MIAMI — When the Philadelphia 76ers acquired Buddy Hield at the deadline, one of the reasons was to pair him with Joel Embiid and give him another guard to perform the two-man game with.
While coach Nick Nurse preaches more of a free-flowing offense where there are numerous actions and everybody gets involved, Embiid and Hield will run some form of a two-man game at some point.
This is important because Embiid had a great deal of success with the two-man game when paired with shooters such as JJ Redick and Seth Curry. To succeed with the big fella, Hield is studying film of those two.
“I’ve been watching film and I’ve been watching film guys of guys like JJ and Seth and all the guys that played with him,” said Hield. “When he gets situated and gets his confidence, gets his legs, we can get the ball rolling.”
With Embiid on the floor, that takes some of the defensive attention away from Hield. Defenses have been zeroing in on Hield to slow him. With the big fella back, the Sixers can run plenty of actions to get Hield open.
“I just think he just provides overload,” Hield added. “He’s just so good in the short roll. He’s a big body and he’s always doubled so I think he just creates open looks for guys and I just gotta be ready to catch and shoot.”
Embiid is the reigning league MVP and he makes life easier for everybody on the floor. The Sixers will need everybody to be on the same page with him if they want to succeed in the playoffs. That will be the challenge for Hield and the others in these final six games on the docket.
“Playing with a dominant force like that, I never had that experience,” he added. “Even when guys get rolling, you see guys trapping, I feel like every time on the court, there’s always two guys. So moving the ball and just when the time comes to shoot the ball, shoot the ball, or try to get the best open shot.”
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