AI_Efficiency wrote:Can anyone post what Zach Lowe wrote about embiid today? I don’t have espn+, but I’m curious.
Here you go... There are videos as well, but can't post those obviously.
1. Joel Embiid and the little things
The most important story for the Philadelphia 76ers this season has been the massive improvement in Joel Embiid's midrange shot, and the variety of ways he gets to it.
Embiid has hit 53% on long 2s. He is more comfortable facing up from the top of the key, where it's harder for defenses to double. That gives Philadelphia another crunch-time answer, and it's the main weapon fueling Embiid's case to be the first big-man MVP since Dirk Nowitzki in 2006-07 -- and the first true center to win it in two decades.
But Embiid also seems more dialed in on the little things.
He clogs this drive, before Philly concedes an open triple to Embiid's man -- Domantas Sabonis. Most centers would park under the rim, boxing out air, assuming the rebound will fall to them. Instead, Embiid finds someone -- Myles Turner -- to take out.
Embiid is more diligent using one of his most obvious physical gifts: the length of his arms.
Good luck to any team involving the Ben Simmons-Embiid duo in a pick-and-roll. All you see are mean faces and long limbs.
(It should be noted this isn't quite showing up in public stats. Embiid's deflections haven't budged. His boxouts are down, though boxouts have dropped so severely league-wide -- according to the NBA's official page -- I'm wary of them. Embiid is about as active on the glass as last season, per Second Spectrum tracking data, and the Sixers allow fewer offensive rebounds when he's on the floor.)
I've seen less lead-footed standing -- including on offense, where Embiid is more active searching out instant pass-and-screen reads:
That is Draymond Green-ish: Sag too far off Embiid, and he might dart into a pick that catapults one Philly shooter into open space.
Have Embiid and Nikola Jokic put some distance between themselves and LeBron James (and the rest of the field) in the MVP race during the Los Angeles Lakers' recent cold stretch without Anthony Davis? Depends on the voter. LeBron has sustained his usual excellence; the Lakers are plus-20 with LeBron on the floor over nine consecutive games without Davis (and partly without Dennis Schroder), and minus-31 when he rests.
Embiid has been dynamite in crunch time for one of the league's best clutch teams. The small hole in his case: 98 assists and 96 turnovers. He is not as steady an all-court presence on offense as Jokic and James. In back-to-back games against the Toronto Raptors last month, Toronto swarmed Embiid before he even caught the ball. He shot 9-of-33 combined, and couldn't reclaim control of those games the way Jokic and LeBron might have.
But Toronto has a rare collection of long, fast, and ferocious defenders. The Sixers split those games, and Embiid managed 43 combined points largely thanks to his residency at the foul line. His defense was unaffected.
Is he the MVP? He probably leads by a hair today. A lot will change between now and voting time. Regardless: This is the Embiid we have waited to see.
Side note: James Harden's name has entered the MVP discourse. We have to see what life looks like when Kevin Durant returns, but no player has ever won the MVP during a season in which he was traded.
