Tobias Harris Is Rising To The Ocassion For The Sixers
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Adam Aaronson, whose legal name is Sixers Adam (@SixersAdam on Twitter), covers the Sixers for The Rights To Ricky Sanchez. He believes cantaloupe is the best food in existence, and is brought to you by the Official Realtor of The Process, Adam Ksebe.
After a disastrous Philadelphia 76ers road trip at the end of November and beginning of December, in which the Sixers went 0-3 and lost by an average of 15 points per game, the team returned home to enjoy a two-week, seven-game home-stand.
Fast forward a couple of weeks, and the very same Sixers team that was porous in Cleveland, Memphis and Houston is surging towards the top of the Eastern Conference standings.
Joel Embiid and his MVP-caliber play is what grabs the headlines — and rightfully so. But the Sixers have wasted epic Embiid performances before. Recently, however, Embiid’s supporting cast has risen to the occasion. That conversation begins with Tobias Harris, who has been fantastic of late, filling any role and performing any task that the Sixers ask of him.
Harris has played in five of the team’s six consecutive wins, and in those contests is averaging an uber-efficient 18 points to go with 5.6 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, all while playing reliable defense on the perimeter and in the interior
Harris’ most common issue in Philadelphia has been an inability to improve his processing speed. Harris is by nature a meticulous player, but when you are a supporting piece around players like Embiid and Harden, you can’t spend time thinking -- you must act.
After years filled with both progress and regression, Harris has finally achieved the appropriate balance between his naturally-thoughtful play-style and the team’s need for him to be a sniper.
While Embiid is the obvious MVP candidate, with James Harden and Tyrese Maxey both missing considerable time already, Harris has a very solid argument as this team’s second-most valuable player so far this season.
There is nothing a coach loves more than a player who can constantly adapt; frequently adjusting his playstyle based on the surrounding contexts, willing to be assertive and also willing to take a step back for the betterment of the team.
When Harris arrived in Philadelphia, he was of course a good player, but was somewhat one-dimensional. He entered a methodical scorer who liked to operate in the mid-range rather than spot up from beyond the arc. His fantastic stretch of play recently has been the culmination of a whole lot of work, both physical and mental, to become a chameleon of sorts.
“That’s just the mentality and the work that I’ve put in on all the off days and during the season and watching film,” Harris said. “It’s great stuff that I was fortunate to get on top of this summer and even last year.”
“He's playing right,” head coach Doc Rivers said of Harris after Monday night’s win against the Toronto Raptors. “You can see he's worked on improving the quickness of his release -- he's doing that. He's ready and that's not easy.”
For someone who thrived in an entirely different role predating his Sixers tenure, these adaptations have not been easy to make.
But here Harris is, having finally become the exact player the Sixers need him to be. He is averaging more three-point attempts per game (5.4) than he ever has as a Sixer, and he’s managed to not just maintain his efficiency, but increase it dramatically: despite the tenure-best volume, Harris is knocking down over 42.2 percent of his tries from beyond the arc, the second-best percentage of his entire NBA career. He’s hit multiple threes in nine of his last 10 games, including each of his last eight contests.
Harris is also sporting a true shooting percentage just above 60, a terrific mark for any player that also happens to be the single best of his NBA career.
As the dog days of NBA basketball approach, Harris has without question found the best version of himself that he has been able to bring onto the Wells Fargo Center hardwood. He’s done so by starring in any role the Sixers ask him to provide.
“That’s really hard,” Rivers said. “He stays ready.”