Sixers Are Still Mediocre Without Joel Embiid
For the entire Joel Embiid era, the Sixers have had one consistent era. Whenever he doesn’t play or plays poorly, they are just not a good team. Saying a team isn’t as good without their Super Star player is not exactly breaking news. But it does feel like it gets to another level with the Sixers and Embiid. They go from being able to beat any team in the NBA with Embiid, to losing to mediocre teams without him. And we saw that once again last night vs the Hawks.
Even with big nights from both Tyrese Maxey and Tobias Harris, the Sixers did not have enough firepower to beat the 15-21 Hawks. Maxey had 35 and Harris had 32. Those two players have been playing great, and it feels like Maxey is developing into the best dance partner Embiid has had yet. But the only other player to get into double digits was Marcus Morris off the bench. Their other starters only had 25 combined points.
With Embiid healthy, the Sixers were playing better basketball than any team in the league. Their net rating was the best in the NBA. Sure some of that was padded by an easy schedule in December. But they also beat the Timberwolves in that same time, so it’s not like they were only beating up on awful teams. And they had wins vs the Celtics, Pacers, and Thunder earlier in the season too.
But then Embiid hurt his ankle. He came back for a bit, but now he is out with a knee injury. Altogether Embiid missed 9 games through either injury or illness, and in those games, they are 2-7. Their points per game fall almost 10 points without him, and they allow around 7 more points per game. It makes the MVP case for Embiid a little stronger. But Sixers fans aren’t after individual awards this season, they want to see a real trophy. And it feels like this issue could once again prevent them from doing that.
In the regular season, they always survive. But we have seen it hurt them in the playoffs. Either when Joel Embiid misses games or is limited. As much as we would love a healthy Embiid in the playoffs this year, it’s not exactly something you can bank on. And based on what we have seen so far this season, they are still not prepared to win when Embiid is not at his best.
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The All-Time Roster of Sixers Players We Underrate
Point Guard- Andre Miller
(Photo by Dave Sandford/Getty Images)
Being the guy who replaces Allen Iverson for the Sixers is a tall task. He was never going to be what AI was. But Millers was as professional as it gets. His presence kept the Sixers at least somewhat relevant for his 3 years here. He played great defense, ran the floor well, and scored 15.9 points per game. That period for the Sixers is pretty forgettable. But Miller at least did his part in giving Sixers fans something to watch.
Shooting Guard- Hersey Hawkins
(Photo by Mike Powell/Getty Images)
The Sixers were not a great team when Hersey Hawkins played for them. They had Charles Barkley, but not much else went well for them. Which of course eventually led to them trading Charles. Which to this day is one of the worst trades in franchise history. But Hersey Hawkins was at least one other player worth appreciating in that era. In his 5 seasons here he averaged 19 points and shot over 40% from 3. And in perhaps one of his best moments with the Sixers, he once got 9 steals in one game against the Celtics. That is still a franchise record, though Allen Iverson matched it twice.
Small Forward- Andre Iguodala
(Photo by Chris Chambers/Getty Images)
Iguodala is one of those players we did not appreciate enough while he was here. And for reasons that are not all his fault. Sixers fans were desperate for a Star Scorer. That is just not who Iggy is. He did a lot of great things and would have made a perfect complement to a theoretical star player if the Sixers had ever landed one. But they never did pair him with that guy, and it put a spotlight on Andre Iguodala that he was not equipped to live up to. Still, he was great for what he is, and we would all love to have someone similar to him on this Sixers team right now.
Power Forward- Thad Young
(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Thad Young was never a star. But what he was is a guy who gave it his all every single night. He even won the NBA Hustle Award later in his career when playing with the Bulls. He averaged 13.7 pts and 5.5 rebounds per game in his 7 years with the Sixers. He even stuck around for a bit into the Process years.
Center- Samuel Dalembert
(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
There are a lot of great Centers in Sixers’ history. Joel Embiid, Wilt Chamberlain, Moses Malone, Daryl Dawkins. It doesn’t leave much room to appreciate other centers. But Samuel Dalembert is worth taking some time to appreciate. Yeah, he was not scoring like those other guys. But for 8 years he gave the Sixers a pretty great rim protector. He averaged 1.9 blocks per game in his Sixers career and even had a few seasons where that number crept up over 2.
6th Man- Kyle Korver
(Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)
This is cheating because Korver also flirted with being a starter here. But what made me pick him was his final year here, where he played in 74 games but started just one. And yet, he led the league in FT% and was 9th in 3pt%. In one game he even scored a career-high 31 points off the bench against the Knicks.
