De’Anthony Melton, Sixers loving defensive versatility Nic Batum brings
CAMDEN, NJ.–Nic Batum has been a terrific addition for the Philadelphia 76ers after being acquired in the James Harden trade with the Los Angeles Clippers. In nine games with the Sixers, Batum is shooting 54.8% from deep and averaging 7.3 points and 4.4 rebounds.
Beyond the numbers is his defensive ability. Batum has taken a variety of different matchups since joining Philadelphia such as Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards, and Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James just as a few examples.
That defensive versatility is so important for a guy like De’Anthony Melton to be able to stay with a smaller player and be able to be a pest on the perimeter.
“It helps me out, too because he’s able to take on some of the bigger matchups,” said Melton on Tuesday at practice. “Those types of matchups probably just try to post me up and stuff like that so him being there allows me to get into the ball more and on-ball type people, too.”
The Sixers have been able to use Batum on different players in order to help on the defensive end. That ability to stick different types of players allows their other defenders to be able to stay with more traditional matchups.
“It’s super valuable, right?” added coach Nick Nurse. “It’s super valuable in a lot of ways, and he just does a lot of it by working. Like he’s up the floor picking up full court. He’s in denial a lot so the guy doesn’t even get it back. That’s the easiest way to guard somebody if they don’t have the ball.”
Nurse understands that Batum being able to take on bigger and talented players allows the Sixers to play a more aggressive defensive scheme at times.
“You can keep them from getting that and keep them pushing them out and getting them higher on the floor,” Nurse continued. “There’s a lot of that, but is it pretty good ripple effect on our team because it allows us to move some other pieces around defensively, too.”
