Getty Joel Embiid #21 of the Philadelphia 76ers.
For all of the front office’s efforts to inject some toughness into the lineup, the Philadelphia 76ers still feel like a bunch of pushovers. Montrezl Harrell and PJ Tucker were supposed to add some serious snarl to a Sixers team that got bullied by a much more physical Miami Heat team during last year’s playoffs. The results? Middling. At best.
But that hasn’t stopped practices from being hotly contested, at least. At Sixers practice on Thursday, Tucker brought some hardcore physicality to rookie Jaden Springer. After Tucker forced a tough shot (bricked) from Springer, Joel Embiid stepped up, and as Sixers beat writer Ky Carlin noted, “bullied” Tucker.
PJ Tucker just bullied Jaden Springer, but then Joel Embiid bullied Tucker in some competition after practice #Sixers
Now, if only that toughness translated onto the actual court.
Tucker Says Sixers ‘Gotta be More Physical’
The lack of physicality is something Tucker spoke about earlier this week.
“We gotta be more physical. Period,” Tucker explained. “We’ve kinda been saying that all year, but we gotta be more physical. We gotta hit first. We gotta be more aggressive on the box outs and helping each other. It’s not always the guy that’s actually boxed out. It’s like the help, the guy behind him, and just being on the same page, but we definitely gotta be more physical. That’s without a doubt.”
Despite carrying the league’s best defense in November, the Sixers still look soft on the defensive glass and paint. The team is coughing up a 70 percent make rate at the rim, one of the worst marks in professional basketball. Some of that is because Embiid has missed time with injury, but even with Embiid on the floor, that figure is only marginally better (67 percent).
Philadelphia is also getting bodied on the defensive glass. The team ranks 26th in the league in defensive rebounds, just a hair ahead of the 7-20 Detroit Pistons. That’s precisely the reason the Sixers brought Tucker to the City of Brotherly Love. His 3.1 defensive rebounds are tied with Tyrese Maxey for fifth-most on the team — not quite the mark you’d like to see from your starting four or, occasionally, stretch five.
Embiid Also Needs to Do More For Sixers Defensively
Though he leads the team in defensive boards, Joel Embiid could certainly do more to up the ante in terms of team defense and physicality. As Paul Hudrick of Liberty Ballers noted, the problem comes down to both Embiid and the lack of the Sixers’ physicality generally.
“As with most things it feels like the Sixers’ rebounding issues could be a bit of both. Does Embiid being forced to challenge guards in the paint leave the opposing big in a favorable position to grab offensive rebounds? Yes. Could the Sixers do a better job of boxing out opposing bigs and other players in general? Yes.”
If Embiid is indeed getting pulled out of the paint more often, it would go a long way toward explaining why Philadelphia concedes such a high rate of shots at the cup. If Philadelphia can solve the problem of Embiid wandering out of the paint, it likely would have a two-way effect: Embiid could gobble up more boards and opposing teams likely would think twice before challenging the former Kansas Jayhawk at the rim.