T.J. McConnell Is Proving His Worth as a Point Guard

Since earning a starting role for the Philadelphia 76ers, point guard T.J. McConnell has exceeded expectations and has made life easier for his teammates.

If you were to ask a casual NBA fan who T.J. McConnell is, you’d probably get some confused looks. You might even get some folks who say “Isn’t he the shooting guard for the Portland Trailblazers (C.J. McCollum)?” He has flown under the radar for most of this season, but he is starting to catch fire since earning the starting nod for the Philadelphia 76ers. T.J. McConnell has been one of the most valuable pieces to the 76ers’ recent win streak.

Now, most Sixers fans didn’t think highly of McConnell when he first came on the scene back in 2015. Most fans, including myself, didn’t even want him to make the team. Personally, I was a much bigger fan of Scottie Wilbekin out of Florida. When T.J. earned the roster spot, I, like most of the Sixers’ fanbase, was shocked.

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Yet, T.J. McConnell’s rookie season showed that he can hang in the NBA. He averaged 6.1 points per game, 3.1 rebounds per game, and 4.5 assists per game back in the 2015-2016 season. For parts of the season, McConnell was in consideration for the All-Rookie team. Thus, T.J. made his mark on the league from the jump.

That said, last offseason the Sixers decided to bring in a new face at the point guard position: Sergio Rodriguez. With his addition came a veteran presence. Rodriguez was brought in to lead this young core of talent. Guys like Joel Embiid and Nerlens Noel were supposed to benefit from this brand of leadership.

Interestingly enough, the player who might have benefited the most might have been T.J. himself. Sergio’s injection into the rotation has made McConnell more eager to earn his spot. In a weird way, T.J. might be the ultimate underdog. He’s fought for the majority of his basketball career to get where he is now.

McConnell and The Streak

The win streak is no different. Once T.J. McConnell got the starting spot, he made sure that he held onto it. During McConnell’s recent run as a starter, the Sixers have gone 6-1. With that record came a cold-blooded buzzer-beating win against the New York Knicks.

When he drained that shot over Carmelo Anthony, fans were in such shock and awe. That game helped put McConnell on the map in the city of Philadelphia.

So, with T.J. McConnell’s contributions to the streak came better overall play. He’s a significantly better scorer when he starts than when he comes in off the bench. As a starter, McConnell averages 8.6 points per game, 5.7 rebounds per game, and 9.0 assists per game. On the contrary, when he comes off of the bench, he has averaged 4.0 points per game, 2.1 rebounds per game, and 4.5 assists per game. His numbers practically double when he gets more playing time.

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With more minutes comes more efficient scoring as well for T.J. McConnell. For instance, McConnell shoots 47.4 percent from the field as a starter as opposed to 41.3 percent off the bench.

It gets even more interesting when you look at his 3-point shooting. McConnell shoots 37.5 percent from three as a starter, but those numbers drop drastically when he’s a reserve at 18.8 percent. That may level out with a larger sample size, but obviously, more minutes warrant more opportunities to score on offense.

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All around, T.J. McConnell is proving that he deserves to be taken seriously in the NBA. Critics have doubted him for the majority of his career. With that criticism comes an animal on both sides of the floor. The fact that he has stuck around this long is mind-boggling to begin with. But in this current win-streak, T.J. has shown that he can be valuable to any team. T.J. is the very definition of a guy who takes advantage of his opportunities.