nikster wrote:Exp0sed wrote:QingJames wrote:Joe L choked, disappeared and moped off his home floor without a basket in the last 6 minutes. Jokic efficiently demolished the Suns on their home court.
Every additional playoff game these two guys play makes it more and more clear how fraudulent Joe L’s MVP is this year, and how big the gap is between him and Jokic.
if Embiid doesn't win game 7 - "Joe L" just might stick haha
personally i think the 76ers have a good shot, Boston hasn't been impressive at home and imo the 76ers are a better team
at least from a talent perspective
1 game, anything can happen
and they get to play a pretty weak conf finalist (Miami or NY aren't at the usual conf finals level)
so it's far from over for them, if they win game 7 I think they have a decent shot at a ring
it'll be the most important game of his career, let's see what he's made of
If he drops this game 7 Embiids gonna be out of the best player in the league convo until he has some playoff success. Not that i think it's exactly fair but is the reality
he never should have been in that conversation in the first place
he hasn't been impressive in the postseason, you can't use a different excuse every season
Brett Brown not good enough, Butler and Simmons not good enough, Harden and Maxey not good enough etc etc.
we've been hearing for 3 seasons from the Embiid fanboys how the two aren't even in the same league because of "defense".
despite his great rim protection, Joel Embiid has not been a very impactful defender in the playoffs and his offense has fallen off a cliff, more often than not
hes a great shotblocker with impeccable timing and a real knack to protecting the rim, but at the same time he doesn't actually possess a high level of defensive awareness
not to mention, its kind of hard to defend when u hit the deck every other play and barely bother to sprint back
he can block and deter plenty of shots in the paint but he doesn't get back fast enough on D and just like any other C - can be exploited on the perimeter
the days of a Mutumbo parking under the basket and changing every play are long gone
when he isn't providing highlight blocks, he can often be seen blown by his man or overhelping and losing sight\awareness of an opponent open for a lob or operating from the dunkers spot)
also - he's not a difference maker in terms of rebounding
on offense, he needs to be set up by others, has a pretty bad shot selection that doesn't get called out often enough because he's a great shooter but his decision making and shot selection are sorely lacking - he makes alot of mistakes on that end.
he also lacks stamina, motor and ofc - durability but that's beside the point
he's not a good enough passer or playmaker to consistently punish doubles, especially if they come at the right time and from the right angle, playing at home in a close-out game 6, getting tons of touches and having 1 Assist to 4 turnovers kind of tells u all u need to know, no?
he doesn't have the stamina (or mentality) to go and get 50 every game and tbh unless he's really deep in the post or has a clear lane to the cup - he doesn't really take advantage of mismatches vs smaller guys. for him to really be the best player in the game he has to use his arsenal more often and keep putting pressure on defenders and on the refs and wear the opponent out
instead, he's the one that gets worn out and fades in the 2nd half - that's basically the anthithesis to someone whose in the convo for "best player in the game" and is the reason he wasn't actually in that convo
also taking loads of jumpshots (mostly from his favorite elbow spots or 3's) over ppl - that's not a winning strategy
he's not Dirk
Embiid is at his best when he is physical, putting the ball on the floor and putting a ton of pressure on the refs to make calls
his first step along with his size is simply amazing
the blueprint to beating Embiid has been established - if u can keep him out of the charity stripe, meaning keep him at 6-8 FTA and not 15, or 20 - he's not gonna score consistently or efficiently enough
teams are content having him run up and down (and get a ton of easy points when he doesn't) and take those contested mid-range elbow jumpers all day. sure, he'll make 50% of those but that's not good enough and it's certainly quite far from "best player in the league" territory
