Philadelphia 76ers Give Nik Stauskas A Look As A Pseudo Point Guard

Without the services of backup point guard Sergio Rodriguez, the Philadelphia 76ers have turned to Nik Stauskas to help with their ball-handling duties.

From the very early stages of the 2016-17 season, the point guard slot was always going to be a challenge for the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Sixers’ No.1 overall pick, Ben Simmons, went down with a foot injury which would eventually rule him out for the entire season.

Offseason acquisition Jerryd Bayless, a combo guard who would’ve featured heavily at the point guard position, played just three games before undergoing season-ending wrist surgery.

As a result, their remaining options were T.J. McConnell, a second-year point guard who was undrafted before signing with the Sixers, and Sergio Rodriguez, a 30-year old veteran European point guard who was signed to a one year deal.

Thus far, McConnell has started 48 games at the point and Rodriguez has 30 starts.

Recently Rodriguez, who had been playing in a backup role since early January in all but one game, went down with a hamstring injury and has yet to return to the court.

Philadelphia 76ers /

Philadelphia 76ers

And with a lack of other ball-handling options available as the season winds down, the Sixers have turned to third-year guard Nik Stauskas to assist McConnell in running the offense.

Primarily known as a perimeter shooter and an off-ball shooting guard, Stauskas has averaged just 1.7 assists per game over his career. The past five games, however, have seen Stauskas’ role change dramatically in the absence of Rodriguez.

First of all, Stauskas’ touches per game have increased significantly, from averaging 40.4 per game to 63.0 per game during this recent stretch. As a result, this has seen his total passes per game rise from 29.1 to 48.8 per game.

Furthermore, Stauskas’ assists per game have risen from just 2.1 to 5.6 per game

Of course, it’s hard to grasp whether Stauskas’ new role as a pseudo point-guard is something the Sixers will look to use moving forward. The team is currently missing frontcourt players such as Joel Embiid, Jahlil Okafor and Robert Covington.

Without the best players available, it’s hard to judge the value of any point guard, let alone a novice such as Stauskas.

One thing that is certain is that there has been a downside to the added responsibility to Stauskas’ game. Through his first 72 games, Stauskas had been hitting at a 38.0 percent clip from three on 4.1 attempts per game.

Since the change in his role, he has shot a miserable 23.3 percent on 6.0 attempts per game.

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For the season, the one area in particular that Stauskas has excelled has been his ability to hit the wide-open three. Per NBA.com, this is classified as any three-point point attempt made at least six feet away from the nearest opponent.

Even with his recent struggles, Stauskas ranks third overall in the league in accuracy for wide-open threes among players who have taken at least 2.1 wide-open attempts per game.

For this category, he is converting at a 46.5 percent clip. He trails only Tony Snell (47.8 percent) and Klay Thompson (46.5 percent).

It’s anyone’s guess as to whether Stauskas’ role at the point is just a once-off or will be tried again throughout the offseason. But as has been seen this season, Stauskas’ greatest strength is his long-distance shooting.

He is currently shooting a career-high 36.7 percent from three for the season.

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If Stauskas and the Sixers can formulate a way in which he can combine handling the ball more often without it affecting his shooting, this recent stretch has been a worthwhile exercise for both player and team.

Nik Stauskas Emerges As Pseudo Point Guard For Philadelphia 76ers

By Simon Smith | Apr 7, 2017

Without the services of backup point guard Sergio Rodriguez, the Philadelphia 76ers have turned to Nik Stauskas to help with their ball-handling duties.

Philadelphia 76ers

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