The Philadelphia 76ers have been looking to figure out how to run their offense at the moment without Ben Simmons as they begin to transition that responsibility over to young guard Tyrese Maxey.
The second-year guard has been the team’s new starting point guard to begin the 2021-22 season as the team awaits what comes out of the Simmons situation and there have been some predictable ups and downs for Maxey. He is not exactly a true point guard as he focuses more on scoring rather than distributing, but he is learning a lot.
To begin the season, Maxey is averaging 14.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists through the first four games as he continues his maturation process. This is a lot to handle for a kid who does not turn 21 until Nov. 4.
“He’s doing great, man,” said Danny Green. “He’s got a lot on his plate. Throwing things at him every day, every game, and he’s handling it like a mature adult for a kid who’s barely 21. He’s understanding and learning each day what you need from him.”
Throughout Maxey’s basketball life, there have not been too many moments where he has been asked to be in the dunker spot on the offensive end. The Sixers did that with Simmons in the 2020-21 season and they have used Maxey there to begin this current season. That is another adjustment that the young man must go through.
“Playing out of position in some aspects of the game, we got him playing point guard, but also trying to do what Ben did for us and playing that dunker spot which is never easy to do,” Green added. “He’s probably never been down there in his life, but he’s handling it well. He’s learning, he’s growing, he’s getting us into sets, and he’s figuring it out. It’s a good time to grow quickly as a young fella.”
Considering how young Maxey is combined with the pressure that comes with being the point guard on a team with aspirations to win a championship, he is doing the best he can do at this point. It is probably unfair to give him such a huge task, but at the same time, the young man has done a good job of continuing to grow and learn in the eyes of Green.
“Everybody’s throwing things at him and telling him what to do before he even gets a chance to ask questions, but he does do a good job of taking criticism well and still remaining humble and asking certain questions of ‘what do I do when I’m here?’ even though everybody’s throwing eight different things at him. He’s doing a great job with it.”
Maxey will have another opportunity to grow on Thursday when the team returns home to host the Detroit Pistons and begin a 4-game homestand.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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