Joel Embiid says he should have done things differently vs. Warriors
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The Philadelphia 76ers are going to run everything they do through their superstar big man, Joel Embiid. The big fella has taken a huge step forward in the 2020-21 season, and he is squarely in the MVP conversations mainly due to his improvement against double teams.
In Monday’s loss to the Golden State Warriors, Embiid had another big night with 28 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists, but he did not like the way he attacked the Dubs. Golden State sent tons of double teams and constant waves of defenders, and he made the right play, but he did not like how he attacked them.
“I thought it was frustrating,” said Embiid. “I just thought I just made the right play every single time. If they’re gonna guard me like that, I gotta trust my teammates and make the right play. All night, they sent two to three guys at me, and I thought I did a pretty good job of passing it.”
In their previous win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, the Sixers had Embiid set up in what is called the nail, which is an area in the middle of the floor on the offensive end. That way, he is able to avoid double teams a bit, and he can see the floor better rather than when he is in the post.
“What I should have done probably was going back to what I did against the Clippers playing more at the nail, it’s hard to double,” Embiid explained. “You saw it against the Clippers. It was harder to double and if you do, I see the whole floor. Tonight (Monday) I thought, for the most part, I thought I made the right decisions. So, the playmaking whether it would have been at the nail or at the post, I thought it would have been the same.”
Down the stretch on Monday, the Sixers struggled a bit on the offensive end as the spacing was off a bit. When Embiid is operating out of the nail, they are able to space a little better, and they are able to get him the ball and he can face up and operate from there.
At that point, he can knock down a free-throw line jumper, find teammates cutting off screens and look at other options. As dominant as Embiid is in the post, having him in the nail is a different look.
“For more scoring options, especially down the stretch, we weren’t making shots,” the big fella finished. “For more scoring options, going to the nail would have given them more space.”
The Sixers will look to bounce back on Wednesday when they host the Phoenix Suns.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
