During the 21st century, the rule was that anyone can be MVP repeat the award the following season and Joel Embiid He does everything in his power to do so. Its key figures take on a historical aspect, with 35.1 points, 54.1% shooting, 11.8 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.9 blocks. Data more typical of legends of his caliber Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor as the only ones who, in part, achieved these elements.
However, Embiid’s stats have a bit of an asterisk. Almost it 52% of the games played by the African were against teams with less than 50% wins and just 10 overall against opponents with a positive balance. That’s why the meeting in front of Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday, December 20, appeared as a date circled in red on the 76ers’ internal calendar.
On the one hand, the Cameroonian had lost the first head-to-head against them of the season, and on the other, it was a great opportunity to see how true Embiid’s performance was. A head-to-head between the best player on the course and the most experienced side of the current campaign offered an unbeatable scenario.
The result? An outstanding and dominant performance in capital letters from Joel Embiid: 51 points on 17 of 25 field goals (68%), 17 of 18 free throws, 12 rebounds and 3 assists.
Embiid overcame a defense that had allowed the opposition to score more than 120 points on only five occasions during the stretch (the Sixers scored 127) and where only Dejounte Murray had managed to break the individual 40-point barrier.
How did Joel Embiid do it? Developing a very old style of play that completely shut down the Minnesota Timberwolves defense.
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Joel Embiid and the time machine
Joel Embiid He is one of the few active players who continues to base a large part of his game and scoring on shots from the average distance. The progressive emptying of the so-called dead zone due to its low effectiveness had an unexpected effect on the formation of the defenses, which made the decision to allow the opponent to launch as many shots as he wants from these points. The 76ers star was able to take advantage of that crack to become a specialist here as well as an unstoppable player from the header.
The Timberwolves’ defensive system relies on collective rim protection based on a complex help system explained in detail in this Sporting News article. So, Minnesota pays special attention to stopping the opposing team’s divisions, putting a lot of pressure on operators and immediate blocking. However, with Joel Embiid this is a very risky strategy. Because? Because the Cameroonian makes almost the same attempts in the middle distance (5.9) as at the rim (7.1). In fact, the interior is the only player above 50% success rate with 5 or more attempts per night from the so-called dead zone.
In the game against the Wolves, Joel Embiid gave the opposing defense no options, barely putting the ball on the ground and completely destroying the opponent’s defensive scheme. Just look at the shooting board to see how tremendous his accuracy is:
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That 11-of-14 from mid-range shouldn’t be taken lightly, rather it’s an anomaly for which Minnesota had no answer.
And Embiid overcame the different grades he was given each time. It didn’t matter if it was Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns, Naz Reid or Kyle Anderson. MVP was a steamroller:
With no outstanding tactical displays on the part of Nick Nourse, the coach only had to provide the African with a situation in the middle of the pitch where he could receive and simply execute a shot. When you take out Gobert of the paint, forcing him to act as the main focus of individual defense, the Timberwolves’ collective scheme could not find an alternative to stop Embiid.
Chris Finch took a dangerous route by allowing Embiid to shoot as many times as he wanted from there, hoping that, at worst, he would connect on 55% of his attempts. The reality was that the 76ers star went up 78.6%many of them have little defended shots.
And worse, he got a handful of fouls thanks to the interior’s expertise in feigning and deception.
The header wasn’t the only place where Joel Embiid got his exposure in the purest old-school style, but he also exposed Minnesota to elbows and the low post, before which the best defense in the NBA couldn’t do much to stop him. . :
Not even in explicit clarifications:
Joel Embiid represents a basketball that no longer exists. The progression of the game has relegated players of this type to a dusty shelf. The technical precision, detail and sophistication required to master these fundamentals for a man of his size, combined with the fact that defenders are now better, more skilled and teams are tactically more prepared, make the African unique.
The Minnesota Timberwolves defense is designed to destroy any opponent in its historic framework, where the paint and perimeter take center stage through splits and direct blocking. However, for someone like Embiid the only answer is to force him to pass, to make him feel the constant pressure of thinking about finding an open teammate.
And, for now, only Boston Celtics and Miami Heat They seem to have it figured out in this NBA.
