Pistons’ Monty Williams Sounds Off on Calls in Favor of Joel Embiid

When the Philadelphia 76ers took on the Detroit Pistons on Friday night, the reigning MVP Joel Embiid was a frequent visitor to the free throw line.

That shouldn’t come as a surprise, considering Embiid leads the NBA with 10.4 free throw attempts per game in his first eight games of the year.

While Embiid has established dominance in all areas of the game, including scoring on all three levels from the field and being dominant defensively, he’s feasted from the free-throw line over the last few years. As Embiid continues to get to the line frequently, he’s received his fair share of criticism from opposing coaches and players.

Detroit Pistons head coach Monty Williams is the latest to sound off on Embiid’s ability to get to the line.

“Some of the stuff these guys are doing, they’re not shots, okay? I’m gonna go on record, like, these are not shots,” Williams said when asked about Embiid on Friday night.

The Pistons sent the Sixers to the line for 41 attempts on Friday night, committing 26 personal fouls and one technical due to a defensive three-second violation. Embiid was a visitor on 46 percent of those attempts. Being that Embiid’s an 85 percent free throw shooter, his frequent opportunities to head to the line hurt Detroit as he capitalized on all but three of his attempts, generating 16 points off freebies.

The fact that Embiid draws fouls on 17 percent of his shot attempts and manages to turn them into points over 80 percent of the time frustrates his opponents, but it always seems the way Embiid gets some of his calls causes the competition to question the big man’s tactics.

“We talked about it in our competition, transfer of information to the head coaches meetings, like they’re gonna call this swinging the ball and hitting people,” Williams continued. “That’s not a shot. Our guys are frustrated by it, and I can’t blame them.”

Embiid has always shown pride in his ability to draw fouls and get to the line for a routine shot and a breather. While the NBA has attempted to crack down on players who have been accused of manipulating the game in a way, Embiid has developed a knack for baiting players into making contact with him as he shoots. Of course, the reception from those on the side who fail to benefit from it is never positive.

While Williams feels Embiid shouldn’t have received some of the calls he benefitted from during Friday night’s matchup, the head coach added the Pistons didn’t lose due to Embiid’s success at the free throw line.

“That’s not what beat us,” the head coach explained. “We had some really bad mistakes going under on shooters. We gave up three threes in the third by having a lack of gameplay and discipline. Joel’s a tough guard, but that wasn’t what beat us tonight. That third quarter when we went under on the screens, on those screens, that hurts.”

After the Pistons led by as many as 16 points in the first half, their inexperience showed when they looked to close the matchup out in the second half. The Sixers came alive and received a strong effort from Tobias Harris, Tyrese Maxey, and Embiid. After trailing by 16, the Sixers built up a 17-point lead of their own in the second half.

When the game concluded, the Sixers put the Pistons away with a 114-106 comeback victory. Embiid wrapped up the night with 33 points in 35 minutes. Williams isn’t the first coach to question Embiid’s tactics, frustrated with the way he got to the charity stripe so frequently on Friday night, and he probably won’t be the last. Either way, Embiid’s going to play his way.