The thing about “the process” is that it’s finally paying dividends, and, thus, should be trusted.
There are few players who are capable of drawing “oohs” and “aahs” on missed shots. 76ers rookie center Joel Embiid is already one of them.
On one of his converted buckets against the Hawks, the 76ers’ long-awaited No. 3 overall 2014 draft choice and noted Internet hero, unleashed a combination of moves that nearly reverted Atlanta in its entirety back to the Stone Age.
After setting an on-ball screen, Embiid popped back behind the three-point arc, where he received the rock. Embiid pump faked, then put the ball on the floor, blowing past All-Defensive Second Team power forward Paul Millsap and scoring with an athletic, acrobatic finish over center Mike Muscala.
Mind you, he’s seven feet tall.
Somewhere, exactly one single tear slowly cascaded down Sam Hinkie’s flush cheek.
The Joel Embiid experience is everything we hoped for. In limited minutes through two games — 37 to be exact — Embiid poured in 34 points, knocked down two of four threes and blocked four shots.
Plus, anyone who shouts “he can’t guard me” in his first career game while shooting 4-of-12 from the field automatically becomes NBA royalty. Add him saying that he learned his shooting stroke from watching “regular white people” on YouTube, and he’s literally already a top five most savage player of all time.
Big Men Galore
Life giveth and life taketh away.
It’s no secret that traditional big men who play with their back to the basket have been a dying breed for some time now. But if the first week of this NBA season has told us one thing: that’s far from a death sentence for big men in general.
Consider yourself lucky, because we’re blessed with witnessing in live time the birth and prosperity of the hybrid big, rising seven feet off the hardwood with the skills of a guard and ability to score from anywhere on the court.
Following Pelicans power forward Anthony Davis’ model, we’ve seen a mass proliferation of the same prototype, and it’s taking over the league.
The 2016 NBA season’s first week was a playground for Davis, Karl-Anthony Towns, Kristaps Porzingis, Myles Turner and the aforementioned Embiid.
The fact that we have another 12 to 15 years from all of those players suggests the NBA’s still on the come-up and we have an incredible amount of fun basketball ahead of us.
Oh great, now I’m crying.
New Orleans’ record says nothing
Anthony Davis (95) joined Michael Jordan (91) as the only players in the last 50 years to score 90 points over their team’s first two games with a 50-point opening-night performance coupled with a 45-point outing two days later. He returned to Earth on Saturday, though, putting up 18.
Yet the Pelicans are a ripe 0-3.
There’s no cause for panic just yet, though.
New Orleans is 2-1 if not for the opening quarter in its first two games. After the Nuggets and Warriors jumped out to six- and 10-point leads after one, the Pelicans hunkered down and out-played both teams in the final three quarters, but couldn’t quite climb out of the hole they had dug for themselves.
Coach Alvin Gentry’s second unit is painfully bad, but that will change when Jrue Holiday, Tyreke Evans and Quincy Pondexter return. What other team can say it’s missing two starters and another key role player?
In Holiday’s stead, point guard Tim Frazier is averaging 13.7 points, 9.3 assists and five rebounds per game, proving that the second unit will improve when he moves back to the bench after the incumbent point guard returns.
Anyone making rash judgements about the Pels after three games needs to R-E-L-A-X.
Jacob Hamilton is a 21-year-old political science senior from Slidell, Louisiana.