Philadelphia 76ers: 3 concerns on troubling start to season

Philadelphia 76ers concern #2: Doc Rivers’ bench lineups

Many criticized Doc Rivers for employing full bench lineups in some of the biggest playoff games against the Hawks last season. This time around, he’s continuing his ways, and although it’s early on in the regular season, he is putting his team in a position to fail.

These bench lineups largely rely on Andre Drummond’s second-chance points potential and rebounding presence, as the team lacks a true shot creator off the bench. Sophomore Isaiah Joe is an intriguing player but hasn’t shown the ability to run an offense at all. Wings Georges Niang and Matisse Thybulle are positive defenders, with Thybulle being All-Defense caliber, but do not possess the ability to create their own shot.

The aforementioned Drummond can be a wild card at times, as he tends to get wild with the basketball when he feels the pressure to make plays. Furkan Korkmaz has been a steady piece off the Sixers bench for years but is a difficult player to rely on, as he’s never averaged over ten points a game in his career.

Maxey will likely ride with this lineup when Shake Milton comes back from injury and returns to the starting lineup, but that’s a lot of responsibility for a second-year player to take on. Tyrese operates best as a slasher and mid-range assassin, shooting 60% and 55% from those areas last year, respectively.

Unfortunately, these types of lineups have little to no spacing, meaning other teams will dare Maxey to shoot from distance – an area where he struggles. He shot just over 30% on 115 attempts in his rookie campaign.