Doc Rivers needs Tyrese Maxey to become a true point guard for Sixers
This is a big season coming up for Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey. While the young man out of Kentucky is entering only his second season, he is being asked to do a lot in the upcoming season.
He has to be able to take over for one of the game’s brightest stars and be able to lead a team on a championship quest.
Maxey, who has been running with the starters in training camp with the team missing Ben Simmons due to his holdout, is coming off a very solid rookie season that showed off his potential to be a big scorer in this league. He is being asked to do much more this time around as Philadelphia looks to move on with their title hopes without Simmons.
“This was his best day,” said coach Doc Rivers on Saturday after practice. “I don’t think he’s had necessarily a great camp thus far. But he hasn’t had a bad one either. He’s just trying to find his way, trying to find where to be aggressive. I want him to continue to be aggressive as a scorer, but now he has to run the team, too.”
Maxey will have a lot of pressure on him to be a true point guard. He not only has to balance scoring for himself, but he also has to make sure that guys like Tobias Harris and Joel Embiid get their touches as well. Rivers had this challenge with a young point guard in Rajon Rondo with the Boston Celtics as Rondo had to focus on Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett as well.
“We used to tell Rondo and other point guards, that’s a shot Paul, Ray didn’t take and Kevin didn’t take,” Rivers added. “So when you do take it, it better be a good one. So you kind of have to learn the feel of that. That’s a tough spot, because you’ve got to stay aggressive but you’ve also got to get everyone else involved. It’s why it’s a hard position.”
Maxey averaged 18.8 points and 4.6 assists per 36 minutes off the bench as a rookie and those are numbers that should make a lot of people excited about his potential. He does understand that he needs to handle some scoring responsibilities, but he also needs to get everybody involved and be a general out on the floor.
That is why Rondo gets brought up so much from Rivers. Maxey needs to learn from him.
“I see what he’s saying,” said Maxey. “I think Rondo, that was maybe his second year when he was with Paul Pierce and KG and them. It’s kind of similar. I’m a young guy, and then you have superstars like Joel and Tobias, and guys who have played really well in Seth (Curry) and Danny (Green), experienced guys. I’m just trying to figure out, like I said, how to distribute the ball the right way, how to make the right passes, make the right reads and still find a way to be myself within the offense.”
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