Every Sixer’s Strengths & Weaknesses, And How They Affect The Team: Part 1
By: Sedem Anyiri
Tags: Philadelphia 76ers, Basketball, Analysis, NBA, Sports

Ever since the arrival of new signings Al Horford and Josh Richardson, it seems that the Philadelphia 76ers have lost the form which they displayed in the 2018–19 NBA Season. Although collectively, the team has seemed to fall short in terms of shot quality, each player has his strengths which the Sixers can use to their advantage. Likewise, each player has his weakness which holds back the team, either a lot or a little. This series of articles will round up all these strengths and weaknesses, and identifies how much they benefit (or drawback) the team.

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Ben Simmons

Strengths: Playmaking, defense, high IQ, fastbreak scoring

Weakness: Shooting

The 2016 NBA Draft’s first pick has since been living up to expectations, with his playmaking ability and height making him a dangerous point forward. However, his pre-NBA choice of not shooting at all have caught up with him — Ben’s career 3PT shooting percentage is 9.1%. Trainers have promised that they’re working on it, he’s promised that he’s working on it, but so far, the results aren’t promising. He hit one three-pointer during the first game of the season, and subsequently broke Twitter, but after hitting his second against the Cavs, Ben hasn’t been a threat from outside.

Needless to say, though, Ben makes up for his lack of range with his proficiency in inside scoring. As expected, the majority of his shots are taken from 10 feet away from the basket at further, and he’s 56.3% on all his two-point attempts, which is a tiny 0.3% less than his previous season. Along with his exceptionally high IQ that makes him a playmaking stalwart (almost 9 assists per 36 minutes), and his strong defense, all Simmons needs is a jump-shot to become unguardable.

Tobias Harris

Strengths: Consistency, defensive rebounding, scoring

Weaknesses: Defense, jump-shot efficiency

Ever since he joined in the 2018–19 season, Tobias Harris has been a strong role player on the court. He finished the regular season with a strong 48.2% field goal percentage, almost 8 rebounds per game and just over 18 points per game. His jump shooting hasn’t been pretty — only 12.4% of his shots per game have been from the midrange, and with good reason, as he’s only 37.2% from there so far this season — and developing a more efficient jump-shot could be the key to unlocking a new area of his game.

Harris’ versatility shines on the court whenever he plays — he gathers points in all sort of ways, scoring in transition, off screens, from assists, and unassisted — and his inside prowess shines through all of this. His defense is questionable, however, and with the small forward position boasting some of the league’s best players — Giannis Antetekounmpo, LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard, to name a few — Harris allows almost 20 points against the Sixers every game. With all the right training, this number can drop, but in the meantime, Harris can rely on his efficient offensive game to aid the team.

Joel Embiid

Strengths: Post-play, rim protection, rebounding

Weaknesses: Efficiency, needs stronger mentality

Franchise player Joel Embiid has seen significant improvement in his game since his rookie year, but he’s often been plagued with injury, stunting his growth on the court. At the time of writing, he’s out for three weeks with a broken finger and has started 31 games out of a possible 40. Joel’s durability is becoming a problem — this was evident when he was out for two whole seasons due to a foot injury. Since then, he’s also been plagued with a torn meniscus (1 week), and now his broken finger will also set him back.

Although the Sixers could arguably benefit from Embiid’s absence, the team will no doubt miss his rim protection. Joel averages almost 2 blocks per 36 minutes, and his towering height makes him a useful help defender. His efficiency is questionable (below 50%), and towards the end of games, he can get lazy on defense, but there’s no doubt that he’s one of the best centers in the league.

Josh Richardson

Strengths: Defense, athleticism, shooting

Weaknesses: Drawing fouls, consistency

High-flyer Josh Richardson hasn’t been doing much high-flying — it seems that he’s converted all his athleticism into his explosive first step and speed that lets him beat defenders easily. Even though he’s strayed away from his past highlight reel-worthy antics, his defense has always been his trademark. The most points that Richardson has allowed from a match-up are just 23 from Toronto’s Fred VanVleet. He may not be the most consistent player on the team (below 45%), but perhaps his defense makes up for this.

Another problem that Richardson struggles with is drawing fouls upon contact. This could be holding him back from finishing at the rim, as only 28% of Richardson’s shots are taken less than 10 feet from the basket, and with a season average of 3 free throws per game, it looks like he’s settled as a shooter off the catch. If Richardson puts in some more work on drawing content, he could be taking a lot more free throw attempts per game. And as we all know, more free throw attempts = more free throws made = more points for the team.