The Philadelphia 76ers are heading into the 2020-21 season with a new sense of hope and optimism. The team has a lot of new pieces surrounding their star duo of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid and they have a new coach in Doc Rivers to lead the way.
This is a team with a load of talent, but there will also be some understandable growing pains along the way as they get to begin the season. These guys have to get used to playing with each other as well as playing under a new system that Rivers is implementing with this group.
“I think everything’s going to improve,” said Simmons. “Obviously, we haven’t been together that long so with time we’re just going to get better. The areas I think we need to improve is just moving the ball, cutting with urgency, and just making the right play, and getting the best shots we can.”
One little wrinkle to the game plan this season is the pace that Rivers wants the team to play at. He wants the team to continue to run and to get out and use their athleticism.
In the one preseason game Embiid played in against the Boston Celtics, he was able to get out and run and Simmons found him streaking to the basket. That is a natural chemistry grown over time.
“I think it just is more of a natural progression of us playing together,” Embiid explained. “At times, I want to give him his lanes. I want to make sure the lane is open because he’s so good at attacking the basket, it is amazing.”
As far as Embiid’s offense goes, he has a tendency to drift out to the 3-point line, but Rivers does not care what kind of shots the big fella is taking. As long as they go in and the offense is still getting the types of looks he wants.
However, in this new offense, the option to run the lane and get points that way is easier for him.
“I don’t really feel comfortable shooting 3s so I got to find a balance in between of when to give the space for everybody on the team and also make sure that I’m on the perimeter,” Embiid added. “In those situations, if I don’t feel comfortable shooting 3s, those slashing options have been working well. We did that a little bit last year, but this year, I feel like that’s going to be an option. It’s unguardable. The two times that I did it, I scored and I got fouled because the defense doesn’t have time to react to me, especially when we drive.”
The Sixers have a chance to be a special team this season. In the past, when the team put shooters around Simmons and Embiid, the team had a lot of success offensively. The hope is that these two can now get back to that as this season gets underway.
“I think we have to believe it,” said Rivers. “You have to feel special to be special. I don’t think I need to make a forecast or, or anything like that, I do believe that though. We have Ben Simmons on our basketball team and we have Joel Embiid on our basketball team. Right now, teams that have two NBA All-Stars, and All-Defensive players, tend to farewell. I think we are special in that regard.”
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