Joel Embiid’s preseason debut for the Philadelphia 76ers was the usual conundrum that perfectly summarized his rookie season and all the questions his massive contract extension raised.
Embiid was his usual dominant self in limited action that always makes Sixers fans drool whenever looking at his numbers per-36 minutes. The 3rd overall pick in the 2014 draft logged 22 points in less than 15 minutes, but equally mind-boggling are his 18 free throw attempts.
The Brooklyn Nets had no answer for Joel Embiid and he knew that well enough to launch a few expletives to describe the mismatch. This could be a preview of what the Sixers center will take advantage of this season as he is now one year, or 31 games, wiser.
Per Jessica Camerato of NBC Sports Philadelphia:
“I'm going to live at the foul line.”
“I know guys are going to get mad and they're going to try to be physical with me, just initiating with committing a foul. I know guys get frustrated. I know sometimes I'm in the same situation and I just want to like push the other guy back and I felt like that's what they did a lot.”
“To know that I can get those type of calls,” Embiid said, “is going to keep me going.”
Last season, Joel Embiid was already a fixture at the line for the Sixers, finishing at the eight spot in foul shots with 7.9 per game, which translates to 11.2 per 36 minutes — good enough for an NBA-best mark.
Sixers coach Brett Brown breaks down the science that Joel Embiid had mastered.
“I think he's very clever on drawing fouls and going through people's arms if they aren't disciplined, really showing refs their hands. Anything that's out, he baits and he really exposes the foul. He's so physical that the collision I think exposes fouls. It's not always from a post-up. I'll be curious, but my gut says that a lot of the fouls drawn were in a face-up where he just drove through people instead of backed people down. All those things give him an opportunity to make a ref call a foul.”
The Sixers are expected to break out this season and even make the Eastern Conference playoffs. But plenty will be dependent on how Joel Embiid can keep himself more often on the floor instead of sitting on the bench or in social media.
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