The Philealphis 76ers are the best team in the East right now. Nevertheless, Sixers superstar Joel Embiid is not resting on his laurels. Recently, the four-time All-Star blasted his team for their “terrible” transition defense as he tried to explain why this has and could continue to be a problem for Philly.
The Sixers suffered a surprise 112-109 loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday, and according to Embiid, their subpar transition defense was one of the culprits:
“For sure, I think we are last in the league,” Embiid said, via Marc Narducci of The Philadelphia Inquirer. “We’ve been terrible all season.”
Embiid then presented an interesting theory as to why this has been a persistent issue for the Sixers:
“We are still trying to figure it out,” Embiid said. “Maybe it has something to do with a lot of guys going for offensive rebounds.”
This makes a lot of sense. If most of their guys on the court are more interested in grabbing the offensive board as opposed to running back on defense then this could be the source of the problem for the Sixers.
Nevertheless, Embiid acknowledged that as a whole, Philadelphia has one of the best defenses in the league at the moment, so this is definitely something they should build on:
“It’s been an issue all season and when we get to half court, it is hard for teams to score against us so that has been the main things when it comes to our defense,” he said.
Embiid, who amassed a 42-point, 13-rebound double-double against the Cavs on Saturday, sprained his ankle early in that game. He did play through it, but he is now being tagged as questionable for Monday's tilt against the Indiana Pacers.
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