CAMDEN, N.J. — Philadelphia 76ers guard Furkan Korkmaz has built a reputation as a shooter. The fifth-year guard from Turkey earned his spot in Philadelphia’s rotation due to his 40.2% shooting in 2019-20 and 37.5% percentage in the 2020-21 season. He is also a top 10 3-point shooter in Philadelphia history.
Korkmaz has slumped to 29% shooting in a miserable 2021-22 season. He has not made a 3-pointer since Feb. 25, and he was 0-for-4 from deep in a loss to the Miami Heat on Saturday.
Afterward, Joel Embiid had some advice for Korkmaz: Keep his head up and continue to play hard. Korkmaz has been in plenty of slumps before and has broken through, so this isn’t entirely new for him. However, this is much longer than his previous slumps.
“I’ve been through this before,” he explained. “I’m just trying to stay focused. I know it’s hard, especially right now because we have kind of a new system, a new player, which is like a superstar, but it’s also more important to play next to him (James Harden) other than Joel. That’s why everybody’s, I think, trying to find their rhythm, their role, because we had like, a big change. I’m just trying to stay ready and then play my game.”
In order to break out of this slump, Korkmaz wants to continue to work in the gym and wants to see the ball go through the net to get his confidence and rhythm back.
“I’m just trying to be on the court as much as I can, because when you see that ball go into the net, that gives you more motivation, more confidence, and then you remember who you are,” he added. “Sometimes we are getting like too lost as a player who we are. You can just control the things that is in your hands.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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