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Nik Stauskas Representing Sixers Well

By Josh Wilson

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One of the best offseason topics for Sixers fans has been surrounding a player who has not yet played a game with ‘Sixers’ across his chest. Nik Stauskas, who was acquired in a trade this offseason from the Sacramento Kings is competing in the FIBA competition this summer.

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While many of us were disappointed to see Nerlens Noel didn’t get an invite to the United States team, it’s good to be able to support a Sixer in the competition. Stauskas will likely start for the Sixers this year, so it’s good to see some action from him, as we project what he’s going to be capable of.

After some rough games with Canada, Stauskas finally hit his stride with the team.

It’s unclear what was getting to Sauce Castillo, but something wasn’t right. Perhaps it was him being overshadowed by Andrew Wiggins. Perhaps it was something else. All we know is that he was playing poorly.

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Prior to FIBA Americas — the tournament he’s currently playing in — Stauskas participated in the Tuto Marchand Cup, and seemingly didn’t show up to the games. He averaged just 4.5 points per game, and shot below 30% from the field. These numbers are not exciting as we look to see him bolster the Sixers offense in this coming season, and are all too similar to his stats from this past NBA season.

Plenty of news outlets and fans doubted Stauskas coming into FIBA Americas, and simply dismissed him as a valuable part of Team Canada following these poor performances at the Tuto Marchand Cup. It looks like he used this as motivation. Additionally, Team Canada was coming off of a tough loss, all the more reason for Stauskas to perform at a high level.

The prior game, Stauskas scored 15 points, but it wasn’t all great, as he struggled from the three point line.

Determined to win against Venezuela, Stauskas put the team on his back, scoring 16 points in the game. Additionally, he was back to his normal self going four-for-five from the three point line, something we’ve missed from Stauskas — he went just one-for-seven in the previous game — and definitely didn’t see when he suited up as a King last season. It was enough to lead Canada to a 20 point win.

In a parallel with this game, we can hope to see Stauskas move forward this season with the Sixers. He’s been scrutinized for his poor play with the Kings last year, and hopefully can use this as fuel to bounce back in his sophomore year with the Sixers, just as he did against Team Venezuela.

Additionally, we’d like to see him improve a lot of the same that he did with Canda, such as his three point accuracy, just at 32.2% last season.

Canada qualified for the second round and will continue to play in the FIBA Americas.

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