Young’s turnaround key part of Sixers’ resurgence

Thaddeus Young will be the first one to admit it: He was awful last season.

It wasn’t exactly clear what happened to Young under former coach Eddie Jordan as he went from a rising young star to a fading question mark. But it’s now obvious that Young is back in a big way on both ends.

“I found myself standing around a lot under coach Jordan waiting on certain things to happen,” Young said. “But now, I’m not just standing around I’m always moving, using defense as a way to spark our offense.”

Young has been a huge part of the NBA’s best bench this season, averaging 12.7 points and 5.4 rebounds on 54.3 percent shooting. He has been especially strong in the last 10 games, putting up 16.6 points and 6.1 rebounds over that span. It puts him in the back end conversation for the Sixth Man of the Year award.

“I think that I learned who Thad is and his strengths and have tried to put him in that position because he’s an incredibly talented player,” said coach Doug Collins. “Fast, quick, he’s relentless. But his growth on the defensive end has really made us a team that has a chance to win.”