Furkan Korkmaz, Sixers impressed by Matisse Thybulle’s special defense
Philadelphia 76ers guard Matisse Thybulle has had an up and down second season in the NBA. He started the season out of the rotation and he was used only in certain special defensive situations.
However, coach Doc Rivers promised that Thybulle would get his chance to crack the rotation and he has fully taken advantage of it. He has been a real change for them on the defensive end and he was huge in a recent comeback against the Indiana Pacers on the road.
He is now leading the league in deflections per 36 minutes with 6.5 per NBA Stats.
“Matisse is special,” said Furkan Korkmaz. “He is special definitely defensively. He can do everything on the court. He can guard different positions, different times.”
Korkmaz is even taking some defensive lessons from Thybulle to help himself become a better defender.
“I’m also learning from him,” he added. “Maybe he’s been in the league less than me, but I’m learning from him every day defensively. He’s really good at it. We are talking a lot. He’s a really good friend of mine too and I’m happy for him.”
With the defensive performance of Ben Simmons in the starting unit and then Thybulle coming in to continue the defensive effort, the Sixers feel confident whether the starters or the bench unit is out on the floor.
“It’s great,” said coach Doc Rivers. “It’s like having a great relief pitcher to come in a game. Ben gets tired, you throw Matisse in and you got another one. You always feel like you have an elite defender on the floor for 48 minutes. That makes your team defensively pretty good.”
The Sixers will get set to take on the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday to begin a 4-game West Coast road trip. They will be taking on big challenges such as De’Aaron Fox, Damian Lillard, Devin Booker, and Donovan Mitchell on the road trip and Thybulle will have to step up to the challenge as he normally does.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
