This is where coaching comes into it. The Nuggets pretty much run a 4 man rotation to cover Jokic in pick and roll. Sixers could do it a little when they had Green and Simmons but the current roster is not good enough defensively
@@SafaretoSaf Docs offense is incredibly stale and generic. You are in a hell of a lot of trouble when your number 1 play and fall back option is the Harden-Embiid pick and Roll. It's good but a lot of uncertainty and very predictable.
@@pyotrbagration2438that was almost 30 years ago. The NBA has had decades to figure out how to minimize that offense. I feel that Doc is a poor X/O coach specifically offensively. His entire offenses (Clippers, Boston and 76ers) is to either mismatch hunt into ISO for his best player, or high 1 to 5 PnR. It’s too stagnant and predictable
Philadelphia had a golden chance to make the ECF in game 6. Tatum and Boston were bricking all 1st half and they still didn't close out the series. The roster isn't that strong but a great player would have willed the result like the other greats. Same goes to Harden.
I blame doc for not changing lineups pj tucker was bricking all game 6 and he didnt play mcdaniels once thats insane especailly becuase we gave up draft capital and thybulle at the deadline for him we played into their hands playing fat slow anathletic guys and thats why embiid got exposed imo
@@metadreamland if they had a different starter other than pj tucker all season because Tucker barely scored every 6 games which is wild coming from a starter. And no one mentions that fact, besdies the man having good defense they would have made it much farther if they had a different starter than scored 10 ppg.
The roster is actually pretty good. They just don't compliment Embiid (except Maxey). But they have 6 legit playoff rotation level guys plus some useful depth pieces in Reed, McDaniels, Niang, House -- that's not too different from Denver.
@@michaelahurt Mcdaniels is the only one on that list that is as good as Denver's bench. Also Jokic's 2nd option in Murray showed out in most of the games unlike Harden.
I’ve said since this series against Boston ended that you can’t win a ring with Embiid as your #1 and the pick and roll defense is a massive reason why. People hyped his defense all year and the guy can’t even switch off his position. He’s good in the regular season when nobody is really making defensive gameplans because they’re mostly focusing on health.
Especially in the playoffs, you need a center who can switch onto guards on the perimeter, but in the regular season, shot-blocking centers are more valuable.
You see teams use slow centers less and less for this reason. Rob Williams, despite being an elite rim protector, played like 20 mins a game routinely in the playoffs the last few years because lineups that are good at making him switch eat him alive on the perimeter. It almost seems like having your best offensive player be a big who can’t play defense on guards is a nearly insurmountable problem, at least in the playoffs. Nuggets do a good job circumventing this, but jokic is also basketball Einstein, so his style of flashing on then running off probably is harder to replicate than it seems. Or doc sucks and embiid doesn’t care idk.
Embiid was elite defensively , he was even better in the postseason, I don’t know how many centers can guard the perimeter consistently, is that even a recipe for success? Even AD had his problems, but I will say he doesn’t get beat as much Plus , in every playoff series Embiid’s mobility is hindered by injury, hence why you seem to think he’s only good in the regular season defensively
One thing i noticed about embiid is that he has a lot of moves, he just executes them slowly. Old school big men like Shaq, hakeem, david robinson etc would make their moves quickly before the double could get to them. They'd catch and go. Embiid is a lot slower footed so the same half spin into a drive, takes longer and allows a defender to get back into the play. He doesn't really create much space. Shaq could create space or rise up through contact with his body after a fast spin out of a post up, and Hakeem had crazy footwork that was fast and explosive. his fakes would stun a defender and he'd blow by them so quick they couldn't react. Even on a lot of embiids best post moves, the defender is still right there contesting.
Shaq, Hakeem, David, Kareem etc they are unstoppable in their own ways. Their moves became their natural instincts so they just need to consider how to execute it, not what should they do. For embiid he got many tricks but didn't master any. This caused the thinking and therefore he seems slow and hesitant.
@@konothomasda7430 Embidd are big who play like 6ft 2 shooting guard...Dude always settle with inefficient fadeaway jumper...He ain't Dirk but play copycat like Dirk 😅
Even worse, every Nuggets opponent was meant to win by ‘spamming pick n’ roll’. Ant, KD, Lebron. What happened? Meanwhile the medias golden boy got cooked in pick n’ roll and got destroyed in game 7. Couldn’t write it
I think there are two more crucial points. 1. The end goal for most of the 76ers plays we’re to get it to embiid or make space for a shooter. Now that’s what you ideally want, but what they failed at (miserably in fact) is off ball movement to throw the defense off rhythm. I really want to see the stat-line for ground covered by the 76ers starting lineups. Bro like I saw so many plays where everyone is just standing and waiting for Embiid to do an isolation play or wait for harden to throw a dime or go iso. Tobias Harris just standing in one place waiting for a catch and shoot. 2. They’re just not physically conditioned like the Celtics, the Celtics seem to be very energetic on defense and run circles around harden on offense. Tatum literally uses his quick movements to get those easy layups. Even if he has to get past Embiid, who’s too slow to maneuver.
To point one, a lot of that is scheme and personnel. Harden has always liked to play like that and it really helps Embiid beat double teams. We saw PJ play in a movement offense in Miami. We saw Tobias do it in LA with Doc. Maxey can do that. Menton is a good cutter. But if your stars don't pass when you cut or would rather have you spacing in one spot to make their reads easier ... Off ball movement only works if you have the personnel to hit those cutters. Otherwise you're just screwing up the spacing and making it easier for the defense to double.
I agree. Watch the Nuggets and how much they move around Jokic. Now, part of that is that they know they're going to be rewarded by Jokic if they move. Embiid obviously doesn't have the same passing chops. But part of it is also on the other players and the coaching. Even the Heat move a ton, though. You don't have to have Jokic to have a good fluid system with lots of movement.
Before watching the video, I'll say this...the guy is a beast on the low block, but settles for mid range jumpers WAY too much. There's a lack of wanting to just enforce his will on the opponents, it's the opposite of Shaq in his day.
Hakeem Olajuwon wrote a piece about this exact point and Embiid replied “You can’t win this way anymore. It’s not the fricking 90s or 80s like it used to be. So, they must not have any basketball IQ.” lmao
@@ACPhila no you can you just have to attack quickly before the help even comes. What embiid and some players do today is stand still and hold the ball for a few seconds before making a move. Old school post players who got doubled a lot would catch and go instantly. Either catch and turn for the hook shot, or catch and do a quick spin move towards the opposite side of where the double is coming, or a quick drop step into a dunk (Shaq). If embiid caught then made a quick decision either to drive, shoot or pass it back out and reposition himself he'd have better results down low.
Embid is a regular season player. Funny that Perkins called Jokic a stat padder but that’s exactly what Embid is. Embid doesn’t make other players better.
Nah, I think Embiid is genuinely good. He just has the same mental weakness as Ben Simmons has. The difference is he's the nba and 76ers darling that's why they cant throw him off the bus just like what they did to Simmons
The main difference between Embiid and Joker is that while Embiid is way more athletic, he seems to almost completely lack the basketball IQ and instincts that Joker possesses. In the past, both have gotten exposed to the PNR and have been burned by it in. The difference is that after watching Joker during the Nuggets title run, I think he has figured out how to significantly minimize the damage when he gets exposed by either playing the percentages on defense and/or confusing the two PNR players. By this I mean when Joker does get switched, he decides whether or not to close out on a shooter based on how good of a shooter that player is. If one looks at how he plays PNR coverage, many times he plays much more off non-shooters than shooters. Other times, he will also mosey into/around either the two PNR players or other players on the floor and I suspect that this "mingling" often confuses the players trying to do the PNR. Denver's entire lineup also constantly switch matchup partners in a single 24 second defensive period (most of their players usually end up guarding 2 or 3 people at one point on the same defensive possession). I am guessing that the Nuggets probably confuse the opposing offense by doing this (and this could also throw off the PNR execution). On the offensive end, Joker's absurdly high BB IQ and instincts allow him to be very productive in helping the Nuggets offense score points and offset any points he does give up. If one watches the Nuggets on offense, they often set numerous picks for each other both near Joker and across the court from Joker to try to force even the slightest defensive mistake (a delayed response to a cutter, another defender not fighting fast enough through a screen, a defending player not being aware of changes in his surroundings, a defender being distracted by watching where Joker is looking, Etc.). Once that slight mistake is made, Joker tries punishing it with his passing or by scoring.
Another great observation about Denver is that for an offense that gives so many touches to one guy and that, like Philly, is centered around a big man, Denver’s offense is incredibly fluid and free-flowing and it’s because Joker can fit into any role. One of the simplest and yet smartest things he likes to do is jog up to the top of the key to receive the ball and run offense but instead of receive a pass to reset he’ll cut behind the center on him and get easy layups or floaters. A back door cut is very simple of course, but the fact that he’s 7 foot 280 and does this stuff is impressive and makes him even more unpredictable and dangerous as a player. He’s just as good as Embiid in the post and mid range, but can score ,cut, space the floor, or facilitate on any given possession. And he’s extremely efficient and has proven he can maintain it at higher volumes. He’s the best offensive player in the sport right now.
Joel needs to post up deeper to negate some of his passing issues. He's usually the strongest person on the court and should be able to plant himself on the lower block. Within 1 or 2 backdowns he should be able to go into his move.
Despite being labeled as the best post player in the league, Joel really does struggle there in playoff situations. I’ve never seen someone fall or turno the ball over on double teams like he does. Jokic is unfazed in the post, much more consistent.
I think a lot of his problems with the help d is because the spacing itself is often bad this year. When you pointed out rob williams’ effect at 5:40 , I noticed that he was able to sit in the paint because harden was way too close to tucker while PJ was in the corner. They were both guarded by the wing defender because of that.
The funniest thing about the Jokic Embiid thing is that they have similar defensive problems, I actually think Jokic is much better like in the hedge or at the level, he just has great hands. But obviously Embiid is better in the drop and on the week side because he is a good shot blocker
They both have similar problems, but the difference is that Jokic is able to make adjustments, while Embiid is not. There are players like Embiid and Harden, who are massively talented and are regular season monsters, but during the playoffs where the adjustments are made in every single game, they lose their prowess. Then there are players like Jimmy Butler, who changes his playstyle in every game during the playoffs according to the adjustments that he has to make. This type of players tend to thrive in series games. But it's hard to be good at both. And that's why there's a manager/coaches who have to help the players to be able to make adjustments. Unfortunately, Doc Rivers is widely notorious for not being able to make any adjustments. There's no question that Doc is a great coach overall, but he's literally the opposite of what you want in a playoff series, thus why he has so many playoffs failures. The regular season and the playoffs are two totally different games, and this applies in every sports (even in e-sports).
@@runningwithcat6195 I think it’s really about weaknesses, Jokic just has no like facet of his offensive game that is exploitable, he’s so resilient in the playoffs
Great video analysis. The truth is that it's BOTH. It's always been a coach issue, but it's also always been a player issue. Double whammy of two guys who have never learned how to adjust lol. Not sure Nick Nurse is enough if Embiid still thinks these same efforts will lead to success
Embiid is a great player. I think it would be good for him to get better handles this offseason. Not having to pick up your dribble is huge and you can drive away from help defenders and just be more dynamic overall
@@beedebawng2556 I wish I knew why Philadelphia doesn't pass him the ball when he gets deep positioning. Against the nets and the earlier games against the Celtics he had opportunity for passes to him for the quick bully ball play but he didn't get feeds.
@@notus299 What are you smoking. Jokic has better handles and the man can dribble from full court without getting the ball stolen. Oh, he also can run the point too if he wants.
It would also help if he could get the ball closer to the basket, you can see Boston is sending doubles when embiid starts dribbling and then picks his dribble up as he sees the help coming, unfortunately he is still too far from the rim
Its fun to joke and meme guys like Embiid but a lot of the criticism is true. His inability to to adjust and adapt his game throughout his career has severely limited him. It seems like he knows his flaws but doesn't want or care to change things about his game. Sure he’s become a good shooter and that but like Daniel showed here, its almost like he just wasn't paying attention to what Boston was doing. This is the mental aspect of basketball I don't think gets talked about enough and Embiid is one of the biggest names that struggles with this imo and one reason I'm not all too high on him or his game. A star who can't adjust in crunch time really isn't a star to me.
I think this is pretty disingenuous. There have been numerous changes to his game and embiid has been willing to change. Embiid developed a face up game, his shot (as you mentioned). He has cut weight to increase mobility and has become a stronger passer. This just hasn't been enough go get over this hump. He has way way more work to do. Mostly in the way of improving his conditioning imo and his off ball positioning.
I just re-read ur comment. Sorry to send 2 comments your way. Yeah ur right about his inability to make in game adjustments. That's definitely a weakness of his. Totally agree. I do think ur neglecting or unaware of some of the other developments in his game tho as I listed in my other comment. Embiid is my favourite player so it's fair to say that I definitely have a lot of bias in this thread. Hope I didn't come off as hostile!
@@gratscott5632 You're all good man I respect your ability to self assess yourself, thats rare on the internet these days haha. My original comment definitely glossed over the changes he made to become the elite player he is now so I see where your coming from with that. Definitely should've mentioned it as it kinda drives home the point that he CAN adjust it just seems he doesn't for whatever reason.
@@timlett99 I honestly think some of the gamesense shortcomings come from 1. Starting the game at 15 from scratch and 2. Having Brett Brown be his coach for almost all his career. 3. Phillys roster lacking veteran presence for the most of its time together.
@@gratscott5632 I'm definitely curious to see how Nick Nurse does, he’s one of the better coaches in the league imo so if he can turn around this Philly squad with Harden and Embiid as the front guys that'll be extremely impressive
On defense, Embiid a solid above average center for guarding the P'n'R and can shut it down for 5-8 minute stretches, but if any well coached team with enough talent put him in the P&R for a whole game he's gonna get kinda tired and lose focus. Mike Malone did a great job keeping Jokic out of those switches this season and maybe Nick Nurse can do the same with Embiid if the Sixers can get some better defensive pieces around him next season. On offense, while coaching adjustments and more off ball movement as a team will help a lot, Embiid will also have to be better at making quick decisions and using counter moves with better timing, it's fine if he takes a little time to survey the floor from time to time but he's developed the bad habit of taking forever every posession under Doc, and that too often becomes exploitable with his teammates standing around and watching as opponents shrink the floor. While he has improved massively as a ball handler and midrange/faceup player training with Drew Hanlen, it made him lose some of that feel as a low post powerhouse where he could constantly keep a shoulder/hip on the defender and be ready to make counter moves. Training with Hakeem to regain that feel and a strength trainer to work on his core and help him leverage his body better against good post defenders will also do him wonders.
He certainly didn't play any faster under Doc but that's not a new problem. He's always liked that 1990s/Carmelo/Kobe iso style offense where he can face up and jab and fake. I'm just not sure how realistic it is to say 'just process faster'. But you can put him in situations where his reads are easier and surround him with guys who *can* process quickly and play 4-on-3. (Doc actually did the first part -- which kind of allowed him to be more deliberate since he had more space -- but Philly didn't have the personnel to really punish defenses for bringing help.) But you alluded to what I think are the two biggest things for them (or anyone): scheme and personnel. They have the right pieces but it's for three different puzzles. Frankly there's only so much Nurse or anyone can do with this roster. But I do think the defense will be tighter. The reality is that Embiid needs to 1) get in better shape and 2) play like a center. More off ball work and sealing, less pretending to be Kobe. Focus on defense and rebounding and be a tentpole vs the focal point. Worry about winning, not MVP's Idk what you do with the roster. I thought prioritizing Harden over Haliburton was a *huge* mistake because really this should be a ball movement offense with guys flying around Embiid screens and DHO's and him looking for opportunities to get deep position or open jumpers off that movement vs playing through him in iso, PnR and post ups and exposing his limitations. Do that when he gets a switch. He's going to draw attention so you need guys who can play out of that and crowbar the cracks open. But this team is in a rough spot, honestly. It's not an easy fix given the Harden situation. He's part of the problem but you can't just lose him and yet, I don't think you can get anything good for him.
@@michaelahurt as a sixers fan I have kind of come to think the roster needs blown up. The process failed. Salvage what you can. It's so unbalanced. Constant dumb moves.
My biggest problem with Embiid on offense is that he gets absolutely no low post touches. The fact that he plays out of the high post all the time takes away his biggest advantage when the defense is loaded up on him. He doesn’t always have to get into his whole package. It’s much easier to counter help when a big like him catches the ball on the block or in the paint in transition because it forces the defense to fully commit in order to send help. Allowing a defense to stunt without punishing the help is a recipe for tough middies. He doesn’t roll hard to the rim often either so he’s not really helping his team score when he’s off ball
He's kind of like a slower Hakeem. Jokic gets away with being slow because he has insane court vision and passing ability. Embiid has to develop something similar or get faster. That being said he's still insanely good.
He's as fast as AD. 😂 Jokic rebounded at the rim in playoffs and ran coast to coast and AD couldn't make up an inch of ground. Could be also because Jokic has excellent stamina and in 4th Q, he can still run back and forth and AD is just gassed ..but I'm going with he's a fast as AD.😅
Kinda ironic how it flipped in the playoffs from teams exploiting Jokic defensively to teams exploiting Embiid. I don’t actually think it is Embiid’s fault though, Doc Rivers definitely could have made in game adjustments instead of letting Taytum score 51…
Lol. Disappearing in the playoffs every year. Blaming his teammates when he goes 5-17 in game 7. Doc is a bad coach, but Embiid's ass cheex all on his own.
It's just bad luck. Embiid would've been wrecked by Curry last year, too. Just like Jokic would struggle mightily switching onto Tatum if that were his matchup now. But on the flipside, Malone would most likely shade heavily off of the team's weaker shooters, or attempt a more aggressive hedging defence. So sometimes it really does come down to system and adjustment.
What're you talking about, his defense was great, it was the offense that fell off. Only average 27 in that second round. For us to win he has to score everything cause we just suck offensively overall.
Embiid is an extremely talented player but as a sixers fan he straight up was not being coached. Doc's whole entire system was to just to feed Embiid the ball as much as possible. He's an amazing player but needs to be put in an actual team system and not just freestyling on offense in the damn playoffs.
Not to excuse Embiids poor playoff performance, but Doc is so bad at generating offense and changing plays/lineups. It has shown in the previous teams he coached. His offense was just have the star player figure it out. He got a lucky championship because of the player leadership from that Celtics team and Tib's defensive system. Even Rondo mentioned he was more of a coach than Doc. His only positive trait as a coach is that players like him. It means nothing if he can't make adjustments in the playoffs.
Fuck all that if we wanna be great then be great. MJ, Bron, Magic, Kobe, Shaq, Hakeem, Bird, Steph, Dirk. Something they all have in common is the ability to hit the takeover button in the PLAYOFFS
I was so curious about Doc's response to "if Embiid could be the center for a championship team" or "could you be the coach for championship team" in postgame interview, but all journalists failed to ask him that..............xxx
What I realized is his speed is his biggest weakness. A lot of times if he would put in low effort and allow Tatum to get to the rim, went Joel tries he can get blocks but he was lazy on defense and the Celtics took advantage of that. Someone like Gianni’s would be faster, cover the ground lose to contest the shots but Joel just stands there when he loses him
It feels like Embiid is unfairly the scapegoat for the sixers losing. The coaching was the obvious shortcoming, Boston kept getting better and Philly stayed the same, and a lot of Bostons improvement came from locking up Joel’s post game. Doc had to either find different ways to set up Joel, or you need to count on your other players to step up. Considering James Harden was traded for everything the sixers owned, I’d hope he drops more than 9 points in 41 minutes in game 7, and basically the same numbers in game 6. Embiid got shut down in the post, but harden got shut down too, if Tobias Harris is your leading scorer with 19 that sounds like your entire team got shut down. Tatum and Brown both had an incredible game 7, while Al and robin combined for 12 points in 64 minutes. What that tells me is that Embiid locked down the interior and the wings were getting exposed because NO ONE on the sixers can play an ounce of defense except Embiid. He was getting cooked on the Boston pick and roll because the 4 other players on his team would do their best portrayal of a mannequin family around the 3 point line while embiid is stuck trying to guard the best slashing forward in the league, AND Al horford/Robin Williams at the same time. I don’t think Embiid is a perfect player, he’s obviously very raw and lacks a lot of finer awareness in the heat of the moment, but it’s disingenuous to pretend that trading embiid would make Philly better. He’s the only 2 way center good enough to carry the entire defensive load of a team and carry them to a top seed in the playoffs.
I didn’t realize how long this was until after I finished. I don’t really care that much about Philly, I’m just a bulls fan that’s upset about getting cooked by max strus of all people.
I feel like you should've mentioned his history of knee injuries around playoff time, and how that could impact his mobility, making the strategy of attacking him in the pick and roll even more viable. Otherwise, this was a good video
Embiid literally got rolled when he was in his best by pick and roll for years now. I am a 76ers fans but embiid has a big weakness to fix. He is not the same tier with giannis and joker
I think a key part of embiid’s lack of basketball IQ is the fact that he started basketball at 15 years old, a lot of the time he defaults to muscle memory and not what’s the right play and takes longer than others to recognize the situation on the court. Especially since everybody in the league now picks up the game in what feels like preschool, many players don’t have this problem. The same goes for handles and passing, all of these are fundamentals that he has had way less time than others to develop. I honestly don’t know if this is something sixers and embiid can adjust to easily, and will continue to be easily exploited by good teams in the playoffs.
Tim duncan didn’t play till he’s 14 and Olajuwon till he was 15, so it’s not an age thing. It’s really just how embiid plays and how he’s been choking in the playoffs.
@@jamesartemio1312 comparing embiid to two top 10-15 if not better players is kinda weird but even then, embiid missed 2 extra years after starting nba with an injury, it’s really a lot of time lost
@@earlc6793 not weird at all. Players who are expected to be great are always compared to greats of the same position. Embiid won his mvp and it’s just right to expect better of him at this point in his career. How is it weird when they all played around the same time and those players are way better players at the age embiid is now. Despite the age thing, you wouldn’t say jamal murray is better than embiid but it’s well damn sure murray is playing far better than he does in the playoffs.
@@jamesartemio1312 I agree that murray is playing better than Embiid, I have no idea why that is relevant though, my comment was simply saying that I believe a key part of Embiid's failures so far is his lack of good fundamentals due to missed time, as he has had way less time than most players in the current NBA, where the average players are way better than previous eras. As the video showed it is far easier in the playoffs to gameplan for one specific team and when your weakness is as easily exploited as the one Embiid has, it is difficult to suceed. One is also free to compare Embiid to Duncan and Hakeem, but like I said they are the exception not the norm. I personally wouldn't even put him and Duncan/Hakeem in the same conversation but that's just me, he has not earned it. Lastly, I agree that it is right to expect better of him, but as I also said in my original comment that I don't believe it is something sixers and Embiid can adjust to easily and will likely continue to be easily exploited by good teams in the playoffs.
@@earlc6793 i just dont see missed time as a key part. Sounds like an excuse to me. Embiid has the skill to be great but year after year it’s the same. He doesn’t seem to improve anything, it didn’t matter who his teammates is. The only difference this year is he got more calls and shot more fts. At some point, people gotta stop making excuses for this guy’s shortcomings.
IF embidd really wants to improve. He needs to learn from the older centers on how to become more dominant come post season. His play doesn't evolve. But everyone play evolves in the playoffs. Defense are tighter. After hearing how strict jokic was with his training regime regardless of winning or losing. It made sense.
Just something to remember when talking abt embiid in this series. He’s playing on a serious knee injury!!! Like this was not mentioned at all. I do agree with allot of what was said and this video is an excellent and accurate analysis of this series and fkin doc
If he wasn't a trophy chasing hoe and didn't give 110% effort vs. bottom of the barrel squads and flop all game/every game, he wouldn't suffer from injuries towards the end of the season. It's called basketball iq and he ain't got none.
One game? In that hawks game 7 everyone clowned ben simmons, deservedly so; however embiid also stunk it up that game 8 turnovers in a win or go home game is not what mvps do, what about last year against the heat? He sold heavily. Stop making excuses for a grown man. Its no ones fault but his own that ge cant be healthy at the most crucial time of the year seeing as it happens every single year. Jimmy butler had an ankle injury and still made the finals. Hop off that mans dick.
Great analysis. You earned another sub! Thanks for contributing to making mainstream tv programming obsolete. Who tf needs skip ans Shannon? Only NPC's.
An intangible quality of Embiid is when he gets beat or broken down defensively he struggles a lot on the offensive end. His rhythm gets completely thrown off
Fantastic video as always Daniel Few small points - Embiid has consistently had injuries that limited his mobility in the last two series where we was targeted in those PnR coverages (Boston and Atlanta). Meniscus tears and LCL sprains limited him significantly. If you compare that to 2019 Raptors series and even last years Miami series where he had a facial fracture/concussion, not a lower body injury, his mobility is significantly better. I think when he has that mobility it becomes a poor decision to specifically attack him on switches - Secondly. There's been a fundamental issue in Philadelphia for a while, and it's an issue that plagues any team with a dominant rim protector. Reliance. Phildelphia, Milwaukee to a certain extent, and the Jazz, have all relied heavily on their centers ability to dominate at the rim. The issue here is that come playoff time, they aren't well practice enough to counter 5 out, or switch hunting offences. Embiid was still by far the best defender vs Boston, but it becomes an easy decision to attack him on the perimeter, as at the very least, you are pulling the fulcrum of the defence away from the spot he wants to be. Philadelphia has a very limited team athletically, and while PJ/Melton and even Tobias are solid defenders, there's no other rim protectors when Embiid is pulled out of the paint, certainly not ones who can make the weakside rotation, and also that are capable of closing hard to corner shooters Offence is a whole other issue, but the injuries did limit him again. He's had the best of Horford generally this year, but when he can't move him physically because of a lower body injury, his counters are not well developed enough to take advantage of a high IQ defender like Horford
That issue of over-reliance doesn't have to plague a team with a dominant rim protector. You can construct a defense with a great rim protector and still have it be a versatile defense. But to do that, you have to have good wing and perimeter defenders. The Jazz could only defend one way. Same with Philly. Part of that is a lack of versatility in their center's defense, but part of it is also the surrounding pieces. Maxey, Harden, Mitchell, Conley, etc. These guys didn't offer any perimeter resistance. If you put Horford on Boston it would be much easier to construct a defense that allows him to do what he's best at (drop coverage) while also having the defense be versatile. I don't agree with putting Milwaukee in that list, however. It hasn't been their defense that has let them down in the playoffs. It's mostly been their offense. Yes, I know the Heat lit them up, but the Heat also shot 45% from three for an entire series. That was a weird statistical outlier. The Bucks won a title two years ago despite shooting just over 30% from three for the entire playoffs, and they did it because of their flexible and dominant defense. Sure, Lopez is best in a drop. But Giannis, Jrue, and Middleton are versatile enough that that's okay.
This is what the Suns did Jokic last playoffs. People said he got exposed because of his defense when in reality any big man will be a victim of pick and roll.
Embiid imho is one of those fake superstars that shine in the regular season doing a couple of things over and over, but crumbles when defense focus on them for lack of versatility. It doesn't help that Harden is another such onedimensional player that fizzles in the playoffs.
He is a great player with flaws that were exposed by better coaches than Doc. What I don't like the most about him is his attitude. He cried his way to an MVP, when things are good, he is super confident and trash talks, when things are bad, he blames others or cries like a little girl. Basically, he's a douche same as Harden and their daddy Daryl Morey.
So who really is the worst defender? Jokic or embiid? Now I’m not sure🤣blocking shots don’t make you a good defender it means you have good timing and rim protection
Biggest surprise to me in this game was just how bad Embiid's footwork was. He consistently puts his body in awkward positions (2:55) that open him up to the most basic crossovers out there. At 1:35 he maintains a square stance and sticks with Tatum, but then inexplicably leans forward and shades baseline against a player who struggles to shoot pull-ups in that area. At 3:28 he again starts in a square stance but prods forward to force Tatum to the middle...but why? There's no rim protection here, and Tucker is too far away to stop the ball or enable a switch. Had he stepped to Tatum's right instead of his left, Tatum would be forced baseline into a well-positioned help defender in Harden. So now the problematic footwork blends into bad awareness. I understand he had an injury, but it seems to me a case of bad fundamentals exposing an over-reliance on athleticism.
Like & subscribed!👍This is the content I like, level-headed but insightful analysis, thick with hoop knowledge, not the ear-piercing but empty, pot stirring melodramedy over at ESPN, etc. or the kind of light fluff Draymond Green spews. Let's go!! :)
Embiid has a lack of urgency in his game. He coasts if he doesn’t get his touches and regularly underperforms when the stakes are highest. It will be interesting to see if another coach can get more out of him. He has the talent, he just lacks direction and maturity
The pick and roll will kill any big. Embiid plays it pretty well maybe best in the league. How do u guard 2 players at once? Thats on teamates to not lose their assignments. The Celtics take alot of 3s and they made them all in game 7. My disappointment was the lack of effort. Jimmy butler teams don't quit like that. Embiid adopted the harden mentality this post season and it was tough to see. That i can not defend
He shouldn't be holding the ball too much. Take a backseat, and it'll be at least an easy trip to the Final for Philly. One more thing, he shouldn't be trying so hard during the regular season and focus on conditioning for the playoffs.
We have seen enough. Embiid just can't handle the pressure that comes with big moments in playoffs. He can drop a historic near quadruple double in some regular season game against Utah or average 35 points for couple of months straight BUT he just can not deliver in playoffs. When that playoffs pressure is on, you can feel how tense he is on court by just looking at his face and movement. Just check examples like 2021 G7 vs Hawks Or 2023 G6 vs Celtics. Embiid absolutely went cold in moments that change the series and thats why he will NEVER win a ring as a leader and his biggest achievement will forever be winning a joke of MVP in 2023! Embiid is great player, a supreme talent but he is just not built for clutch playoffs moments!!
@@zod548 That excuses yall make for Embiid are something else entirely. The man is HISTORICALLY bad in close out and elimination games. I don't think people quite understand how bad he is at that, but aight, it's all the coaches fault. It's also the coaches fault he has some of the biggest drops ever of any superstar player in the playoffs in both points and effiency, huh?
@@HopefulNihilist I didn’t make an excuse for him, I said his choking is beyond “not handling the pressure” , he chokes because of his play style, his indecisiveness, effort, iq, health, and coaching. But I don’t believe pressure has anything to do with it
Embiid looks for the foul too often. Shit just isn’t going to fly in the playoffs. Not sure he’ll stand up to a full season of Nurse level minutes. That’s ignoring the looming harden situation.
Ironic that it was Embiid that was exposed in the PNR after all the talk during the season about how that’s the way to exploit Jokic
There's no irony in something that happens every year come playoff time.
It was a farse.
Yep that's just the price that comes with being a big man but it's still confuses me as to why Doc didn't make any adjustments
This is where coaching comes into it. The Nuggets pretty much run a 4 man rotation to cover Jokic in pick and roll. Sixers could do it a little when they had Green and Simmons but the current roster is not good enough defensively
@@BigBroKuma Because Doc doesn't make adjustments. Ever
I appreciate this more detailed analysis. The memes and slander are fun, but it’s always good to see what’s actually happening
Thank you
Doc never makes in game adjustments. But the way you broke down Embiids basketball iq says a lot about him as a player.
Doc made a lot of adjustments in game 7, they just weren't good
@@SafaretoSaf Docs offense is incredibly stale and generic. You are in a hell of a lot of trouble when your number 1 play and fall back option is the Harden-Embiid pick and Roll. It's good but a lot of uncertainty and very predictable.
@@tridra5714 Or both of them dont know how to play pick'n'roll. Stockton&Malone used that to run circles around everyone for almost 2 decades.
@@pyotrbagration2438that was almost 30 years ago. The NBA has had decades to figure out how to minimize that offense. I feel that Doc is a poor X/O coach specifically offensively. His entire offenses (Clippers, Boston and 76ers) is to either mismatch hunt into ISO for his best player, or high 1 to 5 PnR. It’s too stagnant and predictable
@@OGSauceDaddy hes entire offense is clap clap clap Come On Lets Go Come On
Philadelphia had a golden chance to make the ECF in game 6. Tatum and Boston were bricking all 1st half and they still didn't close out the series. The roster isn't that strong but a great player would have willed the result like the other greats. Same goes to Harden.
I blame doc for not changing lineups pj tucker was bricking all game 6 and he didnt play mcdaniels once thats insane especailly becuase we gave up draft capital and thybulle at the deadline for him we played into their hands playing fat slow anathletic guys and thats why embiid got exposed imo
@@metadreamland if they had a different starter other than pj tucker all season because Tucker barely scored every 6 games which is wild coming from a starter. And no one mentions that fact, besdies the man having good defense they would have made it much farther if they had a different starter than scored 10 ppg.
@@ItzzShazey Tobias Harris should be that guy who gets important buckets but he plays so passively.
The roster is actually pretty good. They just don't compliment Embiid (except Maxey).
But they have 6 legit playoff rotation level guys plus some useful depth pieces in Reed, McDaniels, Niang, House -- that's not too different from Denver.
@@michaelahurt Mcdaniels is the only one on that list that is as good as Denver's bench. Also Jokic's 2nd option in Murray showed out in most of the games unlike Harden.
babe wake up, daniel li uploaded
Typee shiii
And he gave us more than 5 minutes!
@@Caleb6000 that’s what she said
😂😂
@@Ibeen_dat I spat out my coffee LMAO
Jokic: Drafted in the second round
Embiid: Cant get out the second round
I’ve said since this series against Boston ended that you can’t win a ring with Embiid as your #1 and the pick and roll defense is a massive reason why. People hyped his defense all year and the guy can’t even switch off his position. He’s good in the regular season when nobody is really making defensive gameplans because they’re mostly focusing on health.
Especially in the playoffs, you need a center who can switch onto guards on the perimeter, but in the regular season, shot-blocking centers are more valuable.
his defense is overrated dude cant do anything if he’s not right under the rim
You see teams use slow centers less and less for this reason. Rob Williams, despite being an elite rim protector, played like 20 mins a game routinely in the playoffs the last few years because lineups that are good at making him switch eat him alive on the perimeter. It almost seems like having your best offensive player be a big who can’t play defense on guards is a nearly insurmountable problem, at least in the playoffs. Nuggets do a good job circumventing this, but jokic is also basketball Einstein, so his style of flashing on then running off probably is harder to replicate than it seems. Or doc sucks and embiid doesn’t care idk.
@@CMXR i mean, how hard is it to use his verticallity
Embiid was elite defensively , he was even better in the postseason, I don’t know how many centers can guard the perimeter consistently, is that even a recipe for success? Even AD had his problems, but I will say he doesn’t get beat as much
Plus , in every playoff series Embiid’s mobility is hindered by injury, hence why you seem to think he’s only good in the regular season defensively
One thing i noticed about embiid is that he has a lot of moves, he just executes them slowly. Old school big men like Shaq, hakeem, david robinson etc would make their moves quickly before the double could get to them. They'd catch and go. Embiid is a lot slower footed so the same half spin into a drive, takes longer and allows a defender to get back into the play. He doesn't really create much space. Shaq could create space or rise up through contact with his body after a fast spin out of a post up, and Hakeem had crazy footwork that was fast and explosive. his fakes would stun a defender and he'd blow by them so quick they couldn't react. Even on a lot of embiids best post moves, the defender is still right there contesting.
Shaq, Hakeem, David, Kareem etc they are unstoppable in their own ways. Their moves became their natural instincts so they just need to consider how to execute it, not what should they do. For embiid he got many tricks but didn't master any. This caused the thinking and therefore he seems slow and hesitant.
@@konothomasda7430 Embidd are big who play like 6ft 2 shooting guard...Dude always settle with inefficient fadeaway jumper...He ain't Dirk but play copycat like Dirk 😅
@@konothomasda7430 his iq is low, whachu expect
Jokic is slow and he can do everything right now, embiid problem is his mentality
Thank you for pointing out the hypocrisy of everyone who didn't vote for jokic because he "didn't play defense"
Even worse, every Nuggets opponent was meant to win by ‘spamming pick n’ roll’. Ant, KD, Lebron. What happened?
Meanwhile the medias golden boy got cooked in pick n’ roll and got destroyed in game 7.
Couldn’t write it
huh?
@@ACPhilau seen what he said lil boy
@@ACPhilahuh? you're gagging and choking on Embiids 🍆
I think there are two more crucial points.
1. The end goal for most of the 76ers plays we’re to get it to embiid or make space for a shooter. Now that’s what you ideally want, but what they failed at (miserably in fact) is off ball movement to throw the defense off rhythm. I really want to see the stat-line for ground covered by the 76ers starting lineups. Bro like I saw so many plays where everyone is just standing and waiting for Embiid to do an isolation play or wait for harden to throw a dime or go iso. Tobias Harris just standing in one place waiting for a catch and shoot.
2. They’re just not physically conditioned like the Celtics, the Celtics seem to be very energetic on defense and run circles around harden on offense. Tatum literally uses his quick movements to get those easy layups. Even if he has to get past Embiid, who’s too slow to maneuver.
To point one, a lot of that is scheme and personnel. Harden has always liked to play like that and it really helps Embiid beat double teams.
We saw PJ play in a movement offense in Miami. We saw Tobias do it in LA with Doc. Maxey can do that. Menton is a good cutter. But if your stars don't pass when you cut or would rather have you spacing in one spot to make their reads easier ...
Off ball movement only works if you have the personnel to hit those cutters. Otherwise you're just screwing up the spacing and making it easier for the defense to double.
I agree. Watch the Nuggets and how much they move around Jokic. Now, part of that is that they know they're going to be rewarded by Jokic if they move. Embiid obviously doesn't have the same passing chops. But part of it is also on the other players and the coaching.
Even the Heat move a ton, though. You don't have to have Jokic to have a good fluid system with lots of movement.
Before watching the video, I'll say this...the guy is a beast on the low block, but settles for mid range jumpers WAY too much. There's a lack of wanting to just enforce his will on the opponents, it's the opposite of Shaq in his day.
Hakeem Olajuwon wrote a piece about this exact point and Embiid replied “You can’t win this way anymore. It’s not the fricking 90s or 80s like it used to be. So, they must not have any basketball IQ.” lmao
@Snoozer the disrespect lol. Hakeem would destroy embiid offensively and defensively.
@@snoooozer yeah this point is stupid Embiid was right. You can't post up with the hybrid zone defenses preventing you from even catching the ball.
@@ACPhila no you can you just have to attack quickly before the help even comes. What embiid and some players do today is stand still and hold the ball for a few seconds before making a move. Old school post players who got doubled a lot would catch and go instantly. Either catch and turn for the hook shot, or catch and do a quick spin move towards the opposite side of where the double is coming, or a quick drop step into a dunk (Shaq). If embiid caught then made a quick decision either to drive, shoot or pass it back out and reposition himself he'd have better results down low.
@@snoooozer and he himself proved Hakeem right. Fuucker cant postup for nothing
Embid is a regular season player. Funny that Perkins called Jokic a stat padder but that’s exactly what Embid is. Embid doesn’t make other players better.
Nah, I think Embiid is genuinely good. He just has the same mental weakness as Ben Simmons has. The difference is he's the nba and 76ers darling that's why they cant throw him off the bus just like what they did to Simmons
The main difference between Embiid and Joker is that while Embiid is way more athletic, he seems to almost completely lack the basketball IQ and instincts that Joker possesses.
In the past, both have gotten exposed to the PNR and have been burned by it in. The difference is that after watching Joker during the Nuggets title run, I think he has figured out how to significantly minimize the damage when he gets exposed by either playing the percentages on defense and/or confusing the two PNR players.
By this I mean when Joker does get switched, he decides whether or not to close out on a shooter based on how good of a shooter that player is. If one looks at how he plays PNR coverage, many times he plays much more off non-shooters than shooters. Other times, he will also mosey into/around either the two PNR players or other players on the floor and I suspect that this "mingling" often confuses the players trying to do the PNR. Denver's entire lineup also constantly switch matchup partners in a single 24 second defensive period (most of their players usually end up guarding 2 or 3 people at one point on the same defensive possession). I am guessing that the Nuggets probably confuse the opposing offense by doing this (and this could also throw off the PNR execution).
On the offensive end, Joker's absurdly high BB IQ and instincts allow him to be very productive in helping the Nuggets offense score points and offset any points he does give up. If one watches the Nuggets on offense, they often set numerous picks for each other both near Joker and across the court from Joker to try to force even the slightest defensive mistake (a delayed response to a cutter, another defender not fighting fast enough through a screen, a defending player not being aware of changes in his surroundings, a defender being distracted by watching where Joker is looking, Etc.). Once that slight mistake is made, Joker tries punishing it with his passing or by scoring.
Another great observation about Denver is that for an offense that gives so many touches to one guy and that, like Philly, is centered around a big man, Denver’s offense is incredibly fluid and free-flowing and it’s because Joker can fit into any role. One of the simplest and yet smartest things he likes to do is jog up to the top of the key to receive the ball and run offense but instead of receive a pass to reset he’ll cut behind the center on him and get easy layups or floaters.
A back door cut is very simple of course, but the fact that he’s 7 foot 280 and does this stuff is impressive and makes him even more unpredictable and dangerous as a player. He’s just as good as Embiid in the post and mid range, but can score ,cut, space the floor, or facilitate on any given possession. And he’s extremely efficient and has proven he can maintain it at higher volumes. He’s the best offensive player in the sport right now.
Even though you're weeks late for this, I'm still gonna watch this coz you're Daniel Li 🔥
Doc: You know what’s crazy, Joel? My wife texted me right when the game ended. She said, “Where we going now?”
I immediately got mad and I said
“Why don’t you ask the ***** Joel HES THE ONE THAT DID 5/18 from the field goal!”
Joel needs to post up deeper to negate some of his passing issues. He's usually the strongest person on the court and should be able to plant himself on the lower block. Within 1 or 2 backdowns he should be able to go into his move.
Despite being labeled as the best post player in the league, Joel really does struggle there in playoff situations. I’ve never seen someone fall or turno the ball over on double teams like he does. Jokic is unfazed in the post, much more consistent.
I think a lot of his problems with the help d is because the spacing itself is often bad this year. When you pointed out rob williams’ effect at 5:40 , I noticed that he was able to sit in the paint because harden was way too close to tucker while PJ was in the corner. They were both guarded by the wing defender because of that.
big man with no post game
The funniest thing about the Jokic Embiid thing is that they have similar defensive problems, I actually think Jokic is much better like in the hedge or at the level, he just has great hands. But obviously Embiid is better in the drop and on the week side because he is a good shot blocker
They both have similar problems, but the difference is that Jokic is able to make adjustments, while Embiid is not.
There are players like Embiid and Harden, who are massively talented and are regular season monsters, but during the playoffs where the adjustments are made in every single game, they lose their prowess.
Then there are players like Jimmy Butler, who changes his playstyle in every game during the playoffs according to the adjustments that he has to make. This type of players tend to thrive in series games.
But it's hard to be good at both. And that's why there's a manager/coaches who have to help the players to be able to make adjustments. Unfortunately, Doc Rivers is widely notorious for not being able to make any adjustments. There's no question that Doc is a great coach overall, but he's literally the opposite of what you want in a playoff series, thus why he has so many playoffs failures.
The regular season and the playoffs are two totally different games, and this applies in every sports (even in e-sports).
@@runningwithcat6195 I think it’s really about weaknesses, Jokic just has no like facet of his offensive game that is exploitable, he’s so resilient in the playoffs
Great video analysis. The truth is that it's BOTH. It's always been a coach issue, but it's also always been a player issue. Double whammy of two guys who have never learned how to adjust lol. Not sure Nick Nurse is enough if Embiid still thinks these same efforts will lead to success
It's crazy how much better Jokic is than Embiid, yet we are debating who deserves the MVP
no literally. n im not even a jokic fan like that 😭
Can’t even look at this dudes face without laughing at the fact that he whined and rested his way to an MVP
Embiid is a great player. I think it would be good for him to get better handles this offseason. Not having to pick up your dribble is huge and you can drive away from help defenders and just be more dynamic overall
tbh he doesn't need much handles. Look at jokic he doesn't have much handles but can protect the ball well
I agree. He has more than enough handles, already. The issue is he has James Harden on his team who demands to have the ball.
@@beedebawng2556 I wish I knew why Philadelphia doesn't pass him the ball when he gets deep positioning. Against the nets and the earlier games against the Celtics he had opportunity for passes to him for the quick bully ball play but he didn't get feeds.
@@notus299 What are you smoking. Jokic has better handles and the man can dribble from full court without getting the ball stolen. Oh, he also can run the point too if he wants.
It would also help if he could get the ball closer to the basket, you can see Boston is sending doubles when embiid starts dribbling and then picks his dribble up as he sees the help coming, unfortunately he is still too far from the rim
In all honesty, this video showed me how tuff Tatum is😭
Its fun to joke and meme guys like Embiid but a lot of the criticism is true. His inability to to adjust and adapt his game throughout his career has severely limited him. It seems like he knows his flaws but doesn't want or care to change things about his game. Sure he’s become a good shooter and that but like Daniel showed here, its almost like he just wasn't paying attention to what Boston was doing. This is the mental aspect of basketball I don't think gets talked about enough and Embiid is one of the biggest names that struggles with this imo and one reason I'm not all too high on him or his game. A star who can't adjust in crunch time really isn't a star to me.
I think this is pretty disingenuous.
There have been numerous changes to his game and embiid has been willing to change.
Embiid developed a face up game, his shot (as you mentioned). He has cut weight to increase mobility and has become a stronger passer. This just hasn't been enough go get over this hump.
He has way way more work to do. Mostly in the way of improving his conditioning imo and his off ball positioning.
I just re-read ur comment. Sorry to send 2 comments your way.
Yeah ur right about his inability to make in game adjustments. That's definitely a weakness of his. Totally agree.
I do think ur neglecting or unaware of some of the other developments in his game tho as I listed in my other comment.
Embiid is my favourite player so it's fair to say that I definitely have a lot of bias in this thread. Hope I didn't come off as hostile!
@@gratscott5632 You're all good man I respect your ability to self assess yourself, thats rare on the internet these days haha. My original comment definitely glossed over the changes he made to become the elite player he is now so I see where your coming from with that. Definitely should've mentioned it as it kinda drives home the point that he CAN adjust it just seems he doesn't for whatever reason.
@@timlett99 I honestly think some of the gamesense shortcomings come from 1. Starting the game at 15 from scratch and 2. Having Brett Brown be his coach for almost all his career. 3. Phillys roster lacking veteran presence for the most of its time together.
@@gratscott5632 I'm definitely curious to see how Nick Nurse does, he’s one of the better coaches in the league imo so if he can turn around this Philly squad with Harden and Embiid as the front guys that'll be extremely impressive
On defense, Embiid a solid above average center for guarding the P'n'R and can shut it down for 5-8 minute stretches, but if any well coached team with enough talent put him in the P&R for a whole game he's gonna get kinda tired and lose focus. Mike Malone did a great job keeping Jokic out of those switches this season and maybe Nick Nurse can do the same with Embiid if the Sixers can get some better defensive pieces around him next season.
On offense, while coaching adjustments and more off ball movement as a team will help a lot, Embiid will also have to be better at making quick decisions and using counter moves with better timing, it's fine if he takes a little time to survey the floor from time to time but he's developed the bad habit of taking forever every posession under Doc, and that too often becomes exploitable with his teammates standing around and watching as opponents shrink the floor. While he has improved massively as a ball handler and midrange/faceup player training with Drew Hanlen, it made him lose some of that feel as a low post powerhouse where he could constantly keep a shoulder/hip on the defender and be ready to make counter moves. Training with Hakeem to regain that feel and a strength trainer to work on his core and help him leverage his body better against good post defenders will also do him wonders.
Perfect analysis
Sixers will never admit it but they desperately missed Simmons defence and switchability.
He certainly didn't play any faster under Doc but that's not a new problem. He's always liked that 1990s/Carmelo/Kobe iso style offense where he can face up and jab and fake.
I'm just not sure how realistic it is to say 'just process faster'. But you can put him in situations where his reads are easier and surround him with guys who *can* process quickly and play 4-on-3. (Doc actually did the first part -- which kind of allowed him to be more deliberate since he had more space -- but Philly didn't have the personnel to really punish defenses for bringing help.)
But you alluded to what I think are the two biggest things for them (or anyone): scheme and personnel. They have the right pieces but it's for three different puzzles. Frankly there's only so much Nurse or anyone can do with this roster. But I do think the defense will be tighter.
The reality is that Embiid needs to 1) get in better shape and 2) play like a center. More off ball work and sealing, less pretending to be Kobe. Focus on defense and rebounding and be a tentpole vs the focal point. Worry about winning, not MVP's
Idk what you do with the roster. I thought prioritizing Harden over Haliburton was a *huge* mistake because really this should be a ball movement offense with guys flying around Embiid screens and DHO's and him looking for opportunities to get deep position or open jumpers off that movement vs playing through him in iso, PnR and post ups and exposing his limitations. Do that when he gets a switch. He's going to draw attention so you need guys who can play out of that and crowbar the cracks open.
But this team is in a rough spot, honestly. It's not an easy fix given the Harden situation. He's part of the problem but you can't just lose him and yet, I don't think you can get anything good for him.
@@michaelahurt as a sixers fan I have kind of come to think the roster needs blown up. The process failed. Salvage what you can.
It's so unbalanced. Constant dumb moves.
@@JackFury sixers fault for tanking and drafting garbage players. they wasted like 8-10 #1-3 overall picks not a lot they can do with the roster
ppl talk ab how jokic is one of the worst mvp of all time but now that joel embiid won, nothing but crickets and excuses
Embiid and Nash as the worst mvp. Probably someone from the 70s too
Makes you think what if Ben have developed some kind of shot because his mobility as a defender was amazing
My biggest problem with Embiid on offense is that he gets absolutely no low post touches. The fact that he plays out of the high post all the time takes away his biggest advantage when the defense is loaded up on him. He doesn’t always have to get into his whole package. It’s much easier to counter help when a big like him catches the ball on the block or in the paint in transition because it forces the defense to fully commit in order to send help. Allowing a defense to stunt without punishing the help is a recipe for tough middies. He doesn’t roll hard to the rim often either so he’s not really helping his team score when he’s off ball
A lot of people calling Jokic's defense is bad but this good defender Embiid looks like this.
He's a regular season stat padder that always disappears in the playoffs.
You gotta think, at 6yo, Tatum was being laughed at in school for wanting to be the best player in the world. Embiid picked up the game at 15.
And now they're both being laughed at for disappearing when it matters most. Happy end. Sucky suckeeeee.
He's kind of like a slower Hakeem. Jokic gets away with being slow because he has insane court vision and passing ability. Embiid has to develop something similar or get faster. That being said he's still insanely good.
He's as fast as AD. 😂
Jokic rebounded at the rim in playoffs and ran coast to coast and AD couldn't make up an inch of ground. Could be also because Jokic has excellent stamina and in 4th Q, he can still run back and forth and AD is just gassed ..but I'm going with he's a fast as AD.😅
Jokic isn't slow, he consistently beats the opposing centre down court
And embiid fans always tell people Jokic can't defend PnR
Kinda ironic how it flipped in the playoffs from teams exploiting Jokic defensively to teams exploiting Embiid. I don’t actually think it is Embiid’s fault though, Doc Rivers definitely could have made in game adjustments instead of letting Taytum score 51…
Lol. Disappearing in the playoffs every year. Blaming his teammates when he goes 5-17 in game 7. Doc is a bad coach, but Embiid's ass cheex all on his own.
It's just bad luck. Embiid would've been wrecked by Curry last year, too. Just like Jokic would struggle mightily switching onto Tatum if that were his matchup now. But on the flipside, Malone would most likely shade heavily off of the team's weaker shooters, or attempt a more aggressive hedging defence. So sometimes it really does come down to system and adjustment.
People sleeping on the mvp curse 😂😂😂😂
What're you talking about, his defense was great, it was the offense that fell off. Only average 27 in that second round. For us to win he has to score everything cause we just suck offensively overall.
Yes because Philly played one coverage the entire game
The dude is like 7’2 300 something lbs and shoots fadeaway midrange shots. Blows my mind
Best ball channel on UA-cam. True knower of ball.
Only thing better is if Jokic met Embiid in the playoffs like Olajuwon did with Robinson.
Embiid is an extremely talented player but as a sixers fan he straight up was not being coached. Doc's whole entire system was to just to feed Embiid the ball as much as possible. He's an amazing player but needs to be put in an actual team system and not just freestyling on offense in the damn playoffs.
Bro how many coaches yall need to go trough before you’re willing to face reality
Not to excuse Embiids poor playoff performance, but Doc is so bad at generating offense and changing plays/lineups. It has shown in the previous teams he coached. His offense was just have the star player figure it out. He got a lucky championship because of the player leadership from that Celtics team and Tib's defensive system. Even Rondo mentioned he was more of a coach than Doc. His only positive trait as a coach is that players like him. It means nothing if he can't make adjustments in the playoffs.
Fuck all that if we wanna be great then be great. MJ, Bron, Magic, Kobe, Shaq, Hakeem, Bird, Steph, Dirk. Something they all have in common is the ability to hit the takeover button in the PLAYOFFS
I was so curious about Doc's response to "if Embiid could be the center for a championship team" or "could you be the coach for championship team" in postgame interview, but all journalists failed to ask him that..............xxx
What I realized is his speed is his biggest weakness. A lot of times if he would put in low effort and allow Tatum to get to the rim, went Joel tries he can get blocks but he was lazy on defense and the Celtics took advantage of that. Someone like Gianni’s would be faster, cover the ground lose to contest the shots but Joel just stands there when he loses him
He’s gassed a lot of the time imo
It feels like Embiid is unfairly the scapegoat for the sixers losing. The coaching was the obvious shortcoming, Boston kept getting better and Philly stayed the same, and a lot of Bostons improvement came from locking up Joel’s post game. Doc had to either find different ways to set up Joel, or you need to count on your other players to step up. Considering James Harden was traded for everything the sixers owned, I’d hope he drops more than 9 points in 41 minutes in game 7, and basically the same numbers in game 6. Embiid got shut down in the post, but harden got shut down too, if Tobias Harris is your leading scorer with 19 that sounds like your entire team got shut down. Tatum and Brown both had an incredible game 7, while Al and robin combined for 12 points in 64 minutes. What that tells me is that Embiid locked down the interior and the wings were getting exposed because NO ONE on the sixers can play an ounce of defense except Embiid. He was getting cooked on the Boston pick and roll because the 4 other players on his team would do their best portrayal of a mannequin family around the 3 point line while embiid is stuck trying to guard the best slashing forward in the league, AND Al horford/Robin Williams at the same time. I don’t think Embiid is a perfect player, he’s obviously very raw and lacks a lot of finer awareness in the heat of the moment, but it’s disingenuous to pretend that trading embiid would make Philly better. He’s the only 2 way center good enough to carry the entire defensive load of a team and carry them to a top seed in the playoffs.
I didn’t realize how long this was until after I finished. I don’t really care that much about Philly, I’m just a bulls fan that’s upset about getting cooked by max strus of all people.
I feel like you should've mentioned his history of knee injuries around playoff time, and how that could impact his mobility, making the strategy of attacking him in the pick and roll even more viable. Otherwise, this was a good video
Embiid literally got rolled when he was in his best by pick and roll for years now. I am a 76ers fans but embiid has a big weakness to fix. He is not the same tier with giannis and joker
I think a key part of embiid’s lack of basketball IQ is the fact that he started basketball at 15 years old, a lot of the time he defaults to muscle memory and not what’s the right play and takes longer than others to recognize the situation on the court. Especially since everybody in the league now picks up the game in what feels like preschool, many players don’t have this problem. The same goes for handles and passing, all of these are fundamentals that he has had way less time than others to develop. I honestly don’t know if this is something sixers and embiid can adjust to easily, and will continue to be easily exploited by good teams in the playoffs.
Tim duncan didn’t play till he’s 14 and Olajuwon till he was 15, so it’s not an age thing. It’s really just how embiid plays and how he’s been choking in the playoffs.
@@jamesartemio1312 comparing embiid to two top 10-15 if not better players is kinda weird but even then, embiid missed 2 extra years after starting nba with an injury, it’s really a lot of time lost
@@earlc6793 not weird at all. Players who are expected to be great are always compared to greats of the same position. Embiid won his mvp and it’s just right to expect better of him at this point in his career. How is it weird when they all played around the same time and those players are way better players at the age embiid is now. Despite the age thing, you wouldn’t say jamal murray is better than embiid but it’s well damn sure murray is playing far better than he does in the playoffs.
@@jamesartemio1312 I agree that murray is playing better than Embiid, I have no idea why that is relevant though, my comment was simply saying that I believe a key part of Embiid's failures so far is his lack of good fundamentals due to missed time, as he has had way less time than most players in the current NBA, where the average players are way better than previous eras. As the video showed it is far easier in the playoffs to gameplan for one specific team and when your weakness is as easily exploited as the one Embiid has, it is difficult to suceed. One is also free to compare Embiid to Duncan and Hakeem, but like I said they are the exception not the norm. I personally wouldn't even put him and Duncan/Hakeem in the same conversation but that's just me, he has not earned it. Lastly, I agree that it is right to expect better of him, but as I also said in my original comment that I don't believe it is something sixers and Embiid can adjust to easily and will likely continue to be easily exploited by good teams in the playoffs.
@@earlc6793 i just dont see missed time as a key part. Sounds like an excuse to me. Embiid has the skill to be great but year after year it’s the same. He doesn’t seem to improve anything, it didn’t matter who his teammates is. The only difference this year is he got more calls and shot more fts. At some point, people gotta stop making excuses for this guy’s shortcomings.
“here damn” mvp
IF embidd really wants to improve. He needs to learn from the older centers on how to become more dominant come post season. His play doesn't evolve. But everyone play evolves in the playoffs. Defense are tighter. After hearing how strict jokic was with his training regime regardless of winning or losing. It made sense.
miss your content man, keep it up! ❤️
I can't believe that Embiid's flatfootedness was his downfall as a defender. LOL. They just run around him like a bum
Great video, cant wait to see how the sixers look next year
I appreciate this more detailed analysis.
i hope daniel never upgrades to 1080p footage. 720p is his style lolll
Great video! Thanks.
Im a lifelong Sixers fan. I love Joe but we'll never win a title with him.
Daniel Li is a knower of ball I fear.
😂
Just something to remember when talking abt embiid in this series. He’s playing on a serious knee injury!!! Like this was not mentioned at all. I do agree with allot of what was said and this video is an excellent and accurate analysis of this series and fkin doc
If he wasn't a trophy chasing hoe and didn't give 110% effort vs. bottom of the barrel squads and flop all game/every game, he wouldn't suffer from injuries towards the end of the season. It's called basketball iq and he ain't got none.
Embiid disappears in every playoffs so stop with the excuses
One game? In that hawks game 7 everyone clowned ben simmons, deservedly so; however embiid also stunk it up that game 8 turnovers in a win or go home game is not what mvps do, what about last year against the heat? He sold heavily. Stop making excuses for a grown man. Its no ones fault but his own that ge cant be healthy at the most crucial time of the year seeing as it happens every single year. Jimmy butler had an ankle injury and still made the finals. Hop off that mans dick.
Great analysis. You earned another sub! Thanks for contributing to making mainstream tv programming obsolete. Who tf needs skip ans Shannon? Only NPC's.
Who tf needs First Take?
2:02 that one is crazy. not even listening to his teammates...
An intangible quality of Embiid is when he gets beat or broken down defensively he struggles a lot on the offensive end. His rhythm gets completely thrown off
You may be right but I’ve also seen him have elite defensive games while being poor offensively
Fantastic video as always Daniel
Few small points
- Embiid has consistently had injuries that limited his mobility in the last two series where we was targeted in those PnR coverages (Boston and Atlanta). Meniscus tears and LCL sprains limited him significantly. If you compare that to 2019 Raptors series and even last years Miami series where he had a facial fracture/concussion, not a lower body injury, his mobility is significantly better. I think when he has that mobility it becomes a poor decision to specifically attack him on switches
- Secondly. There's been a fundamental issue in Philadelphia for a while, and it's an issue that plagues any team with a dominant rim protector. Reliance. Phildelphia, Milwaukee to a certain extent, and the Jazz, have all relied heavily on their centers ability to dominate at the rim. The issue here is that come playoff time, they aren't well practice enough to counter 5 out, or switch hunting offences. Embiid was still by far the best defender vs Boston, but it becomes an easy decision to attack him on the perimeter, as at the very least, you are pulling the fulcrum of the defence away from the spot he wants to be. Philadelphia has a very limited team athletically, and while PJ/Melton and even Tobias are solid defenders, there's no other rim protectors when Embiid is pulled out of the paint, certainly not ones who can make the weakside rotation, and also that are capable of closing hard to corner shooters
Offence is a whole other issue, but the injuries did limit him again. He's had the best of Horford generally this year, but when he can't move him physically because of a lower body injury, his counters are not well developed enough to take advantage of a high IQ defender like Horford
That issue of over-reliance doesn't have to plague a team with a dominant rim protector. You can construct a defense with a great rim protector and still have it be a versatile defense. But to do that, you have to have good wing and perimeter defenders. The Jazz could only defend one way. Same with Philly. Part of that is a lack of versatility in their center's defense, but part of it is also the surrounding pieces. Maxey, Harden, Mitchell, Conley, etc. These guys didn't offer any perimeter resistance. If you put Horford on Boston it would be much easier to construct a defense that allows him to do what he's best at (drop coverage) while also having the defense be versatile.
I don't agree with putting Milwaukee in that list, however. It hasn't been their defense that has let them down in the playoffs. It's mostly been their offense. Yes, I know the Heat lit them up, but the Heat also shot 45% from three for an entire series. That was a weird statistical outlier. The Bucks won a title two years ago despite shooting just over 30% from three for the entire playoffs, and they did it because of their flexible and dominant defense. Sure, Lopez is best in a drop. But Giannis, Jrue, and Middleton are versatile enough that that's okay.
Embiid tunnel vision is his weakness
Top tier UA-camr
Dam!!! Tatum played him @3:00 🔥🔥
This is what the Suns did Jokic last playoffs. People said he got exposed because of his defense when in reality any big man will be a victim of pick and roll.
Go back and watch Dreem. He locked up the greatest pnr combo of all time on the regular.
@@respectedlocalgentleman7108 dream was a monster athlete and also the best defensive player of all time
Jokic got his revenge on the Suns
it was also a coaching mistake by Malone that he didn't take Jokic out of the drop
Always good to see another Daniel Li upload
Embiids game 7 was embarrassing
Now the MVP looks even worse after 5 exits before the second round is over, and Jokic is hoisting a trophy that's bigger than his kid.
Embiid imho is one of those fake superstars that shine in the regular season doing a couple of things over and over, but crumbles when defense focus on them for lack of versatility. It doesn't help that Harden is another such onedimensional player that fizzles in the playoffs.
Embiid + Harden + Doc = Perfect combination for a playoff collapse.
He’s back
I bet Denver wishes they had the MVP Embiid!
in game 7 the Celtics in my opinion shut down Embiid, The amount of times they stripped him from the ball is crazy
Wakes up every day knowing that he isn't really the MVP.
MVP was all he cared about so that’s what he won
Jokic only cared about a ring and that’s what he won.
NBA media better ever compare the two again 😂
He is a great player with flaws that were exposed by better coaches than Doc. What I don't like the most about him is his attitude. He cried his way to an MVP, when things are good, he is super confident and trash talks, when things are bad, he blames others or cries like a little girl. Basically, he's a douche same as Harden and their daddy Daryl Morey.
Can we pleassseee get a miami/ celtics meltdowm video !?
Somebody in the league gotta hire this mf
u need to do an analysis on jimmy n the heat!
for me it's there lack of another big in the pf position as you can see they attack him why because the other big is pj tucker
He needs handles and a bit more passing anticipation. Every time he goes to the rim it’s nerve wracking
So who really is the worst defender? Jokic or embiid? Now I’m not sure🤣blocking shots don’t make you a good defender it means you have good timing and rim protection
I just want to see what the sixers can do in a fully healthy post-season
Biggest surprise to me in this game was just how bad Embiid's footwork was. He consistently puts his body in awkward positions (2:55) that open him up to the most basic crossovers out there. At 1:35 he maintains a square stance and sticks with Tatum, but then inexplicably leans forward and shades baseline against a player who struggles to shoot pull-ups in that area. At 3:28 he again starts in a square stance but prods forward to force Tatum to the middle...but why? There's no rim protection here, and Tucker is too far away to stop the ball or enable a switch. Had he stepped to Tatum's right instead of his left, Tatum would be forced baseline into a well-positioned help defender in Harden. So now the problematic footwork blends into bad awareness.
I understand he had an injury, but it seems to me a case of bad fundamentals exposing an over-reliance on athleticism.
Like & subscribed!👍This is the content I like, level-headed but insightful analysis, thick with hoop knowledge, not the ear-piercing but empty, pot stirring melodramedy over at ESPN, etc. or the kind of light fluff Draymond Green spews. Let's go!! :)
We all forget, he had the same injury that kept PG & KL out the playoffs
they said this guy was the MVP….
Embiid has a lack of urgency in his game. He coasts if he doesn’t get his touches and regularly underperforms when the stakes are highest. It will be interesting to see if another coach can get more out of him. He has the talent, he just lacks direction and maturity
How in hell is he the mvp is beyond me
The pick and roll will kill any big. Embiid plays it pretty well maybe best in the league. How do u guard 2 players at once? Thats on teamates to not lose their assignments. The Celtics take alot of 3s and they made them all in game 7. My disappointment was the lack of effort. Jimmy butler teams don't quit like that. Embiid adopted the harden mentality this post season and it was tough to see. That i can not defend
Love Embiid but he's gotta be the number 2 guy.
In all fairness tho, they had countless draft busts and Doc worst coach in league
He shouldn't be holding the ball too much. Take a backseat, and it'll be at least an easy trip to the Final for Philly.
One more thing, he shouldn't be trying so hard during the regular season and focus on conditioning for the playoffs.
Lmao Ben Simmons caught a stray 8:05
Stamina is the biggest weakness of current NBA players. Players should play 48 minutes for 1 game to fully assessed their ability not just statistics.
We have seen enough. Embiid just can't handle the pressure that comes with big moments in playoffs. He can drop a historic near quadruple double in some regular season game against Utah or average 35 points for couple of months straight BUT he just can not deliver in playoffs. When that playoffs pressure is on, you can feel how tense he is on court by just looking at his face and movement. Just check examples like 2021 G7 vs Hawks Or 2023 G6 vs Celtics. Embiid absolutely went cold in moments that change the series and thats why he will NEVER win a ring as a leader and his biggest achievement will forever be winning a joke of MVP in 2023! Embiid is great player, a supreme talent but he is just not built for clutch playoffs moments!!
You should watch the video, his problems aren’t simply “not handling the pressure” its much more fundamental than tht casual take
@@zod548
That excuses yall make for Embiid are something else entirely. The man is HISTORICALLY bad in close out and elimination games. I don't think people quite understand how bad he is at that, but aight, it's all the coaches fault. It's also the coaches fault he has some of the biggest drops ever of any superstar player in the playoffs in both points and effiency, huh?
@@HopefulNihilist I didn’t make an excuse for him, I said his choking is beyond “not handling the pressure” , he chokes because of his play style, his indecisiveness, effort, iq, health, and coaching. But I don’t believe pressure has anything to do with it
Joel send that MVP to real MVP, JOKIC!!
Embid will cherish his awards because with the new minimum games played rules, he won’t win any more of them
MVP! MVP! MVP!!!
i like how almost everyone these days has a "patented step back 3"
You'll see a big difference on how the Sixers protect Embiid defensively with Nick Nurse.
Protect Embiid by putting him on bench for whole game that matters
The problem is they do not let Embiid screen for ball movement. That is why they are predictable.
Embiid looks for the foul too often. Shit just isn’t going to fly in the playoffs. Not sure he’ll stand up to a full season of Nurse level minutes. That’s ignoring the looming harden situation.