Ex-Sixer Vucevic becoming a beast in Orlando
It's going to be more interesting everyday to watch the player that former 76er center Nik Vucevic becomes with each passing day, particularly in light of the way the second-year player in emerging.
Ex-Sixer Vucevic becoming a beast in Orlando
John Mitchell, Inquirer Staff Writer
PHOENIX -- It’s going to be more interesting everyday to watch the player that former 76er center Nik Vucevic becomes with each passing day, particularly in light of the way the second-year player is emerging.
No one in Philadelphia last season saw the soft-spoken Vucevic, the 16th selection in the 2011 draft, as anything special as his time wound down with the Sixers. In fact, we hardly saw him at all as the season wound down.
In fact, by the time the playoffs rolled around, Vucevic, who made 15 starts for the Sixers during the regular season, was little more than an afterthought. By the time the playoffs wrapped, Vucevic had made one postseason appearance, playing a grand total of three minutes and making a free throw – in a loss to Boston.
But the guy who was sometimes described as a little too meek to make a difference and was shipped to Orlando to help the Sixers acquire injured Andrew Bynum is now, all of a sudden, one of the best rebounders in the league.
Surely no one in Orlando expected Vucevic to grab the 29 rebounds he hauled in against Miami on New Year’s Eve and break the franchise’s 19-year-old single-game rebound record held by Shaquille O’Neal, but that’s exactly what he did.
If the Sixers don’t get anything out of Andrew Bynum – who is somewhere in the murky world of an unspecified ‘six-step process’ of returning to the court – trading Vucevic could turn out to be the biggest mistake they made in the offseason.
The argument goes that sometimes guys put up big numbers on bad teams, and this is true – but that’s at the offensive end. Rebounding is all heart, guts and determination. When the ball goes comes off the rim, the guy who gets it is the guy who wants it the most and it doesn’t matter what type of team he’s on.
Looking at the way things are right now, it’s not going out on a limb to suggest that Vucevic, over the long haul, will be a better rebounder than anyone currently on the Sixers active roster. He’s averaging a double-doubles (10.8 points, 10.5 rebounds, good enough for seventh in the league), and he’ shooting better than 50 percent from the floor. Over the last five games, he’ averaged 14.8 boards.
He’s only going to get better – with playing time, of course. Heck, in a few years from now we might be looking at the No. 16 pick in the 2011 draft as that class’s steal.
The Bynum trade reminds of the fabulous Jeff Ruland deal decades ago - a big man with bad knees and a wonky back. Nice to know Vuke is doing well. I mean, at least he's playing.— NM Eagle fan- Speaks volume's about Doug Collins' ability to evaluate talent. I live in Los Angeles, as a born & raised Philly sports fan, I watched Vuc play at USC on a regular basis and was thrilled when the Sixers drafted him. Now the Bynumless Sixers are mush under the hoop and Richardson becomes "Mr. 4 for 1".
Collins never used Vucevic correctly and gets the complete blame for him not showing the kind of talent that was so evident to someone like me.
This team, as constructed will steal a few games to teams that let down, like they did against the Lakers last night. But their pathetic rebounding will do then in in the long run. Vucevic would have made this tam so much better. But there's always the "what if?" of Bynum rather than the reality of the "what isn't".— gentian - collins never gave the guy a chance...and he's exactly what the team needs— 1stamendment
- THIS IS COMPLETELY DC's fault. Vucevic played well when he played which wasn't often. Being a rookie on a D.C coached team is a death sentence!!! This team wouldn't be looking for help at center if they had just said NO THANKS when the Lakers came looking for a SUCKER!!!!— Njtod10
- I just hope Bynum works out,If he dose not this may come down as the worst trade in 76ers history.
I also think the 76ers may have been Suckers in this trade.
— fjbreck - Sometimes a player does better for the second team. Its a wake up call. Do something or get buried in the NBA. Sometimes the style of the team or the players around them make them better. I do not want to blame Collins, no one else in Philly saw this kid as great either. Let's not hear the "I told you so" because I never heard any one tell us in the first place.— Larry Byrd
- sixer's got sucker'd and I'm soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooHAPPY— tobyjoe
- Not True LB - I whined about his not playing all last year and again when he was dealt. Early on last season he was excellent when Hawes was out and lost confidence when he was shoved to the bench. He was at a disadvantage as a rookie because of the lockout, no summer ball nor the usual preseason. Doug gets stuck in his own way on line up decisions like he is now with insisting Richardson must start. Vuc will have a solid 10 year NBA career just as I said when we drafted him - good pedigree, a legit 7 footer with long arms, a soft touch and understanding of the game. He was an excellent rebounder at USC and continues that now.
Maybe some day we'll see Arnett Moultrie putting up nice numbers elsewhere— 7mel11 - We didn't see much of Vucevic last year because Collins was clueless and demoralized the kid.
If Collins had given him some support/playing time, Vuc could have "emerged" here, and lessened the need to go after Bynum.
Collins is still hurting this team . . .
— wordsword 
The players and pick we traded to receive a healthy/playing Bynum were reasonable. That, in addition to the fact that most of us knew that Doug Collins wouldn't have played Vuc anyway. It's a sickening front court situation and people wanting to pretend that Doug Collins is doing the best he can with it is sickening. He hand-picked soft jump-shooting non-rebounding bigs for his offense.— scmona- I was stunned when they traded VUCE. Ithought he showed signs of understanding the game, showe some nice skills for a young big man, had a nice shooting stroke and some developing low post moves. Collins stopped playing him because of his POOR defensive undertanding. Then trading him was stupid IMO.
— Cant Climb - just one more stupid move made by our beloved Philadelphia sports teams— sedale
No what ifs here.I distinctly remember Collins and company last year saying"We got our man" about Nic.
His dad lasted 26 yrs as a pro-he has long term genes:)----
Nic had 20 and 12 last nite against the bulls his 14th double double of
the season in 32 games--worked well with Jameer 32 pts who worked off his picks.---Just what the 6er's dont have at this point.— HO HUM- so the Sixers dumped an All Star lock-down G/F in Andre Iguadala, a double-double averaging young C in Nikola Vucevik, and a PG scoring 16 and 6 assists as a starter and replaced them with an aging always hurt G JRich, an eratic gunning G in Nick Young, a lumbering notorious waste of space C in Kwame Bust, a guy who will never play in A. Bynum and the one guy that is decent in D.Wright?? Wow, worst decisions in the history of sports— sedale
- and for good measure the Sixers also tossed in this year's #1 and a future #1 pick, this is beyond disastrous— sedale
John Mitchell is in his second year covering the 76ers for the Inquirer after joining the paper in November 2011. He covered the Washington Wizards for the Washington Times from 1998 to 2008. He's also worked at the Philadelphia Tribune, the Wilmington News Journal, Courier-Post, Trenton Times and Elmira Star-Gazette.Born and raised in West Philadelphia - not too far from Will Smith - he graduated from Overbrook High School the same year the 76ers won their last championship. He's a proud graduate of Howard University and the proud father of two sons, Jared and Jordan.
ABOUT MARC NARDUCCI
Marc Narducci has served in a variety of roles with the Inquirer since beginning in 1983. He has covered the 76ers as a backup and a beat writer. In addition, Narducci has covered everything from the Super Bowl to the World Series and a lot in between. Narducci also has a true passion for South Jersey scholastic sports, which he has covered for many years.
