With one game remaining on their 82-game schedule, the season ends on Sunday for the 2024-25 Sixers. But for two-way point guard Jeff Dowtin Jr., it ended on Friday night after he suited up for his 50th game, the maximum number allowed for two-way players. Dowtin's fourth NBA season — his first full campaign with the Sixers — is over.
After Friday's game, Dowtin spoke at his locker about posting a career-best performance with some personal significance in his penultimate game a few nights prior, the difficulty of not knowing when he will be used as a two-way player, the expansion of his all-around game throughout the season, his close friendship with Guerschon Yabusele and more. The latest Sixers soundbites, featuring Dowtin's conversation with PhillyVoice:
• Dowtin on what it meant to him to score a career-high 30 points and lead the Sixers to a win on Wednesday night in front of his family and friends in his first game in two weeks:
"Yeah, it definitely felt amazing for me. It was a great opportunity for me, obviously, playing back home and just being — I was sitting for about a couple weeks, you know, having really no plans. So just to get out there felt good and just to be able to win the ball game playing in front of family, playing back home, it felt amazing. So I'm happy about the situation."
• Dowtin on the difficulties of being a two-way player, frequently being held out of games they are able and eager to participate in:
"Definitely was a challenge for me this year, a tough, tough process. I think I handled it to the best of my ability, you know, just always being ready whenever the time has come. Obviously you want to play every game and I was healthy this whole year, so that was big for me, just staying healthy, staying in shape, staying conditioned and being ready whenever my name [was] called. Like I said, obviously I wanted to play every game. I was able to play every game. But, you know, it was a challenge. I was ready for the challenge. I was able to stay ready for multiple opportunities and I'm thankful for that."
• Dowtin on where he believes he has improved as a player since the team held its training camp in The Bahamas at the beginning of October:
"I think all aspects of my game, you can kind of see [improvement], from being a leader, being a point guard, being able to find guys, being able to move the ball, being able to play in transition, being able to knock down open threes, catch-and-shoot threes, threes off the dribble, being able to get to the paint, finish around the rim, being a vocal in the defensive end. Just everything, all-around aspects of my game I think have improved. I think I've shown that a lot throughout this year."
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• Dowtin on how he has tried to serve as an example for the team's many new players in the final two months of the year as one of the few available players with significant experience under head coach Nick Nurse:
"I think that's a big thing that I've been working on throughout the year: being able to stay vocal, get guys in certain spots. Even if they don't know sets or plays, they can come to me and ask me questions. I can tell them what to do in certain situations. I think that's been major for me. Just being able to, I say be that ‘vocal leader’ on the court, kind of organize things that coach wants out there, and it makes it easy for guys once they have a player that can kind of help them and coach them on the court, makes their transition a lot easier."
• Dowtin, smiling and gesturing at the locker to the left of his, on the friendship he shares with Guerschon Yabusele:
"Honestly, we have no choice but to be close. Our lockers are together here and the practice facility, our lockers are right next to each other too. Just from us being around each other throughout the year, we've had constant conversations about basketball, on the court, off the court. I mean, I think we’ve just grown as a collective group, as teammates throughout this year, just being able to talk to one another, communicate with one another. It's great to have somebody like Yabu on the team, somebody that I can relate to and just, it's a great friend at the end of the day."
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