Philadelphia 76ers: Thaddeus Young and Why the 76ers' Bench Has Keyed Their Run

One of them refers to himself as an assassin. Another was dubbed "The Villain" by his fans back at Ohio State.

But while Thaddeus Young and Evan Turner don't possess many villainous or assassin-like qualities off of the court, they—along with Lou Williams—are the leaders of the most dangerous reserve unit in the NBA.

A backup role can be a difficult pill to swallow for most NBA players, many of whom have been starters from the moment they began playing organized basketball.

But while the life of a bench player is not a glamorous one, there are those who enjoy the assignment. They are the ones who choose to embrace their circumstances—taking it upon themselves to do whatever their team asks for at a moment's notice.

As a group, the 76ers' reserves have embraced their respective roles to the tune of 40 points per game, the highest scoring output for any second unit in the league. Young and Williams rank second and third respectively (behind the Mavericks' Jason Terry) among all NBA bench players in total points, rebounds and assists.

But statistics only tell part of the story.

A cursory glance at any game this season will tell you that the 76ers' reserve unit is undoubtedly the heart and soul of the team. Not only do they provide a much-needed spark off of the bench, but they've also energized the team's fanbase, having invented the "#ShoYaLuv" hand signal/hashtag that is taking both Philadelphia and Twitter by storm.

Their inspired play and youthful exuberance has been the key to the 76ers' 31-19 run since Black Friday. With more than half of the roster under the age of 25, the word "young" immediately comes to mind when describing this Sixers team.

Ironically, that also happens to be the surname of perhaps the most important player on the 76ers' bench.

Five years ago, Thaddeus Young—the self-proclaimed assassin—was a member of the National Honor Society back at Mitchell High School in Memphis, Tennessee.

Today, he's one of the best bench players in the league—a key reserve for a team that's quickly making headway in the NBA's Eastern Conference.

To the casual observer, Young isn't having as good of a season as he did last year. But despite his decreased scoring output (12.3 PPG this year vs. 13.8 PPG in 2009-10), he's shooting 54.6 percent from the field, and is a much better all-around player than ever before.

Offensive prowess aside, his primary value to the team is in his versatility. Although his natural position is small forward, the 6'8", 220-pound Young can play both forward spots effectively.

Depending on the opponent and/or situation, Young often slides to the 4 position, allowing the 76ers to match up better defensively against smaller lineups.

The 76ers' nine-man rotation is filled with players who can play multiple positions—a fact that gives Sixers coach Doug Collins a great deal of flexibility in setting his lineups. On most nights, however, Collins' first move off of the bench is to a player who is well accustomed to a substitute role.

Although his 6'1", 175-pound build is more suited to that of a point guard, Lou Williams is a scorer by trade.

At 24 years old, Williams is the elder statesman of the 76ers' second unit with five-plus seasons of NBA experience under his belt. While he flirted with a permanent starting spot last season, his game appears best suited to that of a "sixth man"—a game-changing type of player who provides instant offense off the bench.

This season, Williams is making a case for Sixth Man of the Year honors in the NBA, averaging 13.5 points and 3.3 assists in 23.4 minutes off of the bench. While Williams isn't the most accurate shooter (40.3% FG), when he is on, so are the 76ers: The team is 8-3 this season when he scores 20 points or more.

As a combo guard, Williams has also been a mentor of sorts for Turner, who has worked through his early struggles to become a solid contributor for the 76ers in his rookie season.

Not only is Evan Turner the youngest player on the 76ers' bench, but he's also its biggest enigma as well. Prior to the season, most 76ers' fans would have expected Turner—the No. 2 overall pick in this past summer's NBA draft—to have nailed down a starting role 66 games into the season.

While that isn't the case, it isn't because of a lack of effort.

Case in point: With the eyes of the NBA focused on Los Angeles during All-Star Weekend last month, Turner spent part of the break putting up shots in his old high school gym in Westchester, IL.

Used to dominating games against the likes of Iowa and Northwestern, the 6'7" swingman out of Ohio State has found the transition to the NBA game much more difficult than expected. Because he isn't able to attack the basket with the same success as he once did, he'll need to learn the nuances that will allow him to continue to develop as a player.

Turner is fully committed to working on his game, however, as evidenced by his willingness to work with legendary shooting coach Herb Magee during the upcoming offseason.

And as he matures, so will his team: Turner figures to be one of the building blocks for the 76ers' youth movement, and his development will only mean great things for the team going forward.

So while the starters typically get all of the glory on an NBA team, the contributions of the 76ers' bench players shouldn't be overlooked by any means. The play of Young, Williams and Turner (among others) has been vital to the team's resurgence this season.

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