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What happened to T.J. McConnell?

By Ben Wieland

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 11: T.J. McConnell #12 of the Philadelphia 76ers reacts after the game against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on March 11, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Matteo Marchi/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** T.J. McConnell
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 11: T.J. McConnell #12 of the Philadelphia 76ers reacts after the game against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on March 11, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Matteo Marchi/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** T.J. McConnell /
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The Philadelphia 76ers’ backup point guard is slumping at the wrong time. Can he play his way out of it?

If there’s one thing all Philadelphia 76ers fans can agree on, it’s an irrational love for backup Sixers point guard T.J. McConnell. He was the Pennsylvania State Player of the Year, but his lack of athleticism led to him attending Duqusene University.

McConnell worked and played hard enough to earn a transfer scholarship to the University of Arizona. There, he played in the shadow of star athletic forwards Aaron Gordon and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. And yet he still played his way into being first team All-Pac 12 and first team Defensive All-Pac 12.

Despite these accolades, McConnell still went undrafted into the NBA. He was picked up by the Sixers for their summer league team. Like he always does, McConnell played well enough in summer league to impress the Sixers and earn a spot on the Philadelphia 76ers’ regular season roster.

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And everyone on the team loves T.J. After every Joel Embiid and-one, you can see Embiid run back and celebrate with McConnell. After McConnell recorded his first ever triple-double in February against the Knicks, Embiid took to Twitter to congratulate McConnell. In the post, Embiid referred to McConnell as “the GOAT.” And last January, after McConnell hit a buzzer-beating turnaround jumper over Carmelo Anthony to take down the Knicks, he tweeted this.

Everyone can agree that T.J.’s attitude is exactly what coaches want out of their athletes. Unfazed by criticism and being told he wasn’t good enough, he continued to work hard and get better. He overcame his athletic shortcomings and he’s made it at every level of organized basketball. His blue-collar upbringing, work ethic, and always good attitude epitomizes Philadelphia.

But sometimes attitude, hard work, and effort isn’t enough to cut it in the NBA. And it seems like T.J.’s athletic shortcomings are finally catching up to him.

What’s wrong with T.J. McConnell?

Just a month ago, it seemed like T.J. McConnell was on top of the world. First, on Feb. 10, he tied his career high in scoring with 17 points against the Clippers. Afterwards, in just the very next game, he put up a triple-double against the New York Knicks in Philly.

It was the first triple-double of McConnell’s career and the first ever by a Sixer off the bench. However, since that triple-double, T.J. just hasn’t been the same.

Before the triple-double, McConnell had been averaging 7.5 points per game while shooting 51.8 percent from the field and 51.3 percent from three. He was on pace to become just the third NBA player ever to have shooting splits of 50/50/80 in a single season. In addition, he was averaging 4.6 assists per game.

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Afterwards, his offense has been nothing short of abysmal. His field goal percentage since the triple-double game is only 42.7 percent — nearly as bad as Lonzo Ball’s. His three-point percentage has dropped to a paltry 14.3 percent, and he hasn’t made one in his last 13 games. McConnell has gone ice cold.

But why? Is the size and speed of NBA athletes finally starting to catch up with him? Is the threat of Markelle Fultz‘s return and stealing his backup point guard duties making T.J. nervous? Or, perhaps, is McConnell just going through an unlucky streak?

The latter choice is the most likely. McConnell, as everybody knows, is tough as nails. He’s not going to be intimidated by competition. In fact, the fact that T.J. has only taken 14 threes since his triple-double is probably a good thing. He’s passing up his own shot to create better looks for the new Sixer acquisitions Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova. 

Philadelphia 76ers fans need to have faith in T.J. McConnell. This cold streak is just him adapting to the revamped bench lineup. And we can expect that he’ll be back to his old form come playoff time.

Next: Tanking advice from Sixers fans

After all, when has T.J. McConnell failed a challenge before?