Philadelphia 76ers need Markelle Fultz’s defense now

The Philadelphia 76ers must address defending fleet-footed backcourt scorers. To do so, the team needs to fight fire with fire. That means Markelle Fultz must get healthy

The Philadelphia 76ers are a young team, making inexperience mistakes on the basketball court. They are vulnerable to excessive turnovers, they commit a high number of fouls, and they are incredibly streaky in both offensive output and in wins/losses. But there is a weakness in their team right now which they will face again and again in NBA post season. They are vulnerable to a speedy and gifted back court guard. Plain and simple.

And the team is struggling to keep their post-season aspirations afloat. After a solid start to January 2018, the team is back to .500, after losing three consecutive contests. There are some things the team needs to clean up overall. Fewer fouls, better handles on the ball, and making better shot selections.

Young team qualities, veteran team ambitions

These are characteristics of a young team with a host of young, inexperienced players. And even beyond the individual players, this roster has not yet congealed in the NBA post-season furnace.   There are still areas of huge growth needed for this roster.

The trouble is, nobody knows what the final product for this team truly looks like. The teams starting lineup, by this time in the season, should be Ben Simmons, Markelle Fultz, J.J. Redick, Robert Covington, and Joel Embiid. Unfortunately, Fultz never got to the court. Coupled with other injuries, that pushed Dario Saric off the bench into a starting role, and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, and Jerryd Bayless. The Philadelphia 76ers bench is in shambles.

The Achilles heel for this team

But there are some vulnerabilities too.  This team has a weakness against quick-footed shooters, and has for some time. At times, the Sixers get some stout defense from J.J. Redick, at times the defense of Robert Covington stands out. There have even been moments of flash from Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot.

But come crunch time, the team needs a player who can be a show-stopper on defense. A player who can take out the other team’s best player.  In theory, that role will fall to Markelle Fultz. Someday.

Moment of truth is coming

But the moment will come sooner than later.  As the fans await the team’s sign off on the top prospect of the 2017 NBA Draft, all eyes turn towards that shot. But for the record, I don’t think it’s that shot which is keeping the young Markelle Fultz off the court now.

I believe that the team has simply had so much success holding Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons on the bench, that the team is simply going at that same method one more time.  So when Markelle Fultz arrives, he is not a free-lance shot specialist, but rather a Brett Brown two-way threat on the basketball court. A disciplined, confident young man who still has plenty of NBA to learn, but is assured he will take each lesson in stride.

Defense defines the player

Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brown has helped to develop Robert Covington into an NBA starter, by emphasizing Covington’s defense first. He did the same thing with then Sixers shooting guard Nik Stauskas. He mentored both to be two-way players, emphasizing their defense to help their offense.  Now he has a third pupil.  But why defense?  The reality is that offense sells tickets, defense wins championships – in any sport.

Two-way players are incredibly valuable in the NBA. As such, they are rare as well.

Brown still pitching same philosophy

So you can bet the head coach continues pitching that same philosophy. And when the coach doesn’t notice, there is Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid to remind him.

Defense is not an individual effort, but an interweaving of varying skillsets and disciplines to neutralize the opponent’s ability to score. That does not fall on one player, but rather on the team. And with Joel Embiid with his back to the basket, the odds of a good defense are pretty good. But even Embiid needs time to pull off his responsibility and defend against a fast drive to the basket. If only the 76ers had a player equally fast, with quick hands to disrupt driving guards.

Last piece to the puzzle

Markelle Fultz is the lightning fast guy on this team. Despite the fact that the Philadelphia 76ers are one of the fastest paced teams in the league, it truly is hard to name a player who blurs up and down the basketball court. Sure, the team can pass from end to end, get guys in the right spot and pile up transition points quickly. But from the moment the basketball hits the hands of a 76ers player, there are few who can outrace everyone to the basket.

Fultz can.

He is worth all the optimism. He is incredibly talented, and the Philadelphia 76ers, regardless of the lack of verbiage, are wise in developing him fully.

Baryshnikov of the basketball court.

On one hand, Markelle Fultz is a 19 year-old NBA rookie with a mountain of responsibility and expectation upon his shoulders. On the other hand, the world monitors his every shot, trying to discern what new flaw exists. And finally, the entire matter of why Markelle Fultz is not on the basketball court has been shrouded behind a curtain of the team’s own making.

Next: The Jerryd Bayless experiment is a failure

But at some point, Fultz must step onto that basketball court. When he does, he will transition to the player everyone witnessed in a Washington Huskies uniform. He is the Baryshnikov of the basketball court.  No matter what the song, the art of basketball will always be in him. He is the last, and vital piece to this team. All that is needed is Markelle Fultz on the basketball court.