PHILADELPHIA–When one looks at Philadelphia 76ers wing player Matisse Thybulle, one knows that he is one of the top defenders in the game. He is a guy who hops off the bench and just causes havoc while he’s out on the floor to disrupt opposing game plans.
In Wednesday’s 137-133 win over the Brooklyn Nets, Thybulle had three steals while also deflecting a ton of passes. He won’t get an official stat for those deflections, but he was terrific for Philadelphia on that end of the floor.
On Wednesday, it was his offense that stood out. Thybulle had 10 points on 3-for-5 shooting and he knocked down two wide-open triples. It was almost as if the Nets were not meant to be bothered with him whenever he had the ball on the perimeter.
“They didn’t wanna guard me, and realistically, I just took advantage of that,” said Thybulle. “At the end of the day, I work out, I play hard, I know how to play basketball so it’s like if you don’t want to respect me as a player, I can show you that I’m capable.”
On the flip side, one can understand why the Nets didn’t get out to defend him. Thybulle is shooting only 31.6% from deep on the season and he is not the top guy who teams will highlight in their scouting reports for Philadelphia.
However, Thybulle is a hard worker and he wants it to be known that he can knock down an open triple.
“He was amazing,” said Shake Milton of Thybulle. “He’s great. He’s a different type of dude whenever he’s just aggressive and assertive with his shot. You know he’s going to bring it on defense, too. That’s just like extra energy and an extra boost for us. I’m excited for him. I’m happy for him. I see how hard he works and I’m always next to him, encouraging him to keep going and to be aggressive and look for his shot, too. So I was happy for him.”
With that being said, it isn’t like Thybulle is going to suddenly become James Harden with the basketball in terms of looking for his own offense. He is going to do what he does which is move without the basketball and create looks for both himself and his teammates when the opportunity arises.
“I see offense as like a team,” Thybulle added. “Like I see offense as my ability to move and cut and generate offense for other guys. My ability to screen and slip or offensive rebound or backdoor like that generates offense for guys. Then when I find the opportunities to just catch and shoot, then that generates offense for the team and it’s just seeing it more holistically in that sense.”
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