Check out Joel Embiid’s mind-blowing stats per 36 minutes

By Staff     Dec 12, 2016

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Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid celebrates after scoring against the Miami Heat during the second half of an NBA preseason basketball game, Friday, Oct. 21, 2016, in Miami. (AP Photo/Alan Diaz)

Much to his chagrin, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid is forbidden from playing back-to-back games, a restriction placed on him by team doctors who want to give him the best chance at not aggravating the foot injury that delayed the start of his NBA career by two full seasons. Plus, Embiid has been on a minutes restriction recently increased to 28 for any given game.

So to get a better feel for his statistical performance thus far, let’s compare him to all the big men (6-foot-10 or taller) who participated in last year’s NBA All-Star Game by looking at the numbers on a per-36-minutes basis, as tracked for each NBA player by basketball-reference.com:

Player……………………………Pts.-Reb.-Blk-Tot
Joel Embiid……………………27.8-11.6-3.9-43.3
Anthony Davis………………..29.6-10.8-2.6-43.0
DeMarcus Cousins………….29.5-11.2-1.5-42.2
Andre Drummond*……………18.2-16.6-1.5-36.3
Pau Gasol*……………………..15.9-10.2-1.5-28.6
Lamarcus Aldridge…………..18.3-7.4-1.2-26.9
Al Horford*………………………17.3-7.0-2.6-26.9
*Played for Eastern Conference

You can make the argument that because Embiid plays fewer minutes, he doesn’t have to pace himself. Not buying it.

Embiid shows his inexperience in a few ways, such as turning it over at a high rate and getting himself out of position defensively by going for too many blocked shots. He’s not as good as Davis, even if he edges him in the above chart, but the fact that Embiid is this productive, this early, says a great deal about his talent. Plus, he’s so intelligent he stands a chance to improve at a faster rate than most.

If Embiid wins NBA rookie of the year, that would give Kansas two in a three-year period (Andrew Wiggins, 2015). Josh Jackson might be able to compete for that trophy next season and if he were to win it, Kansas would be the first school to have three honorees in a four-year stretch. North Carolina (Walter Davis and Phil Ford) and Memphis (Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans) are the only schools that can boast back-to-back winners of the award.

KU’s Class of 2013, of which Embiid and Wiggins were a part, also included a pair of three-year starters in Frank Mason (1,337 points and counting) and Wayne Selden (1,202 points). Conner Frankamp, averaging 5.9 points for Wichita State and Brannen Greene, averaging five points, 2.4 rebounds and shooting .583 from three for the Delaware 87ers of the NBA Developmental League, also were part of that recruiting class.

**KU QB recruit rejects offer to play between the hedges**

Kansas quarterback recruit Peyton Bender (Washington State, Itawamba Community College) stayed faithful to Kansas after Georgia made a strong push to get him to change his mind, Jon Kirby of Rivals reported.

Bender, who played his high school football in Florida, threw for 566 yards against East Mississippi Community College, the school featured on the amazing Netflix documentary series “Last Chance U.”

Bender is expected to sign Wednesday and enroll at KU for the second semester.

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49935Check out Joel Embiid’s mind-blowing stats per 36 minutes