Sixers’ Tobias Harris reveal...

CAMDEN, N.J.–Philadelphia 76ers forward Tobias Harris has had to adjust and sacrifice a ton throughout his time with the Sixers. The veteran forward has had so many different roles from having to be the No. 2 option on offense to having to be a floor spacer to having to be the go-to guy, and now he’s the No. 4 option. Now, with James Harden injured, Harris has to adjust again. Initially, the veteran out of Tennessee was going to be the catch-and-shoot guy on the offensive end, and that is what he prepared for, but now he has to be one of the catalysts on the offensive end again. To begin the season, Harris is averaging 14.4 points and he’s been efficient at 49.5% from the floor and 44.6% from deep on 5.6 attempts per game. He revealed that he changed his shooting mechanics in order to be more efficient out on the floor. “I made a bunch of, well, me and my trainer, we call it calibration type stuff. So making sure that we’re getting those looks off in a timely manner, stopwatch, .5, .6, things of that nature. One thing we saw like, even last year, I was in the gym shooting, and wasn’t shooting looks quick enough coming in the game. So there’s a lot of adjustments, a lot of ball height adjustments as well, and a lot of footwork go into these types of things so this is still very good for me. This is probably the best my jumper has felt my whole career and just exploring on the floor. The other night, I ended up shooting a pin-down 3 and that was big for me because I haven’t taken a lot of those in my career. So just kinda evolving, figuring out ways in this role to be the best player I can be.”

“Just taking the correct looks and evolving into what the situation is presented. Sometimes that’s being a spacer on the floor. Obviously, at times it’s limited play calls, but you just find other ways to adapt and I talked about last year to catch-and-shoot and being able to shoot a fast and efficient rate, it took me some time to get there, but finding ways to be a contributor out there with whatever sample size it is, and now obviously in these moments, you hope for more play calls, more production, more involvement on the offensive side, and just the same mentality to be sharp, be smart, and be aggressive.” “I’ve always prided myself on being an efficient player, no matter how many looks I do get, but the biggest thing always for me is just making the correct play. When I go out there on the floor, even when guys are out, it’s an opportunity to still encourage other guys to be aggressive and have that ball hopping and moving so we can create more and more looks so in the third and fourth quarter, the floor is spread open so you’re able to have those drives and wide-open 3-point shots. I always pride myself on being a very good team basketball player in the half-court offense. So that’s something I always want to do.” “George Gervin once told me, he always talked about efficiency. He always prided himself off shooting 50% and he told me that when I was a young kid, so that was something that always stuck with me. If you are getting up these shots, you should be shooting efficiently. I do aim for that on a season-to-season basis of being efficient in the 2-point range. Obviously, 3-point range you can shoot 40s and high 40s, anywhere in the 40s is pretty elite for a 3-point shooter. So just taking the looks, I think, is the big thing. These are looks at our practice day in and day out and with no defense, I try to shoot 70%, right? And with defense on in the course of the game, then you try to get those looks that are your spots and you know you can make. So I do practice that stuff as well.”