Does Joel Embiid's 3-point Shot Hinder Him in Some Ways?
Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid has been praised for his 3-point shot, but in some ways, him playing out by the arc could hurt him, according to Hassan Whiteside.
Without a doubt, the Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid has been the most exciting rookie in the NBA this year. So it’s no surprise that opposing players, especially after taking a loss to Embiid and the Sixers, are asked to talk about Embiid by the media.
Embiid is a bit of a mystery in the new age of the NBA. While many people prophesied that the low-post centers would be dead in the new age of the NBA due to the trend of successful basketball teams needing 3-point shooters, players like Embiid and Towns are challenging that narrative, impacting the game in huge ways as dominant big men all over the court. The big men are not dying, but the ones who can not adjust to the new pace of the NBA might be.
Another player that has proven that big men who are dominant in the paint are not dying is Hassan Whiteside. Whiteside is a high-energy big man who is able to get lots of blocks, rebounds, and points on any given night. He strays from the skill sets of Embiid and Towns in a sense that he does not possess a 3-point shot or much of a game beyond the post, but his game is effective nonetheless.
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After he scored a career high in points against the Sixers (but lost) he was asked about how hard it is to defend Embiid beyond the arc, and why, in some instances, he didn’t even try to defend Embiid, leaving him wide open.
“It didn’t hurt us. He’s 7-3, if he’s out there, we’ll be holding him to like five rebounds,” Whiteside said in the locker room after the loss to the Sixers. “I’m okay with him taking shots out there.”
That’s an interesting philosophy to approach regarding Embiid, who has been shooting nearly 50 percent from beyond the arc so far in his NBA career. It’s one that not just Whiteside has adopted, but plenty of teams who have had the challenge of guarding Embiid. We often see him wide open with no contention from anyone beyond the arc.
It’s a hard thing to handle. How does one guard a player taller than 7 feet that can be dangerous from beyond the arc? If you adopt Whiteside’s philiosophy, you basically accept that he might hit some shots but hope that what you get in return for that is him not being in the paint getting rebounds.
If you bring your big man out to guard Embiid beyond the arc, he could easily get blown by. Embiid has decent speed for a big man and solid ball-handling skills. If you put a guard or wing on Embiid, he may be able to muscle right past them, or even shoot over them.
Whiteside isn’t wrong about limiting Embiid’s rebounds by letting him take those shots. What he is wrong about is saying, “it didn’t hurt us.”
And maybe that same way of thinking is why we’ve seen so many teams leave him open from beyond the arc. That being said, Embiid isn’t quite hindered by the opposition letting him take 3-pointers. The other teams have basically accepted that Embiid is going to hurt them in one way or another, and they are simply choosing what they believe is the lesser of two evils.
It doesn’t matter what you choose, Embiid will hurt you in any way he can on the court.
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