Tave wrote:I see a weaker, lankier, less-developed Vlade Divac without the passing aptitude. That can change, he's a young 7-footer who could conceivably get a lot stronger, but he's a huge question mark at this point. I can't think of any current starting NBA center who is both as slow as Joel and as weak. Usually it's one or the other (a slow bruiser or a skinny freak). There are plenty of college centers with nice touch and footwork who lack the athleticism to succeed in the league.
Duncan is/was an underrated athlete. He was an extremely powerful player in his youth and physically dominated every other center in the game not named Shaq. Embiid plays soft and slow. Duncan was disciples but aggressive and strong.
Just as an aside, not every intriguing college freshman deserves to be compared to a top-10 player of all time. That's setting Embiid up for failure.
Where did you get the impression that Embiid is slow or weak? He was known for his athletic ability before he was noted for his skill. His high school coach from his senior year said the following after he announced his signing to KU, before he even became a Top 100 prospect:
"It's his ability to learn and pick up stuff," Harden said. "Sometimes when kids are new to the game ... he's picked up the game faster than some of the guys I've had. His combination of size, athletic ability and coordination is something."
Again, that was before he was even considered a Top 100 player by ESPN. He ended up their #1 center prospect, for a reason. ESPN's scouting report read:
This is a kid who is raw but coming on and quickly. The Cameroonian big man has all the physical tools but that's not why he's going to make it big. In addition to the tools, size and athleticism he has coordination, explosion and an uncommon agility and feel...
Here are three gifs that show some athleticism. The first is an example of body control and speed, as he spins around a guy a foot shorter than he is.
Spoiler:
The next are a few dunks, because you seem to hold them in higher regard than other aspects of athleticism.
Spoiler:
I could go on with block gifs, but you get the point.
I'm not sure what you mean by weak; Embiid has a 240 pound frame already, and he clearly has a ton of room to grow. He could conceivably get his weight up in the 260-275 range without becoming overly bulky. He doesn't seem to use his full speed when making moves, and you should clearly see a difference between the first gif you commented on and the ones in this post. He plays within himself and under control instead of full blast; that IS a difference between him and Hakeem.
But it is simply inaccurate to say he is weaker or slower than NBA centers. No one that has watched him in person has claimed he is unathletic or lacked explosiveness. And I'd disagree with the idea that college basketball is filled with smart but unathletic centers; college basketball is lucky to have more than one decent center in any given year, and most center are unathletic AND unskilled. To have a player with any kind of athleticism and a fair amount of skins is rarer than hen's teeth. There is a reason NBADraft.net lists Embiid's pro comparison as a Hakeem Olajuwon/Andrew Bynum.
I'll note again that Embiid's numbers are not dissimilar to Hakeem's in his first year of college, and Hakeem had an additional year to prepare as a redshirt. I don't that Embiid will have the same impact in his rookie year, but neither would Olajuwon after his first year (especially if you consider his first year as the year he redshirted). The main they have in common is that they both had even in their years was uncommon grace, something that is lacked by 99% of college centers, and NBA centers for that matter.
) A link to my post is at the bottom.