When the Philadelphia 76ers sent two-way rookie Paul Reed to the team’s G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats, in February, coach Doc Rivers wanted him to get the court time he needs to develop in his NBA career.
Reed went to the Orlando G League bubble, and he had a terrific regular season, averaging 22.3 points and 11.8 rebounds while shooting 58.8% from the floor and 44.4% from deep. He has been terrific from the beginning and he had 26 points and 10 rebounds in Delaware’s win on Tuesday.
“I think Paul played really well at the start, and Paul continues to play well now,” said Blue Coats coach Connor Johnson. “He’s doing a better job picking his spots to be aggressive as a scorer. It’s a lot less isolation for him, he’s finding out how to score within the offense, how to create for others, how to be a passer that can kick out and find other guys. I think that’s great to see.”
That was always the biggest criticism of Reed. The talent was there and he was a guy who had a lot of athleticism and energy, but he needed to understand when to attack and when to get his shot. He also has been able to become a better passer: He had five assists on Tuesday.
“I feel like my shot has definitely improved since I got here,” said Reed. “It comes a lot from my coach having so much confidence in me to shoot the ball. Another place I improved is passing the ball. Teams are locking in on me, so I’m able to get my teammates open. I said earlier, I want to become a better passer, and I found myself getting more and more assists. That’s one of the areas of improvement.”
Then there is the defensive end of the floor. Reed had three blocks and two steals in the win as he now understands schemes and things of that nature. His defense helped Delaware hold one of the more prolific offenses in the G League to 100 points in the playoff win.
“Defensively, I think his understanding of what we’re trying to do is on another level,” Johnson added. “I think we had a really good defensive effort tonight and a lot of that comes down to how well your 5 can guard. To hold them to whatever it was that we did, a lot of credit goes to Paul. He’s the quarterback of the defense, he’s gotta call out every screen, he’s gotta always know what we’re in, I think he’s done a really nice job picking that up from day one.”
If Reed can continue this progression, he will be back with the Sixers in the near future.
[mm-video type=video id=01f07sk5jjfvq15rar playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01eqbvq570kgj8vfs7 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01f07sk5jjfvq15rar/01f07sk5jjfvq15rar-da0043ff0a1cac569de8f6bc72ef729d.jpg]
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
[lawrence-related id=43371,43367,43345]