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It is rare to see a player’s role change as much as Tobias Harris’ has throughout his tenure with the Philadelphia 76ers. From being the number two option behind Joel Embiid to his new role as essentially a three-and-D style of wing, Harris has had to be flexible with his style of play. The 30-year-old has put up with his fair share of criticism during his five seasons with most of it stemming from his contract more than his play. To start the 2022-23 season, Harris is off to an incredibly efficient start. He is attempting 5.6 three-point attempts per game and connecting at a 44.6% rate which are both career highs for the veteran.
Shooting Form Change the Secret For Success?
Harris was quick to credit some changes in his shooting form for this early success. As he stated per Ky Carlin of SixersWire, “I made a bunch of, well, me and my trainer, we call it calibration type stuff. So making sure that we’re getting those looks off in a timely manner, stopwatch, .5, .6, things of that nature….there’s a lot of adjustments, a lot of ball height adjustments as well, and a lot of footwork go into these types of things so this is still very good for me. This is probably the best my jumper has felt my whole career and just exploring on the floor. The other night, I ended up shooting a pin-down 3 and that was big for me because I haven’t taken a lot of those in my career. So just kinda evolving, figuring out ways in this role to be the best player I can be.”
These shooting form adjustments have been evident in his play and the success is clear. Catch-and-shoot opportunities have been a point of weakness for most of his career, and the Tennessee product looks more comfortable than has previously been the case. So far this season Harris is averaging 5.1 of his 5.6 three-point attempts per game off the catch-and-shoot. He is shooting 43.1% from beyond the arc overall and has an overall effective field goal percentage of 64.7%. This eFG% off catch-and-shoot ranks 12th in the NBA among players attempting 35 or more shots. Tyrese Maxey (76.5% eFG%) and Georges Niang (70.5% eFG%) also find themselves in the top 12.
Harris’ Role Moving Forward
He may be one of the more criticized members of this Sixers team, but Harris deserves a ton of credit for being willing to do whatever the team needs. He is currently registering a career-low usage rate and the fewest field goal attempts per game since the 2012-13 season. It will be interesting to see how much this changes during the absence of James Harden, but it should not be forgotten that Harris has still been an 18.5-point-per-game scorer during his time with the Sixers.
This change in shooting and willingness to embrace the defensive side of the ball has been a major key to his fit within this Sixers team. Harris also acknowledged these are changes he wishes he embraced earlier on in his career. As he put it, “I’ve learned a lot with doing that and shooting that I wish I knew, honestly, eight years ago, nine, 10 years ago, but better late than never, right? But it is, at certain times, it is different, but I’ve seen the results and I just feel the rhythm of all those things that kinda help me,” per Ky Carlin of SixersWire.
The Sixers will need this efficient shooting to continue as they look to get back in the win column moving forward. The team will be in for a test as their two biggest stars work their way back from injury and Harris will have increased responsibility for the team’s success during this stretch.
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