The legend of Furkan Korkmaz continues to grow. The Philadelphia 76ers guard dropped 31 points in a 118-111 win over the Chicago Bulls at home on Sunday as he scored 30+ points for the second straight game.
Korkmaz’s offensive confidence is at an all-time high as he continues to make big plays for them on the offensive end as well as on the defensive end of the floor. His recent play even has coach Brett Brown floored as he’s never seen Korkmaz play like this.
“No, I haven’t,” Brown said. “The thing that I see more than what the stat sheet shows is the reason I say that. We all see him bomb away and make some emphatic, timely shots, long balls, but I see him becoming more of a better passer. You know what I’m going to say, defensive side of things, I see growth there. He’s emerged as one of our key players on a pretty good team. His confidence is certainly the highest I’ve ever coached him.”
Korkmaz shot 12-for-17 from the floor and he was 6-for-11 from deep. He also grabbed five rebounds and two assists and he just had one of those really big nights on the floor again. The confidence his teammates have in him is the main reason why he’s able to have that in himself.
“I really feel it from my teammates, from my coaching staff, and from the guys who work for this organization,” he explained. “We’re having fun altogether. Teammates, coaching staff, organization members, I think there’s a good friendship here that affects all of the basketball we play.”
Get you a team that hypes you up like the Sixers do for Furkan Korkmaz. pic.twitter.com/DQyE4djoYE
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) February 10, 2020
Philadelphia traded for Glenn Robinson III and Alec Burks with the notion that they needed another shooter on the floor to help the spacing. With Korkmaz on the roll that he’s on recently, it almost seems like all they needed was him all along.
“I’m just trying to play my best basketball and I think the strongest part of my game is shooting,” he added. “I feel like I don’t need to make a comment on it, I just need to show it on the court every game, because everybody is trying to compete for minutes. I’m just aware of it and just playing my way.”
The Sixers will need this production from Korkmaz consistently moving forward. There is one more game before the All-Star break and it is at home. It would be nice to head into the break with three straight wins. [lawrence-related id=25366,25344,25336]