Philadelphia 76ers therapy session for early struggles
By Alec Liebsch
3-point shooting
The most concerning part of the early slate has been the 3-point shooting. The Philadelphia 76ers are only hitting 32.9 percent of their 3s so far, which ranks 22nd in the NBA. Even with a league-average frequency (17th in 3-point attempts), they’re not clipping nearly enough.
The roster was built with a clear deficiency in 3-point shooting, but the starting five is downright avoiding them. Al Horford is the most frequent gunner of the quintet (5.0 attempts per game), Tobias Harris has only hit 20.4 percent of his 4.5 attempts per game and Joel Embiid is the most efficient 3-point shooter of the unit at 38.5 percent.
Harris won’t shoot this poorly all season, but how he comes across such shots is the least acceptable part. He’s an efficient scorer attacking mismatches (57.9 percent inside the arc), but refuses to take 3s. There’s an inherent hesitation every time he gets the ball, causing him to overthink and lose rhythm.
It’s good that Horford is willing to fire, but he should not be leading the team in that department. It should be a tool of his, but by no means his biggest feature.
Who knows how long Embiid will shoot this well from beyond? He’s only shot 30.4 percent over the last two seasons. It’s good while it lasts, but not where he does his damage.
Harris and Josh Richardson are the most crucial pieces to this puzzle. It’s possible that they’re still figuring out how to fit in, but they’re both visibly phobic of attempting 3s within the flow of the offense. Their games do not scream “shooter,” but the expectation when they were acquired was that they would become more natural gunners.
Furkan Korkmaz‘s emergence has been wonderful, but Brett Brown only turned to him out of necessity. It’s wonderful to get value out of a minimum contract, but he wasn’t even on the roster until late in the summer. To have to turn to such a player this early in the season shows that the front office miscalculated the importance of shooting.