The Philadelphia 76ers are definitely a talented group that has the potential to win an NBA title right now. While they added talents Josh Richardson, Al Horford, and Tobias Harris recently, the team will only go as far as Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons take them. They are the crown jewels of the organization.
For those two to reach their potential, they need to make subtle improvements to their games. For Simmons, there are the obvious jump shot issues and for Embiid, it has been making the correct reads out of double teams.
He’s such a dominant player that he gets doubles constantly every game in order to try and slow him down. Most of the time, he still gets his numbers, but he will have high turnover games and that can hold a team back from taking the next step.
After another dominant effort in a win over the Miami Heat on Saturday night, Embiid only had two turnovers and that was on the mind of Simmons after the win as he said:
He’s getting a lot better. Since I’ve been playing with him, he’s definitely improved a lot in that area. Reading when the guy comes and helps and just making the right play.
The Sixers have put talent around Embiid where he can make the right decision passing out of the double. Whether it’s passing out to Harris and Richardson camped out at the 3-point line or if it’s playing the high-low game with Horford or finding a cutting Simmons, there are options for him.
Coach Brett Brown has done his part in helping him understand these options and the floor spots:
We have spent a lot of time on floor spots, so some of that is on me. He knows now his outlets when he wants to quarterback a gym. He understands, and we can help him, where the double teams are coming from. We found those spots quickly and made shots from those spots. It’s always rewarding for him.
The Sixers now need to hope that this progression continues because if it does, the team’s dominant starting unit becomes that much better. [lawrence-related id=19988,19981,19973]