Philadelphia 76ers Robert Covington is team’s enforcer
By Bret Stuter
The Enforcer
You see, he’s played for the Philadelphia 76ers since November 2014. When he arrived, he immediately went to work helping out the team at the perimeter. He ended that season shooting 37.4 percent from three-point range. That shooting proficiency, and his 13.5 points per game on a pretty weak roster stood out.
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And that was further enhanced from the knowledge that Robert Covington did not hear his name called in an NBA Draft. His offense was a highlight for a pretty bad team. But the fact that the team gave him an opportunity demonstrated one of the true strengths of the Philadelphia 76ers rebuild. They found raw talent in players other NBA teams turned their noses up at. Covington proved that he could score in the NBA.
Defensive sensai trains Covington
But Coach Brown saw a better role for Covington. With that incredible wingspan, defensive-minded Brown saw his first elite-defender-in-the-raw in Covington. And so, the arduous effort to shape Covington’s game to the defensive side of the ball began. Developing skills is not linear. Some games showed great promise. Other games showed less reason for hope.
As Covington focused on defense, he encountered huge slumps in his offense. To the fans, that triggered their emotions. They could tolerate losing games as long as players and the overall roster improved. When that did not seem to be the case, they let loose with the type of boos only Philadelphia fans are known for. All the while, the less obvious defense continued to get better.