Sixers shooter Furkan Korkmaz discusses breaking out of his slump
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The Philadelphia 76ers believe in Furkan Korkmaz as one of their main pieces off the bench, and they certainly needed him on Tuesday night. With Seth Curry out due to an ankle injury, the Sixers started a struggling Korkmaz in his place looking for a spark.
The fourth-year guard from Turkey hardly seemed the right choice. He had been shooting a miserable 0.63% from deep over his previous six games despite getting good looks over that time.
On Tuesday, he broke out, scoring 16 points in the first quarter and 19 for the game in a win over the Toronto Raptors. He knocked down four 3s in the opening frame and five for the game.
“Everybody has some ups and downs in their careers,” said Korkmaz. “Sometimes, just one game, sometimes four or five games, mine has been a little bit longer than that, but I’ve been through this a lot in my career so I just need to find out how to get away from it quicker.”
Basketball can simply be a make or miss game. One will either make or miss shots and there is no telling what will happen next, one just has to keep shooting.
With the starting unit, all Korkmaz has to do is spot up and be able to be locked and loaded when the ball swings his way. That’s the benefit of playing with Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid compared to the bench unit.
“I will say that with the first unit we play different basketball,” Korkmaz added. “With the second unit, we play different basketball. The first unit creates more 3s because Ben is in the game, Joel is in the game. With the second unit, we don’t create that much 3s. We are trying to play a drive and kick game, but at the end of the day, we don’t take that much 3s.”
The Sixers will need his services more moving forward. It should not matter whether he starts or comes off the bench as long as he is getting open looks. He just needs to step up and knock down the shots.
“For me, it doesn’t matter coming off the bench or starting the game,” he added. “I need to be responsible of my job. It doesn’t matter if I start or not. I’m trying on the court, off the court, I’ve just been working hard. I knew it was going to come, but I just didn’t know when.”
The Sixers will play host to the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday when they hope Korkmaz can keep things going in a positive direction.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
