Philadelphia 76ers guard Matisse Thybulle is, of course, one of the elite defenders in the league. As a guy who comes off the bench, Thybulle is a guy who has made the All-Defensive Team despite playing only around 20 minutes a night in the 2020-21 season.
He has once again been one of the top defensive players in the league again in the 2021-22 season, but the Sixers also want him to be more aggressive on the offensive end. He had 12 points in Friday’s win over the San Antonio Spurs and it was due to him moving without the ball and being able to play in the dunker spot and getting into a groove that way.
With the Spurs sending aggressive doubles towards Embiid all night, the Sixers have been in need of somebody who can step up and move without the ball. Thybulle has made that impact recently.
“I think it’s just become a little bit more of a point of emphasis for me to just read the double team and be the outlet,” said Thybulle. “Tonight (Friday) I got a lot of those passes, but other nights it doesn’t show up on my stat line, but it’s drawing over help defenders and he’s (Embiid) able to make skip passes and other things like that. It just opens up the floor.”
Thybulle also knocked down a triple which is something that the big fella wants to see more of.
“I want him to shoot more 3s,” Embiid said of Thybulle. “He’s always pump-faking. I don’t know why. Just fire it and who cares if you miss it, but he’s been great just being in the right spot. We use the dunker a lot and when teams guard me, if they’re going to leave him open, that’s an easy pass and he’s gonna make plays.”
There was one play, in particular, that is standing out in Embiid’s mind considering the way he was able to get Thybulle open on a pass.
“Although he was wide-open down there and he freaking passes the ball to the 3, I didn’t understand it,” Embiid said with Thybulle sitting right next to him. “I was mad at it. I can’t believe it, but he’s been great. He just made my job easy. I’m just making the right passes and I’m trusting him to finish it. We’ve been doing that all season and I’m just gonna keep on finding him if they’re gonna send double teams.”
Here's @JoelEmbiid trying to implement the magic that worked on @TyreseMaxey last week with Matisse Thybulle tonight.
Joel:
"I want him to shoot more 3's. He's always pump faking. I don't know why…" 🤣
Matisse:
"I said I was sorry." pic.twitter.com/FAVQay314i
— Lauren Rosen (@LaurenMRosen) January 8, 2022
Embiid did something similar to Tyrese Maxey recently after a road win over the Toronto Raptors. He has a way of getting into his teammates and wanting the most out of them and what they can offer out on the floor.
“You can’t be passing up wide-open layups,” Embiid added. “I gotta put pressure on him and tell him to finish so he can be better and I know he knows it too. He’s been doing a great job. We missed him a lot. Especially on defense, he was amazing tonight, like he always is. We just gotta keep on going.”
That is always the biggest thing with Thybulle. As long as he can continue to add to his offensive game, he will continue to become one of the better two-way players in the league due to his elite play on the defensive end.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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