Philadelphia 76ers rookie Isaiah Joe was selected out of Arkansas specifically for his shooting. He can knock down any open looks that come his way on the floor thanks to playing around Ben Simmons, Tyrese Maxey and Shake Milton.
However, there are many other things he wants to prove he can do. He played really solid defense in Thursday’s win over the Miami Heat. He had to defend sharpshooter Duncan Robinson and switched onto Tyler Herro as well.
“All my life, I’ve been on the quote-unquote smaller end,” said Joe. “That’s one thing that really helps me defensively. I have to be physical. I can’t shy away from contact because if I do that, I get bullied around on the court. I have to initiate contact before taking it all the time. I’m definitely getting into my defender, bodying them up all the time. Staying physical definitely gives me the edge.”
He was definitely physical against Robinson. He got into him to deny him the ball. That is the type of defensive effort that will please coach Doc Rivers moving forward.
As far as his offensive game goes, the Sixers rookie knocked down four 3s, and he put the ball on the floor to show off more of his game.
“That’s definitely something that can be used in the future moving forward is my ball-handling,” Joe added. “It is looked over a lot, but the guys that we have on the floor, we got plenty of ball-handlers. Ben Simmons, Shake Milton Tyrese Maxey, guys that can put it on the floor, score, facilitate like that, they really do a good job of finding me and my job right now is to knock down shots and that’s what I’m gonna continue to do.”
Rivers is not afraid to add to his rotation if Joe can keep up this strong play. It will be interesting to see how he continues to develop and grow moving forward as a player.
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