Why Joel Embiid Must Dominate the Low Block to Win

Okay, John, what is the disconnect here? So the disconnect is, if we're going to have this conversation like you started, Tim, by saying that this is a clutch operation, right? Okay. If you're telling me Nick Nurse can't get Joel Embiid to go on the low block because he doesn't, quote-unquote, want to, then that, again, is a massive problem. Their advantage, every night they take the court other than two times out of the year, is on the low block. you have to double team him and if you don't he will eat you alive this is why Shaq made hundreds of millions of dollars be physically unguardable that's old school NBA that makes it easier for LeBron that makes it easier for Tyrese Maxey at this point you're you're just shooting fish in a barrel because you're waiting for them to double and now you're kicking it around and guys are shooting threes and cutting lanes are coming open because guys are rotating on defense he's a great passer take advantage and that's why i believe he's the easiest route to a championship what Tyrese Maxey can do there are 10 other guys in the league that can do that what Jaylen Brown can do there are 15 other guys in the league who can do that what Joel Embiid can do there's one other guy and if you don't allow that to maximize then again you're still going to be successful because there's a lot of talent in the starting lineup but i believe that is the easiest route to success by him playing through the low block. John, I agree with you, but people have been saying this on national platform, Shaq and Chuck have been saying this for 11 years, and he hasn't done it. So what makes you think it's like, so if I'm Nick Nurse, I'm going to try to do what I need to do to get the best out of my player. And that means, alright, if I gotta have him at the top of the key, 50% of the game, even though that pisses me off, I'm going to do it and put him in the block when I need to. See, Nick Nurse you now have the ring and this is why i know Joel Embiid has been in charge of that franchise since the day he walked through the door yeah nick nurse you got control because now you got lebron's ear yeah all you got to do is say hey lebron i'm gonna yell at him to get on the low block i need you to support me lebron's gonna go to Tyrese Max and say hey man support coach we need him down on a low block but if you don't use that and you just let him be as you called it and i agree be lazy then in 25 feet from the basket chucking threes like he's Steph Curry or Kristaps Porzingis you're cooked and I think about remember when the last time he played with LeBron was in the Olympics he didn't get minutes because he wasn't comfortable in the low block and the thing is Tim, I think the way this whole thing works and as I said before, I truly believe in Maxi and Brown and LeBron being the three and then just having him be as crazy as it sounds to have him be just play off of that i think john is perfectly right to where he says he has to play out of the low of the post or the block because i think Joel and Embiid as a playing as a traditional center and not this stretch mvp level guy that takes mid-rangers and pull up threes i think if he plays as a traditional center it's best for that team because it creates more space i believe and now you can say like him being on the perimeter going five out creates more space too for driving lanes as you guys have said but i just think him playing as a dominant traditional center and saying hey listen we saw what you can do as an MVP in this league we saw what you can do as an all nba player but on this current team if you turn into a dominant version of a post brute we are going to win a championship this year and i think they really need to make that clear or else he's going to keep doing what he was doing in on opening night although they got the win and what he's been doing over the past couple years i think you'll see it uh april 21st when the playoffs start there's no reason to no i'm i'm just i'm just telling you what i would what i think is going to happen is no there's no reason to make him change his game i mean you'll see evolutions of it but there's no reason to mandate this right now in november sure you need you psychologically need him all year long and you need him for the playoffs and then he sent his big ass down there in the block april 22nd this is a trick play you can't go okay it's playoff time now we're gonna play a completely different way that we played all they did it last year oh hold on i will say this carl anthony towns did too carl anthony towns turned into this like playmaker at the top of the key like yeah being a distributor but on that roster that's what they needed the entire time hey so what if they just say hey we need this the entire time now Joel Embiid get down there you know play styles change sometimes in the playoffs you have to manipulate your your play style a lot sometimes you're right but they've got a guy in LeBron James who only knows how to play one way i agree throughout LeBron James his entire career he's a Swiss Army knife he can do everything but you got to do it his way and that's where sometimes there's a disconnect between player and coach or LeBron and teammate and stuff like that so i think these guys are cerebral enough to know like exactly these guys are smart enough like i have confidence in all these guys to get it together and figure this thing out as evidenced by this game on opening night they figured it out as the game went on and they won