TJ McConnell's 'MAGIC' Numbers

Merkin · Post by **Merkin** » Fri Nov 27, 2015 6:42 pm

No surprise, something had to change.

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Fri Nov 27, 2015 6:48 pm

Irish giving that dipshit the attention he so desperately craves.

Newsflash: NO ONE gives a shit what he thinks.

UAEebs86 · Post by **UAEebs86** » Fri Nov 27, 2015 6:50 pm

Halfway through the second quarter Canaan has zero assists.

Who is that douchebag going to blame this loss on?

AZCatGirl · Post by **AZCatGirl** » Sat Nov 28, 2015 1:03 am

How frustrated must TJ feel? Stuck on a team that doesn't want to win and forced to watch Arizona struggle knowing you could make a huge difference.

rgdeuce · Post by **rgdeuce** » Sat Nov 28, 2015 11:08 am

TJ responds with 6 pts (3-4), 5 boards, 6 assists, 1 turnover and 2 steals in 25 minutes. Not a big +/- fan, but he was +10 and Canaan was -9. Canaan had a great shooting night but 2 assists to 3 turnovers.

Either way, Philly is going to lose, pick your poison. You want a scorer who will kill u on nights when his shots off, roll w Canaan. You want limited offense but a guy who will make his teammates better AND help them develop and get better, roll with TJ. His PIE is still four points higher than Canaans. TJ has been struggling w some turnovers lately, but its a team problem and a lot of them are him trying to do much given his teammates limitations. You watch every 76ers game pretty much, TJ is making the right passes in the right spots and his teammates clank easy ones, or make the wrong decision once its in his hands. Ive said it multiple times in here, his teammates leave a ton of his assists on the floor. Then TJ tries to do too much and forces things, which isnt his game. It's a shit organization but at least he has the opportunity to play. Hopefully he continues to build and improve and can get on somewhere else and help a team off the bench. It's like a doctoral candidate having a medical conversation with a group full of freshly graduated high school kids.

CalStateTempe · Post by **CalStateTempe** » Tue Dec 01, 2015 9:23 am

How's he doing?

Is he getting minutes? Wife and I want to see him play when sixers visit sac at end of dec, but she doesn't want to go if he's riding pine.

Really hoping sixers get thier heads out of their ass and play McConnell more.

KaibabKat · Post by **KaibabKat** » Tue Dec 01, 2015 9:41 am

Has played 25.9 mpg in the first 18 games - started 13 of them. Of all the former Wildcats in the NBA only Iguodala and Bayless are playing more minutes.

CalStateTempe · Post by **CalStateTempe** » Tue Dec 01, 2015 9:45 am

Cool, thanks KK. I knew he was playing but was unsure how much since he lost the startig spot.

ASUHATER! · Post by **ASUHATER!** » Tue Dec 01, 2015 9:47 am

He has had more turnovers lately

azgreg · Post by **azgreg** » Tue Dec 01, 2015 6:37 pm

carolinacat · Post by **carolinacat** » Tue Dec 01, 2015 7:03 pm

Philly doesn't have guys who can make shots. If they did, McConnell's assists would be even higher.

If Philly goes another direction and thinks they need more of a scorer (which they probably do because everyone else sucks) I'm sure plenty of other NBA GMs' have taken notice. If you don't need point production from your point guard but need a great distributor and defender, TJ will find a home somewhere. He's proven himself on this level in a short time. He'll stick in the league.

Beachcat97 · Post by **Beachcat97** » Tue Dec 01, 2015 7:15 pm

carolinacat wrote:Philly doesn't have guys who can make shots. If they did, McConnell's assists would be even higher.

If Philly goes another direction and thinks they need more of a scorer (which they probably do because everyone else sucks) I'm sure plenty of other NBA GMs' have taken notice. If you don't need point production from your point guard but need a great distributor and defender, TJ will find a home somewhere. He's proven himself on this level in a short time. He'll stick in the league.

Would like to see TJ in the backcourt with Reggie Jackson on that Pistons team. Lots of scorers. And Stanimal!

KaibabKat · Post by **KaibabKat** » Tue Dec 01, 2015 8:08 pm

Sixers win! Sixers win! Sixers win!

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Tue Dec 01, 2015 8:18 pm

KaibabKat wrote:Sixers win! Sixers win! Sixers win!

TJ went for 7 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds in 21 minutes.

UAEebs86 · Post by **UAEebs86** » Tue Dec 01, 2015 8:20 pm

Chicat wrote:
KaibabKat wrote:Sixers win! Sixers win! Sixers win!
TJ went for 7 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds in 21 minutes.

Did that douche on Twitter say they won in spite of TJ?

TheGreatCatsby · Post by **TheGreatCatsby** » Tue Dec 01, 2015 9:51 pm

AND TJ on the ESPN front page sidebar with a video breaking Lou Williams' ankles. Good job Tj, you're gonna make it. If not on the crappy 76'ers once their shoot first point guards come back, then somewhere else.

Spaceman Spiff · Post by **Spaceman Spiff** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 8:19 am

TheGreatCatsby wrote:AND TJ on the ESPN front page sidebar with a video breaking Lou Williams' ankles. Good job Tj, you're gonna make it. If not on the crappy 76'ers once their shoot first point guards come back, then somewhere else.

I'm not so sure TJ had anything to do with breaking Williams's ankles. It appeared to me that TJ executed a slight inside out dribble and an invisible sniper took out Lou.

The reality is that TJ has already exceeded the success anyone really thought he would have. It's the cinderella story of the whole NBA so far.

rgdeuce · Post by **rgdeuce** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 8:34 am

The Lakers too. LMFAO, I love it. Kobe's shooting hand must have been fatigued from writing farewell poems and exhibiting other attention-seeking behavior on the interwebs. 7 for 26 against the 76ers defense?

Spaceman Spiff · Post by **Spaceman Spiff** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 8:46 am

rgdeuce wrote:The Lakers too. LMFAO, I love it. Kobe's shooting hand must have been fatigued from writing farewell poems and exhibiting other attention-seeking behavior on the interwebs. 7 for 26 against the 76ers defense?

He only has a few games left, so he's not going to leave any shots un-taken.

For a guy who spent so much time pushing himself as the ultimate competitor, he could play a few more years as an asset to a contender, but that would require him to leave the Lakers and stop shooting a ton.

Harvey Specter · Post by **Harvey Specter** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 9:19 am

Spaceman Spiff wrote:
rgdeuce wrote:The Lakers too. LMFAO, I love it. Kobe's shooting hand must have been fatigued from writing farewell poems and exhibiting other attention-seeking behavior on the interwebs. 7 for 26 against the 76ers defense?
He only has a few games left, so he's not going to leave any shots un-taken.

For a guy who spent so much time pushing himself as the ultimate competitor, he could play a few more years as an asset to a contender, but that would require him to leave the Lakers and stop shooting a ton.

Let him embarrass himself on his last farewell. His legacy should be appropriately tainted.

Talented player but an enormous dickhead.

HiCat · Post by **HiCat** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 9:59 am

Back to TJ McConnell's numbers guys?

KaibabKat · Post by **KaibabKat** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 10:39 am

HiCat wrote:Back to TJ McConnell's numbers guys?

PER (YTD) = 13.7. Higher than Jerryd Bayless, Chase Budinger, Stanley Johnson, Solomon Hill, Jason Terry & Richard Jefferson.

Who would have ever thunk?

Merkin · Post by **Merkin** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 10:50 am

Chicat wrote:
KaibabKat wrote:Sixers win! Sixers win! Sixers win!
TJ went for 7 points, 6 assists, and 5 rebounds in 21 minutes.

TJ must lead PGs in boards per minute. He always has had a nose for the ball.

Merkin · Post by **Merkin** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 3:18 pm

Harvey Specter · Post by **Harvey Specter** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 5:32 pm

KaibabKat wrote:
HiCat wrote:Back to TJ McConnell's numbers guys?
PER (YTD) = 13.7. Higher than Jerryd Bayless, Chase Budinger, Stanley Johnson, Solomon Hill, Jason Terry & Richard Jefferson.

Who would have ever thunk?[/]

Certainly not those who were implying that PJC should have gotten more of TJ's minutes last year.

Spaceman Spiff · Post by **Spaceman Spiff** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 5:53 pm

Merkin wrote:

Kobe still jumps for a reason other than to squeeze off a contested 21 footer?

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 7:19 pm

I think you meant 41 footer.

Spaceman Spiff · Post by **Spaceman Spiff** » Wed Dec 02, 2015 8:34 pm

Chicat wrote:I think you meant 41 footer.

dcZONAfan · Post by **dcZONAfan** » Mon Dec 07, 2015 3:05 pm

Got my TJ Sixers jersey in over the weekend. Shit is SICK.

CalStateTempe · Post by **CalStateTempe** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 9:58 pm

Seems to have fallen off a bit.

Whats going on and what does it mean for TJ?

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 10:26 pm

CalStateTempe wrote:Seems to have fallen off a bit.

Whats going on and what does it mean for TJ?

It means there are other guys back from injury taking his minutes.

CalStateTempe · Post by **CalStateTempe** » Mon Dec 28, 2015 10:41 pm

Chicat wrote:
CalStateTempe wrote:Seems to have fallen off a bit.

Whats going on and what does it mean for TJ?
It means there are other guys back from injury taking his minutes.

Darn too bad.

Thanks for the update.

rgdeuce · Post by **rgdeuce** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 8:33 am

TJ is still playing fine. In the month of December he is shooting 41% FG 42% 3PFG, almost 4 boards and 3.2 APG to 1.6 TOPG. His PIE for the season is 11.5 which is good. Wroten and Marshall came back. Marshall leapfrogged TJ as the starting point and Wroten was let go. The issue is, Colangelo came in and brought in Ish Smith, so Smith is now the starter, Marshall is his backup, and TJ is the third point. He got 2 minutes against the Suns and just under 12 last night since Ish Smith came in.

Smith is a journeyman in his fifth year I believe, marginally better than TJ in my opinion, though not the defender TJ is. Heard Colangelo wanted a veteran running point. Last night Smith had 22 points but needed 21 shots to get them, not good, and he had 11 dimes but 6 turnovers. Bringing in Smith is what ultimately effed TJ. Marshall has been a decent point in the past, and maybe you can chalk up his struggles this year to rust, but he has been garbage since coming back. It looks like Brown will still be using TJ, but just plugging him in at the most opportune times, or for a quick spark when the team is dragging ass. TJ is still outplaying every rookie point guard in the league, but these are the 76ers and 3/4 of their team or more are dispensable and are treated as such.

TucsonClip · Post by **TucsonClip** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 12:01 pm

Marshall is still on a minutes restriction and more often than not will be skipping the 2nd leg of back-to-backs. TJ will see time, but he's going to see it as a backup with sporadic minutes.

Jefe · Post by **Jefe** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 4:43 pm

Great article: https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/t ... he-process" target="_blank

UAtrue · Post by **UAtrue** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 9:43 am

CalStateTempe wrote:
Chicat wrote:
CalStateTempe wrote:Seems to have fallen off a bit.

Whats going on and what does it mean for TJ?
It means there are other guys back from injury taking his minutes.

Darn too bad.

Thanks for the update.

As expected, with the return of Wroten and Marshall, T.J.s minutes has dropped precipitously, dropping to a low of 2 minutes on Saturday but he did get 17 minutes on Monday and made some good use of those minutes.

http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/204456/" target="_blank

McConnell contributed five points (2-3 FG, 1-1 3Pt), four assists, two rebounds, and one steal in 17 minutes during the 76ers' 127-106 loss versus the Hawks on Wednesday.

McConnell has officially moved to a reserve role with the older and more accomplished Kendall Marshall being named the starter by 76ers' coach Brett Brown. Marshall and Tony Wroten combined to play 31 minutes, with McConnell receiving the remaining 17 minutes at point guard.

It's unclear whether Wroten could see some time at shooting guard as the season goes on since he's not really a true point guard, but if not McConnell figures to wither away into fantasy irrelevance as those two return to full health.

I'm sure his time is going to suffer in the short term but as others have indicated on here, he got his audition for the rest of the league. I like his odds of getting picked up by some other team regardless of his playing time with the Sixers.

Spaceman Spiff · Post by **Spaceman Spiff** » Wed Dec 30, 2015 10:00 am

Philly is a historically bad team. TJ's future is not as a starter, but as a high IQ, high character 10th-12th man. There is room in the league for steady, solid, hard working guys in that role, and his exposure in Philly should help him in convincing other teams he can play that sort of role for them.

DaddyO'Cat · Post by **DaddyO'Cat** » Sun Jan 03, 2016 8:23 am

rgdeuce wrote:TJ is still playing fine. In the month of December he is shooting 41% FG 42% 3PFG, almost 4 boards and 3.2 APG to 1.6 TOPG. His PIE for the season is 11.5 which is good. Wroten and Marshall came back. Marshall leapfrogged TJ as the starting point and Wroten was let go. The issue is, Colangelo came in and brought in Ish Smith, so Smith is now the starter, Marshall is his backup, and TJ is the third point. He got 2 minutes against the Suns and just under 12 last night since Ish Smith came in.

Smith is a journeyman in his fifth year I believe, marginally better than TJ in my opinion, though not the defender TJ is. Heard Colangelo wanted a veteran running point. Last night Smith had 22 points but needed 21 shots to get them, not good, and he had 11 dimes but 6 turnovers. Bringing in Smith is what ultimately effed TJ. Marshall has been a decent point in the past, and maybe you can chalk up his struggles this year to rust, but he has been garbage since coming back. It looks like Brown will still be using TJ, but just plugging him in at the most opportune times, or for a quick spark when the team is dragging ass. TJ is still outplaying every rookie point guard in the league, but these are the 76ers and 3/4 of their team or more are dispensable and are treated as such.

He's only an assistant coach but some of this is probably Mike (No D)'Antoni's input. I'm a UA FB & BB guy so that's pretty much all I watch, but I was a fan of the Suns while Colangelo was the owner. (Who incidentally has also become president of basketball operations on the 76ers). After Mike no D left I came to realize that his apparent success had much more to do with having Steve Nash at the point (Along with Amare and The Matrix etc), and my opinion of him really soured after he said, and I quote, "I don't play bad rookies". He was referring to Jordan Hill when he was asked why JH wasn't playing. (When he was coach of the Lakers). Once Sarver became the owner I stopped following.. still check up on them once in a while but ... Anyway so Mike is kinda like RR... one dimensional... loves the offense but doesn't develop incoming talent and pays no attention to D. And seems to want to be handed a team full of Kobe's so he can sit back and not put in the work for the entire unit under his command. As for TJ I found it incredible he made it into the League and am rooting for him hard because his work ethic and trajectory with working hard on his game deserves it big time.

Jefe · Post by **Jefe** » Mon Jan 04, 2016 3:44 pm

http://www.slamonline.com/nba/kendall-m ... ukHlU3g.97" target="_blank

Kendall Marshall’s Dad: Sixers are Racist for Benching His Son

The 3-33 Philadelphia Sixers are such an abhorrent basketball team, that even the players’ parents are making headlines.

According to backup guard Kendall Marshall’s father Dennis—who has since deleted his Twitter account—the 24-year-old is stuck on the bench because he’s black.

Marshall is playing behind both Ish Smith and T.J. McConnell (who is white), and putting up averages of 4.3 points and 3.9 assists on 34 percent shooting.

Per the Philly Inquirer:
“I always said there was racism in sports,” read the tweet, posted during Saturday’s setback to the Los Angeles Clippers. “White guys in basketball are getting every chance to succeed even when they aren’t doing (expletive).”

Another tweet took a shot at another one of Marshall’s teammates. The player is believed to be reserve shooting guard Nik Stauskas, who is shooting 30 percent on three-pointers after making 6 of 8 against the Clippers.

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Mon Jan 04, 2016 3:48 pm

He can't be talking about TJ. His minutes have gone way down (although his assist numbers are still great - he's gotten 7 in each of the last two games in less than 25 minutes each).

rgdeuce · Post by **rgdeuce** » Mon Jan 04, 2016 8:47 pm

TJ has been playing very well since Ish "I'm taking 18 shots a game" Smith came over. 25 assists to 7 turnovers, plenty of steals and 9-19 from the floor. Like I said earlier, Marshall hasnt been good since hes come back from injury

TheGreatCatsby · Post by **TheGreatCatsby** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 12:07 pm

TJ with more minutes last night and stuffed the box score. Marshall looks buried now, but Ish Smith definitely taking heavy minutes (and shots), Canaan #2 right now.

Chicat · Post by **Chicat** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 12:16 pm

I'm sure Marshall's dad really endeared him to the coaching staff.

Post by **UAdevil** » Fri Jan 08, 2016 8:23 am

http://www.sportingnews.com/nba-news/46 ... B%2FSNMain" target="_blank

How T.J. McConnell went from my high school rival to an NBA point guard

A headshot of Jordan Greer
By Jordan Greer
@jordangreer42
Updated at 9:23 a.m. ET

T.J. McConnell, an undrafted rookie point guard, was preparing to take a jump ball against Kobe Bryant. The Lakers-76ers game was late in the fourth quarter of what would be Philadelphia's first victory of the season. Two days earlier, Bryant had crashed The Players' Tribune website by announcing his 20th season would be his last.

I thought to myself, "This is insane. T.J. is standing next to Kobe." McConnell was thinking the same thing.

The T.J. McConnell I remember is much different than the one that stood next to Bryant on the Wells Fargo Arena floor that night.

Between 2005 and 2009, T.J. and I played each other more than a dozen times as scrawny high school guards. While we weren't in the same conference, section or even graduating class — I graduated in 2009, T.J. in 2010 — we battled on the court in several summer league, exhibition and tournament games in the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League, better known as the WPIAL.

How do people describe McConnell now? Scrappy, gritty, tough, smart — the embodiment of the stereotypical white point guard. But he didn't start out that way. Young T.J.'s style was closer to Kobe than Cousy.

He averaged 34.2 points per game as a senior at Chartiers Valley, a public high school located about 10 miles southwest of Pittsburgh. He could push the ball up the floor and hit a bomb from beyond the arc before you knew what happened.

Tim McConnell, T.J.'s father and the head coach at Chartiers Valley since 1993-94, needed his son to be a scorer. But they both realized T.J. had to change his game to find success beyond his high school career.

"I had a great shot in high school and kind of looked at myself in the mirror going into college and said 'I've got to adjust my game because I'm going to play more point guard.' I tried to adjust my game," T.J. said. "The shot's regressed a little bit, but it's obviously still there. Transitioning my game was the biggest part."

"When he had some better players around him, he knew his role was not to score as much, but to get those people involved," Tim said.

McConnell was maybe 5-8, 140 pounds with shoes and a soaking wet uniform as a freshman at CV, but he was offered a scholarship prior to his sophomore season by Duquesne. By the time he arrived on campus, though, he had shot up to 6-1, 180. His size caught up to his skill.

That led to him wanting more.
'I knew what I was getting myself into'

In March 2012, McConnell and his father sat down at Consol Energy Center to watch Ohio State and Gonzaga battle for a spot in the Sweet 16. Aaron Craft was Ohio State's star point guard. His father wasn't expecting to hear what came next.

"He turned to me," Tim McConnell recalled, "and said, 'This is what I want to do.' I said, 'Whoa, whoa. What do you mean?' "

Most people in the Pittsburgh basketball community felt McConnell at Duquesne made sense. He logged the most minutes on the team and finished third nationally in steals per game as a sophomore. But there was a large gap between Duquesne and the Sweet 16.

"I was pretty confident. I know that other people doubted me, had those opinions," McConnell said. "Everyone has their opinion, but I knew what I was getting myself into."

He filed his release papers to transfer. Several schools were interested, including Arizona, with coach Sean Miller.

"We had a unique familiarity that transcended player-coach, Arizona, kid looking for a school," Miller said. "I followed T.J., his growth as a player in high school."

Miller was a Pittsburgh point guard, a homegrown product who played at the University of Pittsburgh from 1987-1992. (He earned the assist on Jerome Lane's famous "Send it in Jerome!" dunk.) McConnell aimed to become the type of player Miller was for the Panthers.

"I think the familiarity, me being from Pittsburgh and having a similar background as him was really helpful in him making the decision to pick here," Miller said. "I never one second had any doubts that he would be an All-Conference player for us and be a reason we had a real chance to be in the Final Four."

McConnell's choice came down to Arizona and Virginia, where he immediately hit if off with coach Tony Bennett.

"If it wasn't coach Miller, I'm not sure he goes to Arizona; I think he picked Arizona because of coach Miller," Tim said. "The fan base out there, they live and die with Arizona basketball. He loved that atmosphere, and he wanted to be part of it."
'It's just about me not backing down'

McConnell sat out of the 2012-13 season per NCAA transfer rules.

"He practiced against a really good team every day and watched us coach the system, the style, big games, kind of follow the team," Miller said. "That spring, when he was eligible, I really believe he had improved."

Eli Maravich, McConnell's teammate at Char Valley, noticed a huge difference in his old backcourt mate while playing with him at their old stomping grounds.

"His court vision was incredible," Maravich said. "He had always been good, but we played pickup, and he was incredible. I could not believe the passing ability."

That development into a pure point carried over into 2013-14, when McConnell led the Wildcats with 5.3 assists per game as a junior. With a group that included future NBA first-rounders Aaron Gordon, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Nick Johnson, McConnell often had the ball in his hands at critical points in the game.

But point guards can't always defer. He had to make defenders respect him as an offensive threat.

"He didn't want to be the guy that took the shot at the end because, in his mind, he didn't deserve to take the shot at the end. They did," Miller said. "As he continued to play here and be here longer, his mindset eventually flipped from 'It's not about me trying to please them. It's me trying to give this team something we need to be better.'

"His senior year, he made the big play, took the big shot."

The floor general was always there, but every once in a while I recognized that old CV rival, pulling the trigger when the defense least expected it.

The offensive game wasn't always consistent, but his defense was. Arizona met Ohio State in the third round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament. Freshman phenom D'Angelo Russell, the second overall selection in the 2015 NBA Draft, spearheaded the Buckeyes' offensive attack.

Russell struggled, going 3 for 19 from the field as McConnell pushed the Wildcats to the Sweet 16 with 19 points, 6 assists and 5 steals.

"It's just about me just not backing down," McConnell said. "I'm just that kind of annoying guy who's right behind you at all times and letting you know I'm not going away."

But Arizona lost to Wisconsin in the Elite Eight of both McConnell's junior and senior seasons.

"My only regret with T.J. is that he didn't play in a Final Four," Miller said. He pauses, then makes an amendment to his previous statement.

"My other regret is that we didn't have him for four seasons. From this point forward, in our recruiting efforts, you always look for that special kid that's not rated, not this or that, that fits what we do."
'Your son is a pro'

There was no doubt after his all-Pac-12 Conference first team career that McConnell could continue his basketball career in some capacity. Good enough to play in a league overseas. Smart enough to become a coach. But the NBA?

McConnell threw passes to future NBA draft picks, but never got much consideration himself. The odds were against him to make it, but then again, that was nothing out of the ordinary.

"He has done it at every level," Maravich said. "Middle school to high school, high school to Duquesne, Duquesne to Arizona, Arizona to the NBA. It's always been, 'Can he do it?' And he does it every time."

McConnell signed a partially guaranteed contract with the Sixers, a team in massive rebuild mode with a need for point guards. Philadelphia gave him a spot on its summer league team and invited him to fall camp. He averaged 5.2 points, 3.3 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 23.8 minutes in six games. He shot 35 percent from the field and averaged 2.5 turnovers per contest. By comparison, he averaged only 1.9 turnovers in 31.4 minutes per game at Arizona.

Even with less-than-impressive statistics and the Sixers signing point guards Scottie Wilbekin and Pierre Jackson to similar contracts in July, McConnell never worried. He knew his identity, the one he began building before he left for Duquesne.

"He's an amazing leader," Sixers rookie center Jahlil Okafor said. "Playing with T.J. is very easy. It's not hard to build chemistry with him at all."

"I see a passion in T.J.," Philadelphia coach Brett Brown said. "He wants to be good. He wants to play the game. He loves the game. He'll do whatever it takes to win."

Brown called McConnell into his office in October. The Sixers would start the season without point guards Kendall Marshall and Tony Wroten because of injuries. They needed McConnell.

"I literally almost passed out from the emotion," he said, shaking his head as though he still couldn't believe he made the team.

"I was in the gym. I had been waiting, waiting," his father said. "I had my phone with me. He called me and said 'Your son is a pro.' I was just silent. I was so excited for him. I was so filled up, so emotional. I couldn't speak for a second. I was actually crying because I was so happy for him."
'He's hungry and trying to claw his way to stay'

The Sixers are 4-34. They have the youngest roster in the NBA. Okafor was suspended two games earlier this season for multiple off-court incidents, including street brawls in Boston. To put it simply, it's not an ideal place to start. But McConnell understands his team is in a much different place than when he was at CV or Arizona.

"It's obvious that we're a really young team. It's just trying to get better every day," he said. "Doing what you can to help the team in a positive way. I know we're young and we're hungry to win.

"Sometimes we just don't have enough experience to get that win. We play as hard as anyone, every game. We just don't really have room for error."

Philadelphia has acquired more experience by adding Ish Smith and Elton Brand. While Brand serves as a veteran voice for the young guys like Okafor and Nerlens Noel, Smith is a primary producer at T.J.'s position.

McConnell is averaging 6.0 points, 4.9 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 2.2 turnovers in 22.4 minutes per game. Since Smith has joined the team, T.J.'s numbers have dropped to 3.3 points, 4.1 assists, 1.9 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.6 turnovers in 13.9 minutes.

A new challenge awaits. The freshness wears off. Teams start to figure out tendencies. McConnell will be forced to adjust to a new role. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Brown plans to keep McConnell as the primary backup point guard behind Smith.

"(T.J. is) hungry and trying to claw his way to stay," said Sixers guard Isaiah Canaan, McConnell's biggest competition for playing time. "He's been doing all the right things. He's learning, just taking advantage of the opportunity he's been given here. He plays hard every game."

He claws and he grinds. He makes the smart play. He gets a steal because he's "deceptively fast." Those words often come with a negative connotation, a nice way of avoiding what a player lacks in talent or athleticism.

But those words aren't the reason why McConnell failed. They're the reason he succeeded. He created a spot that wouldn't have existed had he not become a different player, and he doesn't plan on giving that spot up now.

"I can't really describe (playing in the NBA) in words," T.J. said. "I'm just blessed to be here, and I try to take advantage of my opportunity every single day."

CBCat · Post by **CBCat** » Fri Jan 08, 2016 8:50 am

awesome post about TJ. Thank you.

KaibabKat · Post by **KaibabKat** » Fri Jan 08, 2016 10:07 am

Thanks for posting that article. T.J. has earned everything good that comes his way.

dcZONAfan · Post by **dcZONAfan** » Sat Jan 16, 2016 8:37 pm

8 pts 7 assists 1 turnover in 15 minutes today. And they won the game too!

Merkin · Post by **Merkin** » Sun Jan 17, 2016 11:12 am

3goggles · Post by **3goggles** » Sun Jan 17, 2016 11:29 am

That's our boy TJ!

a4ragtop · Post by **a4ragtop** » Sun Feb 07, 2016 9:15 pm

17 points last night in a Nets-beating start for TJ. Great quote from 6ers coach on TJ playing after sustaining a 5-inch gash diving into the seats after a loose ball:

Brown continued, “I showed my son, ‘This is a marine.’ This is one tough, tough, competitive person. He just, we all know, you see how he plays. We can all guess how he’s wired. It reflects his wound, playing through that. I think it’s just a level of toughness that you either have it or you don’t, and he has it.”

Story @ NBA.COM: http://www.nba.com/sixers/news/game-rec ... 03-nets-98" target="_blank

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