Inside Brett Brown’s Mind at the All-Star Break
58 down, 24 to go. 24 games is all that separates the the 76ers from the beginning of a playoff run that will define what the team will look like in both the short and long term.
Although the 82-game regular season often feels long and dreary, these last 24 games must be handled with precision and most of all foresight by coach Brown and his staff as the team looks to position itself at the top of the talent-filled Eastern Conference. Here are some of the thoughts flowing through Brett Brown’s mind as he primes his team for what should be an incredible 2019 playoffs.
1) Navigating the New-Look Eastern Conference
The narrative that the talent in the Eastern Conference is nowhere near comparable to that of the Western Conference has all but gone out the window this season as we’ve seen organizations like the Bucks, Raptors, and Pacers take huge strides in terms of competing with the best of the West. Not only this, if you take the top 5 teams in the East and place them side-by-side with the that of the West, it wouldn’t be hard to deduce that the East has the upper hand this season in terms of sheer talent and wins. Clearly, the movement of Kawhi Leonard from San Antonio to Toronto as well as MVP-level play from Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo has played a big part in this improvement.
Here’s where the East’s rise makes it tricky for the Sixers from here on out. With each of the East’s top five teams a potential conference championship contender, seeding will be crucial in determining a number of things. First and most importantly is home court advantage. The team with home court advantage wins a large majority of the time in the NBA playoffs, and for good reason. Home court arguably has the greatest affect on the game in basketball than in any other sport. It’s no secret that winning a game 7 on the road in any of TD Garden (Boston), Wells Fargo Center (Philadelphia), and ScotiaBank Arena (Toronto) is a near-impossible feat. Now, barring a major skid by any of the East’s current top 5 (Milwaukee, Toronto, Indiana, Boston, Philadelphia), a trip to the NBA Finals is currently there for the taking by any of these teams due to LeBron James’ departure from the conference to play in Los Angeles.
Where NO team in the East wants to be seeded, however, is 4th or 5th. As we all know, the 4th and 5th seeded teams are tasked with dueling each other in what is often one of the closest first round series. Where this becomes problematic for those two teams this year is that we may end up seeing two 50-win teams battle for a spot in just the second round. This situation is a lose-lose for both teams entering the series because little reward is given for the time and dedication needed to notch 50 wins in this league, and even the team that advances will most likely be extremely fatigued after a series of this magnitude in just the first round. Brett Brown will simply have to get his guys to buy into the fact that each loose ball and offensive rebound will have an impact on the team’s ability to the climb the standings on the team’s crucial home stretch in 2018-19.
2) Answering the Final Questions
The events that took place on February 3rd and 4th, namely the acquisition of Tobias Harris, Mike Scott, Boban Marjanovic, James Ennis, and Jonathan Simmons in deals with Clippers, Rockets, and Magic, quickly propelled the 76ers into the NBA Finals conversation. For more on that, be sure to check out last week’s piece on the blockbuster moves. The Sixers quickly moved from a team desperately in need of depth to a team with so many players to put on the floor and only a certain number of spots in the regular rotation.
Does Brett Brown go with Furkan Korkmaz or Jonathan Simmons? Simmons is probably the safest choice considering his years of experience in the league as a starter, but Korkmaz has proven that he can hit that shot from deep in a momentum scenario. Does he lean toward Mike Scott or exciting rookie Jonah Bolden? Based on what we’ve seen thus far, Brett Brown understands that it’s far easier to bench a rookie for an entire game than a guy with 7 years of NBA experience. Handing out a DNP (did not play) is a tough thing for a coach to do in the first place for a guy who hustles in practice and makes the most of his few opportunities in games. That being said, Brett Brown is going to have to make some tough choices if he wants to do some damage in the postseason, and playing Scott at the expense of Bolden is the easier choice for the time being.
And lastly… you aren’t an NBA coach if you don’t have to decide who takes the shot at the end of close games. The Sixers have had a number of these opportunities this season, and while some have gone according to plan, it’s safe to say that others haven’t. In my mind, Brett Brown now has three clear last shot weapons at his disposal. He could let Jimmy Butler do what he does with an isolation play on the perimeter and a step back which of course ended in game-winners in Charlotte and Brooklyn. He could have 14-year veteran JJ Redick come off a screen and do what he does best with a dribble pull-up. As much as we all love JJ, that idea doesn’t quite sit well with Sixer fans as we’ve seen Redick come up just short on these kinds of shots too many times.
An option I’m intrigued by is the idea of drawing up a play for Tobias Harris to get a catch-and-shoot opportunity. This is a skill he’s vastly improved in his past couple of seasons, and his statistics back that up. If the shot isn’t there, Harris has the ability to play iso-ball and get into the lane. If all of these options are exhausted, dumping the ball down to the league’s largest low-post threat, Joel Embiid, is not a bad option. He’s also gotten to the free throw line at a rate second to only James Harden.
I’ll leave you with Embiid’s All-Star reel. Feel free to skip around and enjoy.
Thoughts on how Brett Brown should play his cards down the stretch? Drop them below.
Featured Image: USA Today Sports Images 1,2,3: Philadelphia 76ers Photography
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