Getty Head coach Doc Rivers of the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Philadelphia 76ers are set to begin the preseason with one of the deepest rosters they’ve trotted out in recent memory. After a summer of additions, including PJ Tucker, Montrezl Harrell, and De’Anthony Melton, the Sixers identified and addressed depth as a key issue.
The added depth should be a boon for Philadelphia during the regular season. But come playoff time, everything will run through Philadelphia’s two marquee stars: Joel Embiid and James Harden.
The two players only spent 21 regular season games together last year, but quickly formed one of the best one-two combinations in basketball. Lineups featuring Harden and Embiid blistered opponents for 124.1 points per 100 possessions and netted over 30 free throws per game. Crunch time runs through Embiid and Harden. The front office knows it, NBA media knows, and fortunately, Doc Rivers, Harden, and Embiid know it too.
After practice on September 29, Rivers was caught on a hot mic explaining the team’s pecking order to Harden. And unsurprisingly, the order begins with Embiid and Harden.
Rivers: [W]e’ve got to establish [Joel Embiid] and you. It’s a pecking order.
Harden: Yeah.
Rivers: This ain’t a democracy.
Harden: Facts.
Rivers: It ain’t a democracy.
Harden: I know what’s going on.
Rivers: Well, you’ve been the president.
Harden: I know what’s going on. But I ain’t the president no more, which I’m fine with that. I just know, I know, like, when I start, like — if I’m not, if I don’t have the ball in my hands. (I’m) not even saying it like that, though — I just know how, like, valuable I am. It’s not even about scoring, but just the pressure that I put on defenses to where I can draw two to three people, and get Tyrese a few shots, even get, even get, Joel eight points a game where he isn’t having to do all that (shimmies as if he’s Embiid in the post).
Doc Rivers talks with James Harden following practice
Rivers also encouraged Harden to form a better partnership with Embiid in order to unlock the team’s full potential.
Rivers: 76ers Need ‘the Aggressive James’
Earlier in the exchange, Rivers explained what he needs from Harden on the floor. And unsurprisingly, Rivers demanded Harden become the facilitator the Sixers desperately need. But more than that, Rivers argued Harden’s role should be multi-dimensional.
“You (Harden) and him (Embiid), y’all gotta get a communication where y’all listen to each other, right? If you want (the ball) — like, I thought those last three or four times you wanted it. We’ve got to get you in (actions that) you want. Like, you can’t just say you’re a facilitator. I need you to be a scorer and a facilitator, and it’s gonna take time clearing it out. But we need you to be the aggressive James that you were those last five minutes (of their scrimmage). And it’s going to come. It’s going to take a while. But when it clicks, James, we’re going to be unbeatable,” Rivers told Harden.
It’s a unique behind-the-scenes look at how coaches communicate with star players. If Harden and Embiid can set the tone, Rivers is banking on that chemistry trickling down to the rest of the team.
Rivers’ desire to get Embiid going is a direct response to Embiid’s lackluster post-play last season.
Rivers: 76ers ‘Were a Horrible Post-Passing Team’
The only way Embiid can eat in the paint is if he’s fed the ball. The hard part isn’t Embiid going to work on the inside; the former Jayhawk thrives in the post. But the Sixers struggled at times last season to get the ball to their center.
That’s what Rivers is looking for from Harden this season.
“I’m just going to stay on you, because I get what you’re saying, all right? I want you to hear me first. I get it a hundred percent. But what I’m trying to get Joel first is to establish, be a better post player. We were a horrible — would you agree? — a horrible post passing team last year,” Rivers explained.
If Harden can take the reins, it will relieve the pressure on guys like Tyrese Maxey from having to pass the ball to Embiid. For all of Maxey’s wonderful offensive skills, that entry pass is one currently missing from his game.
But perhaps Harden can lead by example, giving Maxey a firsthand look at how to operate.