Embiid earned my respect after this series. No one should question his toughness

Shock Defeat · Post #1 » by **Shock Defeat** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 5:58 pm

Embiid is playing at 50% health but giving it his all. He is clearly hobbled and can barely walk without grimacing, much less run, yet he's giving you 30 and 10 first two games.

Hes a great player and has earned my respect. Hopefully one day he is healthy for a playoff run where he can make some noise.

HotRocks34 · Post #2 » by **HotRocks34** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:07 pm

Agree.

beeshma · Post #3 » by **beeshma** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:07 pm

Embiid is a much more complete player than he was in any prior playoff run. Elite passer, gets back at full speed on defense to stop fast breaks, protects the paint, clutch 3 point shooting. Wow.

But the rest of the 76ers team seems less than the sum of their parts. I'm not sure what's going on there. Even Maxey seems only like an average playoff starter.

nikster · Post #4 » by **nikster** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:12 pm

Yeah he's clearly been playing through something. Good on him, but I can't believe he's injured again. It seems like Joel and the team have been mismanaging him partly, with him coming back eaely from injuries he shouldnt have, or the games theyve played with hia game day status. I don't know what the answer is for him. Just sit out the first 2/3rds of the season and just ramp up for playoffs?

LordCovington33 · Post #5 » by **LordCovington33** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:16 pm

nikster wrote:Yeah he's clearly been playing through something. Good on him, but I can't believe he's injured again. It seems like Joel and the team have been mismanaging him partly, with him coming back eaely from injuries he shouldnt have, or the games theyve played with hia game day status. I don't know what the answer is for him. Just sit out the first 2/3rds of the season and just ramp up for playoffs?

Do that and we miss the playoffs. We are a lottery team without him.

Karate Diop · Post #6 » by **Karate Diop** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:16 pm

Sorry but mans isn't boxing out that's bball 101. Can't give a mans credit when they don't earn it.

nikster · Post #7 » by **nikster** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:18 pm

LordCovington33 wrote:
nikster wrote:Yeah he's clearly been playing through something. Good on him, but I can't believe he's injured again. It seems like Joel and the team have been mismanaging him partly, with him coming back eaely from injuries he shouldnt have, or the games theyve played with hia game day status. I don't know what the answer is for him. Just sit out the first 2/3rds of the season and just ramp up for playoffs?

Do that and we miss the playoffs. We are a lottery team without him.

Yeah true. Not an easy decision. Maybe the team just needs to be more strict with him with any type of injuries or soreness. He clearly wants to play and probably why he came back early in the season

GiannisAnte34 · Post #8 » by **GiannisAnte34** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:20 pm

he saw a 2nd MVP was attainable and got greedy. if he had foregone the award for regular season stat accumulation, he probably would have been healthier for this run. here we are and he has no one to blame but himself

Tor_Raps · Post #9 » by **Tor_Raps** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:23 pm

GiannisAnte34 wrote:he saw a 2nd MVP was attainable and got greedy. if he had foregone the award for regular season stat accumulation, he probably would have been healthier for this run. here we are and he has no one to blame but himself

Playing in that golden state game was so dumb. You gotta know your body and prioritize accordingly. He chose regular season awards over potential postseason success even if that wasn't his intention.

NyKnicks1714 · Post #10 » by **NyKnicks1714** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:24 pm

nikster wrote:Yeah he's clearly been playing through something. Good on him, but I can't believe he's injured again. It seems like Joel and the team have been mismanaging him partly, with him coming back eaely from injuries he shouldnt have, or the games theyve played with hia game day status. I don't know what the answer is for him. Just sit out the first 2/3rds of the season and just ramp up for playoffs?

I've wondered about the merits of resting a player for the first month or so of the season as a load management strategy. Shorten the season entirely instead of sitting the player every several games. Or maybe a month from the All-star break to early-mid March. For someone old or injury-prone it doesn't seem like a terrible idea.

strokerace · Post #11 » by **strokerace** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:40 pm

Karate Diop wrote:Sorry but mans isn't boxing out that's bball 101. Can't give a mans credit when they don't earn it.

Silly take. Barely anyone boxes out unless it is a single crazy important play. If he wasn't as hobbled as he is, he would be dominating and the Knicks would be done.

GiannisAnte34 · Post #12 » by **GiannisAnte34** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:40 pm

Tor_Raps wrote:
GiannisAnte34 wrote:he saw a 2nd MVP was attainable and got greedy. if he had foregone the award for regular season stat accumulation, he probably would have been healthier for this run. here we are and he has no one to blame but himself

Playing in that golden state game was so dumb. You gotta know your body and prioritize accordingly. He chose regular season awards over potential postseason success even if that wasn't his intention.

Forgot was that the game he checked himself back into a blowout and proceeded to aggravate an injury?

Deathray · Post #13 » by **Deathray** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:40 pm

Hopefully the surgical procedure they went with and coming back so soon doesn't come back to bite him. It looks heroic now but could look like a really bad idea later if it affects his long-term health.

Post #14 » by **Harry Garris** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:48 pm

Yeah, playing through a painful injury is commendable. But I don't think a lack of toughness is why Embiid is disliked as much as it is the aesthetic of his style of play and the self-campaigning he did for the MVP award.

HotelVitale · Post #15 » by **HotelVitale** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:51 pm

Hopefully people already knew Embiid was stubborn and competitive, if not yeah that's him. Never not been him, not sure what the narrative was if it was saying otherwise.

He does look better in some ways--the passing for one--but I've still seen a lot of the bad decision-making and not understanding when and how to play to his strengths. He looks confused out there like in previous PO series, no rhythm for how to deal with doubles and no sense of how and when to box out and help hard on D etc. That's always been the legit criticism of him in the PO and he's got a lot to show to not have that be his story.

cgf · Post #16 » by **cgf** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:52 pm

Yeah. He's basically out on his feet by the ends of these games because philly needs him out there even in that condition. This Knicks fan has to respect him for that...and that dunk was awesome...

Post #17 » by **Duke4life831** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:53 pm

Harry Garris wrote:Yeah, playing through a painful injury is commendable. But I don't think a lack of toughness is why Embiid is disliked as much as it is the aesthetic of his style of play and the self-campaigning he did for the MVP award.

Ya I dont think lack of toughness has ever been the biggest negative about him.

My biggest issue with Embiid is the style of play. I think he's too talented of a player to have to fallback on the little things he does. All the cheap annoying flops and selling calls over and over again just makes him hard to watch as a fan.

And my other biggest knock against Embiid, isnt a lack of toughness. Just a lack of availability. His body just breaks down over and over again. Whether its his conditioning clearly becoming an issue in the playoffs, or its just his body breaking down and limiting his ability on the court. This has just become an annual thing for him. And to be clear I think this one is mostly out of his control, but it is what it is. I just have zero faith come playoff time, Embiid will be a dominant force because there will be some issue that will come up to prevent him.

NBA4Lyfe · Post #18 » by **NBA4Lyfe** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 7:01 pm

so basically more excuses for playoff failures for joel

harden could have used his asthma as an excuse for his playoff shortcomings but took the criticism like a man

ItsDanger · Post #19 » by **ItsDanger** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 7:03 pm

His defensive effort has been weak,injury or not. Stop making excuses for this guy.

Cubbies2120 · Post #20 » by **Cubbies2120** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 7:04 pm

LordCovington33 wrote:
nikster wrote:Yeah he's clearly been playing through something. Good on him, but I can't believe he's injured again. It seems like Joel and the team have been mismanaging him partly, with him coming back eaely from injuries he shouldnt have, or the games theyve played with hia game day status. I don't know what the answer is for him. Just sit out the first 2/3rds of the season and just ramp up for playoffs?

Do that and we miss the playoffs. We are a lottery team without him.

Look at some of his highest scoring games this season, in double digit blowouts, against bottom feeding teams.

Maybe consider sitting him in these games instead? Or do you think Embiid is REQUIRED to beat the Wizards, Spurs, Pistons, Hornets?

Yes, it'll hurt his individual stats because he won't be crushing cans in the regular season, but he'll be (hopefully) better preserved for the playoff run.