has been at 21.6 and 22.5... and has led the league in made free throws each season.
Like... there isn't a major deviation for Embiid in terms of PPG without FTM compared to those players to begin with.
That, of course, is in the RS. You were specifically addressing the PS, and that's a different animal to some extent, but his issues there do not relate to FTs.
Embiid hasn't been healthy these past couple of years and had a really rough 2023 PS as a result.
In 2022, he was at 59% TS over 56.7% (league average in the playoffs) while scoring 23.6 ppg on 16.1 FGA/g. He didn't need to score 30+ ppg most of the time because Maxey, Harden and Harris were all taking 13+ FGA/g, and it was more Harden crapping himself inside the arc which was of issue.
And then yes, he totally lost it against Miami, which reinforces how well that first series went and how sharply he dropped off against Miami in particular.
But I don't see you talking about how he beat the piss out of the Wizards in 2021, or had a strong series against Atlanta that same year. Or what he did to Boston the year before.
Recency bias, my dude. Pay attention to it. Ripping on Embiid is very en vogue at the moment, particularly after the Miami series and after his injured games against Brooklyn and Boston last year, but they aren't his whole career and broad generalizations are usually dangerous.