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

[bake51]

He's obviously playing at 50% and deserves a ton of credit. My only issue is that season after season his conditioning, or lack thereof, is always an issue.

[Capn'O]

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.

Thank you.

One model for him would be to look at how late prime Patrick Ewing played. At least with regards to defensive play, conserving himself, and evolving his offensive game. Pat was never great at passing out of doubles either.

[Alatan]

Was it smart to rush recovery and play in a playoff you have little to no chance of winning? I doubt it.

[Exp0sed]

what? hobbled or not, he's been pretty meh
he can def use that excuse again (being far from 100%) but that's about it..

he had like 0 or 1 rebound in the last 20 mins of the game 2 chokejob, that's inexcusable. if he can't move well enough to rebound the ball once with his size and frame in an entire half then he shouldn't be on the floor at all

he was lighting up the Wizards, Hornets, Pistons and Grizzlies just two weeks ago, taking loads of shots and being very efficienct while in the playoffs..he's 8-22 in every game. what are we even talking about here?

that he's playing thru pain or injury? big whoop...he's not the first and he won't be the last (and most guys that did it, didn't make such a point to hobble visibly or grimace and wince after every play) bottom line is he's playing with Maxey whose a legit star now and brought his a game to the playoffs, other excellent supporting players and he's going to be bounced in the first rd, again

his body language complaining about the refs while hiding his head\face behind a towel, does that look like a leader to u? promising a comeback win when he's hobbled, down 2-0 and hiding behind a towel, was probably crying again like he always does

he shouldn't be on the floor imo, the 76ers are making a big mistake and they're doing it for nothing which is even weirder. the risk of another (different) injury with his history and favoring one knee is tremendous

they're already down 2-0 but let's say they get past the Knicks, they have 0% chance of beating the C's or the Bucks if Giannis comes back with Embiid hobbled - so what's the point?

if ur gonna give props to someone,give it to Maxey. dude was a sieve in the rs and has really stepped up his defense, makes great decisions and timely baskets (efficiently). he was questionabe yesterday with an illness, meaning he played sick and scored 3 quick 3's early in the game, they should have kept riding him instead of letting Embiid get his, when he's basically mostly jump-shoooting cuz he isn't as mobile rn and shies from contact. he stepped up despite being sick, this is the NBA u don't get participation trophies or effort trophies or good will trophies.

p.s - I said after last season's playoffs that Embiid's career will be better served by him becoming a #2 on offense and focusing more on defense where he can really be good. he's not a number one option because he isn't a go-to guy.yes, his combo of skills,size and athleticism is crazy. in theory he could have been the best player in the world, but he doesn't have the I.Q, mentality or the intangibles to be a true ATG and it shows year after year in the playoffs

76ers would be a much more dangerous playoff team if Maxey played the Jamal Murray role, using Embiid's gravity and screens to take the majority of shots, putting defenses in tough positions where they have to make a decision (he's very good at that), Embiid could also clean up on the glass, it'd be very hard to keep him from getting those boards with the lineups some teams are running and the switch-heavy schemes that are very common nowadays

instead he tries to bait defender into fouls via his face-up game and ends up shooting 50% on those midranges (and alot worse in the playoffs) and obviously as the shooter from a distance - he isn't in a rebounding position at all - that's not a winning strategy in the playoffs

it's even more awkward because as he tries to bait, pump fake etc. he's very quick and obviously very tall so he can get his shot off against anyone but just like he surprises his defenders - his teammates are also surprised and can't anticipate and time the OReb effort

it's just not smart basketball

[Rustyman]

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.

Thank you.

One model for him would be to look at how late prime Patrick Ewing played. At least with regards to defensive play, conserving himself, and evolving his offensive game. Pat was never great at passing out of doubles either.

I think one of the key issues with Embiid is that he lack basketball IQ. He is not a great student of the game and does not understand the complexities of the game. And before any idiot raises the race card, the poster above shows how a similar player adjusted and developed his game understanding later in his career.

Embiid is top 5 percent in the league in athletic ability but I would rate him as bottom 50% in BB IQ.

[FuShengTHEGreat]

Isn't that still months away?

Its in july/August. I'm just saying if I'm the Sixers I'd be actively trying to dissuade him from going. Does Team USA "need" him? Absolutely not!! He misses large chunks of seasons as it is already and they've had to load manage him just to make it through the seasons he has played in.

NBA training camp/pre season starts like a little over a month after the Olympics finishes. Not a good move, especially for someone they're counting on to lead them to a title.

It's a career highlight for him to play in an Olympics and in all likelihood win a gold medal. Players 100% care about winning a gold especially if they've never had one in their career.

Not fair to the Sixers paying his salary

[jordanwilliams6]

I've said this before but availability is a skill and the most important one.

The greatest players are healthy in the moments that matter. Embiid has never proven the ability to do this and his greatness will always remain a question mark until he achieves some sort of success when it actually matters.

[GiannisAnte34]

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

Haliburton seems like he did the same thing (All NBA Team), but players are paying the consequences.

yep I remember Haliburton pointed that out too. not everyone is built to last 70+ games no matter how much you hear talent today is so superior

[Rustyman]

p.s - I said after last season's playoffs that Embiid's career will be better served by him becoming a #2 on offense and focusing more on defense where he can really be good. he's not a number one option because he isn't a go-to guy.yes, his combo of skills,size and athleticism is crazy. in theory he could have been the best player in the world, but he doesn't have the I.Q, mentality or the intangibles to be a true ATG and it shows year after year in the playoffs

This has always been my key issue with Embiid. He has the athletic skills to be one of the top 10 players to ever play the game but besides his lack of basketball IQ, his mentality (entitled/whiner/victim) and his intangibles (no leadership ability) always makes him fade in comparison to one of my favorite players in Duncan who after the injury in his third season, could not jump higher than the sidewalk but had everything else in max proportions.

[SFour]

I'll give him respect for making the series competitive and entertaining....without him it wouldn't even be watchable.

But we all knew Embiid's injury was going to be the Sixers' excuse once they inevitably got eliminated in the 1st/2nd round...even though he's been averaging 32 ppg, 9 rpg, 6 apg

[eyeatoma]

And now he's playing through potential nerve damage to his face. Yet people will go on about bs ducking ****.

Read on Twitter

?t=uSP3aQi-H3cSZyHoDMeXFw&s=19

https://youtu.be/pgXNuo3H7yw?si=LBUPL_ndi-fJ2AE2

Sent from my SM-S928B using Tapatalk

[HotelVitale]

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.

Thank you.

One model for him would be to look at how late prime Patrick Ewing played. At least with regards to defensive play, conserving himself, and evolving his offensive game. Pat was never great at passing out of doubles either.

I think one of the key issues with Embiid is that he lack basketball IQ. He is not a great student of the game and does not understand the complexities of the game. And before any idiot raises the race card, the poster above shows how a similar player adjusted and developed his game understanding later in his career.

Embiid is top 5 percent in the league in athletic ability but I would rate him as bottom 50% in BB IQ.

You're not wrong but i don't think BBIQ is nearly subtle or specific enough here. Embiid's very smart with his angles and with how to attack guys one on one, and he has excellent timing on defense and often outsmarts guys on that end. In some ways he understands the game as well as any big, and he really is a total maestro at picking apart individual defenders.

There's two general things I think he's lagging in, might be repeating some of above but what the hell. One is that he lacks the ability to map defenders and plan his moves around that. He's particularly bad at anticipating doubles and help defense-- he not only doesn't have a precise plan for what to do when help comes, but also often either dribbles right into doubles or flips out as soon as he sees one coming and panics. He seems surprised every single time when a defender who's not his guy shows up, is left without a way to calmly make them pay.

The other thing is related but distinct: he lacks the ability to manage himself and make quick decisions about the best play. Like I said above, he's often too casual or too aggressive dealing with doubles, but he's also often too casual or too aggressive with his own help defense, passing, rebounding, shotblocking, finishing at the rim, etc. He needs to be able to process right away 'okay how hard do I need to go on this particualr play to make the play I want to' and he's just not good at it. He'll let players out-hustle him for rebounding positioning on 4 plays in a row, and then rebound like a mad man for the next 4--and if he just calmly did his fundamental box-outs on most plays the results would be better. Shotblocking is most obvious--he lets some super easy buckets get psased him sometimes and sometimes is insanely locked in--but it's sort of everywhere. Even in his one on one offense (which he's sick at) he's often either challenging someone and going for broke, or else doing his lazy dribble-dribble-fadeaway thing (or dribble-dribble-lean-in-and-hope-for-whistle). Often doesn't look like he's reading the defense and deciding based on that, more just following random impulses.

[Jaqua92]

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

This.

And if you're playing in the playoffs, your healthy enough. He's not the only one to play recovering from an injury.

Feel sorry for him, but this man just has a tougher time in the post season. Health, no health aside, he's just a player of lesser impact.

People have said Jamal Murray shot like **** these first 2 games. No one cares he was injured for a month and that his ankle still may not be right.

Both of these games were winnable. 26ppg on 40% from the field isn't gonna cut it. If his production drop off is THAT significant from injury, he shouldn't be playing, and he's taking more years off of his career..

But he's healthy enough to play. So he's playing. Feel for the guy. Feel sorry for him and I hope he ends up with a more competent franchise who puts him in a KP kind of role.

3rd/2nd option, 50 games per year, less than 30 min a night. Make a playoff run .

I'm over the health bs

[Jaqua92]

Thank you.

One model for him would be to look at how late prime Patrick Ewing played. At least with regards to defensive play, conserving himself, and evolving his offensive game. Pat was never great at passing out of doubles either.

I think one of the key issues with Embiid is that he lack basketball IQ. He is not a great student of the game and does not understand the complexities of the game. And before any idiot raises the race card, the poster above shows how a similar player adjusted and developed his game understanding later in his career.

Embiid is top 5 percent in the league in athletic ability but I would rate him as bottom 50% in BB IQ.

You're not wrong but i don't think BBIQ is nearly subtle or specific enough here. Embiid's very smart with his angles and with how to attack guys one on one, and he has excellent timing on defense and often outsmarts guys on that end. In some ways he understands the game as well as any big, and he really is a total maestro at picking apart individual defenders.

There's two general things I think he's lagging in, might be repeating some of above but what the hell. One is that he lacks the ability to map defenders and plan his moves around that. He's particularly bad at anticipating doubles and help defense-- he not only doesn't have a precise plan for what to do when help comes, but also often either dribbles right into doubles or flips out as soon as he sees one coming and panics. He seems surprised every single time when a defender who's not his guy shows up, is left without a way to calmly make them pay.

The other thing is related but distinct: he lacks the ability to manage himself and make quick decisions about the best play. Like I said above, he's often too casual or too aggressive dealing with doubles, but he's also often too casual or too aggressive with his own help defense, passing, rebounding, shotblocking, finishing at the rim, etc. He needs to be able to process right away 'okay how hard do I need to go on this particualr play to make the play I want to' and he's just not good at it. He'll let players out-hustle him for rebounding positioning on 4 plays in a row, and then rebound like a mad man for the next 4--and if he just calmly did his fundamental box-outs on most plays the results would be better. Shotblocking is most obvious--he lets some super easy buckets get psased him sometimes and sometimes is insanely locked in--but it's sort of everywhere. Even in his one on one offense (which he's sick at) he's often either challenging someone and going for broke, or else doing his lazy dribble-dribble-fadeaway thing (or dribble-dribble-lean-in-and-hope-for-whistle). Often doesn't look like he's reading the defense and deciding based on that, more just following random impulses.

IQ isn't bad for him.

Feel is. He can run Nurses system and he's skilled enough to be a competent playmaker.

He just lacks the feel for the game other great players do. Giannis is similar.

[Jaqua92]

And now he's playing through potential nerve damage to his face. Yet people will go on about bs ducking ****.

Read on Twitter

?t=uSP3aQi-H3cSZyHoDMeXFw&s=19

https://youtu.be/pgXNuo3H7yw?si=LBUPL_ndi-fJ2AE2

Sent from my SM-S928B using Tapatalk

Have you had nerve damage to your face? Because I have.

[eyeatoma]

And now he's playing through potential nerve damage to his face. Yet people will go on about bs ducking ****.

Read on Twitter

?t=uSP3aQi-H3cSZyHoDMeXFw&s=19

https://youtu.be/pgXNuo3H7yw?si=LBUPL_ndi-fJ2AE2

Sent from my SM-S928B using Tapatalk

Have you had nerve damage to your face? Because I have.

Sorry to hear that.. What's your point though?

Sent from my SM-S928B using Tapatalk

[Jaqua92]

what? hobbled or not, he's been pretty meh
he can def use that excuse again (being far from 100%) but that's about it..

he had like 0 or 1 rebound in the last 20 mins of the game 2 chokejob, that's inexcusable. if he can't move well enough to rebound the ball once with his size and frame in an entire half then he shouldn't be on the floor at all

he was lighting up the Wizards, Hornets, Pistons and Grizzlies just two weeks ago, taking loads of shots and being very efficienct while in the playoffs..he's 8-22 in every game. what are we even talking about here?

that he's playing thru pain or injury? big whoop...he's not the first and he won't be the last (and most guys that did it, didn't make such a point to hobble visibly or grimace and wince after every play) bottom line is he's playing with Maxey whose a legit star now and brought his a game to the playoffs, other excellent supporting players and he's going to be bounced in the first rd, again

his body language complaining about the refs while hiding his head\face behind a towel, does that look like a leader to u? promising a comeback win when he's hobbled, down 2-0 and hiding behind a towel, was probably crying again like he always does

he shouldn't be on the floor imo, the 76ers are making a big mistake and they're doing it for nothing which is even weirder. the risk of another (different) injury with his history and favoring one knee is tremendous

they're already down 2-0 but let's say they get past the Knicks, they have 0% chance of beating the C's or the Bucks if Giannis comes back with Embiid hobbled - so what's the point?

if ur gonna give props to someone,give it to Maxey. dude was a sieve in the rs and has really stepped up his defense, makes great decisions and timely baskets (efficiently). he was questionabe yesterday with an illness, meaning he played sick and scored 3 quick 3's early in the game, they should have kept riding him instead of letting Embiid get his, when he's basically mostly jump-shoooting cuz he isn't as mobile rn and shies from contact. he stepped up despite being sick, this is the NBA u don't get participation trophies or effort trophies or good will trophies.

p.s - I said after last season's playoffs that Embiid's career will be better served by him becoming a #2 on offense and focusing more on defense where he can really be good. he's not a number one option because he isn't a go-to guy.yes, his combo of skills,size and athleticism is crazy. in theory he could have been the best player in the world, but he doesn't have the I.Q, mentality or the intangibles to be a true ATG and it shows year after year in the playoffs

76ers would be a much more dangerous playoff team if Maxey played the Jamal Murray role, using Embiid's gravity and screens to take the majority of shots, putting defenses in tough positions where they have to make a decision (he's very good at that), Embiid could also clean up on the glass, it'd be very hard to keep him from getting those boards with the lineups some teams are running and the switch-heavy schemes that are very common nowadays

instead he tries to bait defender into fouls via his face-up game and ends up shooting 50% on those midranges (and alot worse in the playoffs) and obviously as the shooter from a distance - he isn't in a rebounding position at all - that's not a winning strategy in the playoffs

it's even more awkward because as he tries to bait, pump fake etc. he's very quick and obviously very tall so he can get his shot off against anyone but just like he surprises his defenders - his teammates are also surprised and can't anticipate and time the OReb effort

it's just not smart basketball

This is simply it.

It's the same bull. The guy looked like his regular season self just fine. No injury excuse. Was giving us 33/12/6 per usual.

Some of us said that when defenses tighten up in the playoffs, and the refs only send players to the line for legit reasons, his production will fall.

It fell vs Philly. And here we are. 26ppg on 40% shooting. Now, that's not who he is. But if he were more healthy, he'd still be giving us about 30 on something like 47% from the field.

Embiid's game doesn't translate to the post season. Injury, no injury. Just. Enough of the excuses with this guy

[Rustyman]

There's two general things I think he's lagging in, might be repeating some of above but what the hell. One is that he lacks the ability to map defenders and plan his moves around that. He's particularly bad at anticipating doubles and help defense-- he not only doesn't have a precise plan for what to do when help comes, but also often either dribbles right into doubles or flips out as soon as he sees one coming and panics. He seems surprised every single time when a defender who's not his guy shows up, is left without a way to calmly make them pay.

Thank you for expressing this 100 times better than I did. My comments lack depth and you have just gone to explain why this is simply about the kind of player Embiid is, nothing else.

[Jaqua92]

And now he's playing through potential nerve damage to his face. Yet people will go on about bs ducking ****.

Read on Twitter

?t=uSP3aQi-H3cSZyHoDMeXFw&s=19

https://youtu.be/pgXNuo3H7yw?si=LBUPL_ndi-fJ2AE2

Sent from my SM-S928B using Tapatalk

Have you had nerve damage to your face? Because I have.

Sorry to hear that.. What's your point though?

Sent from my SM-S928B using Tapatalk

Out of all health related things impacting his game, nerve damage in his forehead and eye isn't one of them. Trust me lol

[eyeatoma]

Have you had nerve damage to your face? Because I have.

Sorry to hear that.. What's your point though?

Sent from my SM-S928B using Tapatalk

Out of all health related things impacting his game, nerve damage in his forehead and eye isn't one of them. Trust me lol

You're not a doctor. Clearly it's more than a scratched eye. An actual doctor who has commented correctly on injuries of NBA players numerous times over your opinion. I'll go with his take.

I'm not sure it's impacting his game. Just saying what he's going through.


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