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When Joel Embiid holds the ball in his hands, two separate games unfold. There is, of course, the basketball duel that everyone is involved in. There is also, for Embiid, a brain test in progress. He maneuvers an on-the-fly approach to generate effective scoring chances, prompting defenders to compromise their position, opening angles to manipulate or overstepping their limits by fitting into his airspace.
He is patient and methodical, his eyes and mind fixed on both the scoring and the toss. Bite on a subtle body or fake shot and a whistle cry will soon bellow. Stretch out your paw to deter its devastating midrange rider; suddenly you are tangled in his elbow, committing a glaring fault. Lean baseline after a jab-step and he whistled past you towards the middle, sneakily hooking an arm in the process.
“When you talk about drawing fouls, a lot of people, I guess, call it flop and everything,” Embiid says. “But, you know, in my opinion, it’s just about being smarter than your opponent. You must have a high basketball IQ. Like, I talk to young guys. They say, “Why can’t we make mistakes? or “Why can’t we make it to the free throw line?” I’m like, ‘You must be smart. For example, as soon as you feel the contact, you have to go through it and that’s how you are the victim of a fault. ”
All of these tactics are woven into the long-standing fabric of Embiid’s scoring prowess. In four NBA seasons, his free throw rate was 0.515, the highest rating among 32 players who average 30 points per 100 possessions over that span (minimum 25 minutes / game). This season, however, Embiid is elevating beyond mere contemporary festivity and waltzing to the foul line to a measure rivaled by a few other high-volume scorers in league history.
His .654 free throw rate this season ranks first by more than six points among 33 instances where someone has averaged at least 40 points per 100 possessions (min 25 minutes / game), since the NBA started tracking this statistic in 1973-74. . Lower the threshold to 30 points per 100 possessions and Embiid, with an average of 43.5 points per 100 possessions, slips to sixth. The leader of that second group is Dwight Howard (0.877 free throw rate), whose prospect of Embiid’s draw wealth has recently shifted from opponent to admirer and insider.
“He does a good job, I would say, playing chess,” Howard says. “He plays chess matches on the pitch. He does a good job using his body, getting physical, but he also does a good job not allowing someone to be physical with him because he knows how to draw faults.
During Howard’s bonus in Orlando, he was the author of a five-year streak averaging 28.6 points per 100 possessions and a free throw rate of .881. In every game, his intention was to corner big opponents in early foul issues. Now as a longtime understudy, he sees some commonality between his past and Embiid, two physically imposing centers leading the Eastern Conference contenders.
Together they established the same goal Howard once had in Orlando, but took it a step further, seeking a pair of quick fouls from opposing first and second defenders assigned to Embiid.
“My goal every night is to get the other crosses or the best players on the other team in trouble,” said Embiid.
“You want to set the tone,” Howard says, “like, ‘I’m going to be aggressive. I will draw fouls. ”
Two major components catalyze Embiid’s historic free throw production: intelligence and physical tools. A magnified assessment, however, reveals a few specific driving forces and patterned movements that so often point him toward the foul line. A trio of gambits is built into its scoring toolkit: the first step of rip, fake shot and zippy.
All are heightened by his shooting push to open the first third of the season. Defenders need to consider his elite mid-way skills, while also gearing up to prepare for his footwork, speed, and skill – a range of responsibilities most are unable to accomplish. .
Converting 56.3% (67 of 119) of his mid-range jumpers, he ranks first among 71 players making at least one attempt per game this year. As a 42.4% career midrange shooter, Embiid will likely experience a setback soon. But the various tossing threats he employs should continue to perplex opponents.
“It’s also more difficult for them to keep me because if you want to get hold of me [up], I’m going to be messed up, ”he said. “So, now like, if you want to keep my hands back, now I have the power to pull you back and, I don’t know, dunk on you or get easier punches.” So you have to choose your poison as a defender.
“His midrange ability, to me, is what defines a lot of his game,” Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said. “His ability to face the basket makes him almost impossible to keep there.”
The tear is where this Embiid dynamic described is most prevalent. Face to face, the defenders extend an arm in the hope of dissuading or challenging their jumper; on post-ups, any loose member is at risk of being the culprit as his efforts to combat Embiid’s physicality are exploited.
Anytime their arms aren’t directly beside them or have skied to the ceiling, possessions rarely manifest as these opponents hope or imagine. Whether he’s looking for contact or just spotting it, he moves quickly, so defenders can’t back down to cover up their mistakes.
To avoid the pitfalls of his rip-through, defenders will play Embiid with their hands in their orbit, trying to perfectly time a fight or prevent the big guy from venturing closer to the edge. Still, such an approach paves the way for him to throw his fake shot and capitalize on an NBA legislature that views nearly all defenders who leave their feet as guilty of a foul. When the most proficient mid-range shooter in the league (at least this season) fakes a jumper, instincts kick in and he marches to the charity strip.
There is discretion in its application of the rip-through. Using it on every trip on the ground is not tenable. At one point he wondered why the whole league had failed to militarize it, he says. By adding him to his repertoire, identifying Kevin Durant and James Harden as a heart-wrenching pair of practitioners from whom he had gleaned him, the delicate nature of his impact crystallized.
Young Sixers ask him how to incorporate it into their games, but an explanation or a brief tutoring session won’t be enough. Assimilation is more difficult than that. Like any trolling plan, rip-through is an art form.
“It’s actually more difficult than people think. … You must have a high basketball IQ. You have to understand the game. You have to understand the situations, ”Embiid says. “I don’t do it all the time just to do it. If we are in the bonus and your hand is there, know that I will go. It also makes me unobservable because if you give me space I’ll just get up and shoot. And then, if you want to get close to me, I have so many ways to get out of it or get shot at. So that makes it difficult.
Embiid’s profession has yielded fruitful results across 22 matches. He recorded 10 performances with at least 13 free throws (and five with more than 15). Crosses have committed more than four fouls 21 times in games against the Sixers this season, a frustrating development that periodically shows itself through the opposition’s manners and facial expressions.
“That’s how you stay efficient, going to the free throw line and getting those easy points,” says Embiid. “You don’t have to work for that and I have a knack for going to the free throw line. Sometimes I don’t really understand how, but I just do it.
Many referenced clips show Embiid running freely against a single cover. His intelligence, his physical tools and his skills are able to shake an individual defender. There is no hierarchy of opponents he has to beat to get an effective attack. It’s the result of Rivers’ desire and emphasis to place her superstar in space, knowing how difficult it is to contain him in those situations.
The concept of deploying it in space also translates into the balloon. He overwhelms the guys with strength – the type that slowly rises before you finally realize the outcome was determined seconds before – and positioning for deep seals. Aid is not fast enough to rotate and eliminate an input card. The only option left is to commit a foul, either sending a career 80% free throw shooter down the line or pushing him closer to the bonus.
Despite Philadelphia’s two-game slippage, Embiid’s MVP campaign continues. He’s been an absolutely dominant goalscorer, scoring 29.6 points per game on 66.5% actual shooting, and playing the best basketball of his career to guide the 18-9 Sixers to the top of the East.
Its historic merging of score volume and free throw rate exist as contributing factors. However, the 26-year-old says he is able to draw even more faults, to spot missed opportunities in cinema sessions that he will have to take advantage of in the future. Considering the headaches and stress he already induces for great opposing men, his responsibility and discontent certainly isn’t a respite – not that he’s interested in prolonging it.
“It’s a learning process and I still have a long way to go,” he says. “I’m not even close to where I want to be and can’t wait to keep going and improve.”
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