PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia 76ers rookie guard VJ Edgecombe is still learning the ins and outs of the NBA. Overall, his numbers have been good as he’s averaging 15.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.2 assists while shooting 40.7% from the floor and 36.6% from deep.
However, he has gotten off to slow starts in recent games. He started 0-for-6 before turning it on and finishing with 21 points on 8-for-20 shooting on Wednesday against the Toronto Raptors. He then was having another slow start before scoring 10 of his 12 points after halftime on Thursday against the Milwaukee Bucks.
“I’ve been having some slow starts,” Edgecombe acknowledged after Wednesday’s loss to Toronto. “Something just I’ve been working on, to be honest. Trying to be better from the jump, so yeah. It’s just been a lot of slow starts, to be honest, but it’s a long season ahead of us. A lot of games to be played, and hopefully, I just start the games off well.”
This is all still a learning process for Edgecombe. Even though he is the No. 3 pick in the draft, and obviously supremely talented, doesn’t mean he is going to just jump right in. He had a fast start to the season overall, but the Sixers will be looking for him to take that next jump which is learning to put together a 48-minute game.
“I’m still learning, to be honest,” he finished. “It just feels good to see one go through the rim, you know? Everybody has a lot of energy early in the game. So, it’s probably gonna be a lot harder to score early in the game just because everyone’s fresh, but just stay aggressive. Don’t defer, to be honest. Still trying to figure it out, to be honest. I promise you, if I had figured it out, there wouldn’t be no slow starts.”
The Sixers will look to help Edgecombe take another step forward when they play host to the Miami Heat on Sunday.