PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia 76ers are sitting at 9-3 as the No. 2 seed in the East. That is the good news.
The bad news is, the offense has looked a bit clunky as they rank 22nd in the league in offensive rating and superstar big man Joel Embiid has gotten off to a slow start. The big fella is shooting just 37% from the floor overall and 4-for-33 from deep through his first 10 games. Of course, all of this was going to take some time as he adjusts to a new role with the additions of LeBron James and Jaylen Brown, but Embiid has taken responsibility for the team's sluggish offensive attack.
"We’ve got a long way to go, but I think everything, it all comes down to shot-making," Embiid said of the team's offense at shootaround on Thursday morning.
"I’ve said this so many times, it feels crowded, but I also think it’s because I haven’t made shots. I put it on me."
One has to wonder if Embiid's offensive process has changed. This is a big adjustment for somebody who's so used to creating his own shot and needing to do everything on the offensive end. In the past, the Sixers would run everything through him. His usage percentage is down to 27.9% which is low for him. The lowest his usage percentage was before this came in the 2019-20 season when it was 32.9%.
Therefore, with so many ball dominant players around him now in the form of James, Brown, and Tyrese Maxey, there is an adjustment period for Embiid. However, if one asks him, he doesn't view it that way. He just needs to make shots.
"No, because I think we have the ultimate connectors in Bron and me," Embiid explained. "You just want to make the right plays and pass the ball, make the game easy for VJ (Edgecombe), Reese or JB. So like I say, I put it on myself to just, quite frankly, I just haven’t been aggressive. So I think it’s on me to just be aggressive about making plays, whether it’s scoring or making plays for someone else."
Obviously, the Sixers are sitting at 9-3, and things are going well. Obviously, there is work to be done, but in the eyes of Embiid and Co. they're winning and that's the important thing that matters. It's better to be winning and there being work to be done rather than the opposite.
"We got a long way to go," Embiid finished. "Obviously, offensively and defensively, we're not where we want to be, but pretty good start. I think it's pretty exciting that we all feel like we’re not even close to where what we should be doing. We just gotta keep getting better."
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Joel Embiid gives latest comment on poor shooting, talks 76ers offense
