Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey got off to a hot start to the 2022-23 season as he was shooting 51.6% from the floor and 46.8% from deep through the first nine games of the season. Since then, in three games, it has been the total opposite.
After shooting just 5-for-17 from the floor in Thursday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks, Maxey is now shooting just 19-for-64 from the floor and he’s 6-for-23 from deep over the last three games. These poor shooting performances have coincided with the injury to James Harden who made life easier for Maxey with his elite playmaking.
After the loss, Maxey unloaded on his shooting struggles as he looks to get his groove and his rhythm back.
Stop looking for calls
Maxey told reporters: “Honestly, I got to stop going to the hole like, I’m not going to score. I’m going, like, to get contact and stuff and that’s on me, honestly. Going to the rim, that’s what I do. One of the best things I do is finish the ball and right now, I’m trying to get calls and do different things like that, and that’s that’s not how I play the game. So I think that’s one of the biggest fixes. Then, just staying aggressive. Joel (Embiid) was on me today about, I feel like I’m thinking too much the last couple games and passing down normal shots that I shoot and deciding when to pass and when to shoot and doing different things like that, but I mean, we’re just trying to figure it out. Trying to figure it out and trying to help us win.”
The new role getting to him
With Harden out, Maxey now has to be the point guard. Therefore, he has to be a playmaker as well as score the ball as well. The responsibility could be getting to him.
Maxey stated: “That’s some of it. That’s definitely some of it, but yeah, I’m just trying to help us win. I gotta figure out ways to—I feel like I’m doing a good job of getting other guys involved, getting guys shots, and I think I can do a better job with that when I get to the paint. Teams are so focused on my driving aspect to where I can find a lot of shooters and find a lot of dump-offs to a lot of guys so I gotta keep doing that as well.”
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Wanting to help the team win
The young guard added: “Everybody knows how competitive I am and at the end of the day, there’s no ’I’ in team. This is not about me. It’s about us winning. I’ve always said I don’t care how many points I score. As long as we have more points than the other team, that’s all I really care about. My job is to go out there right now and get guys in the right spot, get guys where they need the ball, score the ball. I’m supposed to be aggressive because that’s one of the best things I do for this team is score the ball and be aggressive and put pressure on the defense. I need to get back to doing that. Doc has been on me, Sam’s (Cassell) been on me, Spence (Spencer Rivers), Jo, I gotta step up. These last three games, I’ve been pretty bad. It is what it is. You gotta keep pushing. We got a game on Saturday and Sunday, so.”
Doc Rivers chimes in
“We’re just out of sync, it felt like, offensively. Tyrese is really struggling. We got to get him going and his failsafe button right now is when he struggles, he forces it even more instead of letting the game come to him. I thought he started out the game, I thought he took about two or three 3s early instead of getting to the paint. The paint sets his game up, and then everything else follows, and I think right now he’s trying to do the reverse”
“We struggle in life. We do. We all do and he’s going to as well. He’s had three games in a row now and he’s got to figure it out and we have to help him and we will do that.”
Maxey’s confidence remains high with help from Doc Rivers
“I’m not worried about confidence. I appreciate him, though. Seriously. Him, Sam (Cassell), they’ve been great. Sometimes, I miss a shot or so and sometimes I come back and not wanna shoot the next one because I wanna pass or something. Like dude, you’ve shown what you can do. You gotta keep shooting and get yourself out of this slump. I just gotta keep being aggressive. Keep being aggressive, getting downhill, and keep making plays for my teammates, and making plays for myself. It’s gonna come. It’s gonna come back to me and it’s basketball. It’s basketball. I can’t make every shot, but I’m working. I’ll tell you that. I’m working.”
Story originally appeared on Sixers Wire
