The Philadelphia 76ers will be one of the 22 teams heading down to Orlando to resume and finish the 2019-20 season that has been suspended since March 11 due to the global coronavirus pandemic. For the Sixers to achieve their goal of winning a championship in 2020, they will need Joel Embiid and Al Horford to figure it out on the offensive end of the floor.
The two big men have an offensive rating of only 101.1 which is in just the fifth percentile per Cleaning the Glass, but their 102.5 defensive rating is in the 96th percentile. Based on those numbers plus the eye test, it was tough sledding for the two of them to figure it out.
However, if you ask Embiid, there are no issues.
“I don’t see any problems,” Embiid said on Tuesday via Zoom. “Basketball is a game and you need to figure it out if something’s going on and I don’t believe that. I believe it’s just a matter of everybody buying in and being able to play their role.”
Due to their success on the defensive end of the floor, the pairing has looked good to that extent. Offensively, they have not been able to have the same type of success. When considering their offensive rating of 101.1 mentioned earlier, it shows that they have had issues. Mostly due to the fact that there is not much shooting on the floor surrounding them.
“The paring with Al, I feel like, has been fine. At times, it could be better, but then again, everybody on the court has a job and with that type of pairing, you need to have shooters around or you need to have people who want to take that shot, especially when you got two inside presences like me and Al.”
Out of the other three starters–Ben Simmons, Josh Richardson, and Tobias Harris–the best shooter is Harris at 36.2% from deep. That is not a bad number, but it is not “shoot the lights out status”. With two guys like Embiid and Horford who thrive on post-up opportunities, they need the shooting to be able to space the floor and help the two of them operate.
“He can post-up, I can post-up,” the All-Star big man continued. “You gotta be able to have guys that are willing to shoot the ball. I think that’s what needs to happen, but I don’t think that’s a problem. I think we’re fine and I like him. He’s a great guy and we’ve just got to keep on working together. We’re better suited for the playoffs, we’ve got about eight games to get back into it. So I’m excited.”
Philadelphia will have to figure a lot of issues once the season does resume in Orlando. They will play the first of three scrimmage games on July 24 against the Memphis Grizzlies and then they begin their final eight regular-season games on August 1 against the Indiana Pacers. [lawrence-related id=34197,34186,34165]