The Sixer Sense Roundtable: Joel Embiid First Impressions
By Josh Wilson
To an extent, I still don’t believe that Joel Embiid is playing basketball. I think it was a sick joke for Bernard Lowe and Dr. Robert Ford to build a Hakeem Olajuwon robot in the Westworld laboratory and sell him to Joshua Harris. But, then again, the Sixers’ majority owner would never underestimate the fans’ intelligence.
The machine-like Cameroonian center has looked better than advertised in his first five games with the 76ers; and to some, that may be viewed as an understatement. Sure, he’s looked indecisive at times. He has been caught shuffling his new and improved foot. And, he has mistaken a Sixer for a Host, but when he looks fluid, it’s terrifying.
As he continues to understand what he’s actually capable of, in his taller, heavier frame, it’ll be interesting to see how well the opposition will be able to adjust quarter to quarter and game to game against him. It is also imperative that Embiid develops the capability of updating his internal database (brain), while his opponents adapt to his playing style.
His willingness to learn on the fly will determine whether or not he’ll be able to reduce his bloated turnover numbers. Before the giveaways became a dilemma, one of his noticeable weaknesses in the preseason was his lack of assists. In the early stages of the season, he has shown a mild improvement on that front.
We should know by now that he reads what people say about him online, being that he is the mayor, president, and crafty veteran of Philadelphia social media. We also know he takes underperforming personally.
1.2 assists per game is a start.