Philadelphia 76ers Players That Need To Do Better

Nov 13, 2015; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard T.J. McConnell (12) drives to the basket in front of Oklahoma City Thunder guard D.J. Augustin (14) during the second quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

T.J. McConnell

I know, I was just praising McConnell for his ability to move the ball and not turn it over, and that’s still something to be credited to him, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have his issues to fix. McConnell is making the leaderboards in total assists, and that’s something to be excited about, but there’s more to games than just that.

McConnell was moved into the lineup to replace Isaiah Canaan because all Canaan would do was shoot, and didn’t look for teammates to pass the ball to. McConnell gets the rest of the offense rolling, but will rarely take a shot of his own. T.J. is averaging just 5.7 points per game despite playing nearly 30 minutes.

McConnell seems to have a fear of shooting–or at least, a lack to pay attention to when he should shoot–and sometimes making the pass isn’t the option. In most games, he’s been able to dump the ball to Jahlil Okafor in the post, and Jah has been able to easily do his thing, muscling into the paint. But against the Oklahoma City Thunder, we saw him shut down very well, and we saw Jah only score six points. The Sixers don’t have very many more offensive weapons with guys like Nik Stauskas struggling to hit his shots, so McConnell may be the next one in line.

T.J. has shot 45% from the field so far this year, so I would have no problem with him taking a few more shots. His best shooting (above 70%) comes within three feet of the hoop, but he also has decent success (50%) within the 10-16 feet marks.

I’d like to see McConnell take complete control of this offense. Before the year started most of us expected Jah to do this–and he’s done a decent job–but having a point guard that can pass and score, alongside a big man that can dominate in the paint? That’s something that could be unstoppable if the Sixers could keep it going.

He did a decent job of doing more scoring on Monday and shot 67% from the field, but that has to continue.

Next: Nik Stauskas