Sixers' McConnell scoring points with his passing game

LAS VEGAS - You want to win a beer at a bar? Throw out this question: What 76ers player on the current roster scored more than 1,000 points in his senior year of high school?

Answer: T.J. McConnell. During his final year at Chartiers Valley High School - in Bridgeville, 14 miles southwest of Pittsburgh - the 6-2 guard averaged 34.4 points a game and scored 1,062 total points. He followed that with four years of college ball, the first two at Duquesne and the final two at Arizona. Undrafted, he opened eyes last year at this time when he played for the 76ers in both the Utah and Las Vegas summer leagues, showing grit and competitiveness that earned him an invite to the team's training camp.

His was a style that was pure summer league - playing with a competitiveness not outdone by anyone. Where he opened eyes most, though, was that while he played that way he still was under control, made the right passes, protected the basketball and made others around him play better.

When the team decided not to bring back Ish Smith at the beginning of last season and had two of its point guards (Kendall Marshall and Tony Wroten) still recovering from ACL surgeries, the point guard spot was rail thin. McConnell, still playing the way he did during the summer, not only secured a spot but earned enough trust from coach Brett Brown that he averaged nearly 20 minutes in 81 games with 6.1 points, 4.5 assists, 3.1 rebounds and just 1.7 turnovers.

So how has basketball life changed for McConnell, now that he's going to enter his second year in the league? Not at all. Not in his eyes, at least.

"My deal here is four years, non-guaranteed. So my thing is, I'm going to take the same approach that I did last year," McConnell said after Tuesday's practice at the Thomas & Mack Center before facing the Golden State Warriors. "Nothing's guaranteed. My thing is that if I'm ever going to get complacent, that's when things won't work out well for me. I've just never been complacent in any role that I've had. I have the confidence that I can play in the NBA, but I'm not going to rest on my laurels just because I think that. I want to have the same mindset that I'm going to play and practice every day like this is my last day on the job. I don't think that will ever change for me."

Yes, he was a backup point guard on a team that didn't have many players at that position and won only 10 games. No, he's not going to wow many with his pass-first mentality and his penchant for driving the lane, wandering down the baseline with his dribble and then making some sort of play, but he still is proving himself and gathering believers.

"This kid can play in the league," said an NBA executive as he watched McConnell play in a game this week. "What's wrong with a guy who doesn't turn the ball over, makes smart plays, gets the ball to the right spot and tries like hell on defense? He's a legit backup in this league. And his work ethic and attitude are apparent. The kid just wants to play hard all the time and he's a smart player. He could stick in this league for a while."

The team explored making a trade at draft time to get a point guard, but instead added Jerryd Bayless and Sergio Rodriguez, which means McConnell still has a good chance of getting minutes.

"I think the improvement for T.J. is that we know what we have," said assistant coach Lloyd Pierce, who is coaching the team in Vegas. "Last year at this time he was proving us wrong. We didn't know what we were getting. He was an undrafted kid out of Arizona and we knew he would excel in (the) summer league because he plays hard and competes. But now, we know what we're getting. He's going to find guys, get assists in every game he's in because he's a constant penetrator. We know what he does and what he brings defensively. Sometimes it's just about being consistent. You know what you've got when you put a guy on the floor and we know what we have in T.J. I've talked to a lot of people around the league and they love his competitive spirit, they love the fact that he's a pass-first point guard. In his role, he tries to complete his job every time on the floor.

"I've talked to a lot of people and they all say, 'I love T.J. McConnell.' Does that mean he can make other rosters? I don't know. I know that he's on our roster and we're happy to have him. He's competed at a high level in an NBA game for an entire season. I know he can play on the floor and whether it's with us or on the other team, he's always been competitive and he's always belonged on the floor."

The talk of the summer has been rookie Ben Simmons, and there may be no bigger fan of his than McConnell.

"What he can do with a ball at his size, his speed, I've never seen anything like it and have never played with anyone like that," McConnell said of Simmons. "It's a joy to watch and a joy to play with. His athleticism and the way that he can handle the ball at 6-10, it's incredible. So, for me, when I'm off the ball I think I have to get better moving around. Everyone is so focused on him that I'll be able to cut and slash and then people will have to help and that's when others get better shots.

"If you watch LeBron (James) and the way he hits (Matthew) Dellavedova on cuts and then Dellavedova makes another pass to a wide-open player, that's the way Ben can facilitate because there are going to be so many eyes on him."

McConnell is a veteran now, though he won't allow himself any kind of comfort level. He is still amazed that he was in a jump ball with Kobe Bryant last season during Bryant's last game in Philly in December. But other than that, it's head down, plow forward, play harder than anyone else and see what happens.

"As a point guard in the NBA you don't really get nights off, you're facing superstar after superstar. It was awesome to play against the competition that I did. Watching those guys grow up and then going against them, it was different. I think now guys will start to play me for my pass so I think that I'm going to have to be a little more of a scorer this year. But I'm looking for guys to get shots, that's what I'm always going to do. When I'm in the game, I'm looking to get other players shots and do anything I can to help us."

Pass first. That most likely wasn't his thought his senior year in high school. But doing whatever it takes to stick in the league is what T.J. McConnell knows he has to do.

@BobCooney76

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