The Sixers open Summer League minicamp on Monday, which should give us our first look at draft pick Matisse Thybulle, selected #20 overall one week ago today.

A 6’5″ wing, Thybulle was considered one of the draft’s best defensive prospects, a player who averaged 3.5 steals per game as a senior and topped Gary Payton for the most steals in PAC-12 history. Not bad, eh?

Beyond the defense, Thybulle wasn’t much of a scorer at the University of Washington, averaging 9.1 points per game on 7.5 field goal attempts as a senior. His three-point shooting dipped to 30.5% this past year, down from 36.5% as a junior and 40.5% as a sophomore.

So what gives? And how much did things change when long-time head coach Lorenzo Romar was fired by the Huskies, leading to the appointment of Jim Boeheim disciple Mike Hopkins?

I touched base with Seattle Times writer Percy Allen, who covered Thybulle’s college career and was good enough to spend a few minutes on the phone this morning.

Crossing Broad: Let’s go macro to start; we didn’t watch a lot of PAC-12 basketball out here on the east coast, not a lot of Washington games at all. We’ve seen Matisse’s Youtube highlights and talked to him briefly via conference call and an introductory presser. What can Sixers fans expect from a guy like Matisse and what will they like about him?

Percy Allen: This may sound cliche, but I have to start here, and he is a fantastic person. That’s first and foremost. I saw a little bit of the initial press conference in (Philadelphia) and saw what Elton Brand said about him, and when Elton started with (his high character) it really echoed a lot of the things I got to learn about Matisse over the years. Truly, he is an amazing individual. This is a young man who has really come into himself as a person. Again, that doesn’t speak for the basketball side of things, which I know fans love and clamor for, but the Sixers got an amazing young man. Now, that being said, as a basketball player he’s still young, even though he was in school for four years. He is a defensive savant, he lives and breathes defense, and his father taught him at a very young age the importance of defense. A lot of players like to see the ball go into the basket but he’s not somebody who is really impacted by that. He knows that he can make an impression on the game with his defense. This is someone who likes to study film, likes to pick up other player’s tendencies, and for a lack of a better term, he just has a knack for it.

Crossing Broad: One thing that turned into a talking point out here was the fact that Washington played 2-3 zone under Mike Hopkins, the former Syracuse assistant who took over a few years ago. Some people think Matisse put up inflated defensive numbers as a product of the zone. Do you lend any credence to that, or do you see him as a guy who can play anywhere in any system?

Allen: I think all questions are fair. With Matisse, he did play in zone his first two years under Lorenzo Romar. I don’t have his numbers in front of me, but I imagine there was a big spike there in terms of his steals and his blocks (note: there was; Thybulle improved from 0.7 to 1.4 blocks and 2.1 to 3.0 steals per game as a junior). But he is not unfamiliar with man-to-man concepts from his first two years in college. Obviously Mike Hopkins realized what he had in Thybulle, that he could put somebody at the top of the zone. Now, initially, Thybulle started at the back of the zone, and I don’t know if a lot of people know that. But initially he started at the back of the zone and only stayed there for like one game before the assistant coaches saw that he was so long and so dynamic, so they moved him up to the front. Then it was lights out and everything changed. But I think there is a learning curve for him, and he’s going to have to learn sort of the NBA man-to-man defense, learn how to get over screens, learn how to get under screens, how to chase guys around the court. That’s gonna be something that he just hasn’t done it in the past few years, but I have every bit of a confidence that he will be able to do those things.

Crossing Broad: To follow up on that, or just dig a bit deeper, I was reading a story you wrote in 2017, during Lorenzo Romar’s last season, and you talked about how they went to some zone during that year, before, quote, “Washington returned to a man-to-man defense in 2015-16 and posted a 19-15 record.” Was this just something Romar did to help a struggling squad, a little bit of zone to stop the bleeding before going back to man?

Allen: Yeah he did. So with Romar, not having the success that you’d like, or that you want, you’re trying a lot of different things. Romar grew up on a man-to-man principle and that’s where he had his most success at Washington. Then maybe when the team wasn’t doing so well, or in his mind, they didn’t have the personnel to run his schemes – and I don’t know how that happens in college since you’re recruiting your players – but he tried other things. That’s when he went to the zone at times.  It was an abysmal failure. He realized it, but didn’t realize it quick enough, I think, in my opinion. Then he went back to man-to-man concepts.

Crossing Broad: Let me ask about Matisse’s three-point shooting. He did well as an underclassmen, hitting around 37%, 40%, 36%, then down to 30% as a senior. When we asked him about it, he said he just sort of had to make sacrifices on the offensive end to accommodate the team, but is there anything more as to why his perimeter shooting dropped off the way it did as a senior?

Allen: I think there’s some truth to that. Matisse is really just trying to figure it out for himself as to why that was. Look, there is some truth to that, that early on, as a freshman and sophomore, maybe he thought ‘I should be focusing on my offense more.‘ But then, as he really realized where he can make an impact with this team, I think he, not really let the three-point shooting ‘go,’ but he knew he didn’t have to grind over it because he knew could be such a force as long as he’s leading the defense. I think it’s a part of his game (shooting) that just needs to get there, and he’s really gotta work on that shooting and gotta get it more consistent. He’s gotta shoot the same shot, which I think he does, and I think there’s some hope there because he’s a pretty good free throw shooter. Normally when you have good free throw shooters, you can stretch that out (to field goal shooting). I also think it will benefit him – and I’m not trying to throw anybody under the bus – but it will benefit him to have a point guard who can find him and find him in rhythm. I’m not so sure he necessarily had people who were looking to get him easy shots at Washington. A lot of times he had to hunt for his own shot.

Crossing Broad: Last one for you, another macro question. Is this where Matisse needs to improve the most to be an effective NBA player? Is it shooting? Or is it maybe that evolution to professional man-to-man defensive concepts? If there’s a hurdle that he needs to clear to take the next step at this level, where is it?

Allen: I’m not trying to dodge because I think it’s a great question, but it’ll be about the fit. I truly believe this; I used to cover the NBA and I’ve seen guys come in with so much promise and not do well, and I’ve seen guys come in with no expectations whatsoever and do phenomenal. A lot of times it just has to do with fit. I think it’s really important to see who Elton is able to keep on that team, surround Matisse with. I do wonder if Ben Simmons and Matisse Thybulle can play on the court a lot together, because with the both of them, perimeter shooting is not a strength. I wonder about that. So it’ll be about fit and role, because I think he’s a smart enough player where he can figure some things out. But I’m curious as to how the Sixers will use him and when they’ll use him. Right now, is he the third best player on the team? I don’t know what that means. What kind of opportunities will he get? I think the fit is going to be really important with a player like that, because you know on defense he is really good, really locks down there. It’s about finding a role that a rookie can feel comfortable with.

 

Follow Percy Allen on Twitter: @percyallen