Philadelphia 76ers: Robert Covington, Master Thief

Robert Covington‘s recent run of play puts him in historic company, could his steals set him on a path to bigger things?

On Sunday night in Memphis the Philadelphia 76ers were involved in creating a slice of history. I’m not talking about the team’s 0-18 start to the season, although for Sixers fans that did unfortunately come to pass. Instead, I’m talking about the play of Robert Covington.

As the 76ers once again blew an opportunity to pick up their first win of the season, Covington spent his night pestering and harassing the Memphis offense on his way to notching up seven steals.

The Grizzlies should arguably have been better prepared though. They should have been on red-alert whenever Covington was on the court.

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They could have asked Philadelphia’s previous two opponents either, as both Houston and Boston had been burned in the same way.

Covington picked his former team Houston’s pockets eight times on Friday, while Boston suffered six turnovers at the hand of the 24-year-old as well.

How often has a player ran together a run of three straight games with six steals or more in NBA history though?

I started digging with the help of Basketball Reference’s streak finder, and I was both surprised and impressed by the results.

Since NBA began recording steals, Robert Covington is first/only player since Alvin Robertson in 86 to have 3 straight games with 6+ steals.
— Adam McGee (@AdamMcGee11) November 30, 2015

That’s right. Only one on other occasion that we have on record has the NBA seen a stretch of steals like the one demonstrated by Covington over the past five days.

The great Alvin Robertson matched that record back in 1986 with the Spurs, and indeed, he holds the record for consecutive games with six or more steals as his run at that time lasted for an incredible six-game span.

What Philadelphia’s former Tennessee State Tiger has been doing of late across the floor is worth people sitting up to take notice of.

Covington is often one of the more overlooked parts of the “Trust the Process” movement, which should come as no real surprise for a player who has been underrated and undervalued throughout the entirety of his young professional career.

It all started with him going undrafted out of the 2013 class. Eventually picked up by the Houston Rockets on a multi-year deal, he received little opportunity in Houston, and in spite of being named D-League Rookie of the Year when assigned to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers under the Rockets’ watch, Covington was waived at the end of training camp prior to last season.

Nov 2, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers forward Robert Covington (33) dribbles against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Wells Fargo Center. The Cavaliers won 107-100. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

Now in 2015, all of the talk in Philadelphia surrounds “bigger storylines.” Sam Hinkie’s masterplan or madness (depending on what side of the fence you sit on), Nerlens Noel‘s ceiling, and attention grabbing contributions from Jahlil Okafor, both on and off the court.

Underneath all of that though, Philadelphia has found a really talented young player from within a team who are historically bad.

What does it really matter about a player making so many steals on a team that ranks in the bottom 10 in defensive rating and has yet to win a game though?

The answer is that it arguably means more than a player who is doing it on a team winning all of their games with the league’s best defense. It says all you need to know about Covington’s character and style of play.

If there’s ever been a situation in the history of the league where players could be forgiven for looking disinterested or lapsing in concentration, this current Philadelphia squad is it. Every possession down the floor, Covington is active, engaged and looking to make a winning play though.

Let’s look at some examples from Sunday’s game with Memphis.

The first thing worth noting is that it doesn’t matter who he’s coming up against in terms of reputation or style, Covington simply utilizes his length and quickness to make an impact.

First, let’s take a look at how he pins Mike Conley over on the right sideline. Conley is not only one of the league’s best ball-handlers, but one of the best defensive guards around too. He knows a thing or two about stealing the ball.

Covington gets on top of him, uses his wingspan to close off passing options, and then just like that, his hand speed sees him poke the ball loose, and get his team down the floor where he’ll drop off a dime for an easy basket.

Later in the game, the 6’9″ Covington finds himself switched over on to Grizzlies’ 7’1″ center Marc Gasol, once again a defensive specialist, and a former Defensive Player of the Year.

Gasol is parked near the top of the key, a spot in which he’s an accomplished shooter. Covington briefly switches off his man into a weak zone to at least offer the impression of help off the double team, without fully shifting over in position.

When the pass is inevitably swung over to Gasol, that allows Philadelphia’s No. 33 to effortlessly glide over to cover his man again, offer a quick contest on Gasol’s fake, and then once again his active hands knock the ball loose before Marc Gasol even knows where or who he is.

This sort of knack for stealing the basketball can only come with the highest level of focus, as well as the ability to read the play as it unfolds in front of a player. Covington’s awareness in that regard is second to none.

As the Sixers began to grab momentum and the Grizzlies became sloppy, the Illinois native came to life. Watch him spot the lazy inbounds pass and the unprepared Vince Carter oblivious to his position.

It’s knocked loose so easily, and the veteran Carter has no option left other than to commit the foul and prevent the fastbreak.

Perhaps his best piece of defense came on Mike Conley midway through the final quarter though. Under heavy pressure from T.J. McConnell, Conley looks to initiate a pick and roll with the help of Gasol.

Covington allows no space though. First he positions himself to cheat off of Gasol and trap Conley, yet when Gasol pivots around to set the screen, Covington is once again quicker in his thoughts and actions. He effortlessly manoeuvres around Gasol, pushing Conley back towards the backcourt, panicking the point guard and creating the opportunity for him to poke the ball loose.

Pick and roll defense doesn’t get any more textbook than that.

Treating Covington as a player who only steals the ball is doing him a massive disservice though. A slow start to the season felt inevitable following on from a niggling MCL sprain that plagued him throughout the late summer as he injured and re-injured it during training camp.

His all-around play has been remarkable within the last week or 10 days though, as finally he looks back to full speed.

Steals? Check. Rebounding? Check. Three-point shooting? Check.

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For his remarkable three game spell, Covington’s averaged 17.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 7.0 steals and 1.3 blocks, all while shooting 43.2 percent from the field and 47.3 from behind the arc.

Stretch that out a little further to his last five games, and the general feel stands true as well: 18 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 5.2 steals and 1.0 blocks, with 45.2 percent from the field and 44 percent from distance.

Robert Covington is for real.

Of course, there’ll always be an argument that it’s easy to put up gaudy numbers on a team filled with inferior players as somebody has to step up. Michael Carter-Williams‘ struggles in Milwaukee at the moment do more to support that case than anything else.

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That misses the point though. If you remove the situation, and analyze Covington’s attitude in a vacuum, it leaves little to criticize. He’s engaged, he’s hungry and he just wants to win.

If a few more of his teammates would follow suit, the Philadelphia 76ers may even start to pick up some Ws of their own.

Robert Covington: Philadelphia 76ers’ Master Thief

By Adam McGee | Nov 30, 2015

Robert Covington‘s recent run of play puts him in historic company, could his steals set him on a path to bigger things?

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