Philadelphia 76ers Okafor Noel Can Coexist Thanks to McConnell
By Bret Stuter
The Philadelphia 76ers are growing up. Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel played some of their best on the same night, but the best night belonged to T.J.McConnell
A bird in the hand. With an NBA draft coming up, and with an appetite and fans and sports analysts have one again linked the Sixers to a deep gnawing hunger for a point guard that was unsatisfied in the 2015 NBA draft. You see, the team was projected to take D’Angelo Russell, but he went at the second overall pick to the Los Angeles Lakers. If you don’t succeed, try try again. To some analysts, I have read that Sixers team is that star point guard away from making significant strides.
Perhaps.
But if the Sixers had taken D’Angelo Russell, and if D’Angelo Russell had the type of numbers that T.J. McConnell is having, there would be no talk of a point guard in the upcoming draft. There may not even have been a trade for Ish Smith, whose return to the Philadelphia 76ers coincided to the team suddenly learning that winning is becoming more of a habit than in the past three years.
Such is the element of perception. Perception is the quality of believing that a first round draft choice who had done nothing for his first NBA team, but could “if he gets a new start” begin to make things happen is something I am guilty of. We had that perception of Nik Stauskas when we asked for his inclusion in a trade with the Sacramento Kings. But many things can fall under a topic of perception. This story is about a perception… a perception of a group of rookies and second year players discovering they can win in the pros. Despite the fact that they are new to the NBA, are playing on a team with only a few months familiarity, the Philadelphia 76ers are turning the corner. This team fell to 1-30, but has been on a mini-run of 7 wins 13 losses since Christmas. If this were a sustainable pace, the team would fall just shy of 30 wins in a season. Not much to brag about is it? But let’s focus on the rate of improvement instead:
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On a team of one win in 31 games, they would have been on pace to win three games by season’s end. But in their current status, will fall somewhere shy of 20 wins. With no changes to the current roster, the “as is” Sixers begin next season familiar with one another, and continue to improve as a result to a smilar jump of 17 wins. But instead of a 1-30 base, the team is at it’s current rate of 30 wins. At this pace, the team could be playing better than .500 basketball next season.
And then you get to add the new faces and 2016 appears to be very promising indeed. But you didn’t open this story to hear about what might be or might never be. So lets lift the hood of this engine that appears to have more horsepower than originally thought. What’s happening there? Right now, there are three players who are beginning to fulfill their destiny: Jahlil Okafor, Nerlens Noel, and T.J. McConnell.
Next: Okafour?