Despite Criticism, Nerlens Noel is Having a Good Season

The Sixers have played in 30 games for the season and currently sit at 5-25 in which is another years worth of waiting and accumulating draft picks for Hinkie. Fans are getting a to see a ton of former Kentucky Wildcat Nerlens Noel. After sitting out the entire 2013-14 campaign due to a knee injury, Noel has come into the league swinging, literally. Nerlens is currently averaging 1.4 blocks per game which is second on the team to a fellow rookie in K.J. McDaniels. Noel is also a stealing the ball as smooth as a thief in the night as he is currently hosting an average of 1.7 steals per game and leads all the rookies in that category.

More from The Sixer Sense

Defense is a major reason why the Sixers traded for Noel at the top of the draft and felt that his high motor defensively along with his towering length and ball swatting arms would make an immediate impact. They hit the bullseye as the kid with the high top fade is restricting teams to about 47 percent shooting at the rim when he is on the floor, per NBA.com. Early on in the season a few buddies of mine often complained that Nerlens is not a dominant rebounder and that he should be leading the team in such a category. My response was give him time to develop an NBA identity of his own. Nerlens is a better rebounder than some of the other big men we have had in the paint in recent years. Nerlens may only be averaging 7.2 rebounds but it’s more so when those rebounds occur is that is more important.

Another knock on Noel was the fact that the long-awaited debut of his revamped jump shot was a dud. To some fans myself included at times, we would rather not see him shoot the ball because, frankly, it’s not something worth paying to see. But here is a surprising fact about his shooting numbers. In just under 30 minutes per game, he is averaging a shooting percentage of 40.9 percent and is shooting slightly better than expected at the free throw line at 51.5 percent. He even shoots the ball supremely better at home than on the road as he is averaging 51.7 percent from the floor in home games as on the other hand, shooting a dismal 34.5 percent on the road. This is another reason why people have been so hard on the kid.

Time is of no consequence when it comes to Nerlens Noel, at least not this season, which is more about finding identity and watching his confidence and growth as an NBA player. In all actuality, Noel was not going to come in to town and automatically give the Sixers 20-plus wins and give fans a slight chance at a low playoff seed. The truth is, the team is happy with the way things have transpired with Nerlens and they seem to have all the faith that he will continue to grow in to the player they know he can become. Nerlens biggest test so far this season he has passed for the most part this season and that is his health. Most of the rookies this season are breaking down due to injury and shockingly Noel has avoided it. I say shockingly because Noel plays the forward position and being drastically undersized he takes a pounding and night after night. Staying heathy is a big part of the game outside of the stat sheet.

Nerlens will be just fine and for those who have labeled the young guy a bust after 30 games, after sitting out virtually over a year due to injury, I say shame on you and do not be so quick to judge. It takes six months to build a Rolls Royce, it only takes 13 hours to build a Toyota. Patience people, patience.