Cooney: Likable Embiid could surpass Wentz in popularity

GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP, N.J. - As the 76ers wrapped up their second day of training camp on Wednesday afternoon at Stockton University, coach Brett Brown was asked the usual question of how his team looks after three sessions in two days. The fourth-year coach started with the normal rhetoric you'd expect about guys playing hard and learning to play with one another, and so on and so forth. Then the conversation took a quick upswing as Brown approached the subject of Joel Embiid.

The coach spoke of how he sees rookies Ben Simmons and Dario Saric being "6-10 do-alls" and the excitement of having them both on the floor together for stretches this season. He reasoned that his coaching can be a little more focused, now that he has a trio of point guards in Jerryd Bayless, Sergio Rodriguez and T.J. McConnell, whom he can trust to take control of certain court activities while Brown can concentrate on others.

He has a potential dominant scorer down low in Jahlil Okafor, a supreme rim protector in Nerlens Noel, and other key pieces that are better than anything he's had in his previous seasons here. Yet, and maybe rightfully so, the attention of this team seems to revolve around the 7-2, 275 pound Embiid, who has yet to play an NBA game; who hasn't played in an organized game in almost 2 1/2 years and seemed Wednesday to show all the rust of a sunken ship while scrimmaging toward the end of practice.

Simmons might turn out to be the best basketball player out of this group in the long run, but Embiid will be the one to garner the most interest, at least early on, for a variety of reasons.

His is a personality that knows no boundaries. While Noel was getting ready to shoot two free throws toward the end of the scrimmage, Embiid yelled to everyone: "He's going to miss them both. It's OK, he's going to miss."

Teammates smiled and laughed. With Noel recently expressing his disgust of the team's glut of centers, you could imagine teammates treading lightly around him. Not Embiid, who even got a small smile out of Noel, who did make one of two. If there is a filter, it's very small. Fun seems to rule his days, and, when you're 22 with a seemingly dazzling future in front of you, it should dominate.

And domination is something he seems close to approaching on the basketball court. You can't talk to a player, coach or practice witness who doesn't bring up Embiid within the first moments of a conversation.

"I got to do everything. It felt great," said Embiid, who was limited in Tuesday's practices because of flu-like symptoms. "I'm kind of tired, but it felt great. I think I did pretty good. There was a lot of competition going on out there and it was good for the team.

"Everything is kind of off right now, like catching the ball or shooting. I still have to get in the flow of the game. I was telling that to coach, that we'd be playing pickups and when I played (Tuesday) with them, it was kind of fast. I told him that the speed of the game, that's something that I'm going to have to adjust to. And then with my teammates, them knowing where to get me the ball and when to get me the ball (has to be figured out). So it's going to take time. It's kind of odd right now. It's kind of hard right now, but I think it's going to come. It's really frustrating, but, like I said, you've got to trust the process, which I've been doing."

He then broke out into the type of immense laugh only a body that big can produce. Embiid is fully aware of the "Trust the Process" campaign that has surrounded this team for three seasons. He is keenly aware of his surroundings, both on and off the court. He just might become a social media superstar, should the team not harness him, and his humor and affable nature only inspire teammates to gravitate to him.

Quarterback Carson Wentz is the toast of the town right now, and rightfully so, after astonishingly leading the Eagles to a 3-0 start. It is still way too early to predict future success, but it's not absurd to think of Wentz and Embiid, with a big sprinkle of Simmons, owning this town for years to come.

"I thought Joel just continues to impress," Brown said Wednesday. "You continue to think about best ways to use him both offensively and defensively. He really loves playing basketball. He wants to play. You just continue to see that. You continue to see the size of Joel Embiid. He's a big man. He's got a mindset to back up his physical gifts. He really wants the ball. He wants to get deep catches and he wants to dunk on people. That is a mentality more than anything. Just as time goes on, you see it. And then you see the times where you realize that he hasn't played basketball for a long time. He's trying to gather his feet and find his balance. He's trying to figure out stuff on real-time speed on defensive assignments and rotations. You see the good and the bad."

And you see the enjoyment. Practice long over, Embiid stands at center court and attempts one-handed, underhand halfcourt shots with his back to the basket. He is in constant motion, whether practicing low-post moves, shooting 23-footers (which he does almost as well), or sneaking up on teammates while they conduct interviews, which he did to Saric on Wednesday.

Brown and Embiid often talk of the thrill of competition that awaits the Kansas product. For now, it is against teammates. Soon, it will be against the likes of Marc Gasol, Dwight Howard, Andre Drummond and Al Horford. His game will be measured when those competitions occur and imaginations will wander to Embiid being the top center in the NBA.

If the hype surrounding him comes to fruition, his only competition might come from Wentz - for the title of most adored athlete in the city.

@BobCooney76

Blog: philly.com/Sixersblog