Well, the Philadelphia 76ers will have to make yet another adjustment to their offense. With Joel Embiid out for nine games after undergoing left-hand surgery to repair a torn radial collateral ligament, the Sixers tailored the offense more towards speed with Ben Simmons leading the way.
Now, with Embiid returning, coach Brett Brown now has to change everything again in order to retool it for the big man. As he returned on Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors, everything changed once again and there was a noticeable difference.
“There was definitely a difference having Joel back,” said Brown. “Mostly, good, but there is a reality, there are some things that happened remind you of pace and space. The speed of the game, the space of the game where we have to grow that side of how I see our half-court offense where it caters to the guys’ strengths and it’s spaced accordingly.”
The fit between Simmons and Embiid has always been questioned by almost everybody as some don’t believe it can work between the two of them, but Brown acknowledged how important it is to get it working.
“There are certainly some early offense things that are on my mind as far as the speed and we’re always going to be playing fast with Ben that also factor into it, but I end up in a half-court place as it relates to space and a little bit of pace in half-court,” the coach continued with. “It just felt different with Joel coming back and you’re reminded when you look at a stat sheet and, he had 24 and 10 in a quite easy way, he’s significant in relation to the importance of what he is to the team.”
The game slows down in the playoffs and the Sixers are going to have to play a bit differently when that time rolls around. They will have to figure out how they make the spacing work with Simmons’ lack of shooting and Embiid being so dominant in the post that it takes away Simmons’ path to the basket. The paint is Embiid’s area and nothing will change that.
“It has to be. How can it not?” Brown continued. “Does it have to be 100% of the time? No. We have so many capable post-up players. It still is there, the spatial thing, the pace is a part of it, but of course, it’s Joel’s. That’s where his bread it’s buttered.”
One change has been trying to institute the JJ Redick offensive package with Furkan Korkmaz in place of Redick. The Sixers will run dribble handoffs and allow Korkmaz to space the floor for Embiid to work and they could possibly use Shake Milton and Josh Richardson in those roles in the future. That would help grow Embiid’s game when he gets those constant double teams and he has to make quick decisions.
“I’m bringing him more to an elbow,” the coach said of Embiid’s spot. “We can see he’s probably easier to go double team at that floor spot, and improving his passing is always on my mind, and so you’ll see me bring him more up a little bit more to an elbow and play out of that environment as well, but he’s obviously our most capable post scorer.”
Bringing him to the elbow also allows him to be able to use his face-up game and allow him to be a little more finessed in that area of the floor. Having him there could open up some more options for the Sixers offense, but the rest of the guys will have to cut. They will have to see that and then Embiid can grow as a passer.
This will continue to be an ongoing aspect for this team as they continue to figure it out as a group. [lawrence-related id=24502,24491,24482]