George receives the ball and drives towards the top of the arc. At this critical moment when they are trailing by 2 points with less than 30 seconds remaining, it's time for him to step up and play the hero. However, things don't go as planned...
He loses the ball halfway through his drive and then jumps into the air, flailing around looking for a foul from the referee. The referee ignores him. On the defensive end, George commits another foul, sending Monk to the free-throw line.
This play is very confusing, with both offense and defense being a criminal record. He loses the ball on offense and commits a foul on defense just before the 24-second clock expires. This makes the audience's blood pressure soar, wanting to mock or swear at him. However, after scanning the statistics, they suddenly find themselves unable to criticize because, aside from these two mistakes, George had an excellent overall performance, scoring 30 points with 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block on 11 out of 20 shooting.
This can only be described as a typical "George-style game," with moments of smoothness and moments of failure, where smoothness and failure complement each other. It's like getting a full-body massage, humming in comfort, when suddenly a stench hits you, and you see a bowl of hot feces with a bit of diarrhea. What's even more disheartening is that this game was only George's second 30+ point performance of the season. Last time he played aggressively against the Hornets and won; this time...
Thanks to this game, George raised his season average from 15.5 points to 16.1 points, and his shooting percentage from 40.5% to 41.5%. Even with a 16.1-point average and a 41.5% shooting percentage, it's still pretty bad for a max-contract player. Besides weak output and low efficiency, does he have any additional contributions? There seem to be some, with 5.7 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 1.9 steals looking quite comprehensive, but accompanied by 2.7 turnovers, which is significantly higher than last season.
Therefore, it can be said that George during his Clippers days, despite his dual nature of godly and ghostly performances, at least worked normally; in contrast, George during his Philadelphia days has few godly moments and numerous ghostly states, as if he's on vacation. Of course, we can't blame him entirely; with a four-year max contract fully guaranteed, he will still receive 56.59 million at the age of 38, and his contract lasts until 2028. As the saying goes, "Money talks."
People compare themselves to others and get frustrated. Think about Jimmy, who wants a pension of the same standard but can't get it, and think about Harden working hard to lead the team and earn blood and sweat money as if he were in a black coal mine, and you'll realize how happy George is.
Dedicated to winning a championship? That's just talk; rings aren't as attractive as green paper. Besides, championship contention is something for the team leader to consider; why should newcomers worry about it?
Coincidentally, Embiid thinks exactly the same way. Before the season started, he made a tacit agreement with George, announcing that they would only play one game back-to-back. As the season progressed, Embiid's number of appearances became very sparse; he has only played 11 games so far, averaging 23.7 points, 7 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game. In terms of efficiency, it's quite poor, and in terms of his love for long-range shots, it's even stronger this season, with less than 30 minutes of playing time per game and an outside shooting rate of 3.9 times with a 30.2% accuracy rate.
Do others call you a power forward, and do you really use yourself as one?
Embiid has many injuries and is abstract, George has more ghosts than gods and his mentality is like on vacation, the mighty trio has been wasted two, so isn't it necessary to train Maxi as a fool? The fast horse in the backcourt got injured at the beginning of the season, and after returning, he averaged 37.4 minutes per game, ranking second in the league, and 21.2 shots per game, ranking third in the league. The pressure and difficulty of his task can be described as silently endured by men and pitifully cried by women. But does Nurse have a better way?
Although young players have good physical fitness and strength, if such intensity continues, there is real concern that one day they will collapse due to overload.
Switching the topic from individuals to the collective, after losing to the Kings away, Philadelphia has a record of 13 wins and 18 losses. It's said that strong teams don't have big problems when they start the season poorly; they just need to tighten their belts and launch a northern campaign. However, there are differences in northern campaigns; some teams win the mid-season tournament championship while ranking fifth in the East, while others are still circling around the playoffs. To put it more simply, the Bucks' northern campaign has almost exploded Liangzhou and is pressing towards Chang'an, while Philadelphia's northern campaign is still circling around Hanzhong.
Unconsciously, a third of the season has passed; how many games can they win in the remaining 51 games? Can they at least win 37 games and achieve a 50-win season? It doesn't look promising, does it?
From a probabilistic standpoint, it will be a failed year for Philadelphia. Even if they eventually make it to the playoffs by taking advantage of the weak East, what's the point? The seemingly mighty trio is actually not up to par, making it hard to pin hopes on them. Times seem to be changing yet staying the same; change is that Cun is emerging as a dark horse and playing the best basketball in the post-James era; what hasn't changed is that the Celtics and New York remain strong, and the Bucks are striving upward. Among the expected high performers in the East, only the ecological niche that should have belonged to Philadelphia has been replaced.
Who should bear the blame for this mess? The finger of blame easily points to the mastermind Morey. He built this team, so naturally, he should be the one to support it. Frankly speaking, Morey's operations are well-planned, especially after forming the trio and spending little money to bring in role players like Caleb Martin, Drummond, Lowry, Yabusele, and Round Face, which is quite brilliant. Unfortunately, human calculations cannot match heavenly ones; who knew Embiid's body would be weaker than Lin Daiyu's, and who knew George would take a vacation right after getting paid.
As for whether there's a chance to come back next season after this season's failure? It can only be said that the opportunity will become increasingly slim. Embiid is not young anymore; born in March 1994, he will turn 31 soon, and by the time he enters next season at the age of 32, he will be close to the turning point from peak to decline. Centers are different from forwards and guards in that they naturally consume more, especially centers like Embiid who have undergone several major repairs. George's mentality will become increasingly negative, especially when he feels that there's no hope in his job, and work becomes just work, not a career. Only poor Maxi, at a young age, has to accompany these two to jail.
Given the insane moves in the Dengzi incident and the fact that he has achieved nothing since taking over as the spokesperson for Philadelphia, it's not impossible that the boss will blame Morey and send him to Yulin overnight at the end of the season. Capital's patience is always limited. Morey fled in 20 years and quickly took office in Philadelphia; it has been five years now, and after a series of fierce operations, his record remains stagnant. Why keep him instead of slaughtering him for the New Year?
As for how I view this? There's only one word: deserved.