Pregame press conferences for visiting coaches are typically uneventful. Especially in the season — there’s less traveling media so the coach is fielding whatever questions the beat reporters of the home team can muster.
When the Atlanta Hawks came to town to take on the Sixers, it gave head coach Quin Snyder a chance to be asked about Dominick Barlow, forward who signed with Philadelphia on a two-way after playing 35 games for the Hawks last season.
“He really knows how to play,” Snyder said. “He gave us, in a stretch where we really needed someone to come in and not only give us good minutes, but kind of connect as a team, and I think it’s unusual for a player in that position to have that kind of impact on the group.”
As a non-shooting forward, Barlow’s profile is a guy that will do all of the dirty work. The 4.2 points and 2.4 rebounds he averaged in the 35 games he played for Atlanta are hardly eye-popping, but motor and basketball IQ caught his coach’s eye there, and has been a big reason he’s been in the starting lineup consistently since joining the Sixers.
“I’m really happy to see him doing well,” Snyder continued. “And I’m not surprised as far as, he’s got a great feel for the game — \[he\] can pass, handle, just a smart player, very committed to helping the team in any way he can.”
The Sixers have asked for a lot of those things from him. Despite his two-way status, he’s started in six of the nine games he’s appeared in so far.
Often he’s asked to take the toughest defensive assignment of the night, like it was when his old team came to town. Barlow was primarily responsible for guarding Jalen Johnson, who dropped 41 points in a double overtime win.
“We were just trying to keep Barlow matched up a little bit with Johnson, just for some size,” Nick Nurse said after the game.
While Johnson still got is and led his team to a win, Barlow had some big stops that nearly swung the game the other way. Most notably when he blocked a Johnson layup with just under a minute left in the first overtime. With the Sixers up two, they had gotten enough stops to win the game, but two missed free throws from Tyrese Maxey ended up giving the Hawks another chance.
“My mindset was just trying to get under him as much as possible and try to protect the rim,” Barlow said. “I made a good play, wish I could have made another one, but it is what it is.”
Barlow certainly would have rather come away from that game with a win, but he did appreciate the high praise from his old coach.
“You just pat yourself on the back a little bit I guess, but I appreciate Quin saying that,” he said, “but tomorrow is a new day. So, anything you’ve done in the past really don’t matter as much, so I’m just focused on tomorrow and getting better with this group that we have.”
As much as he is always trying to look forward, he did say that his time there was great for him.
“I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed my time with all those guys and the staff. It was great, it was great for the development of my career, but I’m happy here.”
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