Getty Head coach Doc Rivers of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers made a curious decision when he decided to turn to Dewayne Dedmon as Joel Embiid‘s backup instead of Paul Reed in the second half of their March 25 game against the Phoenix Suns.
Aside from his two blocks, Dedmon did not do much in the nine minutes he played, putting up no points while having a plus/minus of minus-13. During his postgame press conference, Rivers explained why he went with Dedmon over Reed.
“Just needed some life,” Rivers told reporters. “That first group in the first half gave us nothing. We have Dedmon here, and we need to get him some minutes to see what he can give us.”
Since joining the Sixers on February 13, Dedmon has played a grand total of five games for the team, averaging 2 points, 2.2 rebounds and 0.6 blocks while shooting 62.5% from the field. He has not hit one 3-pointer for the team.
With eight games left for the Sixers in the regular season, Dedmon could become more of a fixture in the rotation. “In the future, he can be in a better position to help the team when his number is called,” USA Today’s Ky Carlin wrote on March 26.
Doc Rivers Says Tyrese Maxey’s Not a ‘Natural Point Guard’
The Sixers faced off against the Suns without starting point guard James Harden. With him out, the Sixers had to depend on Tyrese Maxey to shoulder the load as the team’s facilitator.
While Maxey put up 37 points on 14-for-19 shooting from the field, including seven-for-11 from three, he dished out only three assists. During his postgame press conference, Rivers acknowledged that Maxey was playing out of position against the Suns.
“It’s tough, again, because Tyrese is not a natural point guard,” Rivers said. “We have him on the floor being that right now because our point guard is hurt. I feel for him at times because he struggles getting us in stuff because it’s not what he does, honestly. I think that affects us a little bit.”
Harden has been absent for three consecutive games. He is listed as questionable for the Sixers’ March 27 game against the Denver Nuggets. If Harden returns, Maxey should still be on the floor, according to Forbes’ Bryan Toporek.
“Maxey should spend most (all?) of his minutes with at least one of Embiid or Harden on the floor,” Toporek wrote on March 9. “When Maxey plays with Embiid and without Harden, the Sixers have outscored opponents by 10.8 points per 100 possessions. When Harden plays without both Harden and Embiid, the Sixers have outscored opponents by 6.2 points per 100 possessions. The biggest issues are the Maxey minutes without Embiid or Harden and the minutes without all three (minus-6.2 net rating), the latter of which should never happen in the playoffs (health permitting).”
Montrezl Harrell Praises Sixers Following Benching
The Sixers went into the season with Montrezl Harrell as Embiid’s primary backup. However, the Sixers have since turned away from Harrell in favor of Reed and, at some points, Dedmon.
Even so, in an interview with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson of Bally Sports, Harrell praised the Sixers’ organization while talking about what it’s been like to learn the new ropes.
“It’s just like any place that you would go to with a new system,” Harrell said. “It’s a learning process, but you come in and do your job and continue to get better with all the tools that you have around you. We have a great team, and we have a lot of different guys that can be inserted in the lineup at any given time. So it’s really about staying ready and staying prepared, really.”