St. Joe’s product Miles working for another shot
CAMDEN, N.J. » Isaiah Miles began his college career at Saint Joseph’s slowly, then learned, developed and became a pillar on an Atlantic 10 championship team. So he is familiar with the pattern he has been forced to follow as a professional.
Miles spent part of last summer with the Dallas Mavericks’ summer team, learning some, showing too little, and ultimately heading to France for his first season of pro basketball. But the 6-7 forward is back for another summertime opportunity, this time with the 76ers.
“Last summer, I just played really content,” Miles said. “I feel like my experience last year was that I was just happy to be there. I was going through the motions. I was happy to be in the summer league. It was my dream to play in the summer league.
“This year, I want to accomplish something. I want to get invited to a training camp and I hope to make an NBA roster.”
The 6-7 forward from Baltimore has had that opportunity this week, joining the Sixers’ younger players in a summerleague camp, and he will be on the roster when the Utah Summer League opens next week. Though he has signed to play professionally this season in Turkey, the contact includes an escape clause should he land on an NBA roster.
That’s why, this time, he is doing more than, as he said, going through the motions.
“It’s been great to be here,” he said. “Saint Joseph’s fans and Philly fans, even on Twitter, are wishing me luck. They have my back. And it is my dream to play here and be close to my family, to play in my hometown with the fans here having my back.”
That can happen. And Billy Lange, the Sixers’ summer league coach, knows how. So do Jim O’Brien, John Bryant and Dwayne Jones, former Saint Joseph’s players on various levels of the Sixers’ deep, deep coaching staff.
“We want him behind the 3-point line more and shooting threes,” Lange said. “So with Coach Bryant and Coach O’Brien and Dwayne Jones, we have a ton of Hawks telling him make sure he gets a ton of threes up.
“It’s our job as coaches to encourage them to come out and showcase their abilities.”
Miles is confident that he can impress.
“I always feel confident about my shooting,” he said. “That’s what gets me head and shoulders over other bigs, that I shoot really, really well. I am an elite shooter. So I focus on that, and also showing that I can get to the basket and have other ways of scoring.
“The past couple of days here, they have focused on defense. So I want to show them I can do that, as well.”
*** One reason the Sixers have re-employed Larry Drew II, who played 12 games for them in 2014-2015, is to be a comfortable summer-league backcourt fit with Markelle Fultz.
“He’s a great passer and a willing passer and he gets the ball up the court,” Lange said. “So much of a summer league’s team joy is found at the point guard. And he will have no problem passing the ball to people.
“We have been fortunate to have T.J. (McConnell) last two years in that mold. For a guy like Markelle, who is going to get his first professional basketball experience, to be with a humble, selfless point guard like Larry is a real treat for us.”
So … was that a hint that Fultz will not be the summer league point guard?
“They’ll play together,” Lange said. “So it’s not like, ‘Who is the point?’ But Larry will attract the basketball. And his willingness to get off of it will allow Markelle to handle it enough.”
Drew, 27, played last season with the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the G-League, but could add something to the Sixers’ ever-developing backcourt.
“I’m a natural-born leader,” he said. “You can look at the (summer) roster and I’m the oldest guy on the team by a couple years, which is still a weird feeling for me being the oldest now. As far as leading, that just comes second nature to me. So I look forward to that opportunity and that challenge at the same time.”
*** The leading reason for the summer camp will be the dayto-day growth of Fultz, the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.
Fultz’s Day 2 report card, from Lange: “He was way better today. And that doesn’t mean he was bad yesterday. But today you could see some of the aggressiveness in terms of just driving the basketball. His passing was good. He went after blocked shots. You could see there was more of a presence about him. He looked to shoot the ball more.”
Fultz, steadily building a reputation as a willing learner, asked the Sixers’ coaches for extra film time after his first practice Thursday.
“I was just looking for mistakes that I made,” he said. “I wanted to come back and try not to make them again. I just keep running the plays, learning the system, running the defense and trying to get better. I am trying to put my best foot forward. I am happy with myself, but my biggest thing is just trying to learn.”
*** NOTES » The Sixers continue to attempt to lure the third of their three 2016 first-round picks, Furkan Korkmaz, from Turkey. Tweets from the 6-7 Korkmaz’s agent Misko Raznatovic Friday indicated that a deal is near … Korkmaz, 19, was named the Best Young Player in the Basketball Champions League … Alex Poythress spent the last 11 days with the Sixers last season. That makes him a veteran, of sorts, among the summer league hopefuls. “I can play any position, three or four, doesn’t matter,” he said. “I just try to be versatile out there and just try to play to my strengths.”