Phildelphia 76ers TJ McConnell Plays With The Eye Of The Tiger

When the Philadelphia 76ers traded two second round picks to the New Orleans Pelicans for the services of point guard Ishmael Smith, TJ McConnell was sent to the bench. But, his play has earned his way back onto the court.

The season of the Philadelphia 76ers began without a clear cut point guard, a position that Brett Brown has emphasized as being the key to any championship team in the NBA. With a key player in the position, an NBA team will languish in mediocrity. Let the position fall to eager rookies and rehabbing players, and the team never discovers what the talents of the other players truly are.
Nothing clicks, And losing becomes a certainty.

So when the Philadelphia 76ers signed on the consulting services of one Jerry Colangelo, there was recognition of the teams most obvious flaw. To see what kind of team this Sixer group can be, their needs to be a veteran presence at the point guard position.   And so, a 2014 Philadelphia 76er by the name of Ishmael Smith, now playing point guard for the New Orleans Pelicans, was identified as a player who could run the team while the other players learned to play as a team.  The cost?  A modest two NBA second round draft picks – one from 2016 and the other in 2017.

That should have ended the debate on the point guard position.  In fact it likely should not have happened at all.  Ish Smith was a Philadelphia 76ers last season, but was unsigned.  In fact, we examined that topic before the news of resigning Ish Smith was beyond hopes and wishes.   Eventually, whatever wrong was made by letting Smith walk away was rectified just before the Christmas holidays.

But some players meet challenge with resolve and determination.  Some players take an undrafted beginning to the NBA as incentive to prove their worth by standing out far superior than their drafted counterparts.

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The Duke Became A Wildcat

And so the story has gone for Timothy John McConnell, better known as T.J. McConnell, an un-drafted point guard from the University of Arizona.  McConnell is familiar with challenges.  Playing high scholl basketball in the city of Pittsburgh is a challenge, but it helped out that he played for his father, Tim McConnell.  His father is is one of the most successful coaches in Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) history.   Basketball is in his genes, as his aunt is Suzie McConnell-Serio, an all american at Penn Statue University, Olympic gold medalist, and earned her place in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

As team captain his senior year, he averaged 34.2 points per game, 8.2 rebounds per game, and 9.1 assists per game. A talented player, he remained in Pittsburgh to begin his collegiate basketball career with the Duquesne Dukes.

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After two seasons, he transferred to the University of Arizona, where he was forced to sit out a year. When he did arrive on the basketball court, he helped Arizona Wildcats to a 21-0 record to start the season before teammate Brandon Ashley injured his foot and was sidelined for the rest of the season. The season resulted in an Elite 8 appearance for the Wildcats. As a senior, he was voted first-team All-Pac-12 and named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team.

But despite the immediate flash to brilliance, his luminescence faded when he went undrafted in the 2015 NBA draft.

Next: Path Less Chosen

The Path Less Chosen

Undrafted but not unwanted. Going undrafted has the benefit of allowing a player to direct which team he would rather play. And so, the Pittsburgh sensation signed with the Philadelphia 76ers on September 27, 2015. At the time, the Sixers outlook at the point guard position was nebulous – they had brought in Pierre Jackson, Scott Wilbekin, Kendall Marshall, and now T.J.McConnell to compete with returning Tony Wroten and Isaiah Canaan for the point guard role on the team. With the team suffering from so many injuries, they even brought on a 16th player in the form of point guard Phil Pressey to help the team out.  Despite the odds, McConnell seized the opportunity.

In five preseason games, T.J.McConnell made the most of his opportunities. in five preseason games with a crowded point guard field, he averaged 22 minutes, shooting 50% from the floor to average 6.2 points per game, with 5 rebounds per game, 5.8 assists per game, 2.2 steals per game, with 2.0 turnovers per game.  Despite the fierce competition at the position, McConnell earned a spot on the team roster.  Tony Wroten and Kedall Marshall were still rehabbing, Pierre Jackson was injured in preseason.  Scottie Wilbekin played hard but was unable to make the team.  The six were now four.

But playing time is not a given, something McConnell learned quickly.  He began the season coming off the bench for starting point guard Isaiah Canaan, and his play caught the attention of Brett Brown. His minutes reflected the growing confidence Brown had in his young prospect. His best streak of the season was a period from November 2nd to 11th, where he averaged 9.67 assists per game. That run earned him a spot on the rookie ladder top five, alongside teammate Jahlil Okafor.

Next: Good Enough To Start

Practice Makes Perfect, Or Good Enough To Start

With the qualities of a point guard mentality housed in a prospect who had virtually no NBA experience, Brett Brown made the only choice possible in his role of player development. He began to start T.J. McConnell.

In the 2015 NBA draft, the Philadelphia 76ers were projected to pick up point guard D’Angelo Russell but were prevented from doing so when the Los Angeles Lakers drafted him as the second pick in the 2015 NBA draft.  Despite the opportunity to draft a quality player in Jahlil Okafor at the third pick, the draft felt incomplete.   The expectation was that the team would be able to bolster it’s back court in the draft.  Instead, fates decreed that the front court would get even richer.

But with an emergence of McConnell, the team now had a true point guard to develop and nurture as the overall team grew together.  The Sixers seemed to have found a point guard prospect, and enriched their front court in the off-season.   In a solid piece from November 2015, The Sixer Sense —Josh Wilson described the evolution of McConnell as he portrayed the spirit of the player:

"McConnell has a mindset to move the ball. Heck, his Twitter handle is @iPass4Zona. In the 13 games played so far, McConnell has had three games with 5-9 assists, and four more with 10-14. Three times, he has had huge games with 12 or more assists. Several more times, he has had near 10 assists, and on a regular basis you can count on T.J. for five or so assists, and generally more. McConnell brings the ball down the floor with his eyes up, always looking to feed his teammates. It helps that he has a great scoring weapon in Jahlil Okafor to fall back on, but he seems to always have an idea of where the best placement of the ball is. While his performance is great in the context of the Sixers, looking at the context of the league, he’s also making a name for himself on the leaderboards. McConnell is sitting at ninth in the league in total assists, and in assists per game. Some are comparing him to Ish Smith, who was a Sixer last year that was not brought back during the offseason, and now plays for the New Orleans Pelicans. Ish sits higher up than T.J., currently fourth in the league. While Ish is certainly missed, T.J. is easing the process. Something that Ish seems to do a lot better than T.J. McConnell is knowing when to be selfless, and when to be selfish. I paid attention to his game Wednesday night against the Thunder, and his ability to drive in the lane and score was great, and paired with his passing ability, he really has started to make himself a leader on the Pelicans. – Josh Wilson"

The Sixer Sense gets noticed. Perhaps it was this article which prompted a series of events, events which led to bringing on Jerry Colangelo, who led to bringing on Mike D’Antoni, who subsequently triggered pursuit of a veteran point guard who had recent history with the Philadelphia 76ers: Ish Smith.

Next: McConnell Meets Smith

McConnell Meets Smith

Brett Brown had a prospect who needed minutes. But he also had to work the healthy return of both Tony Wroten and Kendall Marshall into the lineup. So minutes were needed to allocate to others, and much like the basketball, McConnell fed his teammates.

The results were less than spectacular. Tony Wroten returned rusty. With a cycle alternating with Kendall Marshall, Wroten never seemed to get on track. His turnovers averaged higher than his field goals per game. And with a team already struggling on defense, the team needed immediate positive impact from the point guard position.

Kendall Marshall fared a little better.  While his turnovers did not reach critical mass, his game seemed to be off.   His reputation of generating assists and elevating the game of his teammates was greater than the delivered results on the floor, albeit with restricted minutes.  So with Wroten ineffective, and Marshall less effective, the burden of point guard continuesd to fall onto McConnell.  Or so everyone thought.

But the Sixers wisely traded for former Sixers point guard Ish Smith.   To make room on the roster, the team had to part ways with struggling Tony Wroten, which kept the point guard stable. The trade was not an expensive one, but two second round draft picks was a strong statement that the starting role would be given to Ish Smith.  Upon arriving, Smith has been instrumental in three victories in the past six games.  He’s averaged 23.9 minutes per game ( 14.7 points per game, 8.2 assist per game, 2.8 rebounds per game, and 1.5 steals per game.

So the point guard role should be settled, right?

Not exactly settled.  There is still the point of guards coming off the bench.  Since Smith’s arrival, Kendall Marshall is struggling to find minutes on the court, and struggling even moreso when he gets there.  But T.J. McConnell plays with the eye of the tiger.  Formerly compared to Ish Smith, he wasted no time further emulating the play of Smith on the court.  Coming off the bench, McConnell has averaged 14.8 minutes per game, shooting at 40.9% from the floor, and is averaging 3.8 PPG, 4.5 APG, 2.0 RPG, and 1.5 stl.   With the exception of scoring, T.J. McConnell, McConnell’s numbers are comparable to Smith’s.

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2015 is now a memory, a chapter in the history of the Philadelphia 76ers.   Much is being made of the arrival of Jerry Colangelo, Mike D’Antoni, Ish Smith, and even the anticipated arrival of Elton Brand.   But it’s not their arrival alone that is turning this Philadelphia 76ers team towards success.  The Philadelphia 76ers have found success with Ish Smith at point guard.  But their current success also takes root in the response of the other players as well.  It’s the response of players like T.J. McConnell to change which is turning the corner for this team.  Facing the likelihood of descending to the bench, he stood up once more.  This will not be his fate so easily.   He is learning quickly, and his contribution is every bit as integral to the team.

The Philadelphia 76ers are still learning and will be for a very long time.  But now they are learning how to win.  If it’s up to T.J. McConnell, it’s a lesson they will have frequently this season.