When asked regarding the best interiors in the league right now, Hakeem Olajuwon said yesterday that Nikola Jokic was a more effective pivot in the way he played than Joel Embiid. The Sixers pivot obviously did not appreciate the release of Hakeem The Dream, and responded to him in a rather incisive way.
Hakeem Olajuwon is a legend at the center position in the NBA. Dominant in racquets during the 80s and 90s, the pivot post design is of course linked for The Dream to the low post stance. It is therefore easy to understand that he has a little trouble with the fact of seeing the current big men deviating to take longer shots…
…Especially when the pivot in question is ultra dominant in the racket. You will have grasped it, we are talking regarding Joel Embiid. Hakeem indeed wondered yesterday regarding taking 3-point shots from the Cameroonian, which would be useless given the ease with which Jojo can open his way to the basket in the paint. A remark probably badly digested by the latterwho answered him today in a rather crude way.
“It’s funny when you have these former players talking regarding the game in the post like ‘You have to spend more time in the paint’ and all that kind of stuff. It is no longer possible to win this way. It’s not the damn 80s or 90s anymore like it used to be. So they must not have any basketball IQ” – Joel Embiid
When you were told that the guy had not taken tweezers, it was not lol eh. The little punchline sent, it is now necessary to qualify the words of this dear Joel a little. Already, the sentence on Olajuwon’s basketball IQ, yes but no sir, must respect the greats of this sport too. On the other hand, yes the game has deviated considerably from the days when Hakeem was smashing every racquet night following night.
Yes, having a big shot today is a formidable weapon and above all very penalizing for a team that doesn’t have one. In a sport where the athletic dimension is increasingly important in all positions, it would become very easy to trap an insider in the racquet to prevent him from playing as he pleases.
On the other hand, Hakeem is undoubtedly right when he explains that Joel Embiid is sufficiently effective under the basket to need to deviate as much. The Sixers star center has taken 108 3-pointers this season, or 3.2 shots per game. The percentage is correct – 35.2% – but it remains something unthinkable in the mind of the two-time NBA champion with Houston. Especially since Nikola Jokic, whose game Olajuwon praised, is also a long-range shooter, in similar proportions to Embiid.
Joel Embiid: “It’s funny when you’ve got these old guys always talking regarding posting up, ‘you need to spend time in the paint,’ and all that stuff. You can’t win this way anymore. It’s not the fricking 90s or 80s like it used to be. So, they must not have any basketball IQ.” pic.twitter.com/ykoElNlEDl
— Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) January 20, 2023
Hakeem, you pissed off Joel. No, this sentence is not taken from an obscure French series broadcast on Thursday followingnoon on Paris Première but from a debate between two NBA pivots. The two have moreover no doubt to learn from their mutual declarations like.
Source : Rich Hoffman via Bleacher Report
