Noel Shines in Sixers Win Over New Orleans

By Max Rappaport, Sixers.com

As an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs for more than a decade, Brett Brown was taxed with taking wildly talented players and molding them into an offensive system that preaches patience, altruistic play, and, above all, trust.

With the Sixers, he does the same thing. But as the leader of the youngest team in NBA history, sometimes he has to remind his players to take charge. Before Friday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans, he did that with rookie big man Nerlens Noel.

“I think Nerlens has to create his own touches,” Brown told reporters about an hour and a half before tip off. “You’ve got to command the ball, and you’ve got to want the ball. And at times he does, and at times he’s just trying to be a good teammate.”

It’s clear that Noel was listening.

In 33 minutes of action, the 20-year-old finished with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, 11 rebounds, a pair of assists, five blocks, which matched a season high, and a pair of steals. It would be hard to argue that the game, Noel’s 36th as a pro, was not his most complete since making his NBA debut less than three months ago. He could feel the difference, and Brett Brown could see it.

“I feel I put a whole game together, and I feel that through a lot of the coaches encouraging me throughout the season, and just working hard,” Noel said after the game. “It’s all on me to just keep it going and stay with it.”

“He imposes himself on the game, and he did it all over the place,” said Brown. “I think his stat line doesn’t reflect the impact that he had on the game… He was really very, very good tonight. By far and away his best game as a Sixer.”

The stats back up what the eye test showed.

Noel converted four of his six attempts inside the restricted area against New Orleans, and two of his makes came on dunks. Over his last six games, he’s converted 10 dunks and shot 65.5% around the rim after notching just 52.3% over the first 30 games of the year with 19 dunks.

During that six-game stretch, he’s averaged 10.3 points on 56.3% shooting and scored in double figures four times. He’s committed just five turnovers (0.8/g) in those games after averaging 2.3 over his first 30 NBA games.