Fixing Tobias Harris
After starting the 2019-2020 season 5-0, the Sixers have dropped 5 of their last 8 games and one of the main reasons for this is the slumping play of Tobias Harris.
The 27-year-old signed a massive maximum contract this offseason with the Sixers to be the team’s second option on offense and, hopefully, their go-to guy in clutch time. Little of this has come to fruition. Harris is averaging just 17 points while only hitting 25% of his three-point attempts.
Two of his best games on the young season (against the Pistons and Trail Blazers) have come in games in which Joel Embiid did not play, but obviously, to reach their full potential, Harris needs to find a way to gel with the big man.
There are several reasons that Harris seems to be struggling. For one, Harris is simply a streaky shooter. It is often forgotten that Harris only began taking more than 3 three-pointers per game in the 2017-2018 season. In his six previous NBA seasons, he relied almost completely on his midrange game. What this means is that he does not always necessarily have a shooter’s instinct and is still learning to shoot mindlessly.
Thanks to Head Coach Doc Rivers and the Clippers, Harris developed his outside touch. But it still remains evident that he is subject to a lack of confidence. This season, it appears as though Tobias is thinking a bit too much which is causing him to second-guess his shot selection.
http://twitter.com/btoporek/status/1195001102506299392?s=20
In the play above, Harris opts not to shoot a wide-open three and, by attempting to drive to the hoop, he is called for a charge creating a turnover. As Coach Brett Brown has stressed, he wants Harris to break out of his slump by shooting even more. For good shooters that is the only way to break a cold streak.
In his two most recent games, however, Harris has begun to get back to what he does best: mid-range and post play. This is what he needs to continue to do to maximize his potential and break out of his funk. Against the Cavs, Harris scored 27 points by forcing his way inside and taking high percentage shots (12-14 FG). He frequented his post-up jumper and relied on his slashing ability, which then helped him create space on the outside.
In the two games combined he only took six three-pointers. However, by relying on paint play, Brett Brown forced Joel Embiid to space the floor much more. As a result, Embiid has taken 10 threes in the past two games and while he connected on four of them against the Thunder, this should not be something relied upon by the Sixers offense.
Clearly, the challenge for Brett Brown is balancing the amount of time each player spends in the painted area. By doing so, he can capitalize on both of their abilities. Another way to easily get both involved is in the pick and roll game.
In 55 games last year with the Clippers, Harris ran pick and rolls on 26% of his possessions, scoring five points per game simply off of pick and rolls. This year, he scores only two points of pick and rolls on 18% of his possessions.
With Harris’ ability to knock down mid-range shots off the dribble and Embiid’s smooth post offense, the two should be able to form a dynamic pick and roll combination, but this has not really been explored in depth by Brett Brown.
The season is still young and it is not the time for panic around Harris. If Brett Brown commits to using him in the proper ways, he will certainly break out of this funk.
Tobias Harris will be an impactful Philadelphia athlete. Sixers fans do not need to worry longterm about that. While he has struggled out of the gates this season, his raw talent and skilled approach to the game will enable him to have a long and successful tenure in the red, white, and blue.
Featured Image: HoopsHype
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