CAMDEN, N.J. — A day after starting Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor together for the first time, the Sixers had a chance to review film and break down what did and didn’t work in their loss to the Raptors.
Okafor seemed more comfortable in the duo (see story). Embiid, though, looked out of place many times away from the basket and noted “he didn’t trust the process.” Brown can understand why Embiid, who scored a season-low nine points, felt that way.
“His world was changed for a moment, so I can see why he wouldn’t trust the process,” Brown said Thursday. “He was in a different land for a large portion of the game."
Still, Brown intends to pair Embiid and Okafor again. He could do it as soon as Friday against the Lakers to counter Timofey Mozgov and Julius Randle. Brown also sees opportunities for Embiid to play center in the pairing.
“I just think through familiarity of our floor spots and how he finds ways to get himself engaged and he can control his own destiny and still impact the game, I think that’s going to come in a very natural way,” Brown said.
Embiid worked on establishing more of an offensive rhythm at the four spot Thursday. He does not want to play as far from the basket as he did Wednesday. Brown said he can run more plays to get the big man on the block, but there are also opportunities for Embiid to get there himself in transition.
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“I’m not a three-point shooter and I don’t want to take a lot of threes,” Embiid said. “I want to be dominant on the block. But last night was kind of frustrating because I wasn’t as much on the block. But I’ve just got to find my spots and get into the flow of the offense.”
Fellow center Nerlens Noel knows firsthand what it is like to play out of position. He did it frequently last season while the Sixers tried to determine how he could share the floor with Okafor. This season, he has been candid with his opinion that the Sixers' frontcourt has too many five men.
Noel, who was sidelined by an ankle sprain, saw obstacles in Embiid’s performance.
“It was tough,” Noel said. “I don’t think Joel was too all into it with playing on the perimeter. It’s different dynamics of having big men that can do different things on the court. It’s a tough task to really figure out, if it’s even able to be figured out.”
Embiid said he expects to play on Friday against the Lakers after bumping knees with Dario Saric at the end of practice (see story).
