A Gold Medal Experience
A few weeks ago, the point was made here that it would be better if Sixers seven-time All-Star Joel Embiid didn’t compete in the Olympics
The main reasoning was injury as his injury history is well documented. With six weeks of extra basketball, the thought was that it would put extra toll on his body.
Well, Embiid escaped injury and he ended up winning a gold medal even though he had an uneven performance.
One has to still wonder how the mileage of the Olympics impacts Embiid in April, but one positive aspect is that he was around multi NBA champions such as LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Jrue Holiday.
Maybe that winning could rub off on him.
There is one unmistakable fact—USA would not have the gold without Embiid.
Without his 19-point performance on 8-11 shooting, including 2-3 from three-point range in the 95-91 semifinal win over Serbia, there would have been no gold medal game.
He added four rebounds, two assists and one block in 27 minutes. (Remember, the games were just 40 minutes)
In the 98-87 gold medal win over host France, he played just 11 minutes and was 0-1 from the field and 4-4 from the foul line for four points.
Embiid played in five of the six games. He was benched against South Sudan, whose fast style of play didn’t suit Embiid well.
By all indications, he took the benching well and would start the five games he played in.
He averaged 11.2 points and 3.8 rebounds in 16.8 minutes. Embiid shot well—56.8 from the field and 54.3.
During the Olympics he wasn’t the MVP Embiid, but he played well and blended with fellow superstars.
He was sixth on the team in scoring on a team that was extremely balanced. Curry, the star of the semifinals with 36 points before adding 24 in the final, led the USA in scoring at 14.8 points per game.
The fact that he stayed healthy (although Sixers fans probably held their breath when he fell after a dunk against Serbia) and won a gold medal while having a signature game in the semifinals are all positive signs.
So unless the extra six weeks including training camp and the exhibition games takes a toll down the road, this has to be considered a successful experience for Embiid.
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Author: Marc Narducci
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