Joel Embiid - The Prophecy is Realized

[VDT]

Will be interesting to see how he fairs against Toronto. Gasol has always guarded him well and the Raptors have some long defenders that can double him.

[kuclas]

Will be interesting to see how he fairs against Toronto. Gasol has always guarded him well and the Raptors have some long defenders that can double him.

Embiid in his reduced state due to his bad left knee learns to play more under control and trust his teammates. Those assists he got to Simmons for easy layups. The pass out to butler for the three pointer. And one handed pass out to mike Scott. Those were the correct reads.

Hero ball needed sometimes. But passing to your teammates who are wide open for higher percentage plays is what is needed. Take what the defense gives you.

[ProcessDoctor]

In 3 games against the Nets, JoJo has a PER of 40.5, a BPM of 14.7, and a WS/48 of 0.357

[LloydFree]

Will be interesting to see how he fairs against Toronto. Gasol has always guarded him well and the Raptors have some long defenders that can double him.

I believe they picked up Gasol so they wouldn't have to double him.

[kuclas]

Will be interesting to see how he fairs against Toronto. Gasol has always guarded him well and the Raptors have some long defenders that can double him.

I believe they picked up Gasol so they wouldn't have to double him.

They picked up Marc gasol to matchup against any of the suspected three teams left. Horford embiid and giannis.

Gasol was a very good pickup. He’s not the defensive player he was 2-3 years ago. But he’s still savvy. And he doesn’t need to play 35 minutes with raptors. He can play all out for 25 minutes now. So he shows more activity on the defense.

[VDT]

Will be interesting to see how he fairs against Toronto. Gasol has always guarded him well and the Raptors have some long defenders that can double him.

I believe they picked up Gasol so they wouldn't have to double him.

They picked up Marc gasol to matchup against any of the suspected three teams left. Horford embiid and giannis.

Gasol was a very good pickup. He’s not the defensive player he was 2-3 years ago. But he’s still savvy. And he doesn’t need to play 35 minutes with raptors. He can play all out for 25 minutes now. So he shows more activity on the defense.

He is not such a problem for the Celtics because Horford is like their 3rd or 4th option and i am not sure how well he can guard Giannis. But for Embiid he is a bad match up because defensively he guards Embiid as good as anyone and offensively he will make Embiid guard him at the 3 point line.

[kuclas]

I believe they picked up Gasol so they wouldn't have to double him.

They picked up Marc gasol to matchup against any of the suspected three teams left. Horford embiid and giannis.

Gasol was a very good pickup. He’s not the defensive player he was 2-3 years ago. But he’s still savvy. And he doesn’t need to play 35 minutes with raptors. He can play all out for 25 minutes now. So he shows more activity on the defense.

He is not such a problem for the Celtics because Horford is like their 3rd or 4th option and i am not sure how well he can guard Giannis. But for Embiid he is a bad match up because defensively he guards Embiid as good as anyone and offensively he will make Embiid guard him at the 3 point line.

This is where a mature embiid will have to show himself. The first few times gasol played embiid. Embiid has gotten into foul trouble falling for gasol pump fakes. Embiid has learned. Gasol isn’t gonna to be shooting a lot of 3s. If he wants to jack up 3s. Live with it. I will take my chances with gasol (who is pretty good low volume 3 point shooter). But gasol hasn’t been good offensively either. He’s shot air balls as well.

The thing people don’t realize is embiid’s physicality takes a toll on the horfords, gasol of the world. I don’t know what shape embiid will be or how well his knee will hold up. Toronto does have deeper bench. So will be able to space gasol’s minutes to conserve energy.

Embiid if he’s smart. If things aren’t going well. He just needs to act as the decoy and distributer. That’s the beauty of having Reddick butler and Harris on offense. We have options if embiid can’t get the offense going.

Embiid can get 15 points in his sleep in today’s modern nba game even missing 70% of his shots. I’d rather have Embiid going 4-13 with 14 points/16 rebound and 6-7 assists. As long as he’s defending the paint.

Butler /Harris/Reddick and even Simmons can pickup the scoring load.

I just don’t want Embiid going 10-30 hero ball/15 rebounds/2 assists/6 turnovers. 30 points

Spread the ball around if things are not working.

[VDT]

They picked up Marc gasol to matchup against any of the suspected three teams left. Horford embiid and giannis.

Gasol was a very good pickup. He’s not the defensive player he was 2-3 years ago. But he’s still savvy. And he doesn’t need to play 35 minutes with raptors. He can play all out for 25 minutes now. So he shows more activity on the defense.

He is not such a problem for the Celtics because Horford is like their 3rd or 4th option and i am not sure how well he can guard Giannis. But for Embiid he is a bad match up because defensively he guards Embiid as good as anyone and offensively he will make Embiid guard him at the 3 point line.

This is where a mature embiid will have to show himself. The first few times gasol played embiid. Embiid has gotten into foul trouble falling for gasol pump fakes. Embiid has learned. Gasol isn’t gonna to be shooting a lot of 3s. If he wants to jack up 3s. Live with it. I will take my chances with gasol (who is pretty good low volume 3 point shooter). But gasol hasn’t been good offensively either. He’s shot air balls as well.

The thing people don’t realize is embiid’s physicality takes a toll on the horfords, gasol of the world. I don’t know what shape embiid will be or how well his knee will hold up. Toronto does have deeper bench. So will be able to space gasol’s minutes to conserve energy.

Embiid if he’s smart. If things aren’t going well. He just needs to act as the decoy and distributer. That’s the beauty of having Reddick butler and Harris on offense. We have options if embiid can’t get the offense going.

Embiid can get 15 points in his sleep in today’s modern nba game even missing 70% of his shots. I’d rather have Embiid going 4-13 with 14 points/16 rebound and 6-7 assists. As long as he’s defending the paint.

Butler /Harris/Reddick and even Simmons can pickup the scoring load.

I just don’t want Embiid going 10-30 hero ball/15 rebounds/2 assists/6 turnovers. 30 points

Spread the ball around if things are not working.

Gasol is not there to score, if you watch the Raptors he stands at 3 point line and passes the ball and shoots only when he is open. He is a 36% 3 point shooter for the year but 44% with Toronto. So he will stretch Embiid to the 3 point line and shoot only when open. Unlike the Grizzles Toronto doesnt need him to score.

On the other hand for the Sixers in their first option and the only player imo with real gravity offensively. If Embiid scores 15 points per game on 4-13 the Sixers will not win a game, probably couldnt even beat the Nets.

[Bum Adebayo]

Embiid's physicality takes a toll on himself before taking a toll on other players. He is exhausted at 4th quarters.

[kuclas]

Embiid's physicality takes a toll on himself before taking a toll on other players. He is exhausted at 4th quarters.

It’s cause other teams are rotating other guys into embiid. Including role players who can waste fouls. Milwaukee had 4 different guys guarding embiid. Lopez primary. But giannis helped out. DJ Wilson and ersan guarding him.

If you watch 2 of last 3 Celtics game. Horford on dead legs at end of the game pounding with embiid.

Only game Horford has looked fresh was feb 12 game cause Celtics and Horford has extra day rest.

[Bum Adebayo]

Interesting, seems like Embiid shoots much worse in playoffs.



He needs to improve on offense if he is to be our best player.

[phillynative]

It's the shot selection and offensive IQ that needs work. Hes one of the best offensive players in the league but he definitely can improve like most players. I think if we had a legit pg that could shoot and the sixer ran some P&R, his efficiency would go up

[Foshan]

Veteran JJ Redick, who lauds Embiid as "absolutely one of my closest friends on the team," approached him after both sets of quotes.

"The perception of what you said makes it seem from the outside like there's dysfunction, like there's a disconnect between you and your teammates, and there's a disconnect between you and Brett," Redick said he informed Embiid. "Now, that isn't true, but it could be interpreted that way."

Embiid, Redick recalls, nodded in agreement.

"You're a top-five talent," Redick continued. "You can do and say whatever the f--- you want, but should you? You and Ben [Simmons] want to be the face of the franchise -- and there's obviously some leeway you get because of that. But you also have a responsibility to your teammates and your coaches to accept leadership in a mature way."

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26620998/takes-joel-embiid-quest-greatness

Nice vet leadership from JJ. These kinda little things make me hope he stays around... just cheaper and in a slightly reduced role going forward

[sixers hoops]

Interesting, seems like Embiid shoots much worse in playoffs.



He needs to improve on offense if he is to be our best player.

I think the mask really bothered him, and he has faced some tough defenders in Whiteside, Horford, and Gasol. However, he just plays a sloppy brand of ball, with some poor shot selection at times.

[MR28]

That chart has a ton of movement, but that’s 5%.


Teams are putting their best defenders on him and doubling as soon as he put the ball on the floor. That should be expected.

[rulebook]

That chart has a ton of movement, but that’s 5%.


Teams are putting their best defenders on him and doubling as soon as he put the ball on the floor. That should be expected.

I know he was sick, but I just don't understand his decision making in Game 2. He'd set up in the post and just lazily hold it, wait for the double, and then stumble and bumble his way to either a turnover or a desperation kick out. Because he has no real post moves and struggles against physical defenders, he absolutely needs to be quicker with his decisions, whatever they are. Also not sure where his midrange game went...he was either hoisting threes or forcing shots at the rim. He can consistently make 12 footers. Shoot 'em, bud.

[phillynative]

Lol @ Embiid not having any post moves. Thats obviously not true. What he doesnt have is a consistent go to move. Hes a little all over the place in terms of what moves he should make and when..

[rulebook]

Lol @ Embiid not having any post moves. Thats obviously not true. What he doesnt have is a consistent go to move. Hes a little all over the place in terms of what moves he should make and when..

OK. He has some moves and has good footwork. But he's incredibly raw and doesn't have craft to his moves. Good big men have a progression of moves that they can use against any defender, good or bad. Bad defenders can be beat by the first move. Good defenders typically require a few moves and then a "bail out" move that gets them a decent look if all else fails. See Al Horford for a master class.

Not trying to disparage Joel. He's still young, has barely played ball compared to his peers, and learned his college moves on YouTube. But it's what he needs to get to the next level offensively.

[VDT]

Embiid needs to improve his hook shot and his overall touch in the paint. It will really help his game and allow him to use his footwork and counters. He also need to go to former players like Shaq and Hakeem to learn the nuances of the post game, things that he cant learn from watching tape or from Hanlen.

[kuclas]

Embiid has some moves. But he doesn’t have a go to move. That drive at end of the game was a thing of beauty. The other shot he made was also a thing of beauty getting under gasol.

Those were incredibly difficult shots. The only two he made.

It shows u how difficult toronto’s Defense has been on embiid. But difference yesterday was he didn’t over shoot.

Do we want him over shooting 5 for 18.

Or taking whatever the defense give him and going 2 for 7.

I tell u what. They show stat. Sixers were 5 for 7 on embiid passes to 3 point shooters last night. The rest of the guys passing to 3 point shooters were 5 for 28.

So sixers shot 10 for 35. And embiid had 5 of those 3 point assists. So Toronto has made an effort to surround embiid when he gets ball. But damm. Embiid made the right passes.