Sixers' Embiid starting to shake off rust

YOU KNOW what he wants to do in the worst way. You can just feel it. And while I've seen him do it numerous times in practice against an imaginary defender, Joel Embiid just isn't ready, yet, to catch the ball 10 feet away from the basket with his back to the hoop and shake left, then right, then left again, pump fake, take a dribble and deposit a reverse dunk.

His is a game that he said is somewhat modeled after Hakeem Olajuwon. After all, when he first started playing the game as a teenager, his first coach in Cameroon gave him a video of Olajuwon and told him to watch it every day. Embiid still talks of the terrific footwork the Hall of Famer and fellow African possessed. It is why he yearns to emulate "The Dream Shake" as much as possible.

His is an athleticism that is extreme, whether he was a 6-2 point guard or a 7-2 center. I once saw him at practice showing incredible soccer skills with a basketball - kicking it from his right foot to left, using his left knee, right knee - not letting the ball hit the ground. While he was doing it, he was dribbling another basketball with his right hand.

After two years of recovery from a foot injury, Embiid is now being eased back into basketball shape, having played three preseason games, limited to a 12-minute restriction. If you total the three, in close to 39 minutes of play, Embiid has totaled 23 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks. He's made eight of 22 shots from the floor and six of eight from the free throw line. There have been extremely bright flashes, like when he leaves his man and goes across the lane for a monster block. Or his silky- smooth shooting stroke. Or just the enormity of his body.

But there is plenty of rust that needs to be chiseled away, much like the baby fat Embiid has lost in sculpting his body into a supremely fit 275 pounds. The rust is why Embiid, for now, needs to leave "The Dream Shake" on the videotape.

"He wants to do so well. He wants the ball," said coach Brett Brown. "We run the stuff to get him the ball. Part of his growth is going to be deeper catches, jump hooks, pound, pound, drop step, dunk. I feel like the judgment, my view of when I think, 'Here he is,' is going to be volume of free throws. How many times does he get to the line? How many times does he get to the paint? We're seeing a lot of jump shots right now. He's trying to gather his feet. He's a little bit off-balance, but it's all born out of him really wanting to play well. He wants to please. It's just wonderful to start him, to spend that 12 minutes in the first two periods and watch him be in that locker room. All of that, I think, is just great for him and for us."

When you've been away from the game for as long as Embiid has, parts come back at different times. He still struggled with the ball at the defensive end, at times losing his man. Fluidity, such an easy part of his game during his lone season at Kansas, is coming, but is not yet all the way back. The last ingredient to return is usually ballhandling. That is why Brown would rather see his prized center use his enormous body to power his way at the offensive end instead of trying to complicate things with dribbles and fakes and spins and the like. But like rock stars want to be athletes and athletes want to be rock stars, guards like to attempt big-men moves and big men, especially Embiid, like to show off guard skills.

"I think my wish for him at the start is to be a post player," said Brown. "Somebody said (Embiid is like) Shaquille (O'Neal) with soccer feet. He is nimble and does things that you can see is an athlete in that 7-2 body. The simplest thing to start his growth is just a comfort level at a post and him quarterbacking it. When you start to turn and face and make finesse moves when you haven't played in 2 1/2 years and you put it to the floor with NBA athletes and guards swarming and coming at your legs and ankles and the ball that you dribbled, this fear of the game goes to a higher level. Post play is what we're going to try and continue to work him through until we get to that opening night with Oklahoma City."

In Thursday's game against Washington, Embiid was matched against Wizards center Marcin Gortat, one of the strongest post players in the league. That itch for finesse seemed to be foremost on Embiid's mind early, but that changed quickly, with Embiid using his body to create space a few times and then finishing with a basket by the rim.

That is what Brown envisions, for now. Power dunks. Back-downs in the lane that totally engulf defenders. Throwing out of double-teams to wide-open teammates.

There will be the occasional long-range jumper and the attempt to get free with multiple dribbles. And that's OK because Embiid is that good. But simple and power are the themes for now, until Embiid is completely comfortable on the floor again. Once that happens, "The Dream Shake" will not only be unleashed, but encouraged.

@BobCooney76

Blog: philly.com/Sixersblog