The Philadelphia 76ers made a subtle adjustment at halftime in Monday’s 133-113 win over the Houston Rockets. Acting head coach Dan Burke made a point guard switch that excited his 5-year veteran out of Turkey.
Burke made a change in the second half and made Furkan Korkmaz the team’s point guard after starting the game with Seth Curry. The Sixers found themselves trailing the Rockets 63-62 at the half as they could not get into a big rhythm outside of Joel Embiid and Burke made the change.
After halftime, Curry shot 6-for-7 for 15 points after he shot 0-for-6 in the first half. He was able to focus more on his shooting and being able to be the scorer that he normally is. Korkmaz had 13 points and three assists after halftime.
“I think the mistake I made was we had Seth at the point,” laughed Burke. “In the second half, we’re thinking put Furk at point, let’s be more familiar with running around like he does and use Joel and get him in his comfort zone. I told Furk, I thought his body language changed when I said you were a point guard. He had a different stride, he had a gleam in his eye, and that start of the third quarter, I thought, was a good lift for us.”
Korkmaz did admit after the game that he does enjoy having the ball in his hands and being able to run and control things for the Sixers on the offensive end.
“When the ball is in your hands, you feel the game more,” Korkmaz explained. “That’s my mental thing. Of course, it shouldn’t be that way, you gotta be focused, but when you dribble the ball down instead of just touching the ball every three or four minutes, you have the ball every time even if you don’t shoot it, you get the feeling of the ball. Sometimes as a scorer, it’s hard to get that feeling but when you are a point guard, you feel like you have control and then there are a lot of guys looking for you and you feel like they have your back.”
For the Sixers, playing point guard is a serious responsibility. One has to get into the paint and continue to be the guy to get the main pieces involved. Guys like Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris have to touch the ball and get their looks and Korkmaz feels like he can handle all of that.
“That’s why it gives more confidence and I feel real confidence when I play point guard,” Korkmaz finished. “I don’t feel pressure when I bring the ball down, I know what I am calling, I know whether to go to Joel, Tobias, Seth, what we are running and that’s what’s important to know as a point guard.”
The Sixers will now look to explore this part of Korkmaz’s game as they continue to move forward with this season as they take on the Orlando Magic on the road on Wednesday.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
[mm-video type=playlist id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01eqbvq570kgj8vfs7 image=https://sixerswire.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]
[listicle id=56739]
[lawrence-related id=56821,56816,56810]