Robert Covington is poised for a break out season
He is known affectionately as “Lord” Covington by the fans of the Philadelphia 76ers, a nickname which has no reference to airs of royalty, nobility or superiority. You see, he is a “lord” of the court, the basketball court. He reigns over the gym , “rules” it, when he steps foot onto it.
There are only two players who are 25 years old and are entering their third season or more as a Philadelphia 76er – Hollis Thompson and Robert Covington. Of these two, only Covington has averaged over 10 points a game as a player for the Philadelphia 76ers.
More from Sixers News
- 3 Sixers players who could help Team USA Basketball
- 76ers 2k24 ratings: 3 most underrated players on Philadelphia roster
- 76ers head coach Nick Nurse bares lofty plans for Paul Reed this season
- Grade the Trade: 76ers swap Tobias Harris for superstar PG in mock deal
- Breaking Down Bombshell Report on Sixers Star James Harden
Like it or not, he’s one of the team’s leaders. Personally? I like it. You see, Robert Covington was overlooked in the 2013 NBA draft, overlooked in the fact that he ended up undrafted by the team.
But not unnoticed. In fact, his play made such an impression on Sam Hinkie, that Covington’s signing by the team was the sole regret of the former general manager – not because it happened – but because the signing occurred 17 months afterwards.
There was good reason for that impression. Robert Covington has the tools to evolve into a major player in this NBA. He commands excellent versatility, he can play up to the power forward position on a small ball lineup, or can settle in at the shooting guard role. He works the boards as well as he can for his position, and he can be a staunch defender or a prolific scorer – depending on the game situation and the needs at the moment.
But now, in the doorway of the 2016-2017 season, while all eyes turn to the busload of new rookie talent arriving to the team in the form of Ben Simmons and rehabilitated Joel Embiid, the media has overlooked the player who may be the most important factor going into this new season:
Robert Covington
Next: Long and Windy Road
Long and Windy Road
Robert Covington may have been sought by Sam Hinkie, but once signed, all preferential treatment ends. Even on a team assembled more for the potential of each player, rather than a fit into a scheme or style of play, playing minutes were earned for the most part.
So it began for Covington, with his initial duty of coming off the bench during the 2014-2015 season. But that changed when he got the nod to play over 30 minutes on December 3rd, 2014, and helped the Philadelphia 76ers defeat the Memphis Grizzlies 85-77, while shooting for 50 percent accuracy from the perimeter. Eventually, he got the nod to start on December 12th, 2014 in a game against the Brooklyn Nets. While the Philadelphia 76ers would lose that game, Covington’s 20 point effort led all scorers.
Neither the team nor the player has looked back since.
But the player is more than sinking a fast bucket. Covington brings a well-rounded arsenal of skills to his basketball court, skills he works so very hard to hone and perfect.
Let your game speak for all the work u put in behind closed doors #Focused
— Richaun Holmes (@Rich_Holmes22) June 24, 2016
And so it seemed that Covington would be a major contributor to the 76ers in the 2015-2016 season. But in the final preseason game against the Boston Celtics, Robert Covington sprained his right knee, and dealt a serious blow to the already injury-depleted roster of the Philadelphia 76ers.
He would miss nearly a month, first in missing games altogether, and then appearing but under minutes restrictions. He finally roared back to life against the Miami Heat on November 21, 2015, where he scored 21 points in a losing effort.
But he was back.
Next: Missing In Action
Missing in Action
His early absence was ill timed to the fortunes of the team. With a young and unfamiliar roster, Covington’s style of play of making up the difference where ever needed was visibly absent without his presence on the court.
More from The Sixer Sense
- 3 Sixers players who could help Team USA Basketball
- 76ers 2k24 ratings: 3 most underrated players on Philadelphia roster
- 76ers head coach Nick Nurse bares lofty plans for Paul Reed this season
- Grade the Trade: 76ers swap Tobias Harris for superstar PG in mock deal
- Sixers Podcast: Danny Green returns + James Harden bombshell
He was the glue on a team whose roster depended upon him more than it should have. That forced Covington to try to do too much for the young team, and so his play waxed erratic. Seven points scored one night followed by a 25 point outburst. 11 points scored, only to lead into a 29 point scoring outburst.
But the new year was the most obvious slump. After the December 2015 month ended on a down note – a 10.6 points per game low average with a huge erosion in his scoring – January 2016 began even worse. His first 6 games of 2015 found his scoring average in six games plumment to 5.6 points per game.
On January 14, 2016, Covington finally broke the 20 points per game barrier, and finished a loss to the Chicago Bulls with a 25 point outburst.
He would be injured a second time, on this occasion in a rare late season win against the Brooklyn Nets. In a freak accident, a tumbling Jerami Grant kicked Covington in the head. Covington injured his neck on the play and would miss another five games before returning to the team twelve days later.
All told, Covington missed 15 games for the Philadelphia 76ers, but the truer number was starting a mere 49 games for the team.
Next: the important uptick
The Important Uptick
It went unnoticed to many, but there was a breath of huge life on the roster of the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2015-2016 season. In his last four games of the 2016 season, “Lord” Covington averaged 25 points per game, 7 rebounds per game, and 2 assists per game. Embedded in that short span was a huge game against the Brooklyn Nets: 30 points, 11 rebounds and made 7 of 13 three pointers. It was his seventh double-double of the year.
The roster of the Philadelphia 76ers going into the 2016-2016 is still in flux right now, but even if the season started today, there would be one huge difference.
The presumptive stars on the basketball court would be either Ben Simmons or Joel Embiid. Either of the two players will draw the attention of the opposing teams defense. In that scenario, Covington will get clean looks at the basket and will feast.
Covington is a rare find in the NBA: a long, 6-9 wing who can shoot from deep and who doesn’t cost much. In fact, the Philadelphia 76ers have Covington at a bargain price for two more years. If you’ve noticed, virtually any NBA team in trade talks with the Philadelphia 76ers will request Covington to be included to “sweeten the deal”. Thankfully, the Philadelphia 76ers have resisted.
"“What I’ve learned is when you don’t have him you appreciate what he can do for us. He does more than just make threes. His ability to guard has improved and his ability to guard someone like Jabari (Parker) in small ball has improved.” —Brett Brown"
Brown has been working with Covington to develop him as a premier two-way player. At times, the results were obvious. His rebounds jumped up to 6.3 per game, while his steals per game rose to 1.6. He’s even improved his shot blocking ability from .4 to .6 blocks per game.
And he’ll improve even more rapidly this season.
Next: Trajectory
Trajectory
Robert Covington’s game will come together in the 2016-2017 season.
He’s coming off a hot end to a bad season, a season riddled with injury. Still, he was the Philadelphia 76ers’ best trey shooter. He attempted 7.2 three-pointers per game , sinking 2.5 but good for 35.3 percent from deep range. His accuracy fell slightly from the 37.4 percent posted the prior season. His scoring was also down a bit (12.8 points in 2015-16; 13.5 points in 2014-15), but that was caused to his injury and due to the fact that he drew most of the attention from the opposition. He managed to improve in nearly all other areas, especially in the rebounding department, where his 6.3 rebounds per game, outpaced his previous season by nearly two more per game.
Where does he go statistically this year?
Nobody benefits more from the Ben Simmons selection than Robert Covington. Already the team’s default arc shooter, he will get many more and cleaner looks in setting up at the outside and just draining buckets. In fact, he could easily emerge as the team’s top scorer this year.
But that’s not all. With the likelihood of a brand of Tall Ball coming to the Philadelphia 76ers this season, Covington will find himself looking up to the rest of the lineup. At 6-foot-9 , that seldom happens to the man.
With so many new faces and unfamiliarity to the team next year, Covington will begin to assume the veteran role of the team. At 25-29, he is entering his peak period for professional sports. Head coach Brett Brown loves his versatility, where he can play all the way up to the four spot on a small ball line, all the way down to the two in the tall ball configuration.
He had focused on defense last year, and expect more of that – but not to the expense of his offense. In fact, if he has the opportunity to play alongside Dario Saric, his offense will likely accelerate as teams will be forced to defend two accurate perimeter shooters on fast breaks.
Next: 5 Free Agents Philadelphia 76ers Should Not Waste Time With
The game has begun to slow down for Robert Covington. I expect Covington is poised to have a great breakout year. Lord Covington is a player Sam Hinkie singled out for good reason. He will emerge this year as one of the best Sixers on the team.
.