Philadelphia 76ers guard TJ McConnell is Joel Embiid’s “Mini Me”

Each year, the Philadelphia 76ers raise the bar on T.J. McConnell, and each year he earns valuable playing time. The explanation? He is Joel Embiid‘s “Mini Me”

Point guard T.J. McConnell is not new to the Philadelphia 76ers. In fact, he is the embodiment of what is right with the team. If you are one of the Philadelphia 76ers who never noticed the fiery undrafted point guard from the University of Arizona, you are not alone. We noticed years ago, and have lauded the young man since his arrival.

He never fails to exceed expectations.

The problem with that is that expectations have never risen that much.  Here is a young man who was arguably the best point guard to enter the NBA in 2015, but he has never been recognized because he arrived undrafted.

Always ready

He shows up to play every game, and he usually does. Entering his third season, this young man has missed just two games.  Of the 170 games played, he has started just 68. He has only JUST developed a three-point shot (still under construction) and only last year began to hit buzzer beaters.

So what does he do right? Well, he is the “Charlie Hustle” of the NBA, folks. He works and works and works and works, and then he works some more. That means nothing if it simply is unfocused energy. But his is a very focused effort. T.J. McConnell is a defensive disciple, a stick-to-his-player-like-a-shadow type of defender.

Similarities to Joel Embiid

While certainly not equal dimensionally, there are several similarities when comparing guard T.J. McConnell to Joel Embiid in terms of attitude.  Since arriving on the Philadelphia 76ers as an unsigned free agent, McConnell has endured his share of disdain. Each time he confronts a new day, there are new reasons for spectators to cite his eventual dismissal from the team: whether the signing of Ish Smith or Jerryd Bayless and Sergio Rodriguez, or even drafting top pick Markelle Fultz.

“Playoff teams don’t fold in the second half” – T.J. McConnell

Each time, McConnell simply ups his game,
learns from his teammates, and delivers an
even more compelling reason to remain in the rotation.

McConnell talks Embiid-ise

So too have naysayers haunted Joel Embiid throughout his two-year rehabilitation, taunting his progress and citing his future in the NBA as a ne’er-do-well. He too has infused that energy to improve his game and refute the early dismissal from the NBA.

At halftime against the Utah Jazz, with the Philadelphia 76ers up 47-36, McConnell stepped up for a halftime interview.

“We have to step up in the second half. Playoff teams don’t fade in the second half.” proclaimed McConnell.  Few players are courageous to talk NBA playoffs despite an absence of multiple years.  On the Philadelphia 76ers, Joel Embiid dares. And so does T.J. McConnell.

Modest beginnings

T.J. McConnell is a native Pennsylvanian, having been born in the western part of the state. Timothy John McConnell was born in Pittsburg, PA. Basketball is in his blood, as his father Tim McConnell is a rather lauded high school basketball coach. McConnell played for his father at Chartiers Valley High School

The opposite of Joel Embiid in terms of heritage on a basketball court, McConnell fell into a basketball family and embraced the role. His basketball personna in high school was simply that of a young man who had basketball in his blood.  But little did he know that he was paralleling the path of Joel Embiid to the NBA.  From different backgrounds, he was a lesser Embiid… a “Mini Me”

As a senior, he led his school with a 34.2 points, 8.2 assists, and 9.1 rebounds per game. That was good enough to lead his high school team to a 29-2 record and an appearance in the state 3A championship game.   But his role would change in Arizona.

Arizona Wildcat

By the time McConnell went to college, he had already established himself as a scoring threat and a competent basketball player. In college, however, his height dictated his role to point guard.  And his choice of Duqesne out of high school exhibited his lack of recruiting options. He played for Duqesne for two seasons, but his performance had no effect upon any potential NBA interest.

After two seasons, he transferred to the Arizona Wildcats. Per NCAA rules, a transfer student must sit out for a full season. So it was not until McConnell’s arrival in the Pac-12 that he fully emerged as a NBA prospect point guard.  He helped to propel the Arizona Wildcats to the Elite Eight in 2014.   That should have been enough to help him onto the NBA radar screen.

Every NCAA senior hopes to do enough to get on the page of the NBA scouting reports. In a nation of hundreds of schools, each of whom has players wishing to play in the pros, 60 draft picks vanishes rather quickly.  McConnell transferred to Arizona, and when eligible, contributed mightily to a very successful season.

But it was not enough for 29 teams.  One team, however, noticed.

Undrafted, and somewhat unwanted

The avenue for T.J. McConnell’s arrival to the Philadelphia 76ers seemed to be almost an afterthought.  The team entered the 2015-2016 NBA season with some obvious holes in the roster.

Behind the Buck Pass

The team did not retain point guard Ish Smith, and faced the season with an injured Tony Wroten, a shooting guard in Isaiah Canaan, and little else.   That is why so many hoped and expected the Philadelphia 76ers to lock on point guard D’Angelo Russell.  But the Los Angeles Lakers chose Russell, forcing the Philadelphia 76ers to select center Jahlil Okafor.

To compensate for the lack of a true point guard, the team looked long and hard at the position in the off-season. The team signed Scottie Wilbekin during Summer League. Simultaneously, the team inked Pierre “Pappy Jack” Jackson to a contract as well.  The team did eventually sign McConnell, and then as the season opened, the team signed Kendall Marshall to a multi-year deal.

Island of Misfit Toys

In all honesty, the 2015-2016 roster had little semblance to a constructed roster and looked more like a roster of a playground pickup team.  The team signed plenty of guards in the off-season. That set the roster for point guard with as many as six options.

But the team waived Wilbekin and Jackson. The team cut Wroten to make room for Ish Smith. Ultimately, the team traded Kendall Marshall. So why did the team keep T.J. McConnell?  He earned his playing time.

Fighting off free agents

McConnell was hurled at the black hole on the Philadelphia 76ers roster at the point guard spot once more in the 2016-2017 season.  The team had selected point guard Ben Simmons with the first pick of the 2016 NBA Draft.  Not finished yet, the team signed shooting guard Gerald Henderson, point guard Sergio Rodriguez, and hybrid guard Jerryd Bayless in the off-season.  With Ben Simmons projected to start for the team, and McConnell without a perimeter shot, early projections slid McConnell to fourth on the depth chart.

But Ben Simmons broke his foot and was declared out for the season. Jerryd Bayless injured his wrist, and he too was declared out for the season.  The team tapped Sergio Rodriguez to start, but it was not long until the second-year McConnell demonstrated the ability to run the offense.

The year of the T.J.

That coincided with the team’s surge in 2017.  The team which brought in elite talent from the NBA Draft, from free agency, and even from the Euroleague. In the end, McConnell rose to meet the challenge once more. In his rookie season, T.J. McConnell played in 81 games, and started 17. But the second season, McConnell played in 81 games and started 51 games.  Why? He led the team with 6.6 assists per game, on a team with less than marksman quality shooting.

But he does more than dish out shots. He rebounds 3.1 per game, steals 1.4 per game, and shoots at 46.6 percent from the floor and 75.5 percent from the free throw line.

But even all of that would be simply stats for analytics if it didn’t result in winning games. But McConnell evolved in the 2016-2017 season. The young man who never took a shot began to shoot the ball.

Stepping up when a top pick must step back

As both Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz have arrived to the team, once more everyone expected the depth chart to witness McConnell’s plunge to four. But he had more to concern himself with than projections of his role with the team in the 2017-2018 season.  He married this year, and earned the Charles Barkley Award as well.

But the only thing that matters to this team is the ultimate prize – an NBA Championship.  This year, that point guard starting role is clearly in the hands of rookie Ben Simmons. But Simmons is not talking like a rookie, but like a team leader – a factor he no doubt observed in McConnell the year before.

McConnell still relevant.

Still, what role can McConnell play on this star-studded cast. Plenty.  So far, he is absorbing over 23 minutes per game while top-pick Markelle Fultz rehabilitates. But he has more of a role on the team than just placeholder. McConnell has surprisingly solid defense. And even with the return of Markelle Fultz, McConnell can come in to roll the team.   You see, when Fultz returns, the player most likely to sit on the bench is likely Dario Saric. The team will likely go back to the Embiid, Simmons, Covington, Redick, Fultz lineup.

Next: RECAP: Philadelphia 76ers 107, Utah Jazz 86

McConnell will fill the team’s need for back court ferocity. Keep in mind that the Cleveland Cavaliers wanted him last season. He is a competitor, and he has the frame of mince to sink game winning scores.  He has the “put it on me” frame of mind. Despite his stature, that is the similar mindset to Joel Embiid. He has been part of the entire process, has stepped up for the team time and time again.  He is just a smaller version of Joel Embiid, and Mini Embiid.