When Sixers rookie Joel Embiid publicly said he looked forward to guiding the Sixers to the 2017 National Basketball Association Playoffs, not a few quarters thought him overly ambitious. After all, the red, white, and blue had just notched their 10th victory of the season; they were still eight games away from eighth place in the so-called Leastern Conference eight days into the new year, and he looked like he had an oversupply of optimism carried over from the Holiday season.
Fast forward two weeks, and Embiid has slowly — and, perhaps, surely — looked less an out of touch with reality and more in tune with justifiable optimism. Since trouncing the Nuggets in last year’s last outing, the Sixers have gone a heady six and two, with the third overall pick of the 2014 draft leading the way; notwithstanding the restrictions placed on his exposure, his usage rate and productivity, especially in the crunch, rank among the best in the league. Clearly, the poster child of former general manager Sam Hinkie’s much maligned “process” has progressed quite nicely from two surgeries on his right foot.
Significantly, the Sixers’ climb to respectability hasn’t simply been an offshoot of a favorable schedule. In fact, a valid argument can be made that they’ve become competitive regardless of the perceived quality of the opposition. In their last two starts, for instance, they managed to trounce the highly touted Bucks and Raptors. And of their two setbacks since the turn of the year, only their visit to the Verizon Center, coming on the second night of a back-to-back slate and sans Embiid (who notched a DNP-Rest), could be deemed a blowout.
At this point, it would be premature to declare the Sixers free from the bottom of the barrel. For all the strides they’ve made, they remain six games out of provisional postseason play. But, hey, they now have a better record than the Nets, Heat, and Suns. What’s more, speculation is rife that 2016 top pick Ben Simmons will be making his debut late this month, confirming head coach Brett Brown’s preseason timetable. In other words, hope is finally being backstopped by substance. And who knows? Embiid may yet be proven clairvoyant when all is said and done.
* * *
Parting Shot: Embiid was a positive 20 in the plus-minus column against the vaunted Raptors yesterday, pushing his total to positive 68 in 28 matches for the season. It’s no mean feat given the Sixers’ standing. Meanwhile, every other player on the roster is in the negative on aggregate.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is the Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Basic Energy Corp.
