It wasn’t a huge deal – the Jazz didn’t even score – but it was insanely frustrating for me, because it perfectly encapsulated this year’s team: no communication, no spirit, no urgency, no effort. Soft and lazy, lazy and soft.
It happened [late in the 2nd quarter](https://streamable.com/h8vgv9), while the Jazz were on a run to cut our huge 1st quarter lead.
Embiid’s in drop coverage and we just straight up give Clarkson a wide open 3. Yes, Kessler was moving on the screen, but literally everyone does and it’s not getting called. The main problem is that Melton doesn’t know Kessler is coming, which isn’t on him, but on Embiid.
I get it, you can’t be concentrated 100% on every play, but this was **right in the middle of their run ffs**. Any team with an ounce of competitive spirit would see a gutted Jazz team on a run and would want to put them back in their place by tightening up defensively. Alas, no, not the Sixers.
And okay, fuck it, you had a brainfart, didn’t yell out to your teammate to ICE the screen and take away the middle, shit happens; at least GRAB THE FUCKING REBOUND. Instead what do the Sixers do?
Melton feels he’s behind the play and doesn’t move to box out Clarkson. But then he neither crashes for the board, nor leaks out for a transition opportunity.
Harden just stands around ball-watching in case the ball lands on him, Tucker kinda sorta reaches for the ball, and Embiid, who is in no-man’s land, “boxes out”.
Kessler obviously plows though that shit with the same ease I’d plough Margot Robbie if she gave me a chance, and gets ahead of Embiid. Clarkson has teleported to the rim and [actually gets fouled](https://i.imgur.com/JQFCV2K.png) on the putback after getting to the ball first.
He blows the putback, but Kessler is there for the tip, because Joel apparently only jumps when it’s time for a chasedown block (he’s admittedly awesome at them). Kessler gets the board and would have inevitably scored if we didn’t get bailed out by a wrong call.
Breakdown followed by a breakdown followed by a breakdown. I honestly don’t understand how we’re top-5 in dRTG, that shit makes no sense when I watch the games. I’m just kind of sick of this team when they play like that, especially after all that dumb talk about being the best defensive team in the league at the start of the season.
If they don’t start building better habits now, we’re minced meat come April – May. We can’t keep playing that soft, yet there’s no change in sight.
We’re 10-fucking-ply, buds.
by Correct-Round-2444
3 Comments
1000% right there with you. It’s the TEAM defense that’s awful. And honestly the defensive rating thing is only a thing because of the inflated scoring of this era. That doesn’t mean that they(or any team these days) are actually playing good defense, it’s just if it’s less shitty defense.
This team is the worst at X-out rotations in the league(as this play you mention illustrates.). Rotations are way too late, bigs end up having to defend two on one, and Embiid’s effort on box outs has definitely compounded the problem.
The team’s spirit and communication on defense is a zero, combined with slow fleet feet and we’re going to be a first round exit.
That attempted and failed blockout on Kessler by Embiid bothers me. One of the easiest and most fundamental plays in basketball and I see this shit every game.
Embiid is a better drop-coverage defender/rim protector. He is great at defending the inside and deterring drives, but can be blown by on drives. He could have contested Clarkson’s shot, Clarkson hadn’t made a three-pointer yet (0-6 in the first half). However, he was making a lot of drives and floaters inside the arc. The better option is to defend the free-throw line where Clarkson was hot all night.
What was bad for Embiid though was his positioning on the rebound. I think he could have been in a better position to go after that rebound instead of standing so far out. However, he probably could be cut some slack since there is no telling where a three-point attempt would bounce off the rim. Someone should have been watching Clarkson as well. Fortunately, Tucker got to the spot just in time to get the rebound first and got fouled(but could have been a tad quicker for insurance).
I will admit that I don’t know much about basketball plays and defense, but I am curious what they could have done better other than Embiid’s positioning on the rebound and watching Clarkson run to get the rebound:
-Melton got caught on the screen
-Embiid defended where Clarkson was hot instead of where he was cold
-Embiid made an awkward and low-energy attempt at boxing out and getting a rebound
-Tucker beat Clarkson to the rebound to draw a foul.
Players get open once in a while in the current era and it is harder to play effective defense. If this play happened several times, then I would really question what happened. But if this only happened once or twice, then that is just a rare strange play on defense (I didn’t watch the game, so I am unsure how many times this happened).