2024 Olympics/Embiid Watch Thread

[Embiid P]

I know it's sort of already being discussed in the offseason thread, but assumed that was more for general Sixers/transactions discussion, so I figured I'd make a separate thread for the Olympics as it's been a while since we had a member of the Sixers on Team USA.

[Stanford]

Read on Twitter

Hopefully this is a huge wakeup call for Embiid.

[MikRay]

He looks old and out of shape

[Iverson Armband]

Read on Twitter

Hopefully this is a huge wakeup call for Embiid.

I know PG is at home like

He’s getting worse and needs to stop it.

[Stanford]

He has great position there. How hard is it to make a quick move to the rim? It takes more energy to throw yourself at the oncoming player.

[FlyingArrow]

He has great position there. How hard is it to make a quick move to the rim? It takes more energy to throw yourself at the oncoming player.

In Little League, there was the dropped-third-strike rule: if the catcher didn't catch the 3rd strike, you could run to first base and be safe if you beat the throw from the catcher. But the catchers were, for the most part, terrible at catching. Getting to first on a dropped 3rd strike was a very common occurrence. On a full count, I knew the pitch coming in wasn't going to be caught by the catcher, so instead of waiting to hear a call from the ump I swung without even trying to hit the ball and sprinted to first base. Safe! Then my coach said, "Good job, but you swung at ball four."

Sometimes you get a good result but not by playing the "right way". When the situation changes (e.g. if a catcher can catch that 3rd strike or if FIBA refs don't call fouls the same way as NBA refs), it can be hard to abruptly change your mindset.

[Sixteen]

Yeah, it's hard to defend that crap. You're the biggest strongest guy out there, go through them and force them to foul. Tho I will say that foul baiting has been apart of the game for a long time and is usually a smart thing to do with aggressive defenders.

[Black Mage]

I'm not excusing Joel; it's something he should have dropped from his game awhile ago. However, they also no longer allow the Shaq bulldozer move either when Joel would be allowed to use his strength and power to go through the defender. Defenders are just as "floppy" when they feel contact from a center going towards the rim.

Also, Joel isn't the first and he won't be the last Olympian to foul bait.

[Black Mage]

Watch on YouTube

Just watch this short clip of Shaq in the Finals against us. Every single move is something Joel has done. Back then they lauded Shaq for his "physical" play. Today Joel is demonized for "dirty play."

[Stanford]

Watch on YouTube

Just watch this short clip of Shaq in the Finals against us. Every single move is something Joel has done. Back then they lauded Shaq for his "physical" play. Today Joel is demonized for "dirty play."

That's because Shaq played physical and Embiid flops. Notice how Shaq is dribbling and shooting towards the rim? They couldn't be less comparable.

[76thBearCub]

Embiid was never trained to play that style either I'm sure. He was taught to play under the way it's called modernly.

[mjkvol]

I'm not sure how relevant this is to Embiid grifting, but could the increase in that kind of play over the years have something to do with never really playing with a legitimate supporting cast throughout most of his career, needing to carry teams in big spots and not having the energy in 4th quarters due to having spent the game carrying the team on both ends?

I'm just asking, is it possible that with a real supporting cast now - two more legit scoring threats, some 2-way wings, and a real backup center - that he will be fresher late in games, have other players who can carry the scoring load, and therefore not need to resort to grifting?

It's on Nurse, now in his second season and not needing to cater to Joel, to make sure our offense doesn't get to the point any more of needing this kind of stuff from Embiid.

[LeonJordanJr24]

Embiid is playing big body decoy for USA and it's working. Great passes and screens.

[Black Mage]

Watch on YouTube

Just watch this short clip of Shaq in the Finals against us. Every single move is something Joel has done. Back then they lauded Shaq for his "physical" play. Today Joel is demonized for "dirty play."

That's because Shaq played physical and Embiid flops. Notice how Shaq is dribbling and shooting towards the rim? They couldn't be less comparable.

Not true. Joel isn't allowed to spin to the basket and have his elevated elbows blowing up an opponent's face. The game is called very differently for post players. Shaq's physical demolition style doesn't play in today's game.

[TYO23]

He’s setting great screens. I just wish he was in better shape.

[elchengue20]

At the moment what we are seeing it's not very encouraging if we are hoping for a more team based defensive/rebounding/screening playstyle from Embiid here this season.

He's struggling to embrace that role in a crazy stacked team against lesser competition and with FIBA rules where it should be easier for him. Not good.

[Negrodamus]

Watch on YouTube

Just watch this short clip of Shaq in the Finals against us. Every single move is something Joel has done. Back then they lauded Shaq for his "physical" play. Today Joel is demonized for "dirty play."

That's because Shaq played physical and Embiid flops. Notice how Shaq is dribbling and shooting towards the rim? They couldn't be less comparable.

Not true. Joel isn't allowed to spin to the basket and have his elevated elbows blowing up an opponent's face. The game is called very differently for post players. Shaq's physical demolition style doesn't play in today's game.

I think Embiid had one season early on where he was top ten in offensive fouls and decided that the style was not conducive to scoring a lot of points or even staying on the court.

[Black Mage]

That's because Shaq played physical and Embiid flops. Notice how Shaq is dribbling and shooting towards the rim? They couldn't be less comparable.

Not true. Joel isn't allowed to spin to the basket and have his elevated elbows blowing up an opponent's face. The game is called very differently for post players. Shaq's physical demolition style doesn't play in today's game.

I think Embiid had one season early on where he was top ten in offensive fouls and decided that the style was not conducive to scoring a lot of points or even staying on the court.

It's a very different game today. I watched a bit more on the Shaq, Dikembe and other center highlights. Centers in the post were allowed to use their arms a lot more to push guys off them. Arms were often up around the defenders collarbone or neck. Defenses have also changed; there was a lot less of the "swarming" wings back then. Often times you'd watch two lumbering bigs working on Shaq, but rarely were wings coming in while Shaq was backing a guy down to steal the ball.

[Embiid P]

Who would have ever thought that our old friend Marial Shayok would be killing Team USA right now?

[Negrodamus]

Out of the country; my non Sixer friends are saying Embiid is killing us. Is that the case tonight?