Turn the volume on your hype machines up to 11. Joel Embiid put up a double-double in just over 13 minutes of game time against Washington, taking full advantage of his increased minutes in the Sixers’ 100-79 loss to the Wizards.
The Sixers offense was dreary early on, and they struggled to get Embiid the ball for long stretches during the first half. No matter — he was able to create his own offense out of thin air:
That’s a bad, bad man, and Washington got intimately acquainted with how hard he is to deal with. When he was able to get touches, Embiid routinely drew fouls from the likes of Marcin Gortat, Ian Mahinmi and Daniel Ochefu on the block. Just as important, he made them pay from the free-throw line, knocking down 7/8 from the charity stripe.
Everything was on display in what little time he got on the court. He erased second-chance opportunities by dominating the defensive glass, found open cutters who couldn’t finish at the rim, and he even shut down a John Wall isolation on his own:
Oh by the way, he also grabbed the defensive rebound and earned free throws after this clip cuts out.
Without getting too hyperbolic, this is why fans and the organization insisted on patience. He is a freak and a matchup nightmare for opposing teams already; his touch will allow him to punish sagging defenders once he hones it, and he’s capable of brutalizing decade-plus veterans down low.
Aside from the 13-minute advertisement for the Embiid Rookie of the Year campaign, this was a pretty listless showing from the good guys. This team desperately needs reinforcements, so hopefully their injured talent can get up to speed sooner than later (with all proper precautions taken, of course).
11 points and 12 rebounds from The Process himself will do for now. When the minutes come, there’s no telling what he’ll be capable of.
What We Learned
This is Joel Embiid’s team
Several key figures in the rotation are on the mend, but one thing seems obvious through five preseason games -- the Sixers will go as Embiid goes. He is the most impactful player on the team already.
After begging and pleading for blessings from the basketball and lottery gods, it looks like Sixers fans finally have a two-way player who can dramatically impact the team’s future. Giant question mark in the form of his health aside, he is the center of attention. There are areas to improve to get where he wants to go, but unlike for his peers there are no drastic holes to compensate for.
This is the guy people have been waiting for. Every minute he isn’t on the court only serves to highlight how impactful he is when he’s on the floor.
Shooting is still a problem
Exciting as Embiid may be, it’ll be tough for him to succeed if the team continues shooting as poorly as they did tonight. Issues that plagued the team last year when Jahlil Okafor set up shop in the post are still lingering.
Offseason reinforcements haven’t done much to help. Saric’s shooting has come back to Earth after a hot start, and Gerald Henderson looks completely out of sorts at the moment. Neither are advertised as knockdown shooters, but given the likelihood they’ll feature in the rotation, they need to keep defenders honest.
4-30 from deep — 13.3 percent! — is not going to cut it on a team hoping to build around several talented big men. The wings and guards have to be better, period.
Richaun Holmes’ improved rebounding might be for real
One of the factors holding back Holmes from being considered in future plans was his poor rebounding figures. His rebounding rate was anemic last season, often amplified by his propensity to chase blocks.
He’s still doing some of that chasing, but purely going by eye-test he’s taken tremendous strides on the glass since last season ended. Holmes mixed it up on the d-glass on several occasions tonight, and he came down with a hotly-contested board on more than one occasion.
Sure, some of what he’s doing has been against inferior competition who won’t get burn when the regular season starts. But his energy, activity and solid hands have flashed all throughout games, and he continues to look like he won’t back down from the challenge to earn minutes.