When it comes to the success of the Philadelphia 76ers, a lot of questions are centered around the team’s superstar big man in Joel Embiid. He has had injuries and conditioning questions dog him in the past and that has always been the concern when it comes to this team moving forward.
As the season gets set to resume and finish up in Orlando on July 30, the Sixers need to make sure that their guy is ready to go before the league resumes. According to coach Brett Brown, the big man is more than ready to get back at it.
“Let’s just start with the respect and applause I give him for putting in time,” Brown started with. “There is nobody on our team that is putting in more time than Joel Embiid. Just go to the man-hours and the consecutive days and the amount of days that he has put in over the past few months, I’m proud of him, I respect him, and he needed to do it. We understand the impact he can have on our team.”
When healthy and motivated, Embiid is the best center in the league. The impact he makes on this Sixers team on both ends of the floor is astonishing and he needs to be sure that he is in peak physical condition when the season does resume.
“I think that once Joel has that fitness base that I’m talking about, and we’ve got a three-week runway to deliver him to the regular season, I’m looking for Joel to come in as good a shape as he has been in since I have coached him,” the coach added. “I think the three weeks that we have altogether is a luxury that we haven’t had…we are able to have more practice time in the environment that we are now going in to.”
Brett Brown on Joel Embiid’s work ethic during the break: “There is nobody on our team that has put in more time than Joel Embiid.” #Sixers
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) July 1, 2020
In terms of a minutes restriction, Brown would not commit to one just yet, the Sixers will play eight regular-season games before the playoffs get underway in August so that would be the time to experiment with anything of that nature.
“We’ll talk more about that. It’s sort of expected for everybody,” he explained. “There is a obvious sort of grooming a team into playing whatever is responsible based on what I’ve been advised is for everybody, Joel included. I think this side of it interests me a lot.”
When the Sixers do begin again on August 1, there will be a lot of eyes on Embiid and, really, the entire Sixers squad as they get set to get underway again and chase a championship. [lawrence-related id=33823,33813,33796]