The Philadelphia 76ers thrive on pushing the ball in transition and getting easy buckets for their shooters on the perimeter. They had a ton of success in that department during the 2020-21 season on their way to being the top team in the East, but not so much in 2021-22.
Per basketball-reference, the Sixers are 28th in the league in pace, 95.7. A big reason is the absence of Ben Simmons. But another reason is they are struggling to finish defensive possessions with a rebound.
Also per basketball-reference, the Sixers are dead last in the league in rebounding (42.1 per game). They are 22nd in defensive rebounds per game (33.8).
“I think you do it as a collective unit,” said Georges Niang. “I think we had timely rebounds in the Brooklyn game. Obviously, we’ve struggled with it, and it’s something we continue to address, but it’s gonna have to be a collective unit every night. It’s on the bigs, or the 4, it’s on all five of us out there getting a hit, boxing out, and going after the rebound. I think it’s multiple efforts especially on the defensive boards.”
Guys like Niang, Seth Curry, Tyrese Maxey and Furkan Korkmaz have to get their noses dirty by getting into the paint and helping Joel Embiid finish these defensive possessions. That would allow the Sixers to get out and run and take advantage of the athletes and shooters they have.
“I’ll start with get on the floor for some of them, but I think most importantly, be more solid, and don’t get beat,” said acting head coach Dan Burke. “Once you get beat, you’ve caused a scramble situation and now it’s hard to put bodies on bodies. If you limit rotations and we can control the ball first, execute that first help and not need a second or third help, it’s easier to box out.”
Burke makes a good point. To grab a rebound and get extra possessions, a player has to be solid in his techniques.
In their win over the Houston Rockets on Monday, the Sixers won the rebounding battle 54-42, and that was a huge reason they finished the job. There was not a lot of scrambling, and even Korkmaz had 11 rebounds next to Embiid’s 15 to help Philadelphia.
“If you’re just flying around, you’re not going to get to bodies, and with teams like that, everybody’s crashing,” Burke added. “Guys are cutting from the corner, they’re cutting from the top, and we gotta do a better job.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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