Shot Selection
Two starters on the Philadelphia 76ers, through eight games in the 2018 NBA season, have scored fewer points than the number of shots they attempted. Fultz has 77 points on 83 shots while Dario has 84 points on 86 attempts.
For a team with NBA Finals aspirations, that is unacceptable. Starting Markelle Fultz is an exercise in development at this point in time, and Brett Brown should stick with him in the starting five for a few weeks. Telling him to stop shooting would break his confidence, so the coach needs to let him fly regardless of the results for the benefit of the franchise’s future.
Saric needs to step up given his experience and importance to the team, as he has hit just 23.4 percent of his threes, and he takes 5.9 per game. Additionally, Joel Embiid takes 4.3 shots from deep per game, hitting just 29.4 percent through the end of October. As big men, they need to focus on getting inside and punishing opposing rim protectors because they have enough talent to do so. Slightly over 50 percent of Embiid’s field goal attempts come from inside 10 feet, so Brown needs to encourage him to use his bag of Hakeem Olajuwon‘s tricks to dominate the paint.
Philly sits at 20th in the league in field goal percentage at 43.5 percent. The team has the best center in the league at its disposal as well as talented slashers like Saric, Simmons, and Fultz, so Brown should focus on pounding the ball inside in upcoming games against the Clippers, Nets, and Hornets.