He’s faced Gobert so often, he knows the tendencies. That play is just a guy learning from experience. This is the kind of quick move you see from someone like Giannis Antetokounmpo. Gobert tries to take a charge, but he clearly isn’t set which gives Embiid an easy layup. Instead, Embiid drives to the basket, getting Gobert off balance. You can see Embiid got Gobert leaning just a little bit looking to contest a jumper. Curious if he said something in addition to tossing the ball to Gobert) /a7uy1JDfMZ- Paul Hudrick December 21, 2023 Gobert tries to take the charge, but he clearly isn't set and Embiid gets an easy one. In the third, Embiid had the midrange working. Before Towns picked up two fouls of his own, Embiid was able to make this shot. He then went to work attacking Karl-Anthony Towns. He did most of his early damage at the free throw line, drawing two early fouls on Gobert. It’s funny because Embiid started slow in this game. He did plenty of damage there Wednesday, going 11-of-14 in the midrange, which set up his dribble drives quite nicely. He’s shooting 51.4% from his sweet spot on the floor overall this season. And those are also pretty high-percentage shots, so that’s why we like ‘em.”ĭuring this eight-game stretch, Embiid has been lethal from the midrange. I like the force downhill, because that is going to start to draw some other things. “My favorite thing is he shoots it, he makes it, he makes it … and then all of a sudden, he goes down the lane and dunks it on about three people. He came forward, Joel sees him coming forward, and he got right into his forward movement. I think Gobert fouled him once with kind of his body on his arms. And he’s really got a feel for, if they step into him, getting into ‘em. “I think he’s doing enough different things rhythmically to keep those guys guessing. “Well, I keep saying this: I think he’s continuing to get better,” Nurse said. On Wednesday, you saw how difficult it was for Minnesota to respect the midrange - where Embiid has been on an absolute tear - while still cutting off his driving lanes and clogging the paint. It’s been a point of emphasis for the star center since Nurse arrived. Nurse said postgame that he was happy with the way Embiid attacked the rim. I just try to take as much as possible and learn and get better.” “If I see something that someone else has and I don’t, of course I’m gonna learn it and I’m gonna better at it and I’m gonna start using it. “I’ve always preached this and I’ve always said I want to be a complete basketball player,” Embiid said. Thanks to adopting things from rivals and the ideas of Nurse, Embiid has been in another stratosphere this season. It’s almost scary to think about the fact that Embiid has gotten even more difficult to defend - but he has. That’s pretty impressive in its own right.” “It’s incredible when you look at what they’ve been able to do in maximizing Maxey and Embiid,” Finch said, “but also making an MVP player even harder to guard. Finch - who’s known Nurse for years from coaching overseas, in the minors and the NBA - was effusive in his praise. Over the last eight games, he’s averaged video game numbers: 41.4 points, 12.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.9 blocks and 1.4 steals with 61.5/37.5/92.5 shooting splits and 71.9% true shooting.īefore Wednesday’s game, Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch was asked about the fit with Nick Nurse as the Sixers’ new bench boss. After recording 51 points and 12 rebounds Wednesday against Rudy Gobert and the Minnesota Timberwolves, who have the best defensive rating in the NBA, he’s now averaging a league-leading 34.4 points and 11.8 rebounds per game on the season. Gosh, do those folks look very silly right now.Įmbiid is on another otherworldly run. There were actually pundits that discredited his winning the award, saying he won it because of a narrative. Joel Embiid is the reigning MVP of the league for a reason.
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