After leaving Harden, the NBA's top scorer has completely become a 'data brush', making the MVP lose its gold content and become the biggest joke!
Text: Lao Kan Kanqiu
Editor|Lao Kan Kanqiu
Nearly a third of the way into the new NBA season, the league is gradually becoming clearer. In the East, the Celtics, Bucks and 76ers lead the way, while in the West, the Timberwolves and Thunder occupy the top two. At the same time, many historical-level offensive powerhouses have been born in the league, such as the Pacers in the East, whose offensive efficiency has reached an astonishing 122.6 so far, which is not only the first in the league this season, but also the first in NBA history. In addition, the offensive efficiency of teams such as the Celtics and the 76ers is also among the highest in history.
In the context of the league's encouragement of offense, teams pay more attention to offense and fast-paced play, all teams are actively focusing on fast break and three-point shooting efficiency, and some teams even give up defense directly and go all out to advance the offense. This change in tactics, coupled with the change in penalty scale, has allowed many stars in the league to get 20+ or even 30+ free throws in games, which has also led to an explosive increase in player statistics.
This compares to a decade ago, when Westbrook won the scoring title, averaging just 28.2 points per game. At that time, there were only three players in the entire league who averaged more than 25 points per game: Westbrook, Harden and James. Today, there are as many as 19 players who average more than 25 points per game, and as many as 4 players who average more than 30 points per game.
It is true that defense is still very important, and teams like the Timberwolves, Magic and Rockets have emerged as the big dark horses of the new season with the top 10 defense in the league this season. However, what is incomprehensible is that the NBA's criteria for selecting Most Valuable Players (MVPs) seem to be becoming more and more superficial: although team record is still the premise for MVP selection, on this basis, as long as the players can play good enough statistics, as long as they can play good enough stats, as for their true strength and how well they perform in key moments and in the playoffs, it seems to have been completely ignored. Bombarding 51 points, slashing 50 points, the NBA's leading scorer turned into a data brush, you made the MVP the biggest joke!
Last season, in the second round of the Eastern Conference against the Celtics, Embiid was absent due to injury, and the 76ers, under the leadership of Harden alone, did not present a one-sided situation, on the contrary, with Harden's extreme play in two games (42 points + 45 points + two consecutive three-point kills), the team once took a 3-2 lead. However, in the end, they were unfortunately eliminated by their opponents in two consecutive games.
The reason for this is Embiid's selfishness. When Harden carried the team out of the quagmire alone, Embiid came back and directly took over the offensive banner. However, his performance was disappointing. In the crucial G6 game, Embiid scored 26 points on 9-of-19 shooting, which seemed reasonable, but in the crucial G7 game, he scored only 15 points on 5-of-18 shooting, and had 4 turnovers. Such a performance was a big surprise and a far cry from his performance in the regular season. That's how the league MVP performed in the playoffs last season, and it became a joke.
This season, after Harden left, Embiid's statistics have risen even more, soaring all the way, averaging 35.1 points, 11.6 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game, and his average points per game leads the league first, not only that, he also continues to break various records in NBA history, showing unparalleled scoring ability: he became the first player since Harden to score 30+ in at least 15 consecutive games, an achievement that is enough to make him leave a strong mark in history.
What's even more amazing is that he has scored at least 30+10 in 14 consecutive games, which is the longest record in the league in the last 50 years. In addition, he has played explosive statistics many times: against the Timberwolves, he scored 51 points, and against the Wizards twice, Embiid also scored 50 points and 48 points respectively, showing unparalleled scoring explosiveness. In the words of a Philadelphia reporter, no one in this league scores more than Embiid!
Despite Embiid's excellent performance in the game, his biggest problem remains unsolved. Embiid's performance in the 76ers' scorching games this season (within five points in the final three minutes) has been worrying, shooting just 37.4 percent from the field in crunch time, and he has never been the man the team needs to step up in crunch time.
This issue is closely related to Embiid's playing Xi. He likes to hold the ball from beyond the three-point line, and as a center, he doesn't like to attack the interior and is not Xi to physical confrontation. Embiid often used fake throws to create fouls, which did earn him a lot of free throws in regulation time. However, when it comes to crunch time and high-intensity games in the playoffs, this Xi turns into poison. When the referee stopped giving the whistle, Embiid became unable to play. That's why he still hasn't been able to perform well in key moments and tough battles.
Last season, Embiid was named the scoring champion and MVP for his scoring ability and impressive stats. However, in the playoffs, he showed his feet, was abused by his opponents, and performed well below expectations. Despite this, this season, the NBA officially placed Embiid at the top of the MVP list for four consecutive weeks.
You must know that before Embiid won the MVP, both Jokic and Antetokounmpo led the team to a championship. Embiid, on the other hand, suffers the fate of a second-round tour in the playoffs every year and has never been able to break through the bottleneck. The NBA's leading scorer has completely become a 'data brush', and Embiid's MVP honor seems to have become a joke. He single-handedly made the MVP honor lose its original gold content. Fans can't help but ask: what happened to the MVP selection this season, and why did a player who performed so badly in key moments be able to top the MVP rankings for four consecutive weeks?