youngthegiant wrote:Media and casuals almost always say winning/playoff performance is the end all be all for deciding which players are the best.
Well Jokic's playoff resume is head and shoulders above what Embiid has done. It makes zero sense...Jokic's playoff numbers are better...he's gone farther in the post season...like why...why is this even a debate. Jokic is clearly the best Center in the world and it's driving me insane that so many people still believe Embiid is better. Skip Bayless can't even remember his name
Why can't Jokic get a fair shake..
Career Playoff stats]
Joel Embiid: 22.3 PPG, 11.5 RPG, 2.9 APG, 3.7 TO 43 FG%, 28 3P%
Nikola Jokic: 24.7 PPG, 11.2 RPG, 6.9 APG, 3.0TO 51 FG%, 41 3P%
The "he's gone farther in the post season" argument sounds great but look at it a different way - a tale of two jumpers that decided the fate of this narrative.
If Kawhi misses his miracle shot at the end of game 7 in 2019, there's a very real chance that Philly advances that series, a series in which Philly massively dominated in the minutes Joel was on the floor, and got destroyed in the minutes he sat. The Sixers were +90 in the minutes Embiid played against the Raptors and -109 in the minutes he sat. He played 45 minutes in game 7 and they were +10, and they were -12 in the less than 3 minutes he sat. Those stats you linked massively underrate the defensive impact difference between the players - the Sixers defense gave up only 95.7 points per 100 that postseason during his minutes. What more could he have done?
If Conley makes his miracle shot at the end of game 7 in 2020, Denver gets knocked out in round 1 in a series that the Nuggets got outscored in the minutes Jokic was on the floor. The Nuggets were actually outscored while Jokic was on the floor for that entire playoffs - they essentially lost during his minutes.
The fate of this narrative was decided for each by players on the other team. Hell, Embiid at least managed to get a good contest on Kawhi on the shot, whereas Jokic wasn't even on the floor for the Conley jumper. So you're telling me that if Kawhi misses and the Sixers advance, and Conley makes his shot and the Nuggets don't, you're suddenly going to give Embiid the edge...for something that wasn't even in his control?
The playoff argument isn't even reasonable. The Sixers are +7.0 with Embiid on the floor in the playoffs with +14.2 on/offs. The Nuggets are +1.2 with Jokic on the floor in the playoffs with +8.7 on/offs. The Sixers have won the Embiid playoff minutes by a bigger margin, and he's elevated them more when he's been off.
You're judging and penalizing Embiid individually for his lack of team success in the playoffs because the Sixers have gotten destroyed in the minutes that he's sat. That's pretty unreasonable.
To you, the difference between Jokic having a better playoff reputation than Embiid, rather than being seen as a playoff choker, is literally a Mike Conley jumper - consider that.
