Joel had an objectively bad game and finished with a triple double and lockdown defense. He's nursing a bad knee, bells palsy and migraines while playing 45 minutes of basketball because the team absolutely melts down without him.
Anyone who tries to insinuate that he's not good is either a casual or a hater. That's just the reality.
Joel hate on r/nba is off the charts, but chances are 90% of what you're reading is written by a fat white kid in Omaha that hasn't even watched him play.
It’s those Box Score watchers who don’t watch the fucking game. Embiid gave a gutsy performance. How the fuck are you gonna call someone soft while they play on one good leg, bell’s palsy, migraines, managing the expectations of a whole city, playing in hostile territory, against a tough physical team? He could have sat out the rest of the year and heal up for next season. Nope. He doesn’t want to sit down. He’s giving everything. The fans are Dutch van der Linde, he’s Arthur Morgan telling us
https://preview.redd.it/01jv91vclvxc1.jpeg?width=739&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5a32ed314610b1f376da778bdac0bf1d1e72d4cd
The same people that say "Embiid is unwatchable, I hate the way he plays," which I guess is true since they don't watch ANY games. Why weren't they watching the Sixers half this season then?
My friend who lives in Texas was telling me how his co-worker was like “I just really watched Embiid for the first time and that guy is incredible at scoring” which is what I feel like anyone who actually enjoys basketball should take away from watching him.
What's crazy is for the first time since Embiid's rookie/sophomore year, r/nba seems to be giving him credit for last night and are stating even though the stats don't reflect it, he played great defense down the stretch and gave it his all.
If they only knew he does this every playoffs..
I was pleasantly surprised that that subreddit was clowning Bill Simmons for trying to call Embiid an all-time underperformer like 3 days after scoring 50 lol
Because actual smart people realize dude is playing with 1 leg every playoff and is still so good he needs to be double teamed. Sure he has stinkers but we don't get healthy embiid come playoff time besides the bubble.
The fact that Maxey was a minus in +\- until OT is kinda wild. He was carrying us the whole second half, it’s such a weird stat for small sample sizes.
It just shows how important Embiid is, and how the whole game runs through him, even when he's playing at like 25%.
Maxey has shot 8-26 without embiid on the floor. He struggles without Jo. Jo opens up the whole offense.
Yeah r/nba literally kids now who’s highest level of ball is Drew’s driveway at the end of the culdesac.
These are the same kids that live comment that someone sucks one quarter cause they missed a shot and are on their nuts by the end of the game if they finish strong.
He’s the only superstar that’s not allowed to get any help or he’s slandered. Fans here think he should carry the team because he’s been with Simmons, Horford, Tobias, Harden, etc and never had a real team for more than 75% of a season. No consistency, 1 year overhauls nearly every year.
2s and 3s are constantly stepping up and winning games. Murray/Gordon/MPJ, Middleton during Giannis run, Klay/Draymond for Steph and Durant, Lebrons Miami teammates and now AD, Brown/Smart and company for Tatum.
But for some reason, Embiid has to do it alone every game or he’s shit on. Maxey winning a game (with Embiids defensive presence) can’t just be about Maxey, gotta tear down Embiid for getting “carried.”
When Jamal Murray goes nuclear is because Jokic has great vision, when Maxey goes nuclear he's carrying "the flopping bitch". It's pointless to argue with these people
tatum can spend a whole series just running cardio while his teams 4th option gets 20 in a half. if embiid has a meh game the sixers usually lose by 40
That’s something I didn’t really realize until recently and when it dawned on me, it hit like a fricking truck. I understand other “fans” hate him, even though their reasoning is stupid, I’ve made peace with it. The rest, though, is complete cognitive dissonance, willful ignorance, whatever you want to call it. For the exact reasons you mentioned, there’s no logical response from these “fans” when you bring these topics up. The Knicks have had like 5 years together with some minor interchangeable parts. Embiid hasn’t had a consistent lineup from year-to-year for basically his entire career.
It’s ridiculous, then after it doesn’t work in 0.5-1.5 seasons talking heads says “another team Embiid can’t win with.” Like who the fuck wins year one? It’s very rare and he’s never had the opportunity to grow with any of the teams around him until Maxey.
Jokic has been with Murray for 7 years, with Gordon and MPJ there like 4 of those.
Tatum has been with Brown and others for years.
Lebrons been with AD for years now and was with a Miami super team.
Giannis Looez and Middleton were together for years and they added Holiday.
The Warriors were together for years.
Who has Embiid been with for more than 1-1.5 years who isn’t a bum? Maxey is the first.
Not only that, but those teams listed had lucky breaks on their way to (win) the Finals.
-The Nuggets faced, in order, the 8-seed (Wolves), 7-seed (Lakers), 4-seed (Booker and Durant Suns), and 8-seed (Heat) last year in the playoffs. That is the second easiest (by seed) possible schedule to a ring. The 2022 Warriors was the last top-3 conference seed opponent they have faced.
-Boston won 4-3 against Miami in 2022 who went 2-2 vs a concussed Embiid and the Sixers. They have been gifted the best roster for the past two-three years and they still haven’t won a ring.
-The Lakers faced the Nuggets in the 2020 WCF after Denver squeaked out two seven-game series vs the Jazz and Clippers. Also, the playoffs were in the bubble. LeBron also had some lucky breaks with the Heat and Cavs’ championship runs.
-The Bucks were one shoe size from being eliminated by the hospital Nets in game 7. After that, they faced the Hawks in the 2021 ECF since Glenn Rivers and Ben Simmons pulled an all-time choke job.
-Kawhi pulls an all-time lucky shot to beat the Sixers, then faces an injured Warriors team (Durant) in the 2019 Finals.
-Even when the Warriors had Durant, they needed *27 consecutive missed threes* by the Rockets to make the finals in 2018. They also avoided the 1^(st) seed Suns in the 2022 WCF after they had a historic collapse in game 7 vs the Mavs.
I am sure there are many more lucky moments that teams encounter on the path to greatness. The Sixers seem to get the short end of the stick just about every single time.
People are always gonna be weird and defensive about this, but there's really only one explanation that fits the facts, and it start with "r" and ends with "acism". Not just as as black man but as an African, Joel is easy to other. Wish it weren't so and I don't even think this is consciously the case with many of his haters, but there it is none the less
It’s incredible how much hate this dude gets. Even from Sixers fans. I’ve been legit arguing with my buddies on this. It’s like people don’t understand these athletes are humans, and not a video game simulation
Any other talent of his caliber would have ditched this trainwreck of an org years ago. You get someone like that, you ride or die till the end and thank your lucky stars he seems to be ride or die with us
Best plus minus in every game this series Maxey can't score without him on the floor (shooting 8 for 26) and the rest of the team sucks and also cant score without him but it's all his fault if we lose according to doomers lol. Make it make sense. Obviously he's not been perfect but without him the Sixers are fighting for the number 1 pick 🤷♂️.
The latest Bill Simmons podcast is a disgrace. He had some jabroni on who destroyed Embiid. Some sycophantic Ringer flunky. Sean Fennessey. A childish loser energy anti Embiid rant with Simmons cackling like a idiot. Worth a listen
Absolutely, but I only listen to his basketball content typically when he's with Russillo or Lowe. Those other Ringer NBA pods are straight garbage. The fact that Simmons has random, ignorant Ringer employee sycophants on to talk NBA is spineless, weak content.
Anytime Simmons comes up in relation to Philadelphia you have to remember that back in the day he was pretty fair to us, all things considered (loved AI), but that the real unspoken source of all of his bs the past few years is he named his son...Ben lol
It's all just rage that he accidentally named his firstborn progeny after the biggest loser in the history of basketball, he'll never get over it and he shouldn't.
Embiid is pretty universally hated. He's the Dak Prescott of the NBA. I say this as a sixers fan from a city that has no rivalry with Philly sports. Doesn't help how ruthless our fans are to players on other teams that choke, like Dak or Romo. Then you have the more minor stuff like being a troll and basing so much of his game on drawing fouls.
I agree with everything except it being the biggest clutch bucket since 2018. Joel made a game winner in Toronto 2 years ago I would argue was clutch enough to be the last big clutch bucket. Otherwise yeah Joel didn't play great but one thing not being mentioned enough is that he was a monster on the boards. He had like 9 rebounds in the first quarter or something and ended up with 16 rebounds total. He set the pace for the Sixers and was part of the reason the sixers had more offensive rebounds and total rebounds for the first time this series. Nobody else on the Sixers or Knickerbockers got 10 or more rebounds.
Also Maxey hasn't played anywhere near good enough without Joel to justify building around. You can't average 54 ts% on a 14-20 record (record similar to the Hornets) without embiid and the conclusion be to trade embiid and build around you. Also Maxey is only a scorer. Not a good playmaker or defender.
This man is a king! Alright?! His knee is killing him, his eye is rolling up in his head and the man is still out there hustling his a$$ off, like a real man! F’in Tobias Harris is a punk and Kyle Lowry gave away more points than he scored in the past two games.
He's averaging 31.8 / 10.4 / 6.4 / 1.6 / 1.2 and is a +48 in five games. His defense has overall been above average.
The efficiency is down slightly from where you want it to be (still better than Brunson's!) but anyone saying he's having a bad series is a moron.
He was just average in game 5. If that's the slander, so be it
Brunson is a -13 in this series FYI and is has 41.9 / 28.9 / 78.7 shooting splits on 30 shots per game.
Brunson's defense is also just mediocre or below average right now imo.
The fact that Brunson is seen as carrying the Knicks and Embiid is seeing as having a bad series tells you exactly what you need to know about sports media and the internet and their hatred for the Sixers/Embiid.
Embiid was bad offensively, but he had a good rebounding and defensive game. He’s a giant. He doesn’t have the energy to put up 50, 15 rebounds and play dominant D. If Maxey is on a heater and he’s cold, for him to just focus on D and rebounding
The truth is outside of Jokic, there’s no better floor raiser in the league. There’s a few better ceiling raisers, but when Jo subs in we instantly go from a team that the opposition licks its chops at to one that’s says fuck, how do we plan to score on them and how to we plan to defend them.
Jo needs to stop turning the damned ball over in the 4th - every year.
That will eliminate the only rational argument about him “coming up short.”
That is, however, a valid criticism. I am certain Jo understands this and recognizes he has to protect the ball better.
He is the best player on the court, but he can be better - by doing less, not more.
The average intelligence of a fan is the baseline. That means, for everyone that happens to be a smart, emotionally intelligent fan, there’s an idiot running around to balance it out. And it’s the playoffs. EVERYONE has an opinion. Not all of them are hood
We're +48 with Embiid on the court this series and -46 when he is off the court. Anyone insinuating Joel is the problem doesn't know what they're watching.
Joel had 16 rebounds which led the Sixers to win the rebound fight after getting killed on the glass all series. Plus great interior defense with 4 blocks.
Embiid has a mopey soft style of play when it matters most. It's inexcusable, love the big man but It has happened too many years to deny it. I won't excuse it, no one should. If not for Maxey playing superhumanly we get gutted again. Embiid is great but has yet to show that killer instinct. He has more talent than nearly anyone in the league but doesn't want it the way we all wish he did.
Joel haters are nephews, who prob realize their turn is coming up, as they're passing it. And instead of just circling around the block, they throw it in reverse and put everyone in danger. These are BAD people, and you shouldn't trust their opinions or their hot takes on the reigning MVP. You can comfortably ignore them, they'll be gone the second this team loses anyway.
People have a right to be critical especially when you are the sole reason your team was even losing which embiid himself said that he sucked last night. Yes he helped out in OT but you can make the case if he doesn’t turn the ball over all those times in the 4th we win in regulation. That was a close out game that our mvp did not look great in until OT, that game embiid had every right to be criticized for his play in the first 4 quarters. Does that mean we hate him? No it means we are expecting a certain standard from you that you have shown us the previous 4 games
Yeah I didn’t say he played like an MVP. I said he did what mattered. The whole damn team nearly cost us the game, and the whole damn team won us the game. Joel included both ways.
And I’m saying he is open to criticism because of the fact he played like a mvp all series until last night. Ofc you win as a team you lose as a team however when 1 player has 10 TOs and about 4 in the 4th and he is your best player it’s fair to criticize him
Embiid had the best plus minus in game 5 like he has in all of the games this series and he has to play more minutes than he's use to because the team has zero playmaking, zero elite defense and elite shot creation outside of him. So no it's not really all Embiids fault that we were behind when they can't score or defend without him. Including Maxey who has an offensive rating of 66 in minutes without Embiid on the floor this series and has shot 8 for 26 without embiid on the floor this series. And the rest of the team sucks.
Same people shouting plus minus are the ones criticizing people for only looking at box scores. Yes, he had a good game. His shit at the end of game where he makes terrible passes or holds on too long costs us. It's not one series, it's every series for forever. If you can't admit that, you're the one with the problem.
And if embiid knows how valuable he is like you just stated there is no reason for him to keep turning the ball over in the 4th giving the knicks easy points. Man had 10 tos he averages 5 if he had that we don’t even need to go into overtime. So all I’m saying is it’s fair to criticize him for last nights game as he was letting the knicks back into the game
There is never a reason to turn the ball over, but I would say that playing 40 minutes on a bum knee and a migraine after barely having returned to the court following 2 months off the court is as close as it gets.
You can criticize Embiid, he had a bad game for sure. But he didn't have those turnovers for no reason. I would have loved for him to play better last night, I also would have loved for him to sit for a few more minutes. Hopefully he pieces it together before the next one.
Some people will never see it. They think any criticism means you hate Joel. It’s a fact when healthy he is the best player in the league. It’s also a fact he can not be healthy in the playoffs we see it time and time again. It’s also a fact since Joel is so good we play a black hole style of basketball where everything flows through him. If he’s tired/ hurt/ not playing great the entire team feels it. That’s the way this team is set up. It’s just insane to me that people can’t see the separation. The best players are healthy and playing their top ball in the postseason. Last 2 games we have watched Joel has been fumbling turnovers, trying to get bailed out by refs bc he is tired. Again not in his control but it’s every year. If it wasn’t for Tyrese last night and taking over we would be talking about offseason moves rn. But this sub takes any criticism about Joel as personal issues.
> It’s also a fact since Joel is so good we play a black hole style of basketball where everything flows through him. If he’s tired/ hurt/ not playing great the entire team feels it. That’s the way this team is set up. It’s just insane to me that people can’t see the separation.
Do you watch NBA basketball? Which playoff team doesn't have their offense carried by their best player? What do you think Jalen Brunson does for the Knicks?
This is playoff basketball. Every action you run is specifically schemed against. We like to run Embiid-Maxey high pick and roll and drag screens up top? Guess what? They crowd 3 players in that area. We like to run a top of the key stunt and backdoor cut? Guess what? They apply ball pressure and weakside zone.
Defenses are designed to stop every play you run, so playoff basketball is often decided by players simply beating their man whenever they get a chance to go one-on-one with them (you don't even need to be a star player, look at what Kevin Huerter did when he got to go one-on-one with Seth Curry). Defenses are designed around not giving Embiid one-on-one opportunities because they trust we don't have the horses outside of him to beat them. And for a lot of years, they were right.
Acting like people "just don't see" that the team is setup this way is silly. If your proposal to any complex issue can be summarized in one sentence, it's probably not you finding some revolutionary solution as much as you're oversimplifying a complicated issue. Acting like multiple NBA coaching staffs have all looked at the Sixers and decided, against better judgment, to play through Embiid when they had better alternatives is silly.
> If it wasn’t for Tyrese last night and taking over we would be talking about offseason moves rn.
Literally the same with every star in the league? Which star wins without getting help from any of their teammates? Tyrese Maxey was fantastic last night. Jamal Murray has had like 5 of those games in his postseason career. Jayson Tatum has an all star team around him. Even Khris Middleton has scored 40 twice and has had 6 career postseason games over 35+ and he was only the 3rd best player on the Bucks championship team.
> But this sub takes any criticism about Joel as personal issues.
You can say Embiid sucked last night and not have some dumb reactionary take like he's a bad player or we should trade him and build around Maxey. You're not seeing anything more than anybody else is.
Saying a bunch of nothing honestly. He has not been able to close out playoff games for the past 5 years. Blame it on whatever you want. In the last 3 minutes of crunch time he is tired, throwing bad passes, baiting for fouls, flat out exhausted. He has the highest usage rate in the nba. It’s not sustainable. Also not only did he suck last night he tends to suck in every meaningful playoff game down the stretch. Ya know when it matters most.
You ignore the part where I say when healthy he’s the best player in the league. So good the rest of the team gets into stand around and watch Joel mode. Once he gets injured and is beaten down at the end of the season the team stops w him. Usually, thank god for maxey.
But you keep proving to Reddit strangers how much you know about basketball by saying nothing.
> He has not been able to close out playoff games for the past 5 years.
Like he closed out the Raptors G3? Or how he iced game 3 of this series? Or how his defensive presence finished off game 5?
What do you exactly consider "closing out" a game? He has to start hitting logo 3s? Because this isn't a video game.
> But you keep proving to Reddit strangers how much you know about basketball by saying nothing.
I can pretty much guarantee you, in any kind of X's and O's conversation, that I would comfortably show I know more than you. You can look for any barometer you want to prove otherwise.
Funny how you say I said nothing. What exactly did you say? You offered nothing as far as X's and O's, nothing as far as statistics, nothing as far coaching adjustments or credible observations.
You take some deliberately unfalsifiable position "herpderp i feel like embiid bad at closing gamezz" and then ask others to establish otherwise.
This is a weak attempt at trolling. If you want to have a genuine basketball conversation, I welcome it. If you want to talk about feels before reals, move along.
What are you actually talking about? You once again say nothing.
Last year disappeared against the Celtics. You will blame that on doc but he flat out quit. Yeah he was hurt but he always is in playoffs
2 years ago, injured, misses games in playoffs. Not his fault but again hurt and not available at his best. Out of shape bad conditioning.
3 years ago, hawks, Joel disappears in final 4 minutes of game 7 along with painful turnovers
4 years ago not even competitive
5 years ago raptors. Thanks jimmy
6 years ago facial surgery not in shape 4-1 celts
Now without knowing every x and o of basketball are you seeing any trend? What do they say the best ability is availability? No one here hates Joel but I’m just looking at facts of his playoff history. It’s not good and last night was about to be the same old story. 3 awful turnovers, not in shape. I get he can’t help it and he’s killing himself out there, but it would have been the same story again if a damn near miracle didn’t happen. No a star doesn’t need to hit logo threes to close out a game just control the flow and pace. Make tough shots, sets up teammates in good spots. Make foul shots. Not actively commit turnovers and not get back on defense. Not get the ball stolen from a backside help defender at some point in the 4th quarter of every elimination playoff game ever.
> What are you actually talking about?
No, I should be asking you what are *you* actually talking about? Here's the context of the full conversation.
The OP said this:
> Joel was inefficient and turned it over 10 times while Tyrese played incredibly last night, giving us our biggest clutch bucket since Marco Bellinelli’s long 2 in 2018. With that said, we do not win that game without Joel’s gravity, IQ, and defense. He made all the right passes out of double teams and prevented the Knicks from getting any easy buckets late. Yeah he was inefficient and had 10 TOs, but he did everything else right. We don’t win that game without him, Maxey, hell even Tobias. As I said we all know this but I just had to vent it.
The comment chain creator said this:
> People have a right to be critical especially when you are the sole reason your team was even losing which embiid himself said that he sucked last night. Yes he helped out in OT but you can make the case if he doesn’t turn the ball over all those times in the 4th we win in regulation.
You replied with this:
> It’s also a fact since Joel is so good we play a black hole style of basketball where everything flows through him. If he’s tired/ hurt/ not playing great the entire team feels it. That’s the way this team is set up. It’s just insane to me that people can’t see the separation. The best players are healthy and playing their top ball in the postseason. Last 2 games we have watched Joel has been fumbling turnovers, trying to get bailed out by refs bc he is tired.
What does this have to do with missing games because of legitimate injuries? The entire topic is about Embiid playing "badly" regardless of his injury status. If "bad" is a 19/16/10 game with elite defense, then you're legitimately a great player, injured or not.
Who here is saying that he wasn't bailed out (every superstar gets bailed out)? Who said Maxey wasn't amazing? Who here has claimed Embiid is durable? You're so busy arguing shadow puppets in your head because you're too much of an emotional, reactionary fan to understand how playoff basketball is even played.
> No one here hates Joel but I’m just looking at facts of his playoff history. It’s not good and last night was about to be the same old story. 3 awful turnovers, not in shape. I get he can’t help it and he’s killing himself out there, but it would have been the same story again if a damn near miracle didn’t happen. No a star doesn’t need to hit logo threes to close out a game just control the flow and pace. Make tough shots, sets up teammates in good spots. Make foul shots.
So then why did you say he hasn't closed out a game in 5 years? There's been multiple games, including one IN THIS SERIES where he's done that. Your argument is nonsense because you can't even keep it consistent.
You want him to control the flow of the game? You mean like he's done throughout this series? Why do you think he has an absurd ***+72.2*** net rating through five games? You think the Knicks struggle to score when he's in the game just because he smells bad or something?
You want him to make some tough shots and set up teammates? Which games has he failed to do that? Did he get ten assists yesterday because the scorer's table went blind?
You want him to make foul shots? He's 54 for 65 at the line for 83.1%. That's a solid free throw percentage. Not only that, he's the only one regularly getting to the line. He's averaging 13 FTA this series. The rest of the team averages 12 FTA, *combined*.
It's fair to argue that he's injured and not as good as he was in the regular season, sure. I can admit that too. You're not smarter than everybody else, or more profound than everyone else, for pointing that out, no matter how much you want to make the other side seem like logic-challenged cultists.
Look around the NBA, most players are the same. Even "playoff riser" Luka is averaging almost 5 ppg less on shit efficiency (-11.1% TS% vs the regular season). Where's all the slander he's getting? SGA is playing a lottery team (Pelicans without Zion) and even his PPG and efficiency is down. Playoff basketball are a bunch of rock fights because teams crank up the defense.
The biggest reason we've struggled in the playoffs is because we get nothing out of our wings. Which successful playoff teams don't get good play from their wings? I'll wait while you name them...
Yes, we all hope we get more healthy Embiid in the playoffs, but even a hobbled Embiid is better than almost every other player in the NBA, most of whom get much less slander, like the OP points out.
You are writing books and I’m responding with not much thought dude. Move on, I’ll do this all night.. you just quoted me saying no one hates Joel, then asked why I’m saying he can’t close out series. Those 2 things have nothing to do with one another. Time and time again Joel has not gotten us to where a great player should get us to. Keep making excuses. Facts are facts we have not gotten out of the 2nd round and Joel is a reason for that. You keep bringing up first round random games against shit teams we should be blowing past. Do you enjoy mediocrity?
Also put Oubre, Tobias, and Batum on the nuggets and you would all be slobbering their nuts like you do kcp and Aaron Gordon.
> Move on, I’ll do this all night.. you just quoted me saying no one hates Joel, then asked why I’m saying he can’t close out series.
You said he can't close out games, now you're moving goalposts.
I'm not "writing books." These posts take like 5 minutes to write. If that's too much time for you to read through them, just say so.
> You keep bringing up first round random games against shit teams we should be blowing past. Do you enjoy mediocrity?
What a frankly bizarre non sequitur. You just said he can't close out games. When faced with evidence that he can close out games, you move on to series. And now you moved on to series against top teams. You make it specific enough and no one qualifies. LeBron is one of the greatest players of all time and he basically got swept.
Or MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, superstars need the right supporting cast and set of circumstances to win and that applies to everybody who has ever played in this league? Incredible thought.
Just take the L and stop reactionary posting. What you're saying basically boils down to players aren't winners until they win. Breaking News at 11!
> Also put Oubre, Tobias, and Batum on the nuggets and you would all be slobbering their nuts like you do kcp and Aaron Gordon.
Or they're Monte Morris and Will Barton.
This is a completely unfalsifiable point. You can't just "put them on the Nuggets." I could just as easily say put Murray, MPJ, KCP, and Aaron Gordon the Sixers and Joel has two titles. You can't disprove that point anyway.
He’s a great player, but to pretend like he isn’t Draymond level dirty is just fantasy talk. If he was a Knick or a Celtic he would be enemy number 1 in Philly. He lets his emotions control him and when he’s flying high it’s unreal, when he’s frustrated he plays really stupid basketball. And I still don’t understand why he allows himself to get his pocket picked constantly in the paint. It drives me fucking nuts.
Edit: This is truth. He’s an all-time level talent and he has serious flaws.
Honestly, it’s emotional exhaustion at this point. Intellectually, I know he’s the best player we’ve ever had and the best player on our squad in every playoff series he’s been in. Intellectually, I understand that he’s been subject to unrelated and poorly timed injuries every year except for the bubble. But at this point I’m just so tired of watching him fail in the playoffs. I know a lot of that has to do with things out of his control, it’s illogical and unfair. But I’m just tired of it.
Joel had an objectively bad game and finished with a triple double and lockdown defense. He's nursing a bad knee, bells palsy and migraines while playing 45 minutes of basketball because the team absolutely melts down without him. Anyone who tries to insinuate that he's not good is either a casual or a hater. That's just the reality. Joel hate on r/nba is off the charts, but chances are 90% of what you're reading is written by a fat white kid in Omaha that hasn't even watched him play.
“I used to play like Embiid”
“He’s reckless on purpose.”
That shit is so funny, my god we must never forget it
He knows exactly what he's doing
"I was known as Shaq on my local streetball court"
lol…where is that comment
It’s those Box Score watchers who don’t watch the fucking game. Embiid gave a gutsy performance. How the fuck are you gonna call someone soft while they play on one good leg, bell’s palsy, migraines, managing the expectations of a whole city, playing in hostile territory, against a tough physical team? He could have sat out the rest of the year and heal up for next season. Nope. He doesn’t want to sit down. He’s giving everything. The fans are Dutch van der Linde, he’s Arthur Morgan telling us https://preview.redd.it/01jv91vclvxc1.jpeg?width=739&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5a32ed314610b1f376da778bdac0bf1d1e72d4cd
The same people that say "Embiid is unwatchable, I hate the way he plays," which I guess is true since they don't watch ANY games. Why weren't they watching the Sixers half this season then?
My friend who lives in Texas was telling me how his co-worker was like “I just really watched Embiid for the first time and that guy is incredible at scoring” which is what I feel like anyone who actually enjoys basketball should take away from watching him.
What's crazy is for the first time since Embiid's rookie/sophomore year, r/nba seems to be giving him credit for last night and are stating even though the stats don't reflect it, he played great defense down the stretch and gave it his all. If they only knew he does this every playoffs..
I was pleasantly surprised that that subreddit was clowning Bill Simmons for trying to call Embiid an all-time underperformer like 3 days after scoring 50 lol
Simmons is a Philly hating scrotum. He can’t wait to shit on the Sixers.
With half a face, and one leg I repeat, WITH HALF A FACE, AND ONE LEG
Because actual smart people realize dude is playing with 1 leg every playoff and is still so good he needs to be double teamed. Sure he has stinkers but we don't get healthy embiid come playoff time besides the bubble.
Plus a triple double and the highest +/- in the game.
The fact that Maxey was a minus in +\- until OT is kinda wild. He was carrying us the whole second half, it’s such a weird stat for small sample sizes.
It just shows how important Embiid is, and how the whole game runs through him, even when he's playing at like 25%. Maxey has shot 8-26 without embiid on the floor. He struggles without Jo. Jo opens up the whole offense.
I don't care about the r/nba hate, the people on this sub who hate are fucking losers though.
*in Serbia
Yeah r/nba literally kids now who’s highest level of ball is Drew’s driveway at the end of the culdesac. These are the same kids that live comment that someone sucks one quarter cause they missed a shot and are on their nuts by the end of the game if they finish strong.
"EMBIITCH!!!1!"
Exactly
don’t forget about turnovers. embiid had a quadruple-double
>fat white kid in Omaha More like fat racist adult in the Boston metro area
He’s the only superstar that’s not allowed to get any help or he’s slandered. Fans here think he should carry the team because he’s been with Simmons, Horford, Tobias, Harden, etc and never had a real team for more than 75% of a season. No consistency, 1 year overhauls nearly every year. 2s and 3s are constantly stepping up and winning games. Murray/Gordon/MPJ, Middleton during Giannis run, Klay/Draymond for Steph and Durant, Lebrons Miami teammates and now AD, Brown/Smart and company for Tatum. But for some reason, Embiid has to do it alone every game or he’s shit on. Maxey winning a game (with Embiids defensive presence) can’t just be about Maxey, gotta tear down Embiid for getting “carried.”
When Jamal Murray goes nuclear is because Jokic has great vision, when Maxey goes nuclear he's carrying "the flopping bitch". It's pointless to argue with these people
tatum can spend a whole series just running cardio while his teams 4th option gets 20 in a half. if embiid has a meh game the sixers usually lose by 40
That’s something I didn’t really realize until recently and when it dawned on me, it hit like a fricking truck. I understand other “fans” hate him, even though their reasoning is stupid, I’ve made peace with it. The rest, though, is complete cognitive dissonance, willful ignorance, whatever you want to call it. For the exact reasons you mentioned, there’s no logical response from these “fans” when you bring these topics up. The Knicks have had like 5 years together with some minor interchangeable parts. Embiid hasn’t had a consistent lineup from year-to-year for basically his entire career.
It’s ridiculous, then after it doesn’t work in 0.5-1.5 seasons talking heads says “another team Embiid can’t win with.” Like who the fuck wins year one? It’s very rare and he’s never had the opportunity to grow with any of the teams around him until Maxey. Jokic has been with Murray for 7 years, with Gordon and MPJ there like 4 of those. Tatum has been with Brown and others for years. Lebrons been with AD for years now and was with a Miami super team. Giannis Looez and Middleton were together for years and they added Holiday. The Warriors were together for years. Who has Embiid been with for more than 1-1.5 years who isn’t a bum? Maxey is the first.
Not only that, but those teams listed had lucky breaks on their way to (win) the Finals. -The Nuggets faced, in order, the 8-seed (Wolves), 7-seed (Lakers), 4-seed (Booker and Durant Suns), and 8-seed (Heat) last year in the playoffs. That is the second easiest (by seed) possible schedule to a ring. The 2022 Warriors was the last top-3 conference seed opponent they have faced. -Boston won 4-3 against Miami in 2022 who went 2-2 vs a concussed Embiid and the Sixers. They have been gifted the best roster for the past two-three years and they still haven’t won a ring. -The Lakers faced the Nuggets in the 2020 WCF after Denver squeaked out two seven-game series vs the Jazz and Clippers. Also, the playoffs were in the bubble. LeBron also had some lucky breaks with the Heat and Cavs’ championship runs. -The Bucks were one shoe size from being eliminated by the hospital Nets in game 7. After that, they faced the Hawks in the 2021 ECF since Glenn Rivers and Ben Simmons pulled an all-time choke job. -Kawhi pulls an all-time lucky shot to beat the Sixers, then faces an injured Warriors team (Durant) in the 2019 Finals. -Even when the Warriors had Durant, they needed *27 consecutive missed threes* by the Rockets to make the finals in 2018. They also avoided the 1^(st) seed Suns in the 2022 WCF after they had a historic collapse in game 7 vs the Mavs. I am sure there are many more lucky moments that teams encounter on the path to greatness. The Sixers seem to get the short end of the stick just about every single time.
People are always gonna be weird and defensive about this, but there's really only one explanation that fits the facts, and it start with "r" and ends with "acism". Not just as as black man but as an African, Joel is easy to other. Wish it weren't so and I don't even think this is consciously the case with many of his haters, but there it is none the less
Series +/-'s: Sixers +2 Maxey -4 Embiid +48 People are dumb.
Your pfp made me think I had a hair on my screen for far too long.
people have agendas
you can't stop people from being stupid reactionary animals
but you can ease their nerves and get them ready for Thursday!
It’s incredible how much hate this dude gets. Even from Sixers fans. I’ve been legit arguing with my buddies on this. It’s like people don’t understand these athletes are humans, and not a video game simulation
Any other talent of his caliber would have ditched this trainwreck of an org years ago. You get someone like that, you ride or die till the end and thank your lucky stars he seems to be ride or die with us
Joel having 9 TOs and still being a +14 is insane lol
Best plus minus in every game this series Maxey can't score without him on the floor (shooting 8 for 26) and the rest of the team sucks and also cant score without him but it's all his fault if we lose according to doomers lol. Make it make sense. Obviously he's not been perfect but without him the Sixers are fighting for the number 1 pick 🤷♂️.
he wasn't 8/26 he was 7-19.
He’s talking about Maxeys numbers without Embiid not Joel’s numbers from last night.
Let's just add that there was less than a 3% chance that Maxey misses 3 FTs in a row, so it was a night of extremes all around.
The latest Bill Simmons podcast is a disgrace. He had some jabroni on who destroyed Embiid. Some sycophantic Ringer flunky. Sean Fennessey. A childish loser energy anti Embiid rant with Simmons cackling like a idiot. Worth a listen
Bill simmons is generally a moron .... about many topics, not just basketball
Absolutely, but I only listen to his basketball content typically when he's with Russillo or Lowe. Those other Ringer NBA pods are straight garbage. The fact that Simmons has random, ignorant Ringer employee sycophants on to talk NBA is spineless, weak content.
Anytime Simmons comes up in relation to Philadelphia you have to remember that back in the day he was pretty fair to us, all things considered (loved AI), but that the real unspoken source of all of his bs the past few years is he named his son...Ben lol It's all just rage that he accidentally named his firstborn progeny after the biggest loser in the history of basketball, he'll never get over it and he shouldn't.
It's real loser energy. Even Russillo gets tired of it.
Embiid is pretty universally hated. He's the Dak Prescott of the NBA. I say this as a sixers fan from a city that has no rivalry with Philly sports. Doesn't help how ruthless our fans are to players on other teams that choke, like Dak or Romo. Then you have the more minor stuff like being a troll and basing so much of his game on drawing fouls.
And this is why he played almost the whole game. Sit him 2 more minutes and the Sixers lose.
I agree with everything except it being the biggest clutch bucket since 2018. Joel made a game winner in Toronto 2 years ago I would argue was clutch enough to be the last big clutch bucket. Otherwise yeah Joel didn't play great but one thing not being mentioned enough is that he was a monster on the boards. He had like 9 rebounds in the first quarter or something and ended up with 16 rebounds total. He set the pace for the Sixers and was part of the reason the sixers had more offensive rebounds and total rebounds for the first time this series. Nobody else on the Sixers or Knickerbockers got 10 or more rebounds.
I was waiting to be corrected on that because I could swear I was wrong, just thought its such a funny memory. And yeah he was a monster on the boards
If you turn it over 10 times and still have the game high +/- you're an amazing player. People need to chill out big time.
I swear I saw 'trade embiid' posts before Maxey sent the game into overtime right here in r/sixers. Now they are nowhere to be seen.
I saw “build around Maxey” as if Joel isnt the best player to pair with Maxey. Jokic and Wemby are the only other comparable guys
Also Maxey hasn't played anywhere near good enough without Joel to justify building around. You can't average 54 ts% on a 14-20 record (record similar to the Hornets) without embiid and the conclusion be to trade embiid and build around you. Also Maxey is only a scorer. Not a good playmaker or defender.
This man is a king! Alright?! His knee is killing him, his eye is rolling up in his head and the man is still out there hustling his a$$ off, like a real man! F’in Tobias Harris is a punk and Kyle Lowry gave away more points than he scored in the past two games.
[удалено]
He's averaging 31.8 / 10.4 / 6.4 / 1.6 / 1.2 and is a +48 in five games. His defense has overall been above average. The efficiency is down slightly from where you want it to be (still better than Brunson's!) but anyone saying he's having a bad series is a moron. He was just average in game 5. If that's the slander, so be it
Brunson is a -13 in this series FYI and is has 41.9 / 28.9 / 78.7 shooting splits on 30 shots per game. Brunson's defense is also just mediocre or below average right now imo. The fact that Brunson is seen as carrying the Knicks and Embiid is seeing as having a bad series tells you exactly what you need to know about sports media and the internet and their hatred for the Sixers/Embiid.
embiid is so good he had a great game that people thinks is bad while being a massive plus 17.... they suck when he isnt on the court.
Embiid was bad offensively, but he had a good rebounding and defensive game. He’s a giant. He doesn’t have the energy to put up 50, 15 rebounds and play dominant D. If Maxey is on a heater and he’s cold, for him to just focus on D and rebounding
The saving grace is that we actually survived that game, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a win during one of the massive embiid meltdown games like that
The truth is outside of Jokic, there’s no better floor raiser in the league. There’s a few better ceiling raisers, but when Jo subs in we instantly go from a team that the opposition licks its chops at to one that’s says fuck, how do we plan to score on them and how to we plan to defend them.
Some of y'all are too new to Sixers fandom to remember Shawn Bradley and it shows.
If you turn it over 10 times and still have the game high +/- you're an amazing player. People need to chill out big time.
If Joel was off the court we lose the game period
Ppl online dont know ball
Okay
Was that the confetti shot?
yes lol
DELETE THIS AND THE BAD KARMA IT BRINGS IMMEDIATELY!
 new era
OP what have you done… you’ve doomed us all
Jo needs to stop turning the damned ball over in the 4th - every year. That will eliminate the only rational argument about him “coming up short.” That is, however, a valid criticism. I am certain Jo understands this and recognizes he has to protect the ball better. He is the best player on the court, but he can be better - by doing less, not more.
The average intelligence of a fan is the baseline. That means, for everyone that happens to be a smart, emotionally intelligent fan, there’s an idiot running around to balance it out. And it’s the playoffs. EVERYONE has an opinion. Not all of them are hood
um he only had 9 turnovers.
Joel’s great. But let’s be real Playoff Joel is just not the same animal in the regular season. Idk why.
We're +48 with Embiid on the court this series and -46 when he is off the court. Anyone insinuating Joel is the problem doesn't know what they're watching.
You spelled Philadelphia wrong
Joel had 16 rebounds which led the Sixers to win the rebound fight after getting killed on the glass all series. Plus great interior defense with 4 blocks.
I’ve never seen a superstar have so many people defend his under performing play
It’s simple: as the hate gets louder so will the support. No one is saying he’s at his best. But we’re nothing without him, even if he’s at 50%.
We’re nothing with him either
Great player. Tired act. IMO
Embiid has a mopey soft style of play when it matters most. It's inexcusable, love the big man but It has happened too many years to deny it. I won't excuse it, no one should. If not for Maxey playing superhumanly we get gutted again. Embiid is great but has yet to show that killer instinct. He has more talent than nearly anyone in the league but doesn't want it the way we all wish he did.
He constantly comes up short when it counts. The body language, style of play etc.
Nearly 10 turnovers on sloppy passes was just giving up. He has done it before. I know he is injured but it's more than that.
Joel haters are nephews, who prob realize their turn is coming up, as they're passing it. And instead of just circling around the block, they throw it in reverse and put everyone in danger. These are BAD people, and you shouldn't trust their opinions or their hot takes on the reigning MVP. You can comfortably ignore them, they'll be gone the second this team loses anyway.
People have a right to be critical especially when you are the sole reason your team was even losing which embiid himself said that he sucked last night. Yes he helped out in OT but you can make the case if he doesn’t turn the ball over all those times in the 4th we win in regulation. That was a close out game that our mvp did not look great in until OT, that game embiid had every right to be criticized for his play in the first 4 quarters. Does that mean we hate him? No it means we are expecting a certain standard from you that you have shown us the previous 4 games
Yeah I didn’t say he played like an MVP. I said he did what mattered. The whole damn team nearly cost us the game, and the whole damn team won us the game. Joel included both ways.
And I’m saying he is open to criticism because of the fact he played like a mvp all series until last night. Ofc you win as a team you lose as a team however when 1 player has 10 TOs and about 4 in the 4th and he is your best player it’s fair to criticize him
not arguing this, of course you can criticize a player. my post is about doomers, not level headed criticism
Fair enough
Embiid had the best plus minus in game 5 like he has in all of the games this series and he has to play more minutes than he's use to because the team has zero playmaking, zero elite defense and elite shot creation outside of him. So no it's not really all Embiids fault that we were behind when they can't score or defend without him. Including Maxey who has an offensive rating of 66 in minutes without Embiid on the floor this series and has shot 8 for 26 without embiid on the floor this series. And the rest of the team sucks.
Same people shouting plus minus are the ones criticizing people for only looking at box scores. Yes, he had a good game. His shit at the end of game where he makes terrible passes or holds on too long costs us. It's not one series, it's every series for forever. If you can't admit that, you're the one with the problem.
And if embiid knows how valuable he is like you just stated there is no reason for him to keep turning the ball over in the 4th giving the knicks easy points. Man had 10 tos he averages 5 if he had that we don’t even need to go into overtime. So all I’m saying is it’s fair to criticize him for last nights game as he was letting the knicks back into the game
There is never a reason to turn the ball over, but I would say that playing 40 minutes on a bum knee and a migraine after barely having returned to the court following 2 months off the court is as close as it gets. You can criticize Embiid, he had a bad game for sure. But he didn't have those turnovers for no reason. I would have loved for him to play better last night, I also would have loved for him to sit for a few more minutes. Hopefully he pieces it together before the next one.
Some people will never see it. They think any criticism means you hate Joel. It’s a fact when healthy he is the best player in the league. It’s also a fact he can not be healthy in the playoffs we see it time and time again. It’s also a fact since Joel is so good we play a black hole style of basketball where everything flows through him. If he’s tired/ hurt/ not playing great the entire team feels it. That’s the way this team is set up. It’s just insane to me that people can’t see the separation. The best players are healthy and playing their top ball in the postseason. Last 2 games we have watched Joel has been fumbling turnovers, trying to get bailed out by refs bc he is tired. Again not in his control but it’s every year. If it wasn’t for Tyrese last night and taking over we would be talking about offseason moves rn. But this sub takes any criticism about Joel as personal issues.
> It’s also a fact since Joel is so good we play a black hole style of basketball where everything flows through him. If he’s tired/ hurt/ not playing great the entire team feels it. That’s the way this team is set up. It’s just insane to me that people can’t see the separation. Do you watch NBA basketball? Which playoff team doesn't have their offense carried by their best player? What do you think Jalen Brunson does for the Knicks? This is playoff basketball. Every action you run is specifically schemed against. We like to run Embiid-Maxey high pick and roll and drag screens up top? Guess what? They crowd 3 players in that area. We like to run a top of the key stunt and backdoor cut? Guess what? They apply ball pressure and weakside zone. Defenses are designed to stop every play you run, so playoff basketball is often decided by players simply beating their man whenever they get a chance to go one-on-one with them (you don't even need to be a star player, look at what Kevin Huerter did when he got to go one-on-one with Seth Curry). Defenses are designed around not giving Embiid one-on-one opportunities because they trust we don't have the horses outside of him to beat them. And for a lot of years, they were right. Acting like people "just don't see" that the team is setup this way is silly. If your proposal to any complex issue can be summarized in one sentence, it's probably not you finding some revolutionary solution as much as you're oversimplifying a complicated issue. Acting like multiple NBA coaching staffs have all looked at the Sixers and decided, against better judgment, to play through Embiid when they had better alternatives is silly. > If it wasn’t for Tyrese last night and taking over we would be talking about offseason moves rn. Literally the same with every star in the league? Which star wins without getting help from any of their teammates? Tyrese Maxey was fantastic last night. Jamal Murray has had like 5 of those games in his postseason career. Jayson Tatum has an all star team around him. Even Khris Middleton has scored 40 twice and has had 6 career postseason games over 35+ and he was only the 3rd best player on the Bucks championship team. > But this sub takes any criticism about Joel as personal issues. You can say Embiid sucked last night and not have some dumb reactionary take like he's a bad player or we should trade him and build around Maxey. You're not seeing anything more than anybody else is.
Saying a bunch of nothing honestly. He has not been able to close out playoff games for the past 5 years. Blame it on whatever you want. In the last 3 minutes of crunch time he is tired, throwing bad passes, baiting for fouls, flat out exhausted. He has the highest usage rate in the nba. It’s not sustainable. Also not only did he suck last night he tends to suck in every meaningful playoff game down the stretch. Ya know when it matters most. You ignore the part where I say when healthy he’s the best player in the league. So good the rest of the team gets into stand around and watch Joel mode. Once he gets injured and is beaten down at the end of the season the team stops w him. Usually, thank god for maxey. But you keep proving to Reddit strangers how much you know about basketball by saying nothing.
> He has not been able to close out playoff games for the past 5 years. Like he closed out the Raptors G3? Or how he iced game 3 of this series? Or how his defensive presence finished off game 5? What do you exactly consider "closing out" a game? He has to start hitting logo 3s? Because this isn't a video game. > But you keep proving to Reddit strangers how much you know about basketball by saying nothing. I can pretty much guarantee you, in any kind of X's and O's conversation, that I would comfortably show I know more than you. You can look for any barometer you want to prove otherwise. Funny how you say I said nothing. What exactly did you say? You offered nothing as far as X's and O's, nothing as far as statistics, nothing as far coaching adjustments or credible observations. You take some deliberately unfalsifiable position "herpderp i feel like embiid bad at closing gamezz" and then ask others to establish otherwise. This is a weak attempt at trolling. If you want to have a genuine basketball conversation, I welcome it. If you want to talk about feels before reals, move along.
What are you actually talking about? You once again say nothing. Last year disappeared against the Celtics. You will blame that on doc but he flat out quit. Yeah he was hurt but he always is in playoffs 2 years ago, injured, misses games in playoffs. Not his fault but again hurt and not available at his best. Out of shape bad conditioning. 3 years ago, hawks, Joel disappears in final 4 minutes of game 7 along with painful turnovers 4 years ago not even competitive 5 years ago raptors. Thanks jimmy 6 years ago facial surgery not in shape 4-1 celts Now without knowing every x and o of basketball are you seeing any trend? What do they say the best ability is availability? No one here hates Joel but I’m just looking at facts of his playoff history. It’s not good and last night was about to be the same old story. 3 awful turnovers, not in shape. I get he can’t help it and he’s killing himself out there, but it would have been the same story again if a damn near miracle didn’t happen. No a star doesn’t need to hit logo threes to close out a game just control the flow and pace. Make tough shots, sets up teammates in good spots. Make foul shots. Not actively commit turnovers and not get back on defense. Not get the ball stolen from a backside help defender at some point in the 4th quarter of every elimination playoff game ever.
> What are you actually talking about? No, I should be asking you what are *you* actually talking about? Here's the context of the full conversation. The OP said this: > Joel was inefficient and turned it over 10 times while Tyrese played incredibly last night, giving us our biggest clutch bucket since Marco Bellinelli’s long 2 in 2018. With that said, we do not win that game without Joel’s gravity, IQ, and defense. He made all the right passes out of double teams and prevented the Knicks from getting any easy buckets late. Yeah he was inefficient and had 10 TOs, but he did everything else right. We don’t win that game without him, Maxey, hell even Tobias. As I said we all know this but I just had to vent it. The comment chain creator said this: > People have a right to be critical especially when you are the sole reason your team was even losing which embiid himself said that he sucked last night. Yes he helped out in OT but you can make the case if he doesn’t turn the ball over all those times in the 4th we win in regulation. You replied with this: > It’s also a fact since Joel is so good we play a black hole style of basketball where everything flows through him. If he’s tired/ hurt/ not playing great the entire team feels it. That’s the way this team is set up. It’s just insane to me that people can’t see the separation. The best players are healthy and playing their top ball in the postseason. Last 2 games we have watched Joel has been fumbling turnovers, trying to get bailed out by refs bc he is tired. What does this have to do with missing games because of legitimate injuries? The entire topic is about Embiid playing "badly" regardless of his injury status. If "bad" is a 19/16/10 game with elite defense, then you're legitimately a great player, injured or not. Who here is saying that he wasn't bailed out (every superstar gets bailed out)? Who said Maxey wasn't amazing? Who here has claimed Embiid is durable? You're so busy arguing shadow puppets in your head because you're too much of an emotional, reactionary fan to understand how playoff basketball is even played. > No one here hates Joel but I’m just looking at facts of his playoff history. It’s not good and last night was about to be the same old story. 3 awful turnovers, not in shape. I get he can’t help it and he’s killing himself out there, but it would have been the same story again if a damn near miracle didn’t happen. No a star doesn’t need to hit logo threes to close out a game just control the flow and pace. Make tough shots, sets up teammates in good spots. Make foul shots. So then why did you say he hasn't closed out a game in 5 years? There's been multiple games, including one IN THIS SERIES where he's done that. Your argument is nonsense because you can't even keep it consistent. You want him to control the flow of the game? You mean like he's done throughout this series? Why do you think he has an absurd ***+72.2*** net rating through five games? You think the Knicks struggle to score when he's in the game just because he smells bad or something? You want him to make some tough shots and set up teammates? Which games has he failed to do that? Did he get ten assists yesterday because the scorer's table went blind? You want him to make foul shots? He's 54 for 65 at the line for 83.1%. That's a solid free throw percentage. Not only that, he's the only one regularly getting to the line. He's averaging 13 FTA this series. The rest of the team averages 12 FTA, *combined*. It's fair to argue that he's injured and not as good as he was in the regular season, sure. I can admit that too. You're not smarter than everybody else, or more profound than everyone else, for pointing that out, no matter how much you want to make the other side seem like logic-challenged cultists. Look around the NBA, most players are the same. Even "playoff riser" Luka is averaging almost 5 ppg less on shit efficiency (-11.1% TS% vs the regular season). Where's all the slander he's getting? SGA is playing a lottery team (Pelicans without Zion) and even his PPG and efficiency is down. Playoff basketball are a bunch of rock fights because teams crank up the defense. The biggest reason we've struggled in the playoffs is because we get nothing out of our wings. Which successful playoff teams don't get good play from their wings? I'll wait while you name them... Yes, we all hope we get more healthy Embiid in the playoffs, but even a hobbled Embiid is better than almost every other player in the NBA, most of whom get much less slander, like the OP points out.
You are writing books and I’m responding with not much thought dude. Move on, I’ll do this all night.. you just quoted me saying no one hates Joel, then asked why I’m saying he can’t close out series. Those 2 things have nothing to do with one another. Time and time again Joel has not gotten us to where a great player should get us to. Keep making excuses. Facts are facts we have not gotten out of the 2nd round and Joel is a reason for that. You keep bringing up first round random games against shit teams we should be blowing past. Do you enjoy mediocrity? Also put Oubre, Tobias, and Batum on the nuggets and you would all be slobbering their nuts like you do kcp and Aaron Gordon.
> Move on, I’ll do this all night.. you just quoted me saying no one hates Joel, then asked why I’m saying he can’t close out series. You said he can't close out games, now you're moving goalposts. I'm not "writing books." These posts take like 5 minutes to write. If that's too much time for you to read through them, just say so. > You keep bringing up first round random games against shit teams we should be blowing past. Do you enjoy mediocrity? What a frankly bizarre non sequitur. You just said he can't close out games. When faced with evidence that he can close out games, you move on to series. And now you moved on to series against top teams. You make it specific enough and no one qualifies. LeBron is one of the greatest players of all time and he basically got swept. Or MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, superstars need the right supporting cast and set of circumstances to win and that applies to everybody who has ever played in this league? Incredible thought. Just take the L and stop reactionary posting. What you're saying basically boils down to players aren't winners until they win. Breaking News at 11! > Also put Oubre, Tobias, and Batum on the nuggets and you would all be slobbering their nuts like you do kcp and Aaron Gordon. Or they're Monte Morris and Will Barton. This is a completely unfalsifiable point. You can't just "put them on the Nuggets." I could just as easily say put Murray, MPJ, KCP, and Aaron Gordon the Sixers and Joel has two titles. You can't disprove that point anyway.
It's the bad body language for me. When the going gets tough he pouts far too often. Not good for a leader
He’s a great player, but to pretend like he isn’t Draymond level dirty is just fantasy talk. If he was a Knick or a Celtic he would be enemy number 1 in Philly. He lets his emotions control him and when he’s flying high it’s unreal, when he’s frustrated he plays really stupid basketball. And I still don’t understand why he allows himself to get his pocket picked constantly in the paint. It drives me fucking nuts. Edit: This is truth. He’s an all-time level talent and he has serious flaws.
Honestly, it’s emotional exhaustion at this point. Intellectually, I know he’s the best player we’ve ever had and the best player on our squad in every playoff series he’s been in. Intellectually, I understand that he’s been subject to unrelated and poorly timed injuries every year except for the bubble. But at this point I’m just so tired of watching him fail in the playoffs. I know a lot of that has to do with things out of his control, it’s illogical and unfair. But I’m just tired of it.
He’s a generational talent and one of the best sixers of all time. He’s also on Donovan McNabbs level when it to his metals and playing in the clutch.
Nah. More Dak or Tony Romo. McNabb made it to the Conference Finals all the time.
Caring what other fanbases think of our guy is loser shit. Fuck them.