Of course there was never really a Plan

The Sixers kept going back to “The Plan” every time Joel Embiid and his knee were discussed. After a 2-11 start, it sure doesn’t look like there was much of a plan.

Just another normal day for the very normal basketball team.

At 2-11, the Sixers seem to be falling apart despite still having not played a game this season at full strength. After an 0-3 start to Joel Embiid and Paul George’s partnership, things have already reached a boiling point just 13 games into the season.

After a 106-89 loss to the Miami Heat that saw them blow a 19-point lead in the first half, the Sixers reportedly held a team meeting for coaches and players to air their grievances, with Embiid himself being challenged by Tyrese Maxey for how he’s carried himself so far this season.

The Sixers being embarrassing and dysfunctional isn’t new. It isn’t even surprising that there is instantly drama around a team that features 11 new players on the roster, but after “winning” the offseason and boasting a plan to navigate the regular season, they still find new ways to be disappointing.

Monday’s loss and the immediate fallout only prove just how much that dysfunction has lingered. It only shows if the Sixers ever had a plan, they’ve yet to follow it at all.

The big revelation from the locker room meeting Monday was Maxey’s challenge to Embiid for his preparation habits this year. In Shams Charania’s story for ESPN, Maxey reportedly called out Embiid “for being late for everything”, and cited how that attitude trickles down for the rest of the team.

Charania added on TV today that Embiid, who was listed as doubtful for Monday’s game with an illness, wasn’t really seen by teammates or coaches before he showed up for his pregame warmup. Embiid was ruled as active less than 30 minutes before scheduled tip off.

Anyone who’s followed Embiid’s career knows this is pretty commonplace for him. The guy has suited up despite being ruled out in the past. His teammates have alluded earlier this season that they weren’t sure if Embiid was playing in the season opener until the day before the game.

That confusion has very much infested itself onto the court. Charania reported that players expressed the wish to be coached harder, and coaches want the players to “practice with purpose and attention to detail.” Embiid himself reportedly said he is confused at times with what the team is trying to execute on offense.

The supposed plan going into the season was all about managing Embiid’s health in the best way to possible. While they’ve been blown out in all of the fourth quarters he’s played in so far, there’s still been some head-scratching moments with his minutes.

He checked back into that Heat loss with less than six minutes down 20, indicating the white flag had been waived. However when he checked in, Paul George and Jared McCain subbed out of the game. Not only did that diminish the Sixers’ chances of pulling off a miracle comeback, but it put Embiid out there without getting reps to build chemistry with two of his most important new teammates. On top of that, they turned to a lineup of Jeff Dowtin, Jr., McCain, Eric Gordon, Kelly Oubre Jr. and Andre Drummond when the game was slipping away in the third quarter.

The team-only meeting sends a clear message: this is already a catastrophe and something drastic is needed to change course. This is who they, or more specifically Embiid, has always been. Habits are hard to change, especially once you’ve become Tr-oel Embiid once again and decided to give a troll answer when first asked about it.

There’s still plenty of season left, especially for the former MVP who is a notorious slow starter to seasons.

But after a summer of losing weight, saying awards and All-NBA teams don’t matter, lessons learned from winning a gold medal, and having a masterplan for load management, the Sixers have started this season extremely unprepared.