The Sixers have gotten off to a hot start, sitting in second place in the East with a 10-2 record heading into Friday’s slate of games, but star center Joel Embiid is far from satisfied with the team’s performance, according to Sixers reporter Keith Pompey.
“We got a long way to go,” Embiid said. “Obviously, offensively and defensively, we’re not where we want to be. But, you know, a pretty good start; I think it’s pretty exciting that we all feel like we’re not even close to doing what we should be doing. We just got to keep getting better.”
While the Sixers’ defense has been very good to start the season, the offense ranked just 24th going into their game against the Raptors on Thursday.
Part of that is due to the struggles Embiid has had finding his place in the new-look offense, according to Kris Rhim of ESPN (Twitter video link).
Embiid is currently averaging career lows in points (17.9 points), field goal percentage (37.4%), three-point percentage (11.1%), and free-throw attempts (7.3), and Rhim notes that in the preseason, the former MVP rejected the notion that the Sixers’ talented starting lineup would have to sacrifice to find success.
We have more from the Sixers:
- LeBron James’ impact on the Sixers roster has been unmistakable through the early part of the season, Adam Aaronson writes in a piece on how the team found out James was coming for the Philly Voice. Second-year guard Caleb Love described what it’s like having a player many consider the greatest of all time playing alongside him. “You want to raise your level,” Love said, “because you are playing with one of the greats, and you want to stay sharp and you want to be on that same level as far as your work.” Another young player, rookie Labaron Philon, talked about how valuable it is to be surrounded by such a great player. “Picking up the things that they do and the things that they have in their routine and how they go about their day,” Philon said. “Learning from a distance is really a great thing, but asking questions for sure. I feel like just picking up the things they do during the day and (I) can carry that on for my future career.”
- 7’6″ center Thank you Fall has always been a fan favorite, but while the chants of “We want Tacko” are nice, he says it’s something of a mixed blessing, Aaronson writes. “I appreciate it — a lot. Obviously, I think it’s all love. People want to see me play. Obviously, I haven’t really played in a very — they haven’t seen me play in a long time,” Fall said. “There’s a level of excitement that comes with that. But the flip side of that is… it looks more like a foster kid, Make-A-Wish kid, just gets a couple minutes at the end. Which, I’m more than that. Especially now. I’m just a pretty good basketball player. So that’s the conflicting (part).”
- The Sixers had their most publicized game of the season when they matched up against Jaylen Brown’s former team, the Celtics, which also featured a reunion with Paul George. Despite the drama coming in, there was little excitement in the game score itself, as the Celtics left Philadelphia with a resounding victory. It shows how far the Sixers are from where they want to be, Jay King and Tony Jones write for The Athletic (subscriber link). Despite the reality check, the team isn’t overreacting, Gina Mizell writes for the Philly Inquirer. “We’re still learning each other and learning how to play with each other,” Dean Wade said. “It’s going to take games like this, and some bad stretches, to mold us a little better and get us a little tighter. So we’re growing, and there’s growing pains.”