Markelle Fultz, Year Three: He's back! Big....?
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I don't know if anyone else has noticed but in all these videos his fall away jumper looks very natural and smooth, much different than the free throw stroke. If his issues are psychological I can see him getting by if he can master that one shot. The midrange is out of styoe these days but many players have made careers by having that shot around the elbows. Pierce stands out.
Brett Brown says Fultz's ability to penetrate and dish is the best way he can help this team. He plays big for 6-4. So far, all of his recent minutes have been in low-stress situations.
But Pierce also had 3 point range, which helped his mid range game. I'm not sure how valuable Fultz can be without a 3 point shot since as of now, he doesn't have an elite skill to make up for it. He's not Ben Simmons.
If his FT shooting continues to be a concern, I wonder if it will cause him to drive to the rim less in fear of getting to the line.
Actually, Fultz is Ben Simmons, just 6 inches shorter. Both of them are good rebounders and excellent ballhandlers (from what little I've seen, Fultz' handle is elite, and can get him anywhere he wants to go), creative and willing passers, and reluctant shooters. Now that Fultz can't shoot anymore, he is redundant on the 76ers, precisely because his game is like Simmons'.
I agree. I have no idea where this "Fultz isn't athletic" rumor came from. Every time that I have watched him, he gets wherever he wants to go. His handle and his explosiveness are plenty NBA-ready. What nobody knew was that he can't shoot. And to be fair, that seems to have happened between summer league and opening night.
Has anyone said "Fultz isn't athletic?" Without a perimeter shot that is pretty much all he is. The problem is that without a shot you will see defenders slide under screens and retreat into position on his first movement thus affecting how Fultz can best use his athleticism.
The rust is evident however if you're a Sixer fan you have to be at least somewhat encouraged even if the bar was pretty low.
You know, I heard an interesting theory the other day. It is exactly because Simmons is a poor 3 point shooter that he excels as a playmaker.
The theory is, because people are playing off him, he has the ability to roam free at the three point line and diagnose the right pass or drive to make. In other words, the extra space defenders provide due to a lack of range gives him better chance to diagnose the court in front of him.
Van Gundy used to always say this about Rondo and there is something to it.
For a traditional non-shooting 1 it would as this was the same with Rondo. It really doesn't affect Simmons nearly as much since the Sixers run their sets through Simmons on the low block at every opportunity. He's rarely playing as a traditional point guard in the Sixers halfcourt offense.....only when he has the ball on the break in which case teams aren't really playing off him dating him to shoot.
I think - cant recall - it was Durant talking about it on Simmons' podcast. I'm sure they run plenty for him from the block, but Durant speaks pretty confidently to other teams systems.
@LondonSox, thoughts?
Oh I agree that it does help but it helped Rondo a ton more since he only initiated the offense from the perimeter whereas Simmons doesn't.
I was responding to a the idea that he doesn't have an elite skill to make up for his lack of shooting.
One doesn't need to have Ben Simmons' court vision and passing ability to create. If he can get past his man routinely, he will be useful. Obviously that's not what they thought they were getting, but it's not nothing. Simmons is averaging 16ppg on 54% shooting without much of a shot, above and beyond his passing.
Simmons hit a couple 16-footers the other night. He will take that shot when no other options present themselves. I think what we are all driving at in this thread is how does Brett Brown play two non-shooters in the same lineup? He'll face that issue as soon as this season ends. Brown has been quoted as saying Simmons could go back to forward with Fultz running the point. But nobody knows if that works until they go through a preseason together and probably more. Right now, Fultz looks like a 15-minute player in the rotation ... unless Brown benches McConnell due to defensive matchup issues. That will depend on the first-round opponent, probably Indiana.
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They post Simmons up when he's off ball and embiid is in the perimeter or bench. He'll cut and post up on a mismatch but he doesn't crowd embiid if he is down on the block etc.
I disagree Simmons doesn't run point in the half court, they use the least pick and roll in the league and they have so much passing (by some distance most passes a game) that the ball doesn't stick and they run some repeat screening action but he does run the point plenty.
Once he makes an entry pass to embiid or saric he often does non traditionql roles, but if you see them reset the ball almost always returns to Simmons to reset the offense and so on.
76ers' passing is so much improved this year, mainly due to Simmons, who inspires everyone else. 34 assists on 42 FGs on Friday night.
He can obviously still be useful without an elite skill but he won't be an all star. His handles might be elite, but so were God Shamgods. When I say he doesn't have an elite skill to make up for poor shooting, I meant to live up to the hype of being a #1 pick.
I don't think it was as much as "Fultz isn't athletic" - because if I recall correctly virtually everyone was saying that he had NBA level attributes - but it was that Fultz wasn't a special athlete that people typically look for in the 1st overall pick. I also think that Fultz's athleticism was dinged because he was in the same draft as Fox and Smith, both of whom are PGs who are physically special in different ways.
Here's the first article I could find that suggested this.
I'm not really seeing anything in that big board piece regarding Fultz with respect to Fox and DSJ, but since it does ding Tatum for his lack of athleticism in favor of Josh Jackson, I think it's a good jumping off point for a discussion about combine-type athleticism versus functional, in-game athleticism. DSJ and Fox have some special athletic attributes- we see it DSJ's crazy dunks (he had a nice spin move into a two handed throw down just tonight) and Fox's quickness (him blowing by Rozier and flushing it the other night looked like a video game player on turbo), but Fultz's handle, stop-and-go acceleration and spatial awareness in traffic allows him to get where he wants with the ball in a way that the other guys can't. Those skills are why Harden and Kyrie often came up as comps for him. Lack of "explosion" doesn't really hurt those guys because they're in complete control of themselves at game speed. IT was (hopefully will be again) similar, and it's why, despite being about the same as jump shooters, he's a much better scorer than the more "explosive" Nate Robinson. The game is sped up for Nate and slowed down for IT.
Due to lack of playing time, Fultz hasn't really shown that the NBA game is as slowed down for him as the college game was. I imagine it has to be a huge transition dealing with the increased size, quickness and general defensive acumen at the NBA level. Most good prospects take a while to adjust to it- we've seen it with Rozier, and Jaylen already looks like a different guy on both ends than he did last year. Then there's the prodigies like Tatum, who don't seem to miss a beat going up a level. He might not be the athlete that Jackson is in an empty gym, but his with his peripheral skills and general aptitude, he ends up looking like a longer, more explosive player than he actually has on paper. He is going to be such a problem when he adds 20 pounds of muscle and refines his already impressive skills. I cannot wait to see him and Jaylen take the next step and play with Hayward next year.
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Triple double in a blowout win over Bucks that initiated garbage time late in first quarter. In 25 minutes, 13 points, 10 assists, 10 rebounds.
Was at the game tonight and crowd was going nuts for him. Great to see an unexpected happy ending to this situation.
It'll be interesting to see how he gets defended in the playoffs.
According to b-ref, going into tonight, he was shooting .649 at the rim, and .246 (15-61) from 3 feet and out. And he's still under 50% from the line. I wouldn't be surprised to see a hack-a-Fultz employed at some point.
According to b-ref, going into tonight, he was shooting .649 at the rim, and .246 (15-61) from 3 feet and out. And he's still under 50% from the line. I wouldn't be surprised to see a hack-a-Fultz employed at some point.
'Zards should play a triangle and 2 - one guy each on Reddick and Covington and then the other 3 guys glued to the paint . . . .
Interesting strategy but one that would leave all of their Toronto opponents wide open.
Watched the Hawks game: his FT attempts still looked really gross. I'm happy for him that he can be a functional NBA player, but he has a long way to go with his shooting.
D-Wade went off for around 26 points in the Heat's recent win over Philly. 76ers had nobody to guard him. Not Reddick, TJ or anyone else. Fultz may get a chance because he matches up physically and athletically plus he might exhaust Wade for 10 minutes on defense.
Fultz has already helped lessen Simmons' minutes down the stretch, keeping Ben fresh for the playoffs. Doubt we will see Fultz when game is on the line but he is a playmaking option for the second unit that is unlike TJ, better on defense and a great penetrator.
But Brown will not trust him until next year.
Fultz has already helped lessen Simmons' minutes down the stretch, keeping Ben fresh for the playoffs. Doubt we will see Fultz when game is on the line but he is a playmaking option for the second unit that is unlike TJ, better on defense and a great penetrator.
But Brown will not trust him until next year.
In an NBA world where teams jack up so many 3s, crazy to have two stars who don't shoot them
When you have Redick/Belinelli/Saric/Covington providing spacing, not as big a deal. I do agree that both need to be at least passable from the perimeter to reach their full potential. But defenders last night were having a real problem staying with both guys. There’s really no excuse for the poor FT shooting but I’d also expect that to improve.
The problem is Embiid isn't all that great from 3 either. You can't play all 3 of them without having some serious spacing issues.
Embiid's not great, but he's at least a threat to shoot from out there, and he's good enough (33% from wide open) that you can't just not cover him behind the arc. Simmons and Fultz are a different story, and I agree they can't be on the court together effectively.
They were on the court effectively last night. At some point in the playoffs, it’ll grind down to a half court game but over the course of a regular season, where teams’ effort Isn’t that great, not really an issue.
Have they faced much zone? Obviously any opponent rolling it out would have to do so smartly.
Would love the opportunity to see what Stevens would cook up. Was at their game last night but looks like Simmons and Fultz didn’t play together. Spacing certainly could be an issue against better teams but the Bucks didn’t contest the paint well at all so both Simmons and Fultz were driving at will when they were in. Don’t think they’ll play much together this season but haven’t watched the past couple of weeks.
Brett Brown has played Fultz with Simmons just once since Markelle returned. He knows they need a training camp together to work things out.
I think it's likely Fultz will end up seeing limited (maybe 10-12 per game) playoff minutes. Brown has basically acknowledged they're not ready to play meaningful minutes together yet: "'I’m not in the mood to go bananas on experimenting with stuff,' Brown said. 'I’m ready to win.' He continued: 'The thing that interests me or that I’m acutely aware of (is) you need shooters with Markelle and you need shooters with Ben. And the growth of those two guys together has some challenges at this stage.'”
And Simmons is just too good to take off the floor. In games this season decided by 4 points or fewer, Simmons averaged 36 minutes per game. I'd expect that number to be bumped up in the postseason, at least in the close contests. And then you have to wonder about TJ McConnell. The minutes Fultz has gotten have largely been at his expense, but come crunch time in the playoffs, you may want the 80% free throw shooter/44% 3pt-shooter on the court.
And Simmons is just too good to take off the floor. In games this season decided by 4 points or fewer, Simmons averaged 36 minutes per game. I'd expect that number to be bumped up in the postseason, at least in the close contests. And then you have to wonder about TJ McConnell. The minutes Fultz has gotten have largely been at his expense, but come crunch time in the playoffs, you may want the 80% free throw shooter/44% 3pt-shooter on the court.
So, knowing that now, he's either hoping Fultz figures out what ails him in the offseason (or Simmons adds range, which is possible too) or man, that's a tough way to spend a #1 pick.
Has Fultz turned 20 yet?
One of the things about the one-and-done college era is most of the first-rounders come in with room to grow. Even Tatum will add muscle to his game as he matures. Fultz may get his shot back. Or develop a better stroke with help from a shooting coach. Simmons will get better, too. Redick has offered his thoughts on Ben's shot, and which hand he should be shooting FTs with. Redick says he's shooting with the wrong hand right now.
Just as Boston's kids have grown, so will Philly's. And that bodes well for the NBA.
Exactly, Fultz's story is FAR from over. I think Brown is mainly referring to their plans for the postseason. Those were already pretty clear to anyone with half a brain, so it's not like he's telegraphing anything.
No one to guard Wade? Do me a favour, he's been largely trash, he has the occasional throwback game, like that one.
Fultz largely took TJ minutes, Simmons minutes fell due to repeated blowouts vs tankers etc.
Wade had a fluke game, if that's the path to miami winning the series that's just fine.
As for no one to guard him, Covington
Edit I didn't even realize how HORRIBLE he has been with Miami.
Usage of 30% true shooting 0.465
Shooting 41% from the field and sub 30% from 3 with an o rating of 90 (-15 net).
AWFUL
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I wouldn't rule Old Man Wade out until after we see him in the playoffs.
On a side note, you have done a great job keeping the 76ers topical even when they were horrible. Now the fun begins.
On a side note, you have done a great job keeping the 76ers topical even when they were horrible. Now the fun begins.
I get that. Which is why I specifically said Fultz "fixes what ails him".
And it's fair to acknowledge that the issues with Fultz aren't that he needs to add a skill he didn't show in college. He needs to rediscover a skill he had and lost for some reason. Those are different things.
Don't get me wrong he can steal a game with a throwback, but he is one of their only creators, esp late and in a long series that doesn't look great. But sure he could be saving energy etc
If there is serious discussion about Ben Simmons changing which hand he shoots with...well, I don't think that bodes especially well for his chances of becoming a decent outside shooter.
How bazaar though if it were to happen. Simmons switches hands. Fultz totally remakes his entire shot. So weird.