Sixers discuss starting Paul Reed on DeMar DeRozan in win over Bulls
The shorthanded Philadelphia 76ers had to make a tough decision on Saturday when they took on the Chicago Bulls on the road. They needed to have somebody step in and provide good production on offense while also being a presence on defense.
Coach Doc Rivers decided to turn to an unlikely source on Saturday when he turned to Paul Reed to start next to Joel Embii and the move paid off in an impressive road win.
Reed had 10 points, five rebounds, and a block in the win and he was one of the many defenders thrown at Chicago star DeMar DeRozan. Despite being only in his second season, Reed did a solid enough job against him to limit him and allow Philadelphia to come away with a win.
“It’s not analytical right now, I can tell you that,” said Rivers. “Starting Paul and putting them on DeRozan, we just did it. I just thought his size, and I knew he was gonna get in some foul trouble and he wasn’t gonna play perfect ball, but I thought his energy was phenomenal. He did a lot of good things. We put them in a position that he’d never been at. That was great.”
Reed did pick up four fouls in 21:34 of playing time, but that is to be expected for being such a young guy. This is all still a learning process for him and it is not easy staying down on DeRozan’s pump fakes. He has been doing that to draw fouls on defenders for a long time.
“I tried to make sure he didn’t go right,” said Reed. “Coache emphasized he’s right hand dominant, he likes to get his right so I try to keep him from doing that. I tried to stay down on most of his pump fakes on defense, I tried to show my hands, I know I’m long so if I contested the midrange shots he takes so I just tried to stay down and not foul, but that didn’t work, but I heard him under his average. So, it’s a win.”
As far as any emotions for his first career start in the NBA, Reed said there weren’t any and it was all about basketball for him.
“Coach let me know at shootaround,” he stated. “I don’t got emotions. I try to eliminate that. I just go in, do what I do, and try to help the team win.”
That is exactly what he did and now the Sixers have won six in a row to sport an 8-2 record despite a ton of adversity surrounding the team at the moment. They have been very impressive to start the season.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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