If you’re looking for a fascinating Sixers listen, check out Joel Embiid on JJ Redick’s podcast, dubbed “The Old Man and the Three.” Shout out Ernest Hemingway.

It’s an intriguing discussion on a number of topics, from bubble life, to COVID-19, and then a surprisingly in-depth look at Embiid’s Sixers before and after Redick’s departure.

They spend a good amount of time talking about the Embiid/Redick two-man DHO game, which was incredibly efficient in two seasons. I may have cut more DHO video than anything else from 2017 to 2019, just because the chemistry the pair displayed in the hand-off game was second-to-none.

That conversation segued into Redick asking Embiid how the offensive changes have affected him this season, prompting a very candid response from the big man:

“A lot. You can see it with the numbers. You go from last year, and I don’t care about the stats, because if I feel like I really care about stats and wanted to score a lot every single night, I could be a black hole and shoot whenever I want to, and not pass to anybody. But it was just such a difference maker, because last year, when they would double me, literally I was either inviting it, or I was like, ‘okay, I’m not posting up anymore,’ and I would go to that two-man game because I know I could get you (Redick) a shot. Once you make two or three, they’re gonna come up (higher on the floor), and they’re gonna change everything and leave me open.

This year, it was different. Defensively we were pretty good – big, fast, and we can switch a lot. But offensively, it just wasn’t that. We had our offense, but at times it was not the right offense. The offense of the past 4-5 years wasn’t the offense for this team. It was completely different. You don’t have a JJ Redick, or Jimmy Butler, who can go through pick and rolls. But I think we’re getting it. The last month in the bubble helped a lot. I think we’ve come closer, and I won’t lie, during the season I was not there, I just wasn’t comfortable. The offense wasn’t the same and the basketball wasn’t the same to me. The way things happened last summer (with Redick/Butler departures) it was so frustrating. I was kind of mad at the whole world and ‘uh whatever,’ like I’m coming into my work and will do my best, but I wasn’t playing up to my standards.”

I think we all knew that Embiid wasn’t a huge fan of the Redick and Butler departures from the standpoint of how it affected him on the court, but here’s official confirmation.

Interestingly enough, the Sixers have run through four different offenses this season. They intended to play Brett Brown’s base motion offense, called ‘A to B,’ with a different starting point for the ballside wing player.

Remember this diagram from way back in September, during the coaching clinic? –

They got away from A to B and just sort of morphed into a post-heavy offense, posting anybody and everybody. It was kind of like Oprah Winfrey giving away a prize on her show. You get a post-up! You get a post-up! Everybody gets a post up! It just seemed so clunky with Al Horford in the mix with Redick and Butler playing for different teams. Josh Richardson didn’t move like Redick without the ball and Shake Milton had yet to turn the corner.

The third iteration of the offense was what you saw at the start of the bubble – Ben Simmons off ball. That lasted all of three games before Simmons dislocated his left knee cap, and now we’re back to a combination of small ball spread and post-ups through Embiid.

Anyway, interesting stuff from Embiid on the podcast. It’s good to hear him admit that he wasn’t 100% checked in during the early part of the season, which always seemed obvious from the outside, looking in. He’s been excellent in Orlando, and if he can get back from the ankle problem in time for the playoffs, the Sixers will go as far as he takes them.