CAMDEN, N.J. — The offseason is here for the Philadelphia 76ers, and now is the time for some internal improvement. It is now time for players to get in the gym and begin putting in the work for the 2022-23 season in order to get better as individuals.
For young Sixers big man Paul Reed, he has a chance to really be the regular backup big man in his third season. After not being able to earn much time in the regular season, Reed was able to get some burn toward the end of the regular season while also being the main backup in the playoffs.
Reed played in all 12 playoff games, he averaged 11.7 minutes per game, and he averaged 3.7 points and 3.8 rebounds. He played well considering the circumstances thrown his way.
“The biggest things I learned was just being coachable,” said Reed. “Seeing how the intensity is in the playoffs, and I learned how I have to change my body in order to be more physical in the playoffs because it gets real physical.”
Reed was unable to earn many minutes during the regular season as the Sixers turned to veteran DeAndre Jordan more often as the backup to Joel Embiid. While Jordan had clearly lost a step and Reed’s energy was infectious, there was a reason why he was unable to earn any minutes from coach Doc Rivers.
“I don’t think he had complete trust in me and that’s something we’re still working on,” said Reed. “I’m still trying to build more trust. So I think that was like one of the major reasons.”
Basketball IQ is a very important part of today’s game. While Reed played with a ton of energy and he made some big hustle plays, he was out of position a lot and that was a big reason why he wasn’t able to earn a lot of time.
“It’s like mental things,” he explained. “Reading coverages, knowing when to cut, flash, knowing when to set screens, knowing when to stay spaced, re space, it’s a lot of little detail that goes into what Doc wants. So that’s something that I’ve been working on all season.”
As he now heads into the offseason, Reed has some goals and a plan for himself for the summer.
“I plan on doing a lot of training in Atlanta,” he stated. “I plan on going out to Atlanta, getting stronger. I also want to work on my vertical so I can jump higher, block more shots, get more rebounds, dunk on more people. I got a lot of training about that too. I plan on being in Atlanta, putting a lot of work in, and getting better.”
The biggest thing for Reed is that he was able to show the Sixers enough to earn time in the postseason. Now, he just has to build off of it.
“I didn’t back down from nobody,” he finished. “Put me in front of anybody and I will compete with anybody. I’m not scared, I’m not gonna back down, I ain’t gonna fold. I knew that about myself already going into it, but now I feel like the organization knows that about me. They know I’m gonna go out there. I will play hard. I will make plays, make things happen for my team, make winning plays, and I think now, the team got more confidence in me.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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