The Philadelphia 76ers have made some big moves so far to improve their offense and give the proper spacing Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid need to operate.
However, that does not mean their efforts on the defensive end will evaporate.
They still have Simmons and Embiid, who are two of the top defenders in the league, and the team’s additions are good defenders in their own right. Danny Green is not only a terrific shooter, but he can hold his own on the other end and rookies Tyrese Maxey and Isaiah Joe are two guys who can get after it on that end as well.
“I feel like we have an amazing makeup, a competitive nature, a competitive culture, and Doc Rivers is going to enforce the defensive side of the ball,” said Maxey. “It’s going to be great. A lot of guys in this organization like to compete and that’s going to serve us well.”
As for Joe, he is a guy who understands how important defense is to winning. Sure, he fired up 10.6 attempts from deep during his sophomore season at Arkansas, but he was able to do that because he defended well for his position.
“I feel like my defense is something that’s overlooked in my game,” he explained. “I take a lot of pride on the defensive end because all of the teams that I’ve played for, you can’t have offensive freedom if you don’t play defense. Defense wins games, so I really take pride in doing the little things. I’m always in the right spot when it comes to defensive positioning. I’m willing to sacrifice my body, I take a lot of charges, and I feel like I have a great IQ being able to use my length to my advantage.”
Philadelphia has the potential to not only be a much improved offensive team as it now has the spacing needed to move forward, but the defensive ability is still there for this team. It can also use the length and defensive acumen the team currently has to get out in transition and run more.
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