Matisse Thybulle may be the most improved 76er.
Guards are expected to become a fully available and valuable two-way force for teams determined to contend for the NBA title.
It’s the result of all the offseason work Thybulle put in to improve his offensive game. Also helping is Canada’s plan to lower its COVID-19 vaccine requirements by Friday. The policy change allows all unvaccinated players like Thybulle to enter the country, allowing him to face his Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank’s arena on Oct. 26 and 28. will be allowed.
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As such, we’ll be showing a more appropriate version of Thybulle for Team Media Day on Monday. The 25-year-old has added his 7 pounds to his current 6-foot-5-inch, 206-pound frame.
He also said his offensive play improved.
Thybulle trained in other Phoenix cities over the summer with longtime Portland Trail Blazers All-Star Damian Lillard and renowned shooting coach Phil Beckner. Improving his shooting outside has been one of his focuses. He also traveled to Los Angeles to play the ball alongside Chicago Bulls All-Star DeMar DeRozan under the tutelage of ball-handling expert Johnny Stephens (also known as Dribble2Much and his HandleLife Johnny). I worked on handling and finishing around the basket.
He also spent a lot of time working out in front of team executives and staff members at the Sixers’ practice facility in Camden.
Thybulle’s goal was to let the Sixers see for themselves the work he put in and the offensive improvements he made.
And it worked.
“Matisse has been Camden’s most consistent player this summer and has put countless hours into his game,” said Sixers Basketball Operations President Daryl Morey. I have.”
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This offseason was the first in which Thybulle was able to focus on improving his offensive game. He was unable to do so after his rookie season due to the lockdown of the pandemic and the extended season of the bubble. did.
“I’m really proud of what I did,” Thybulle said of the offseason. “I have worked harder than ever before.
“And we had a meeting [Sixers coach Doc Rivers] I was telling him earlier this week that I feel more accepted than I used to. ”
Do not twist. Thybulle has not lacked effort in the past.
“When you live your life thinking about how much you have to contribute to your work, your team, give yourself over to the work, and see what the outcome will be, it feels completely different when you realize how much you have. he said.
At the end of last season, Thybulle had not progressed offensively enough to satisfy the Sixers. In the postseason, he was left wide open for shots while defenders left him to double-team one of his teammates.
He also missed three road games in Toronto in the Sixers’ first-round series because he wasn’t vaccinated.
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He was vilified by Sixers fans and then explored a potential trade during the offseason. Multiple league sources say the Sixers were looking to acquire Houston Rockets winger Eric Gordon, use Thybulle as an asset, and were even looking to bring in a third team.
But Cybul didn’t let trade talks break him.
It inspired him to make the necessary improvements.
In addition to a steady presence at the team’s practice facility, he met the team in Las Vegas for a workout and cheered on the Summer Sixers at the NBA Summer League in July.
“For me, it was giving in to what the outcome would be,” Thybulle said. “It’s funny because I say I decided to be completely selfish.”
Thybulle chose to do everything he could, mentally and physically, to become the best version of himself as a player and as a person.
He learned that the journey is more important than the destination.
“At this point, I always want to stay in Philadelphia,” he said. “And if it’s up to me, it’s always my choice.
“But given that it made me realize a reality that was out of my control, I could look at myself in the mirror at the end of the day if I was traded or something happened.”
That said, he’s eligible for a five-year, $188 million contract extension with the Sixers.
Cybul, who started 50 of 66 games last season, said “definitely” when asked if he thought the extension should be extended.
“You call it a part-time starter,” he said. “But having been a starter for more than half a season, I would call, on one of the best teams in the NBA that had very serious championship ambitions. I don’t think it’s a small feat. I definitely think it deserves an extension.”
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This past season, Thybulle NBA All-Defensive Second Team Selections campaign for two years in a row. Not bad for someone who averages 25.5 minutes.
He was fourth in the league with 1.7 steals per game. He also averaged 1.1 blocks. He became the first non-full-time starter to make back-to-back All-Defensive teams since Nate McMillan in 1994 and 1995.
But that doesn’t mean last season wasn’t mentally tough for Thybulle.
He became a villain despised by the beloved Sixer and the darling of the media. News broke on April 6 that he had not been vaccinated. He was blasted in the media and booed at home games. His safe haven in the Northern He is in a reclaimed vacant lot near the Liberties mansion. .
It made me wonder what I was bringing with me in terms of the trade thing, these articles, and all the things being said about me in the media,” he said. “It really made me question what my value was to the team.
“And then coming back to the team and playing pick-ups and things like that and surrendering myself allowed me to look at myself and see what I could bring and acknowledge that I was worth it. ”
Now, he’s determined to be a more complete player than his career average of 4.8 points and 32.4% 3-point shooting percentage suggest.
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“In a nutshell, I couldn’t be happier with how Tisse attacked this summer,” Rivers said. “He’s one of our hardest workers. He’s worked on both what we need to work on the floor and his body and strength.”
And perhaps the best part is that with Canada lifting vaccination restrictions, there’s nothing to limit their chances of appearing in all 82 regular-season games and the postseason.
“It’s beautiful,” Thybulle said. “I mean, there was a time when the weight of criticism last year became unbearable. [not to get vaccinated] Changed the story around me. I didn’t know it went that far. ”
He didn’t want to be unable to play and help the team. He didn’t want them to question his loyalty to the Sixers and how dedicated they were to winning his NBA title.
“Now it’s just a matter of me doing it,” he said.
