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How can Joel Embiid be better for the Philadelphia 76ers? His status as the franchise player means he gets a lot of credit for the Sixers being really good. But it also means that the expectations are sky-high. Failing in the playoffs again means that the burden of improvement is mostly on him.
Doc Rivers, who coached the Sixers for the past three seasons, has gotten a close look at Embiid over the years. He called the Sixers center the most talented player he has ever coached. Still, the big fella needs to do more in order to truly become a championship-caliber player.
When asked by Bill Simmons on his podcast (at the 46:55 mark) what Embiid has to do in order to reach the level of Nikola Jokic, who just led the Denver Nuggets to the NBA Finals, Rivers mentioned two big things.
“Number one, he needs to be healthy in the playoffs,” Rivers said. “And this was the healthiest but he still wasn't 100 percent.” Embiid suffered a knee sprain in this year's playoffs, injuries to his face and hand last year and a partial meniscus tear the tear before that. The former Sixers coach knows that those misfortunes held him back. But there is a step to improvement that is entirely in his control.
“He’s got to make all of his players better in the playoffs,” Rivers said. “And Jo, his numbers are unfair. If you look at his numbers the last three years in the playoffs compared to the regular season numbers, they’re not very good.”
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The Sixers' big man has been doubled and even tripled at times during the postseason. Such is the reality for superstars. Embiid has yet to find a way to reliably punish teams for leaving him with numbers advantages. While it is true that Philly often hasn’t held up its end of the bargain by surrounding him with proper shooting, Embiid has to be better against the most intense defenses.
Rivers said that Embiid “has the ability to make his teammates better. And when he does that, if you look at our games when he did that and dominated, hard to go away from Joel Embiid. It really is. He just has to do that on a consistent basis, not just on the court but also off the court. Just be around your guys, spend time with your guys and let them know you love them because they love you.”
Rivers said that he believes Embiid can make the change and pushed him to make it. He has gotten better at dealing with injuries and Rivers said that he has improved over the years at staying mentally locked into the whole game, not just the scoring side of it. Continuing that trend could get Embiid to the level that he and the Sixers want to reach.
For the Sixers and new head coach Nick Nurse, the most important thing they must do is figure out how to make Joel Embiid more of a facilitator. He may be slow-footed, which is fine given that he has such great size and shooting abilities, but he cannot be slow to process the game. The work he has put into making himself unstoppable is commendable. Now, he has to do the same for the team around him.
