Despite Sixers' loss, MCW now ‘true floor general'

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TORONTO -- Michael Carter-Williams was all over the stat sheet again on Wednesday night in Toronto with a performance that earned him high praise and a respect-filled label from veteran teammate Thaddeus Young.

"He's been a true floor general," said Young, the sixth-year forward from Georgia Tech.

"He's making sure he's been mixing it up, taking what the defense gives him, driving the ball and taking open jumpers when he gets the chance to, distributing the basketball and making sure everybody gets the feel. He's been running offense and he's been doing a very, very good job."

Carter-Williams scored 19 points on 7 of 12 shooting to go with nine rebounds and eight assists in the Sixers' 125-114 loss to the Raptors at the Air Canada Centre (see Instant Replay).

Despite committing multiple turnovers for the first time this month, the rookie point guard was getting rave reviews from all around the locker room.

"He's learned how to take a system that we haven't flinched on, or altered anything, and get him comfortable on how to maximize it for himself and the team," 76ers head coach Brett Brown said. "He was close enough again to a triple-double and I thought he had a good game."

The bad games are coming fewer and further between for Carter-Williams, who has thrived after a rough stretch saw him post six or more turnovers thrice in four March games.

He's feeling better, not just as a basketball player but as a teammate, one of the guys.

"I've been more vocal," Carter-Williams said. "I've hung out with the guys off the court. We've just got more comfortable with each other ... They trust me and coach trusts me and I have more trust in myself."

"I've improved and so has the team. I've been trying to be more of a leader and be more assertive, in everything. In play-calling and in showing as a leader."

Carter-Williams abides by his coach's assessment that the last 10 games or so have seen him become a much stronger player. He's understanding the overused cliches of "the game slowing down" and "staying within your game."

"Believe it or not, I think I'm a lot better," said Carter-Williams when asked how he compares himself to his first NBA game.

"I've grown a lot. I've learned a lot. I've just seen so much and learned from so many different people."

That experience is impossible to imagine, and there seems to be a carefully cultivated understanding that Carter-Williams will grow with time. And Brown is seeing moments of recognition rather often these days.

"He's starting to understand," Brown said. "Tonight they hard-showed on pick-and-rolls, so things became available and he knew where to go. If teams push it and try to send it down the sideline, he's starting to learn on where to go and how it plays out.

And as Young watches his rookie point guard grow, he's been able to recall the same moments back when he was starting out in the NBA.

"It's definitely one of those situations where you want to play right away, you want to prove that you belong in the NBA and you want to go out there and compete each and every night," Young said. "He's done a great job of competing versus a league full of great point guards. You might catch a game here and there where there's not a good point guard, but for the most part every team in the league has a pretty decent point guard."

As it turns out, so do the Sixers.

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