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
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.
DC handles rookies the way their careers got crushed wirh Larry Brown which was the way certain talents went to pasture under Temple's John Cheney— zen- Vuce didn't play alot at the tail end of the season because he was clueless on defense. At a certain point he became a liability, especially in his rotations around the paint. Maybe people should learn the game before making assinine comments...— beegal99
- Speak for yourself Mitchell. While you were jockin Collins every move and shooting down every player he shunned some of us saw the potential. A lot of posters knew that Vuc wasnt soft. Those were the comments of guys like Bear and Mt Airy who just agreed with everything that Collins did for no reason at all. We knew this was going to happen and it did. But you lack perception and you are closer to the action than any fan and thats sad. Speak for yourself partner we know our young players were rotting last year and they are rotting this year too.— Zeru
- There are many excellent players who are ex-Sixers throughout the league. It doesn't mean that all the deals were bad. Vucevic was gassed at the end of the season last year and that was why he didn't get playing time. Nice player though - I wish him well.— damageboy
- and the hits just keep on coming...— scootch
Keith Pompey has been an Inquirer reporter since September 2004. He takes over the Sixers beat after covering the Temple men’s basketball team for the past three years and Temple football the past two seasons. Pompey also previously covered the Penn and Drexel men’s basketball team and Villanova football team after initially focusing on high school sports.
Pompey is a native Philadelphian and a University of Pittsburgh. Follow him on Twitter @PompeyOnSixers or reach Keith at kpompey@phillynews.com.
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.
