Why T.J. McConnell is one of the most efficient guards in the NBA this season
By David Rosen
Former Arizona Wildcat fan favorite and fourth year player for the Philadelphia 76ers, T.J. McConnell, is one of the most efficient guards in the NBA this season. Find out why.
One of the most beloved former Arizona Wildcats, T.J. McConnell, is having himself quite the year with the Philadelphia 76ers. There are so many reasons as a fan and teammate to love this guy, on and off the court. One of those reasons is his efficiency, which gets overlooked. The numbers he his putting up this season speak for themselves and at the same time has had a positive impact on the overall success of the 76ers.
In his fourth season in the NBA, he has proved his worth enough to remain on the same team, which does say a lot. With a lot of the trades talk and trades that have happened involving the 76ers, McConnell has continued to perform when his name is called – off the bench. Yes, he is still coming off the bench.
This season he has played in 61 games and started in only one. Now some may say he his more suited to coming off the bench, but it can be argued that because of his efficiency, Coach Brett Brown should think about staring him more. With the addition of Jimmy Butler, plus Ben Simmons and J. J. Reddick, McConnell minutes per game are limited. That being said, he is still getting a decent amount of playing time at 22.2 minutes per game.
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When he is on the floor he is nothing but efficient. Notice a common trend here? McConnell is averaging 6.6 points per game, 2.3 rebounds per game and 3.8 assists per game. Now you may ask, how are those efficient numbers? Well let me finish. He is also shooting 53.6% from the field – the only guard currently in the NBA who has played at least 10 games to shoot that percentage.
To look a little deeper into this stat, McConnell had a season high 17 points against the Brooklyn Nets and shot 80% from the field. Also, in 50 games he has played this season he shot at least 50% from the field. That’s what you call efficiency and another reason why he should be starting more.
This season the 76ers are sitting at third overall in the Eastern Conference at 43-25 and have a legitimate chance of making a deep run in the NBA Playoffs this season. Having McConnell coming off the bench for this team makes them that much more of a deeper team. I know people reading this will think I am crazy and think that he doesn’t deserve this much credit, but he does.
It’s all about the little things, plus his efficiency that he brings to this team.
It is clearly apparent McConnell has put in the work. His footwork, his quickness, his confidence to take a mid range pull up jumper or three pointer and his court awareness is what makes him such a special player, any team is lucky to have. Glad to see that the 76ers see that.
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At Zona Zealots, we love writing about T.J. McConnell and our fans love reading him. As long as he continue to play in the NBA, expect more and more articles about it. McConnell is one of those players that you could watch all the time and never get tired watching him. Bear Down, Arizona!