This clip (https://youtu.be/9ioYPbJojTA) was basically outlining the issues Embiid had not just in the Celtics series this year but also throughout his career in the playoffs. Agreed, it’s been both to do with poor adjustments from the coaching staff and also Embiid’s inadequacies but it left me questioning how much Nurse can help here as Embiid will be 30 years old come next playoffs and has some tendencies and habits he still hasn’t shaken off, not to mention nothing will change the fact as a 7 footer and approximately 280 pounds, he isn’t going to be chasing guards like a Bam Adebayo on defense.
by ojseye
3 Comments
He shouldn’t be chasing guards on defense. It makes no sense to have him do that when he’s best roaming and protecting the paint, and gets blown past when he steps out to defend the perimeter due to a lack of foot speed which was aggravated by his ligament sprain. It’s impossible to be nimble laterally with that kind of injury, which made it even more ridiculous he was being made to step out to defend Tatum in those positions lol. We need better wing defenders to cover the perimeter, and have Embiid do what he does best. It’s a roster construction x coaching issue. And at a certain level, you can only hope to slow players like Tatum down and hope he doesn’t kill you too much, because we did actually throw everything in the book at him and he still gets his lol
On offense the video shows even more why there was a coaching issue IMHO. For all the jokes about how Horford owns Embiid, when Embiid is downhill from good positions at speed Horford can’t actually stop him. But look at where Embiid is getting the ball – either in the low post back to the basket against two, or too far out at the 3p line where his handle is an impediment and there’s enough time for the defense to react, so he has to settle for a contested jump shot. That’s on coaching. It’s up to the coach to design good looks against the Cs, and for Embiid specifically it’s about getting him the ball in good positions against mismatches. But nope, it’s most often him getting the ball when there’s two defenders on him and no spacing.
I’m still sticking with the theory that Embiid is carrying far too much weight and is never in optimal physical condition. He shouldn’t be 300 lbs. He shouldn’t be 275. He should be closer to 240 than 275. This season, despite the crazy stats and deserved MVP, Embiid was habitually gassed. He compensated by taking plays off, not getting back in transition, and taking it easy on the boards. This came back to bite him in the playoffs, where even before his knee injury, he clearly struggled to keep pace with the far more intense style of play.
Joel got abused in the PNR, but jesus our defenders offer zero resistance over screens. Once their screened, Joel has to play the screener and the handler at once.
Some low IQ as hell moments defensively and offensively for this team. I know our offense stunk but we at least have the personnel to overcome it with coaching. No defensive coaching is fixing these issues, our personnel is awful for it