October 07, 2016
In the lead-up to training camp, Richaun Holmes was hardly mentioned when anyone talked about the Sixers’ frontcourt logjam. It went Ben Simmons, Dario Saric, Joel Embiid, Jahlil Okafor, Nerlens Noel, and then a full stop.
Although Holmes showed flashes of rotation-level NBA basketball as a rookie, the Sixers simply don’t have as much invested in their second-round pick out of Bowling Green as any of those aforementioned names. Think about it: Of that group, the lowest draft pick by a good margin is Saric, who went 12th back in 2014. Everybody else was taken in the top six.
Even if Holmes doesn’t receive much attention from the outside, he has the organization's full attention. At Sixers media day, president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo went out of his way to add Holmes’ name to that group, something head coach Brett Brown also did after Thursday’s preseason game against the Washington Wizards.
“You’re always hearing about the abundance of 5-men, and really his name wasn’t in that mix,” Brown said. “And his name deserves to be in that mix.”
Holmes’ name is front and center at the moment, but more than anything, it’s out of necessity. Only two of the highly-drafted frontcourt players were on the floor in Thursday’s game, Embiid (on a minutes restriction) and Saric. What logjam were we talking about again?
“When your opportunity presents itself, just kind of grab it by the horns,” Holmes said.
The soon-to-be 23-year-old did take advantage, logging a team-high 38 minutes in the drawn-out affair that lasted two overtimes. Holmes finished 8-14 from the field en route to 20 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.
Holmes is one of those players whose laid back off-court demeanor completely changes once he checks into a game. There’s a reason that the “Dunkman” nickname has been bestowed upon him: Whenever Holmes gets a running start at the basket, he’s trying to tear the rim down. Sometimes, he does:
“I feel like his facial expressions tell the whole story,” Brown said. “He’s a determined, competitive young man. And you see it all over his face. He wants to go dunk on people, he wants to swat a shot.”
Although Holmes’ funky release wasn’t able to produce adequate results from the outside as a rookie, he still managed to become an efficient player overall thanks to his ability to muscle his way down low and finish shots in traffic. According to NBA.com, he shot 64.2 percent in the restricted area (league average in 55.5%), a good thing because that’s where 68 percent of his shots came from.
“I feel like his facial expressions tell the whole story. He’s a determined, competitive young man. And you see it all over his face. He wants to go dunk on people, he wants to swat a shot.”
Holmes is a legit NBA offensive player and perhaps will even become a very good one in time, but the defensive end of the floor (in particular, on the glass) is where he needs to improve. It will be interesting to see what Brown does when he has the full complement of bigs at his disposal, but until then, Holmes doesn’t mind playing the underdog role.
“That’s kind of has been my whole [story] since I’ve been playing basketball,” Holmes said. “It works better for me. I can just work hard in private and just try to show it on the floor.”
The Sixers aren’t only dealing with injury concerns in the frontcourt. Jerryd Bayless, the team’s projected starter at point guard, has been limited in practices with a sore left wrist and didn’t play in either of the first two preseason games.
The light at the end of the tunnel might not yet be in sight, either. The veteran point guard, who the team signed to a three-year, $27 million deal in the offseason with an eye toward playing him off the ball next to new point forward in Simmons, isn’t positive when he’ll be back on the floor.
“I’m not even sure about it,” Bayless said before Thursday night’s game. “They had the MRI, but [the wrist] is not the best right now.”
Before the game, Brown was asked about what a player with Bayless’ shooting ability does for the team’s overall offensive philosophy. Specifically, he finds value in defenders being forced to go over the top of screens against Bayless, respecting his outside shot.
“I think it’s important because when you start looking a schemes and expectations, you can almost book they’re going to go over [screens],” Brown said. “And so with that, a lot of guards are playing straightaway, downhill because the defender is right on your hip. And I think that with Jerryd especially, he takes advantage of that.”
When asked if he might miss time in the regular season due to the injury, Bayless succinctly answered, “I might, yeah.”
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
