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Speaker 1: The Volume. All right, welcome to Hoops tonight here at

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Speaker 1: the Volume. Happy Monday, everybody. I hope all of you

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Speaker 1: guys had an incredible weekend. We are live on AMPS,

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Speaker 1: so if you're watching on YouTube or listening on the

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Speaker 1: podcast feed, don't forget that AMP is the very first

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Speaker 1: place that you guys can get these shows. We are

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Speaker 1: continuing our player rankings today with number five the reigning

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Speaker 1: League MVP, Joel m beat probably as big a chasm

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Speaker 1: between what his regular season dominance has looked like and

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Speaker 1: his playoff success has looked like, which makes them very

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Speaker 1: polarizing and very difficult to rank, But we're gonna get

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Speaker 1: into all of the details of that today. You guys

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Speaker 1: know the drill before we get started. Subscribe to the

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Speaker 1: Volumes YouTube channel so you don't miss any more of

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Speaker 1: our videos. Follow me on Twitter at Underscore Jason Lts,

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Speaker 1: you guys don't miss any show announcements. And last but

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Speaker 1: not least, for whatever reason, you guys miss one of

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Speaker 1: these videos and you can't get back over to YouTube

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Speaker 1: to finish, don't forget you can find them wherever you

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Speaker 1: get your podcasts under Hoops tonight, and I'm very excited

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Speaker 1: Give it a shot, guys, All right, let's talk some basketball.

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Speaker 1: So Joel Embii, this guy moved around on my list

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Speaker 1: more than any other guy in the different different variations

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Speaker 1: of it. I've told you guys about this before, but

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Speaker 1: when I made my list, when I first made the

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Speaker 1: twenty five to one, I was really hesitant at the

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Speaker 1: back end of the twenty five, like right in that

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Speaker 1: like twenty four to twenty five spot, and I spent

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Speaker 1: about two days kind of going back and forth about

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Speaker 1: which guys I wanted to go with there. Once I

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Speaker 1: kind of set that, though twenty five through eleven was

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Speaker 1: pretty much set for me. I knew Devin Booker and

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Speaker 1: Kawhi were gonna be at the bottom of my superstar tier,

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Speaker 1: but from ten to one, even during the weeks the

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Speaker 1: week when I was working on twenty five to eleven

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Speaker 1: in our videos, I was so all over the place,

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Speaker 1: and Embiid in particular, was one of the biggest guys

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Speaker 1: that moved around. The very first version of this list

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Speaker 1: that I made, I had him be down at ten,

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Speaker 1: in large part because he's not my favorite player, probably

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Speaker 1: the player that I dislike the most out of the

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Speaker 1: top twelve superstars in the league. So I knew I

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Speaker 1: was fighting a lot of negative bias on my end. Obviously,

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Speaker 1: you guys know how I feel about the playoffs. But

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Speaker 1: then I'd sit there and I'd be like, I'd remember

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Speaker 1: this season, and I'd remember the competitiveness that he approached

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Speaker 1: it with from start to finish, and while everyone else

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Speaker 1: was kind of working their way through it, Embiid was

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Speaker 1: just attacking everybody night in and night out. It seemed

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Speaker 1: like he was hell bent on demonstrating to the world

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Speaker 1: that he was the best basketball player, and honestly, within

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Speaker 1: the regular season context, he did that as if you

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Speaker 1: guys remember, I even at one point put him as

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Speaker 1: I've always been a guy who viewed Yokic is better

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Speaker 1: than Embiid. But there was a point there about two

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Speaker 1: thirds through the season where I was like, man, em

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Speaker 1: Bead's playing better than him. Right now, I think he

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Speaker 1: might be better, And so I tried to remember what

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Speaker 1: that was like. And so then I'd come back around

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Speaker 1: and I'd have him a pie on the list, and

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Speaker 1: then I'd sleep on it, and i'd wake up the

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Speaker 1: next morning and I'd be like, noh, screw that. He

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Speaker 1: doesn't deserve any higher than ten, And then like cause

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Speaker 1: it was so polarizing because it's as big a difference,

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Speaker 1: like I said in the intro, between what his peak

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Speaker 1: is in regular season production and what his playoff success

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Speaker 1: has actually been. In reality, that gap has been wider

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Speaker 1: than any of these stars over the course of the

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Speaker 1: last few years. I mean, he's kind of become the

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Speaker 1: new James Harden in a lot of ways. James Harden

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Speaker 1: has just diminished too much to really be in that conversation.

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Speaker 1: But he's just wildly polarizing in that sense. And so

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Speaker 1: when I think about the good with Embid, I'm incentivized

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Speaker 1: to put him up higher, and when I think about

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Speaker 1: the bad, I'm incentivized to put him lower. And so

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Speaker 1: I was all over the place, and I'll give you,

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Speaker 1: guys really quickly my cases for both. So my reasoning

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Speaker 1: for putting him down at ten was, he's the biggest

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Speaker 1: playoff underperformer from this era. His back to back seasons

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Speaker 1: where he led the league in scoring and then couldn't

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Speaker 1: crack twenty four points per game in the postseason, and

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Speaker 1: then his defensive effectiveness goes down a level in the

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Speaker 1: postseason as well. You guys might remember last year the

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Speaker 1: Toronto Rafts kind of cooking him on the perimeter a

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Speaker 1: little bit, and then this year in that Game seven

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Speaker 1: against Boston, Jason Tatum just picking on him on switches,

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Speaker 1: pulling him out to the perimeter and barbecuing him. So

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Speaker 1: that was part of it. The second part of it

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Speaker 1: is he's easily my least favorite player in that top twelve.

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Speaker 1: Like I said earlier, I find the flopping that he

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Speaker 1: does to just be completely embarrassing and really dangerous, and

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Speaker 1: it's just something that I don't really like about Joel

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Speaker 1: Embiid as a bassall players. That was kind of where

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Speaker 1: I was leaning towards ten. The reasoning for five was

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Speaker 1: I really think Joel went up a big level in

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Speaker 1: this last season, his shot making was off the charts.

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Speaker 1: We'll go over that here in a little bit when

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Speaker 1: I go through his season recap. But they were un

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Speaker 1: unfathomably good. He anchored one of the best defenses in

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Speaker 1: the league. The Sixers actually finished eighth in defensive rating,

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Speaker 1: but they were much much better with embat off the

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Speaker 1: floor than off. There was a massive drop off like

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Speaker 1: five six points per one hundred possessions when Embiid went

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Speaker 1: to the bench defensively, and I thought, honestly, within the

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Speaker 1: actual skill set stuff, I thought Embiid had figured out

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Speaker 1: some stuff that would help him in the playoffs. He

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Speaker 1: was quicker and more decisive in his post ups and ISOs,

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Speaker 1: he was more aggressive to the basket. His overall field

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Speaker 1: goal percentages were higher than they've been in a very

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Speaker 1: very long time, or really ever in his career. And

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Speaker 1: he had become a truly great mid range jump shooter.

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Speaker 1: And if you guys remember, throughout the season, I kept

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Speaker 1: saying that mid range jump shot is going to be

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Speaker 1: the key to him being successful in the playoffs, and

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Speaker 1: he was making them at a higher clip than he

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Speaker 1: had ever had. We'll talk about what actually happened in

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Speaker 1: a little bit but I ended up going with the

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Speaker 1: ranking and beat at five instead of ranking him at ten.

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Speaker 1: And there were three reasons for that. One, like I

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Speaker 1: said earlier, really impressed by his overall competitiveness. He wanted

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Speaker 1: to kick everyone's ass and he basically did. Did he

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Speaker 1: really want to win MVP? Was he campaigning for it? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: but it's a lot easier said than done, and he

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Speaker 1: actually went out and did it, and I thought he

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Speaker 1: deserved MVP, especially with the way that Yannis and Jokic

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Speaker 1: tailed off towards the end of the year. The second reason,

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Speaker 1: I do think injuries have played a very big role

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Speaker 1: in his playoff struggles, above and beyond the stuff that

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Speaker 1: has to do with his actual approach and how that

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Speaker 1: is limited in the playoffs, which we'll talk about in

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Speaker 1: a little bit. Last year, if you guys remember, before

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Speaker 1: he broke his face, he was pretty damn good in

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Speaker 1: the Raptor series. Twenty six points and eleven rebounds per game,

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Speaker 1: sixty two percent true shooting. Lit him on fire in

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Speaker 1: the closeout game. If you remember, in Game three in Toronto,

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Speaker 1: he hits the game winner, the buzzer to put him

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Speaker 1: up three to zero. He was awesome in that series

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Speaker 1: against a very very good Raptors team. I was crazy

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Speaker 1: and stupid enough to pick the Raptors to win that series.

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Speaker 1: So obviously, like there was a little bit of a

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Speaker 1: level that he went up, and then he just was hurt.

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Speaker 1: He had a broken face, which clearly affected him in

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Speaker 1: that Miami Heat series, and then this year he just

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Speaker 1: had a bad knee. And again that doesn't completely justify

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Speaker 1: the struggles. We'll get into some of the specific things

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Speaker 1: he does that hurts him in that stage, but that

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Speaker 1: does help explain things a little bit. And last, but

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Speaker 1: not least, and beats playoff struggles are still in the

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Speaker 1: last two seasons twenty four points, ten rebounds per game,

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Speaker 1: fifty eight percent true shooting with two blocks, So even

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Speaker 1: his like diminished playoff version, is still a very very

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Speaker 1: very good playoff basketball player. And then three, the last

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Speaker 1: reason why I decided to go with em beat at five.

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Speaker 1: Now that he has won himself an MVP, I think

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Speaker 1: that Joel Embiid is going to start trying to pace

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Speaker 1: himself through the regular season more. A big part of

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Speaker 1: why he pushed himself so hard the last two years

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Speaker 1: was his relentless pursuits of that pursuit of that MVP award,

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Speaker 1: and so I think it's more likely than ever that

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Speaker 1: he'll be healthy for the postseason in this year. So

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Speaker 1: kind of insummation considering how close all these guys are,

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Speaker 1: and that's been the theme of this entire list. But

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Speaker 1: the gap between Luka Doncic at ten and the guy

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Speaker 1: that I have tomorrow at four is extremely small. You

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Speaker 1: could make a case for Luca at four. You can

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Speaker 1: make a case for the other guy at ten. You

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Speaker 1: can make a case for Embiad at five or ten.

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Speaker 1: You could put Lebron fans still think he's top five, right,

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Speaker 1: Anthony Davis said his very best might be better than

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Speaker 1: all those guys. Man, that is worse. He's worse than

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Speaker 1: all those guys. So the gap is incredibly small between

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Speaker 1: all those guys, And as kind of like a tiebreaker

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Speaker 1: for me, I wanted to reward Joel Embiid and give

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Speaker 1: him credit for attacking the regular season the way he

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Speaker 1: did the last couple of seasons, the improvements that he's made,

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Speaker 1: becoming basically the best volume score in the league on

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Speaker 1: incredible efficiency, and then winning the league MVP Award, which,

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Speaker 1: even though it doesn't mean as much which as it

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Speaker 1: used to I think, should still mean something so kind

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Speaker 1: of like the tie went to the MVP is basically

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Speaker 1: a very very short way to put it. As I

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Speaker 1: put Joel Embiid at number five and be led the

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Speaker 1: league in scoring for the second consecutive season. This is

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Speaker 1: your little season recap here. Thirty three points, ten rebounds,

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Speaker 1: and forces sixty six percent sure shooting, led the league

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Speaker 1: in scoring and was off the charts efficient. You guys,

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Speaker 1: remember the year James Harden averaged thirty six points per game.

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Speaker 1: That was back in twenty nineteen. He did that on

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Speaker 1: just sixty two percent turre shooting, which is also excellent.

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Speaker 1: But that just goes to show you the gap in

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Speaker 1: efficiency between the volume in efficiency between what Joel Embid

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Speaker 1: accomplished this season in the recent big volume scoring seasons

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Speaker 1: that we've had. It's arguably the most impressive scoring volume

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Speaker 1: inefficiency season in this era of NBA basketball. And again,

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Speaker 1: he was actually making shots. This was not just grifting

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Speaker 1: fifty five percent on field goals. To give you some perspective,

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Speaker 1: James Harden was forty four percent on field goals in

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Speaker 1: that twenty nineteen season, was way more dependent on long

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Speaker 1: distance shot result in that season. The shot making numbers

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Speaker 1: across the board. Fifty four percent effective field goal percentage

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Speaker 1: on catching shoot jumpers. That's awesome. Forty six percent effective

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Speaker 1: field goal percentage on pull up jumpers. That's really good

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Speaker 1: for a guard, but it's like off the charts good

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Speaker 1: for a big fifty two percent on floaters, fifty eight

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Speaker 1: percent on hooks, four point eight restricted area makes per

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Speaker 1: game that was seventh in the entire NBA shot seventy

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Speaker 1: five percent there so again not like the same level

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Speaker 1: that Jokic was at the postseason this year, which again

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Speaker 1: was like truly transcendent. We're going to get to that

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Speaker 1: point when we get to Jokic, But considering the sheer

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Speaker 1: volume of scoring that Joel Embiid was doing in this

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Speaker 1: regular season, this was unbelievable efficiency across the board. The

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Speaker 1: one week spot really was the three point line. He

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Speaker 1: was just thirty three percent, but he was fifty six

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Speaker 1: percent effective field goal percentage on unguarded catch and shoot jumpers,

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Speaker 1: which I think qualifies him easily as a legitimate floor spacing.

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Speaker 1: Big play type data super deadly in ISO and post

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Speaker 1: up situations, one point one to six points per ISO

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Speaker 1: on huge volume. Among the twenty five players to log

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Speaker 1: at least two hundred and fifty ISOs this year, Joel

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Speaker 1: Embiid ranked second in efficiency, shot over fifty percent in

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Speaker 1: shots out of ISO situations. He was also one point

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Speaker 1: one to eight points per post up Among the twenty

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Speaker 1: players to run at least two hundred post ups. Last year,

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Speaker 1: Embiad ranked third inefficiency, shot fifty four percent on field

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Speaker 1: goals out of the post. The main driving force between

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Speaker 1: Embiad's ISO and POST success is just that deadly shot

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Speaker 1: there in that ten to fifteen foot range that he

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Speaker 1: can hit off of a jab step off the catch

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Speaker 1: off of a quick one or two dribble combination. And

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Speaker 1: then also he's very good at ripping through the baseline

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Speaker 1: and using his size and a power dribble to dislodge

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Speaker 1: the big who tries to close him off from the

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Speaker 1: baseline to get back underneath the basket and make a

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Speaker 1: little shot off the glass or dunk. It's that classic

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Speaker 1: push and pull. Where as the defender guarding Joel Embiid

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Speaker 1: you have to worry about the shot and the drive,

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Speaker 1: and quite frankly, there's just not a lot of bigs

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Speaker 1: in the league that are used to guarding players like that,

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Speaker 1: because there just aren't that many bigs in the league

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Speaker 1: that have a really dependable jump shot that make him

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Speaker 1: have to be guarded at that specific spot on the floor.

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Speaker 1: Joel Ebid was also the very best role man in

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Speaker 1: the NBA last year. He totaled five hundred and forty

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Speaker 1: one points on role possessions, which was one hundred and

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Speaker 1: twenty points more than second place in the league. Who

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Speaker 1: wants to take a guess as to who was second

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Speaker 1: in the league. If you guessed Nikola Vucevich, you were correct.

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Speaker 1: He was effected both rolling and popping on the role.

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Speaker 1: He's just so damn big that when he would catch

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Speaker 1: with his momentum going towards the basket, you basically couldn't

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Speaker 1: stop him without fouling. He shot sixty eight percent on

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Speaker 1: rolls to the basket, the short roll to the foul

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Speaker 1: and this was kind of like the bread and butter

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Speaker 1: of the Harden and Bad two man game. If Harden

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Speaker 1: was kind of going more laterally and the big was

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Speaker 1: up high, it was more of like a pocket pass

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Speaker 1: to the foul line. If Harden actually got downhill a

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Speaker 1: little bit, it was more of like a pop back

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Speaker 1: to the foul line. But that was basically one of

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Speaker 1: the really efficient ways for the Sixers to set up

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Speaker 1: Joel Embiid for quick face up ISOs at the foul

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Speaker 1: line before the defense could really get set and he

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Speaker 1: was just deadly shooting in those situations. Joel Ebiad shot

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Speaker 1: a fifty seven percent effective field goal percentage on jumpers

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Speaker 1: in those pick and pop situations. Think about that, So

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Speaker 1: like you had to close out at him, which is

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Speaker 1: what opened up everything else as he was ripping through

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Speaker 1: to the basket. That was just a deadly action for

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Speaker 1: the Sixers all year long, that Joel Embiid short roll

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Speaker 1: slash pop to the top of the key where he

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Speaker 1: could run a quick ISO. But injury or not, Embiid's

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Speaker 1: effectiveness went down a huge level in the playoffs. Again,

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Speaker 1: his post up and ISO efficiency dropped from one point

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Speaker 1: one to seven points per possession in the regular season

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Speaker 1: to just one point zero two points per possession in

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Speaker 1: the postseason. Now again still over a point per possession. So,

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Speaker 1: like I was talking about earlier, even the diminished version

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Speaker 1: of Embid is still a very good playoff basketball player

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Speaker 1: over a point for over a point per possession and

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Speaker 1: play types in the postseason, in the half court against

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Speaker 1: the set defense with everyone looking at you, in my opinion,

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Speaker 1: is still very, very valuable. But the biggest driver for

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Speaker 1: why he had issues and why there was that big,

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Speaker 1: you know, fifteen point per one hundred possession drop off,

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Speaker 1: was his jumper just completely failed him. I talked all

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Speaker 1: season about whether or not he'd be able to make

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Speaker 1: those jumpers when he got to the postseason, and he

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Speaker 1: just didn't. Now, was it probably the injury most likely? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I talk about this all the time on the show.

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Speaker 1: But energy transfer any sort of jump shot, especially on

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Speaker 1: any sort of movement, even if it's a jab step,

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Speaker 1: even if it's just a simple dribble combination, any sort

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Speaker 1: of jumper off of movement is about transferring energy from

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Speaker 1: the floor from your feet up, through your knees, through

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Speaker 1: your hips, through your back, through your arms through the shot.

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Speaker 1: And if there's a disruption in that power line, it

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Speaker 1: throws off the entire muscle memory of it. And so

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Speaker 1: if he wasn't getting the same amount of lift out

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Speaker 1: of his knee because his knee was hurt and all

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Speaker 1: of a sudden, puts more of the onus on the wrist,

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Speaker 1: which is a different muscle memory than he's been working

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Speaker 1: on all season. I do think that did have a

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Speaker 1: factor to play in what happened to Joel Embiid in

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Speaker 1: his jump shot. But the numbers, guys, they were not pretty.

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Speaker 1: Joel embiid effective field goal percentage on jump shots in

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Speaker 1: this postseason twenty nine point seven percent effective field goal

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Speaker 1: percentage that's weighted for threes at is twenty percent below

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Speaker 1: his regular season efficiency on those shots. To give you

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Speaker 1: an idea just how bad that affected him, on how

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Speaker 1: significantly that affected him. If he just hit his normal

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Speaker 1: percentages on jumpers in this postseason, he'd been up at

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Speaker 1: twenty six points per game in that playoff run, and

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Speaker 1: his volume was way down because he lost confidence in

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Speaker 1: the shot. During the regular season, he took about nine

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Speaker 1: jumpers per game this year in the postseason, he took

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Speaker 1: barely over six. So he took about fifty percent fewer,

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Speaker 1: about thirty three percent fewer jump shots during the playoffs,

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Speaker 1: just because he didn't trust it anymore. So the jumper

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Speaker 1: failing was the big reason why his scoring went down.

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Speaker 1: There was also a slight decrease in free throw attempts,

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Speaker 1: but that's always going to happen to everybody, went from

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Speaker 1: like I think, almost twelve to about nine. Defensively, same

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Speaker 1: issue that plagued him at time in the Times in

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Speaker 1: the Toronto series, like I talked about just inability to

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Speaker 1: guard quicker wings on the perimeter. All I'll say about

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Speaker 1: that is that's certainly an issue, but it's not what

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Speaker 1: I want to dwell on because it's not something he

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Speaker 1: has control over. He's just with his body type, He's

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Speaker 1: never gonna be able to guard quick wings on the perimeter.

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Speaker 1: Guess who else can't do that, Nicole Jokis, and he's

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Speaker 1: the best player in the world. So to me, it's

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Speaker 1: more about him rounding out his strengths so that they're

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Speaker 1: dependable in the playoffs, not worrying so much about his

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Speaker 1: weaknesses that are that he's never going to be able

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Speaker 1: to address. But the reality is, as we look back

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Speaker 1: on this phase of Joel Embid's career, the playoff struggles

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Speaker 1: are becoming a significant part of Joelle's story. Unfortunately, it's

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Speaker 1: just a reality. He's a full three point two points

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Speaker 1: per game lower than the playoffs compared to his regular

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Speaker 1: season production, and a full three point two percent lower

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Speaker 1: in true shooting percentage. You know, it kind of reminds

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Speaker 1: me of the gap we talked about in shooting percentages

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Speaker 1: in the Jimmy Butler video. If you guys go back

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Speaker 1: to our number nine Jimmy Butler video. I did like

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Speaker 1: a ten minute segment on just why I use different

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Speaker 1: shooting percentages, why I use them in different specific conversations,

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Speaker 1: and what they mean. And one of the things I

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Speaker 1: talked about is players that have an extremely large gap

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Speaker 1: between their true shooting percentage and their field goal percentage

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Speaker 1: tend to have more significant variance in the playoffs. Why

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Speaker 1: because that means inherently that they rely more on long

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Speaker 1: distance jump shooting and on getting a favorable whistle from

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Speaker 1: the officials. Joel Embiid has an eleven percent gap this

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Speaker 1: regular season between his field goal percentage and his true

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Speaker 1: shooting percentage. That means he does rely on long distance

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Speaker 1: shot result in free throw attempts even more than what

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Speaker 1: his percentages demonstrate because he relies on a lot of

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Speaker 1: mid range jump shots, which failed him in this playoff run.

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Speaker 1: So it's one of those things where like just in general,

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Speaker 1: as long as he relies on his jump shot as

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Speaker 1: much as he does, if he's not gonna make him.

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Speaker 1: It's gonna be a problem. So he either needs to

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Speaker 1: get to the point where he can make that shot

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Speaker 1: in the playoffs consistently, or he needs to reconfigure his

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Speaker 1: shot profile to more of a power game that he

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Speaker 1: can rely on in that stage. Obviously, playmaking continues to

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Speaker 1: be an issue for Joel Ebid. He just really struggles

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Speaker 1: to handle aggressive defensive schemes. He's okay with really basic

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Speaker 1: double team. So like if he's on the left block

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Speaker 1: and he's facing the basket with the ball in his

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Speaker 1: right hand, and the double comes towards his face. This

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Speaker 1: is something I noticed all season last year. If the

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Speaker 1: double come towards it comes towards his face, he sees

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Speaker 1: it coming, he sees the raid, he makes the read.

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Speaker 1: But any sort of convoluted defensive approach, whether that's a

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Speaker 1: double that comes from behind him on the baseline, whether

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Speaker 1: that is a you know, a stunt, somebody just reaching

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Speaker 1: in and then recovering really quick, playing in the gaps,

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Speaker 1: Guys trying to bait him into a pass that isn't

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Speaker 1: really there. One of the big ones he all season

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Speaker 1: two is anytime he turned his back, So like if

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Speaker 1: you made a counter move, a behind the back dribble,

432
00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:07,879
Speaker 1: a spin move of any kind. The guy who's behind

433
00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:09,880
Speaker 1: him would jump in and try to take the ball away.

434
00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:13,440
Speaker 1: The Celtics in particular were really good at taking advantage

435
00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:15,320
Speaker 1: of Joel and b when he would turn his back.

436
00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:18,360
Speaker 1: He just really really struggles with all of that stuff,

437
00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:21,720
Speaker 1: and it's bad to a level that I think goes

438
00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:24,640
Speaker 1: above and beyond what people even are aware of. Here's

439
00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:26,840
Speaker 1: a crazy stat for you. Joel Embiid in his career

440
00:21:27,480 --> 00:21:30,680
Speaker 1: has forty five more turnovers than assists in the playoffs.

441
00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:35,760
Speaker 1: Forty five more turnovers than assists in the playoffs. But

442
00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:38,040
Speaker 1: as is the case with most players, that when it

443
00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:40,600
Speaker 1: comes to playmaking, that's something you're born with. It's not

444
00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:42,400
Speaker 1: something you can really develop. You can get a little

445
00:21:42,440 --> 00:21:44,600
Speaker 1: better at it over time, and there are a couple

446
00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:47,440
Speaker 1: of outliers, guys like Kawhi Leonard, but for the most part,

447
00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:50,080
Speaker 1: it's like it's a natural gift. Do you either have

448
00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:53,159
Speaker 1: it or you don't. And there are peers in the

449
00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:56,399
Speaker 1: NBA that struggle with it that still have success. Anthony Davis,

450
00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:59,800
Speaker 1: for instance, has nearly as many playoff turnovers as assists.

451
00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:02,879
Speaker 1: So to me, again like I talked about earlier, Like

452
00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:05,840
Speaker 1: with the defense thing, it's less about him be figuring

453
00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:09,200
Speaker 1: that out and just making sure his strengths actually come

454
00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:12,080
Speaker 1: to the table in that setting. Because if Joel Embiid

455
00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:15,600
Speaker 1: is thirty plus points per game on outrageous efficiency and

456
00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:18,000
Speaker 1: one point two points per possession on play types in

457
00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:20,520
Speaker 1: the postseason, no one's going to care if he gets

458
00:22:20,560 --> 00:22:23,320
Speaker 1: beat off the dribble a few times per game, and

459
00:22:23,359 --> 00:22:24,800
Speaker 1: no one's going to care if he turns the ball

460
00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:27,960
Speaker 1: over three or four times a game. But as soon

461
00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:31,199
Speaker 1: as the scoring goes down from thirty plus points per

462
00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:35,399
Speaker 1: game to twenty four and the efficiency craters and the

463
00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:39,119
Speaker 1: play type efficiency craters, suddenly the inability to guard on

464
00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:41,440
Speaker 1: the perimeter and the issues that he has turning the

465
00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:45,199
Speaker 1: basketball over become a bigger problem. So really, that to

466
00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:48,120
Speaker 1: me is the direction he needs to go really work

467
00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:51,240
Speaker 1: on refining his strengths to the point where they work

468
00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:53,720
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. So what can Joellen be do to

469
00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:57,400
Speaker 1: reverse the trend of his playoff decline? I put down

470
00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:02,159
Speaker 1: three things. One flopping, you're not getting the calls not

471
00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:04,560
Speaker 1: in the playoffs. Your free throws go down in that setting,

472
00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:06,480
Speaker 1: really the only time you're getting calls in the playoffs

473
00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:08,520
Speaker 1: are when people actually value and most of those times

474
00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:10,480
Speaker 1: you're not actually flopping, So it's a waste. It's a

475
00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:14,600
Speaker 1: waste of your energy. It's completely embarrassing to watch. It's

476
00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:17,879
Speaker 1: not a good look to see the biggest player on

477
00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:21,760
Speaker 1: the floor just like literally throwing himself down on the ground.

478
00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:26,000
Speaker 1: It's embarrassing. And then lastly, it's dangerous, not just for

479
00:23:26,119 --> 00:23:28,399
Speaker 1: Joel Embid flopping and landing on parts of his body,

480
00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:32,000
Speaker 1: but running into other people. I mean, like again, I

481
00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:34,480
Speaker 1: don't think he did it on purpose, but there was

482
00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:37,760
Speaker 1: a Joel embiid flop that led to Danny Green tearing

483
00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:40,000
Speaker 1: up his knee. It's a dangerous thing for a player

484
00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:42,960
Speaker 1: that large to be falling all over the floor. Number Two,

485
00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:45,760
Speaker 1: he needs to develop the power game to the point

486
00:23:45,760 --> 00:23:48,280
Speaker 1: where he can audible away from the jump shot to

487
00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:52,119
Speaker 1: a power game when his jump shot fails him. But lastly,

488
00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:55,159
Speaker 1: he needs to figure out the conditioning and health to

489
00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:57,760
Speaker 1: get to the point where his jump shot actually translates

490
00:23:57,760 --> 00:23:59,439
Speaker 1: to the playoffs. I think it's a combination of him

491
00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:02,520
Speaker 1: getting banged up in the increase in physicality that causes

492
00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:04,760
Speaker 1: his jump shot efficiency to tank. So he's got to

493
00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:07,000
Speaker 1: figure out a way to navigate the regular season and

494
00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:09,400
Speaker 1: make it to April healthy. And he's got to figure

495
00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:11,240
Speaker 1: out a way to improve his conditioning so that he

496
00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:14,840
Speaker 1: can handle that increased physicality when he gets to that point.

497
00:24:15,359 --> 00:24:17,600
Speaker 1: The touch is there. He's a great shooter. The numbers

498
00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:19,680
Speaker 1: are too good. If you go back and look, he's

499
00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:22,239
Speaker 1: got like three seasons in the last four where he's

500
00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:25,840
Speaker 1: over forty seven percent effective field goal percentage in jump shots.

501
00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:29,840
Speaker 1: This season fifty four percent. There was a season I

502
00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:31,600
Speaker 1: think three or four years ago where he was fifty

503
00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:34,199
Speaker 1: two percent. He's a very good jump shooter. He just

504
00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:36,080
Speaker 1: has to figure out a way to get it to

505
00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:39,000
Speaker 1: translate to the playoffs. So in summery. Joel Embiid, in

506
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:41,119
Speaker 1: my opinion, has been one of the three best regular

507
00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:43,960
Speaker 1: season players in the league over the course of this

508
00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:47,200
Speaker 1: particular decade. He's been the best volume score in the

509
00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:50,320
Speaker 1: league for about three years now. He does it on

510
00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:53,840
Speaker 1: an incredibly efficient clip, and he's an excellent rim protector

511
00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:57,480
Speaker 1: anchoring an excellent defense. That makes him, like I said before,

512
00:24:57,560 --> 00:24:59,359
Speaker 1: one of the three best regular season players of the

513
00:24:59,359 --> 00:25:03,720
Speaker 1: twenty twenties. But some combination of his injury luck and

514
00:25:03,760 --> 00:25:06,800
Speaker 1: his offensive approach have led to him having a significant

515
00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:09,560
Speaker 1: redunction of reduction and effectiveness when he gets to the postseason.

516
00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:12,879
Speaker 1: It's got to figure that out. If he does, if

517
00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:14,960
Speaker 1: he learns how to manage the grind of the NBA

518
00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:17,160
Speaker 1: season and he gets to the point where he can

519
00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:19,520
Speaker 1: play at his peak in the postseason, I think he

520
00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:23,760
Speaker 1: is capable of challenging Nikola Jokic as the best player

521
00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:25,480
Speaker 1: in the league. That is the type of talent that

522
00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:28,720
Speaker 1: he has. His ceiling is that high. We've seen it

523
00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:31,320
Speaker 1: time and time again in the regular season. He's just

524
00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:33,800
Speaker 1: got to figure out how to get it to translate.

525
00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:35,399
Speaker 1: All right, guys, that is all I have for today.

526
00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:37,359
Speaker 1: We'll be back tomorrow with number four. As always, I

527
00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:39,080
Speaker 1: sincerely appreciate you guys, and I will see you that

528
00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:02,640
Speaker 1: the volume