CAMDEN, N.J. -- It's still the preseason, but the Philadelphia 76ers
have been hit with some unfortunate injuries at the big man position at the moment. With Ariel Hukporti out for the season after rupturing his Achilles in the preseason opener, and Adem Bona and Tacko Fall currently dealing with injuries of their own, that means coach Nick Nurse has had turn to Dean Wade to play some small-ball 5 minutes.Standing at 6-foot-9 and weighing in at 228 pounds, Wade has the size to play the position, but at the same time, there are some matchups he will struggle with as evidenced in Philadelphia's preseason matchup with the Boston Celtics on Saturday. Celtics big man Mitchell Robinson had a lot of success on the glass and that is a worrisome thought
with a matchup with the New York Knicks on opening night led by Karl-Anthony Towns and Andre Drummond in the paint.
"My biggest emphasis is when I'm at the 5, I can kind of see what's going on," Wade said at practice on Monday. "I try to be as loud as I can. Communicate. I can see kind of what's going on in those plays. So just trying to be loud, communicate on defense end. On the offensive end, is just try to cut with speed, set good screen for the guards, let them get downhill against the 5s, and pop, give space."
A career 36.7% shooter from beyond the arc, Wade will be looking to drag opposing big men out of the paint. It will be important for him to knock down those looks and help space the floor. If there is more space for the guards to do their own thing and he can help create mismatches, then he's done his job.
"When I'm the small ball 5, my biggest advantage is my spacing, and there's no real reason for me to roll," Wade explained. "I try to stretch the 5 out and keep him on the outside of the paint is a little more spread out. It doesn't change too much. I do space anyways. So, when I'm at the 5. It's pretty similar. Just a lot more wrestling with people than my other times."
On that defensive end, Wade is just looking to battle. His whole focus is to make sure he does enough to bother whoever he is blocking out and guarding enough to make sure they don't grab the rebound over him.
"On the defensive end, it is all out just war," Wade laughed. "My whole thought process, especially going like Mitchell Robinson and Drummond is as long as they don't get the rebound, that's OK. I'm not going to get it, but as long as they don't get it, that is OK. Somebody else is going to come in and clean up."
There are some rebounding advantages of a small-ball 5 such as being able to track down the long rebounds. When considering the fact that Wade is going to be spaced out on the perimeter, it allows him to grab those long misses off 3-pointers and be able to make an impact in that area.
"You can kind of stick to long rebounds and pop out, especially crashing--the free throw line, you get a lot of those long kind of rebounds to kind of go over the second or third person," Wade finished. "So offensively, it's pretty easy. You just got to kind of read where it's going, and then on defense, man, it's just all out just battle."
Of course, having Joel Embiid healthy makes a big difference for Philadelphia, but when Nurse has to go to the bench, he will likely call upon Wade and Jabari Walker to handle the position. It remains to be seen if the Sixers will be a bit healthier on opening night, but either way, there will be a focus on the backup 5 for Philadelphia.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Dean Wade discusses having to play small-ball 5 amid Sixers injuries
