Doc Rivers explains Matisse Thybulle’s up and down minutes for Sixers
WASHINGTON–The rotation for the Philadelphia 76ers continues to be fluid as coach Doc Rivers continues to try and find nail down some consistency in terms of the minutes. Philadelphia added some wing depth in the offseason in the form of Danuel House Jr. and De’Anthony Melton and it changed things for some mainstays.
Most notably, Matisse Thybulle who is averaging the lowest minutes of his career at 11.3 minutes per night. He continues to make a defensive impact when he does get playing time as he is averaging 2.4 steals per 36 minutes off the bench and when he does start, Philadelphia is 4-1 in those games.
The minutes have been up and down for Thybulle, and he opened up on how he’s handling that on Tuesday, and Rivers explained the reason for the inconsistencies.
“We have a lot of guys,” he stated. “I have a feeling you could probably ask that after every game about one of our guys. We built the team that way and each game will be different for some of the guys. There’s guys who are clearly in the rotation daily and then there are guys who will be game-by-game.”
Rivers has a point as House Jr. is a regular contributor, Melton is going to deserve minutes on a nightly basis even when Tyrese Maxey returns, and Thybulle has to be able to battle through that in order to get playing time.
However, it does feel that he already has. While Thybulle still hasn’t become the 3-point shooter or the offensive player the Sixers were hoping he’d be, he’s an elite defender and he is a guy who continues to improve as a cutter off the ball. He can make a difference on the floor and Philadelphia should give him more of a chance on a regular basis.
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