CAMDEN, N.J. — The Philadelphia 76ers made a smart move in free agency this summer, adding four-year big man Dominique Barlow to a two-way contract. The 6-foot-9 forward from Overtime Elite averaged 9.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.0 blocks in 18 games, including 15 starts.
Barlow is a guy who doesn’t need the ball to be effective. He has a high basketball IQ and is able to move without the basketball to find open looks on offense. He can do a lot of different things on the court, from being a versatile defender to being a shot-blocker to being a rim-runner on offense and everything in between.
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“He’s our X-factor,” Andre Drummond said of Barlow. “I think he’s the X-factor on this team. He brings something that’s not on the stat sheet. He brings energy, the effort he plays with, the composure he plays with, his energy is everything, man. Like, I love playing with him. He’s an offensive rebounder. Defensively, he’s great. He can shoot when he’s open. He’s a great finisher at the rim. So, he brings a lot of key elements to the game that help us win.”
As Drummond mentioned, Barlow does a lot of things that don’t show up in the statistics, like creating extra possessions on the boards or setting the right screens to free up teammates. He is a player that a competitive team needs.
“He’s a big part of this team,” Jared McCain added. “I mean, he does all the dirty work, and sometimes, it doesn’t show up in the stat sheet, but every game, he’s in it. Whether he falls down, we talk sometimes on the bench, sometimes when he keeps falling down, the ball just doesn’t come his way, but he continues to do it every game and it always pays off in the end. Like, I always tell him that, we always talk about that. He does all the dirty work.”
Another thing that stands out about Barlow is his basketball IQ. Although he is only entering his fourth season as a pro, he knows exactly what he has to do on the court to contribute and give the Sixers another winning player.
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“Definitely, he has the feel of a vet, I don’t know – how old has he been? Four years? Oh, yeah, it feels like he’s been playing longer,” McCain added. “He even helps me on the defensive end. When he’s trying to help, I’m trying to help the defense and I have to help his defender. He’s a veteran. It’s great to have him.”
It served him well that Barlow learned the game during two years with the San Antonio Spurs and one with the Atlanta Hawks. He was able to learn under legendary coach Gregg Popovich in San Antonio and Popovich disciple Quin Snyder in Atlanta. Drummond finds his IQ comes into play every night.
“Dom is very smart,” Drummond explained. “Dom had the opportunity to play for some good teams and get some tips, some really good players, you know, he was in San Antonio and Atlanta. So I think he was able to watch the games. I think for some guys — for me, being able to sit out because of the injury Sitting in the game and watching the game. Sometimes you learn more from watching the game than actually playing it, so I think his IQ really comes from just observing what you should and shouldn’t do and then when he actually gets on the field, it comes into play.”
This article originally appeared on 76ers Wired: Multiple Sixers praise big man Dominique Barlow’s production
