Getty Grayson Allen #12 of the Milwaukee Bucks is fouled between P.J. Tucker #17 (L) and Tobias Harris #12 of the Philadelphia 76ers during the third quarter at Wells Fargo Center on October 20, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The Philadelphia 76ers look to be in the process of turning the corner on their season after an uninspiring opening few games. The team’s inability to do the little things has come back to haunt them during the frustrating start. The transition defense has gotten most of the attention as they have ranked in the bottom five in just about every metric in this area.
While the effort in transition has rightfully been given a great deal of negative attention, it is not the only area that has been lacking. Through the opening seven games of the season, the Sixers also have ranked 30th in the NBA in offensive rebounding. So far this year the Sixers have averaged just 6.9 offensive rebounds per game. The Celtics, who rank 29th in the NBA, are leading Philadelphia by over a full rebound and tallying 8.0 offensive boards per game. For reference, the Houston Rockets are leading the NBA in offensive rebounds with 14.9 second-chance opportunities per game. The top 20 in the NBA each are averaging double-digit offensive rebounds.
History Repeating Itself?
This should not be a major surprise surrounding this Sixers team. Just last season they ranked 30th throughout the entire season with 8.4 offensive rebounds per game. Philadelphia has not cracked the top ten in this metric since the 2019-20 season in which they ranked 7th in the NBA. Their best effort during the Embiid era was during the 2017-18 season when they ranked 2nd in the league. During this season there were seven different members of the Sixers who averaged at least one offensive rebound per game. With players like Dario Saric, Richaun Holmes, and Ben Simmons no longer helping in this area, it has grown into a point of weakness.
Even based on the Sixers’ low standards, the offensive rebounding effort has been poor. So far this season there are three members of the team who are averaging at least one rebound per game. P.J. Tucker leads the team with 1.4 offensive rebounds, while Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris are each tallying 1.3 offensive rebounds per game.
The Sixers’ approach after made shots is confounding. They’re not crashing the glass (29th in offensive rebounding rate), nor are they getting back (allowing NBA-worsts 9.3 transition possessions per game + 159.2 points per 100 in transition).
This clip embodies these issues:
How Can The Sixers Improve?
Like transition defense, offensive rebounds can be credited mostly to effort. Showing a commitment toward securing additional opportunities for the team should also be moved up on the list of priorities. Tucker was expected to play a major role in this change. The prized free-agent addition has a career average of 1.5 offensive rebounds per game and tends to have a nose for the ball in this situation.
So, this is why you sign PJ Tucker.
However, it cannot be on Tucker alone. Embiid has recorded over two offensive rebounds per game in each of the previous years of his career but is tallying just 1.3 per game to start this season. The fitness level of the superstar has been brought into question to start the season following the news of him battling plantar fasciitis in the offseason.
There are plenty of reasons to nitpick for the Sixers’ struggles, but they cannot expect success if they struggle in both transition defense and offensive rebounding. Each of these is impacted by the level of effort on the opposite sides of the ball. Philadelphia has shown improvement on this defensive aspect as they have moved up from 30th to 26th in the league in fastbreak points allowed following the previous two victories. During these matchups, they outscored the Raptors and Bulls by a combined 26-20 in fast-break opportunities.
It is still early in the season and plenty of time for the Sixers to figure things out. However, the team cannot expect success if they are losing in the hustle stats on both sides of the floor. Stepping up this continued effort will be an interesting storyline to watch and will play a role in the Sixers’ future results one way or another.