For the Philadelphia 76ers to go anywhere in the 2020-21 season or in the near future, the team will need stars Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid to lead the way and be at their best. The team fell flat in the previous season and it should serve as motivation.
Justin Anderson, who played with Simmons and Embiid in the 2017-18 season when they made the playoffs, notices a difference in the two superstars.
Those guys are clicking right now on all cylinders,” said Anderson. “They’re learning how to work the low-post/mid-post together. Obviously, playing with Ben before, his speed doesn’t surprise me, but seeing Jo keep up and play at that same pace has been awesome to see kind of going against those guys every day. I don’t think they’ve missed a beat, I just think that we’re seeing a hungrier Ben and Joel right now which is a great sight to see, and I’m glad to be a part of it.”
Embiid’s conditioning is something that always is a hot topic when it comes to this team, right up there with Simmons’ jumper. Coach Doc Rivers and Furkan Korkmaz were impressed with the big man’s condition on the first day of practice and having him keep up with the breakneck speed of Simmons is going to be a huge plus for the Sixers.
“I encourage everybody to get down the floor, especially Jo,” said Simmons. “He’s been running the floor, even if he doesn’t get it when he’s the first one down there, he’s getting somebody else open. So that kind of basketball just leads to easy buckets and that’s something we’re big on this year, easy points.”
The Sixers plan to put the ball in Simmons’ hands a lot this upcoming season and allow him to just get out and run. That means having the team run out on the floor and be able to give both he and Embiid the space the two of them need to operate.
Philadelphia will need these two to be the head of their attacks as the season moves forward. That means building their chemistry even more to where the two of them will be able to know each other like the back of their hands.
“Just connecting and building our chemistry in terms of where and when he wants me to cut,” Simmons said of he and Embiid. “Me reading the defense and knowing when I should and cut get to the rim, slash, or whether I’m spotting up and shooting the shot. So just reading off Jo, we’re going to continue to get better and build our chemistry on the floor, especially with this new team and new players surrounding us. I think it’s just going to be great because everyone’s really buying in.”
On top of that, Embiid is also taking the initiative to be a better perimeter defender. Not only is he willing to run in this new offense that Rivers wants to implement, but he is up guarding the ball-handler on pick-and-rolls with the help of assistant coach Dan Burke.
“He’s really bought in, he’s been a willing defender, very different than what I’ve seen in the past,” Anderson added of Embiid. “Our coaches challenge him, coach DB’s challenging him to be able to touch, and he slides in his feet. After practice, just talking to him about how he feels he’s feeling great, and for him to say he’s feeling great, also being able to be up to touch on guard guys, it just speaks to his hunger and his willingness to try to take his game to the next level.”
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