Nerlens Noel Injury: Sixers Taking Rehab to Rebuild Noel's Shot

With all the talk about Michael Carter-Williams, the Sixers must be absolutely thrilled that Nerlens Noel has thus far been a non-story. As he recovers from his ACL that could maybe keep him out the whole season (though I doubt it will), the Sixers are hell-bent on avoiding any timetables and managing expectations. But in the meantime, Nerlens has been rehabbing like a stud and the Sixers are taking the opportunity to totally rework his shot.

I think we have the perfect environment to do it because we have a whole year," Brown said. "We have taken him back to doing a lot of one-handed shooting. I can sense that he is shooting with two hands behind my back. But when he does that, the off hand comes in and elbows start flying, but when he does just one hand, he gets his elbow under it and it is a good looking shot. The first place you start is the free throw line because now he is going to turn and face. He really likes Kevin Garnett, a turn-and-face, jump-shooting big, and he aspires to be one of them even though he is a post player initially. I think the free throw is what carries over to the other parts of the game. And I hope we can get that right.

The idea of a more athletic Kevin Garnett with more raw shotblocking ability (and obviously significant less offensive polish at this point) is one that everybody can get behind. I want him to work on a face-up game with that quick first step so he can get to the rim, but he needs some semblance of a jumper to keep defenders honest. Love that Brown, HInkie and the assistants are willing to put in the time to start it from the ground up.

And the image of Nerlens pretending to shoot the right way when Brown is looking, then scrambling to go back to his comfortable form once his back is turned -- that's just delightful. He and MCW are going to be so beautiful together.

Evidence:

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