January 11, 2017
We realize this recap is a couple of days late, but with the Sixers not returning to the hardwood until tonight, it’s still technically not old news. Better late than never, right? We’ll start today’s x-ray by looking at the Sixers’ best perimeter defender, who made timely plays in the win over Brooklyn on Sunday.
Robert Covington isn’t a perfect player, far from it in fact. For instance, his shooting on the season has been nothing short of dreadful. But with the Sixers making the leap from almost a sub-NBA level to a normal, below-average team (which people around the league are taking note of), Covington has proven to be a major part of the improvement.
Since Dec. 1, Sixers are 19 out of 30 NBA teams in net rating, ahead of likes of CHI, NYK, and ORL.
— Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) January 10, 2017
Still a ways to go, but not terrible.
This is primarily because Covington has turned himself into a rock-solid, versatile defensive player. Quantifying defense (particularly, wing defense) isn’t an exact science, but some of the advanced numbers back that up, too. ESPN’s real-plus minus has Covington ranked as third-best defensive small forward in the NBA behind Thabo Sefolosha and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Even if the 26-year-old swingman might not be quite at that elite level, Covington’s quick hands certainly are. Check out the NBA leaders in deflections per game:
Those are four all-stars and Robert Covington. If you showed that list to the casual NBA fan, they would instantly blurt out, “Who is Robert Covington?” Perhaps one day they’ll get to know him a little better, when he’s playing in a rotation for a contender.
In Sunday’s 105-95 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, Covington was mainly tasked with slowing down Bojan Bodganovic, otherwise known as the guy whose Olympic shot selection drove Sixers fans who wanted to see Dario Saric hoist up every shot crazy. Bogdanovic finished with 12 points and three assists on 5-14 shooting.
Let’s be clear that Covington’s defense isn’t flawless. He’ll make a mistake in rotation sometimes. Other times, he’ll get beat off the dribble. These are the best offensive players in the world, after all. But when you weigh the entire package, it’s pretty, pretty, pretty good.
And in a city that has valued toughness in the past and present, Covington brings that quality in spades. He pulled down 11 boards on Sunday, but more noticeably, Covington took an elbow in the face because he stuck his nose in there and guarded his man tight.
On two more separate occasions, Covington took elbows in the face. On Sunday in Brooklyn, he never backed down. And down the stretch, he was able to sprinkle in a little offense to help put the game away:
“You hear me say it all the time: It’s the city of Philadelphia,” Brett Brown told reporters after the game. “And we need that grit, we need to build it through defense and that toughness.
“Robert takes hits when he misses threes, but when you dig in and you see the totality of his game, he had 13 deflections tonight. We chart deflections, how many times you get a hand on a ball even though you might not get credited with a steal. And so the defense, the toughness the rebounding, and then when he makes shots, that’s the elusive two-way player. But those types of people are what we’re trying to do to grow our program.”
The Sixers matched their entire win total from last season on January 8th, and if you don’t think Covington is a major part of that turnaround, well, I don’t know what to tell you.
• "Like I said, we are seven or eight games from the eighth place. That's a goal. I think we have a chance. We've been hot lately. . . . We are really starting to figure things out. We are starting to learn how to end games." – Joel Embiid on the Sixers potentially making the playoffs.
My response:
• “[Bleep] you, man.” – Saric, after T.J. McConnell poured some water on his head during the post-game interview
So, um, that is pretty awkward. McConnell and Saric have had some testy moments on the floor this year, but the latter did post this on Instagram later:
• I thought Alaa Abdenaldy did a solid job on the broadcast pointing out a possession in which Embiid caught the ball on the right block, didn’t like the aggressive help McConnell’s defender was giving from the top of the key, told McConnell to cut through the lane (giving him a better passing angle), and found Ersan Ilyasova for an open jumper.
The improvement Embiid’s passing is a very exciting development for Sixers fans. The big man had four assists (to three turnovers) in this game, but he very easily could have had six.
• On that subject, McConnell has proven that he’s an NBA player (and he has earned the starting PG job with his play recently), but the next step for him is finding consistency with his jumper. Whether the defense is playing way off when he’s off the ball or going way under the screen on pick-and-rolls, McConnell could take his game to another level if he could make an open three semi-consistently.
Another reason that McConnell has earned the starting nod? There is a noticeable gap in between his defense and that of Sergio Rodriguez. Chacho had some real trouble staying in front of the likes of Spencer Dinwiddie in this one.
• The addition of Ilyasova has been a net positive, but when he’s missing shots, it can get pretty ugly because he won’t stop firing away. In his last two games, Ilyasova is a combined 11-37 from the floor.
• Love, love, love this ATO from Brown. It’s the same “Iverson screen the screener” action that I wrote about last week, except Nerlens Noel is on the floor. So instead of posting up Noel as the defense is expecting, Nik Stauskas runs through the elevator doors instead. That’s a very quality set play:
Also loved this ATO from Brown. Faked the post-up play I detailed last week (https://t.co/YTGfyXS9uE) and ran Elevator Doors for Stauskas. pic.twitter.com/TYF5cxgVR8
— Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) January 11, 2017
• This "Sauce" celebration by Richaun Holmes was hilarious:
.@Rich_Holmes22 reaction 💯 pic.twitter.com/hNK5txFDqd
— Philadelphia 76ers (@Sixers) January 8, 2017
• On Friday, there were "Trust The Process” chants in Boston. Sunday, we heard some more in Brooklyn. I guess the only thing left to do is to see if they can travel to Washington and Milwaukee this weekend.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
