With yet another debacle within the Sixers’ medical staff, Embiid will continue to miss an undetermined number of games.
Paul George will also miss more games (the amount is TBD).
That said, Tyrese Maxey will continue to be the number one option for however long it takes to get reinforcements.
Slow Start
With excitement at an all-time low to start the season, the Sixers could either get people excited or continue to fall under the radar. And fall under the radar they did.
Nobody expected them to start strong, but one of these days, the Sixers need to outperform expectations for once instead of doing the opposite on such a consistent basis.
Talent Showcase
Luckily, though, with two 30-plus-minute players off the floor for so many games, we got to see more of the talent that we would not have seen as much without injuries—specifically, Guerschon Yabusele, Caleb Martin, and KJ Martin.
Guerschon Yabusele
With probably the biggest question mark on the team over his head, Yabusele used these first three games to prove himself. He did exactly what he needed to do to be successful on this team.
In the first two games, he shot 50%, then missed every shot in the third game, but who cares? Yabusele might be my last option to score. More importantly, he averages almost 5 rebounds a game. That doesn’t sound great, but with Andre Drummond snagging 13 rebounds a game, he’s doing just fine. Many rebounds come from hustle plays and lead to easy scoring for the rest of the team. This helps him with his almost 3 assists per game.
Hopefully, he can reduce his average of over 2 turnovers. If he can, he will help this team a lot this year.
Caleb Martin
After starting on the bench against the Bucks, Nick Nurse put Martin in the starting lineup for the last two games. He’s not shooting as efficiently as we would hope, but as the second or third option to score, that’s more than we will need from him. Once Paul George and Joel Embiid come back, he should get a lot more open shots and should not have to create his own shot as much.
He, too, committed way more turnovers than we want. While that comes with his increased responsibility on the offense, we hope that his experience will prevent so many turnovers. Ideally, he will not facilitate the ball as much once the stars come back. This should help him take care of the ball and shoot more efficiently.
Overall, Martin has been a positive asset to the team. His hustle and determination bring grit to the team, which gets under the skin of other teams. He won’t carry the team to victory right now, but he’s a player that will help a lot come playoff time.
KJ Martin
In terms of production, KJ Martin does not blow anybody away. If you believe in the “eye test,” I think he has played better than what shows up in the box score. He’s shooting extremely efficiently at 71%, but only on 2.3 attempts per game. He’s also averaging 3.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists. For 20 minutes a game, that’s not bad. He has the athleticism needed for his position and a pretty good size, too. He can come in and defend multiple positions and make it count with hustle plays.
Efficiency matters on a team with three stars who will do most of the scoring. If Martin can continue to shoot efficiently when attempting a small number of shots, he will fit in very well with this team.
Should We Be Worried?
Overall, the team looks very average at the moment. Thanks to Tyrese Maxey and his 45-point game, the Sixers have won three straight. Maxey can’t do it all. George and Embiid will provide a ton of relief for every player on the team when they’re back.
Losing to good teams this early in the season happens – especially when they are down two of their top three players. Nobody should worry about what this team can accomplish.
When the team bands together, great things will come.
The role players need to step it up for now, but with the hustle this team has, they are built for toughness in the playoffs.
PHOTO: Marc Lebryk/Imagn Images
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