By Andy Jasner
Nerlens Noel made it abundantly clear that he needed to improve his outside shooting in the offseason.
The progress has been extremely noticeable through the first four games.
Noel, who remarkably is the longest-tenured player on the young 76ers, has shown the ability to knock down a mid-range jumper. Sure, there is so much more work to be done. So far, so good.
Noel realizes the importance of being active around the rim, rebounding and playing defense. If he can eventually hit a jump shot from 15 feet, it will draw the defense out and make him much tougher to guard.
In the offseason, Noel worked diligently on his outside shot while spending time in Newport, R.I.
“I’m just trying to play within the offense and I’m getting my shots where they come,” Noel said. “I shoot them when I can and when I develop more confidence, I’ll keep shooting them more. I don’t want to force anything. I want to take them within the flow of the offense.”
While the Sixers are still searching for their first victory, Noel is averaging 13.3 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. The added dimension of shooting has been evident.
“I just see that he wants to shoot it,” coach Brett Brown said. “He looks confident when he rises up. He’s not rickety. He’s not flinching or rising up if somebody’s off him.”
As a rookie last season, Noel averaged 9.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.9 blocked shots and 1.8 steals per game. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team as voted on by a panel of 130 sportswriters and broadcasters who were asked to select five players for the first team and five players for the second team. Noel became the 11th player in franchise history to earn All-Rookie First Team honors.
The last player to record those numbers in a single season while playing at least 50 games was Hakeem Olajuwon in 1994-95. Over his final 22 games, Noel averaged 13.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 2.18 steals and 1.95 blocks.
Noel has always been able to score. Finding new ways with a jumper will only make him stronger as he pushes forward in his career.
“I’ve tried to shoot as many as I can to get comfortable with it,” Noel said. “I feel good. I even hit some threes. It’s just about getting more rhythm shots, and feeling things out to get as consistent as possible.”
Noel has also worked on meshing with Jahlil Okafor, the Sixers’ No. 3 overall pick in the most recent draft.
It won’t always be smooth, but Brown is excited to see how this scenario plays out over the course of 82 games.
“I did a lot of studying over the summer revisiting those (San Antonio) Spur days with (Tim) Duncan and (David) Robinson,” Brown said. “We’ve studied a lot of people and different teams lately like Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. There are teams recently that played big ball. I still think it’s going to be a tremendous challenge. Nobody’s saying that we’re convinced that it’s going to be pretty right from the start. There will be times that you’re going to see Nerlens go straight back to that five spot when Jah goes off the floor.”
How about substituting Noel and Okafor?
“It’s a little bit a juggling act on how you’re going to sub it,” Brown said. “I think that minutes played for Jahlil — he’s going to have to play 30-plus minutes. Nerlens is going to have to play 30-plus minutes. So, there’s going to be a portion of Jahlil’s minutes that make that five spot available. There are minutes to be had at the five spot. We all know that Nerlens is very capable at the rim blocking shots.”
With four games down and 78 remaining, there is so much work to be done. There is so much improvement to be made. If the first four games are any indication, the upside looks very, very promising for the former University of Kentucky standout.
