CHICAGO -- On paper, Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid had a solid outing in Sunday'swin over the Chicago Bulls. The big fella had 18 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists. Anybody would take that stat line.
However, when Embiid is who he is and is one of the more dominant players in the league, something just feels off.
He shot 7-for-19 against the Bulls and missed both of his 3-point attempts as he fell to 3-for-30 from deep on the season. Clearly, there is still work to be done, but what exactly feels off? What needs to be pinpointed?
"Everything," Embiid stated. "And Joel Embiid being Joel Embiid."
Joel Embiid being Joel Embiid. The big man who can literally do everything on the floor. The big fella is a player who can score at all three levels
and is somebody who can take games over in the blink of an eye. That is the Joel Embiid the Sixers will need to reappear as they move forward. Of course, they have so many different scoring options now to take the pressure off him, but Embiid is looking to get back to himself.
"Yeah, just being dominant," Embiid explained. "I just haven't been that. Just working on it. Just gotta get there. Gotta get through this phase, and then yeah, just keep putting the work in, and you know, whenever that gets there, we’re gonna be fine. But yeah, that's the goal. Figuring out how to just be myself again."
On the flip side, Embiid did grab 10 rebounds with eight of them being on the offensive glass. However, most of that was due to him missing shots short and he was just there to clean up his misses. So, on one hand, it's helpful that his second jump has been fantastic, but in Embiid's eyes, he should just make the initial shot.
"When everything is short and you're missing your own shot and everything is short and the ball bounces back to you, it doesn't really matter if you have a second jump," he said succinctly. "You know, second jump. So, yeah. Yeah, if I get offensive rebound, it's probably because I missed my own shot."
Obviously, Embiid is much better than this. A lot of his slow starts could be attributed to him still recovering from a myriad of injuries, but the Sixers need him to find his rhythm again. Philadelphia is off to a 9-2 start, so it has found ways to earn wins, but Embiid finding his groove would go a long way for this team's contender status. Embiid being Embiid unlocks a lot of doors for Philadelphia.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Sixers star Joel Embiid has a message for himself after win over Bulls
