Shot selection is something that has been a hot topic surrounding the Philadelphia 76ers over the years. The point guard doesn’t take any 3s and the center takes too many of them in what is one of the more backward statements one will ever hear.
That is the current state with the Sixers, though as Ben Simmons does not shoot any jump shots and big man Joel Embiid takes too many of them. The issue with the latter is that he is the most dominant post player in the league and fans get frustrated with his tendency to drift out to the 3-point line at times.
Embiid has taken 3.6 attempts from deep so far in his career and he shoots them at a 31.9% clip. He has the ability to knock down those shots, but he is much more efficient in the post due to his size and skill.
If one asks coach Doc Rivers, he does not care about the type of shots Embiid takes.
“I don’t really care,” said Rivers. “I’ll let you guys talk about shot selection and all that kind of stuff. I think Joel is a talented player, I really do. He clearly will have the ball on the post a lot, but he also will have the ball behind the three, he’ll have the ball at the elbows. I’ve never gotten into shot selection like people do. My offenses have always been really good and you ask my players you rarely hear them tell you ‘man he’s yelling at me about shot selection’. My job is to teach guys their shots and once they learn their shots, each individual guy, then we play through that.”
The big thing is, Rivers does not want to limit Embiid to just one floor spot. There is so much that he can do with the basketball that he sees benefits to having him operate from outside of the paint too. The versatility is something that will be beneficial going forward.
“I think there’s big benefits having him all over the floor,” Rivers continued. “He’s a skilled player. Either we can make the choice let’s choke him. Let’s say you can only shoot both post shots. I know that would hurt the offense if that’s all he did. I can guarantee you that. When you have the ability like he does to mix up and change and do different things. I’ve been around offensive players long enough to know you allow him to be offensive and that’s important.”
At the end of the day, as long as the ball is going in the basket, Rivers is not going to care how it gets done. During his seven seasons coaching the Los Angeles Clippers, they were in the top 10 in offensive rating in each season and there is an expectation that the same can happen in Philadelphia.
“I’ve always allowed everybody else that noise,” Rivers finished. “Ben taking 3s, 2s, I always thought it was the final score that mattered. Not how we got to the final score. We score 110 points or 120 and Joel takes 19 threes, we scored 120. I’ve never been one of those guys that got into shots. My job is to teach them what’s a good shot, and then let them play and give them the freedom to do that.”
https://embed.sendtonews.com/oembed/?SC=DtSbBBlFXi-1078448-7498&autoplay=on&V=2&format=json
[lawrence-related id=40466,40427,40423]