CAMDEN, N.J.–As the Philadelphia 76ers head into the 2023 playoffs, they will head into the postseason knowing that Paul Reed can be trusted to be the backup to Joel Embiid.
At the beginning of the season, the Sixers were flip-flopping back and forth between Reed and Montrezl Harrell as coach Doc Rivers wanted to see what he had in both options. Since early February, the spot has belonged to Reed as the young big man out of DePaul has made his improvements.
Rivers explained at practice on Friday that the biggest improvement with Reed has been his continued understanding of the scouting report and focus on where he needs to be on the floor on both ends.
“Just for him, just understanding what we’re doing,” said Rivers. “Really focusing in on scout stuff. For Paul, that’s where he struggles at that at times. We really need him to have great focus at where to be defensively. Where to be on the right spot and if he does that, he’s gonna be a big plus for us.”
It also helps that the Sixers are making things easier for him on the defensive end when he is out on the floor.
“I think we both made progress,” Rivers added. “We do things with him to make it easier for him and that’s helped him a lot because when he’s on the floor, you’re not doing three different coverages. You just can’t, and we know that, and so when he’s coming off the floor, it’s probably because we feel like the one coverage we’re doing is not good enough for this game and that’s the bottom line.”
While Reed continued to bring energy and continued to give the Sixers a spark when the time called for it, there did need to be more of an understanding of where he needed to be. His improvement in that area has earned the trust of the coaching staff.
“Where he’s really helped himself is in those coverages that we do with him,” Rivers continued. “He’s good at it. He works at it. We will drill him, we drilled him every day this week at it and I think the biggest thing with him is the players, his teammates.”
It was obvious that in the past, Reed’s teammates would get on him about where he needed to be on the floor if he were to make a mistake. They don’t do that much now.
“Last year, the amount of frustration was—if you were in our practices, you couldn’t believe the other guys, and that hurts your team when they’re frustrated,” Rivers finished. “This year, when he makes a mistake, they tell him in the right way, which I had many talks about. He handles it in the right way and we’re better for it. So I think it’s not only growth from Paul but growth from his teammates, too with Paul.”
Reed will be looking to continue his growth in Game 1 of the playoffs on Saturday against the Brooklyn Nets.
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