Why Brett Brown’s Future Lies Within the 2019-20 Season
Brett Brown who has been the coach of the Sixers through some of the toughest times finally got the chance to make a run at a title last year. Although the season ended in one of the most heartbreaking fashions, there were some positives to take from the season.
Brown stuck with the team through the process and accepted the fact his career win % as a coach would be sub .500 for many years after the tanking years. He was with the team through some of the hardest times in franchise history and experienced a carousel of GMs. One thing Brown did not do is give up.
Many were calling for Brett Brown’s head and wanted him fired immediately at certain points during the season last year, and although there were some major question marks throughout the season, Brown never got the credit for winning games. Throughout the entire course of the season, he had different rosters. He led the league in players on a roster throughout the season and people fail to understand how hard it is to build game plans and lineups when even as a head coach, you have no idea who is available for the upcoming game.
Major moves throughout the season make it hard for any coach to be able to develop a consistent gameplan and build chemistry but with the small sample size that is available, the Sixers’ starting 5 of Simmons, Redick, Butler, Harris, and Embiid had the best net rating in the NBA. Although that roster was rarely available, the coaching staff had to make the most of what was available.
Failed adjustments and a failure to acquire a big man before playoff rosters were locked was a major problem for the team in the postseason and Brett’s gameplan was exposed against the Raptors. There was no backup big man that could defend the pick and roll if Embiid was on the bench. Being such a big body, Embiid needed rest and in those minutes he was off the floor, the team ultimately lost the series.
From questionable play calls out of timeouts, to failure to use timeouts and having JJ and TJ on the floor at the same time, there were so many infuriating moments that fans shared together throughout the 2018-2019 season, but then again, there are so many things that the coaches know that the public eye will never understand. Perhaps Brett did what he had to do and knew he was going to receive backlash. Everything from an update on Fultz, misleading information on Embiid, and stories surfacing that Ben Simmons sat out from a hangover, Brett was not the reason for these disappointing moments but somebody has to fall on the sword, and as the head coach, Brown took responsibility for the medical staff and reporters who are looking to tear a locker room apart.
When breaking down Brown’s record by year, yes he owns one of the worst records of all time in the NBA sitting at 10-72. But as fans and believers of the process, many fans knew that it would improve and the future was bright, which it is. Progression from a 10-72 season to back to back 50+ wins within a 4-year span is very impressive. As somebody from Popovich’s coaching staff, Brett Brown knows what he is doing.
It is not Brown’s fault that Kawhi made that shot, and even though many fans were expecting nothing less of an ECF appearance, the reality of it was that Embiid wasn’t healthy, the bench rotation could not keep up with Toronto’s, and they were just flat-out outplayed in Philly where they needed to really secure a W.
Now with the best team that Brown has ever coached finally assembled, and this time before the season starts so he has a foundation and can build chemistry and develop schemes, there is no excuse to not make the ECF, or to raise expectations a bit, an NBA Finals run. Brown acquired the one player who consistently beat his gameplan when playing Boston being Al Horford, got a younger defensive-minded player in Josh Richardson, and an upgraded bench where he can go 12-13 deep in any game. With such a powerful roster, there is no reason that this team should not make a run at a title. Many Sixers fans want to give Brown a chance with a roster that has been together and developed amongst themselves from the start of the season to end and see where he takes it, but this may be the last chance Brown gets regardless of who is on the team by the end of the year.
This year is “do or die” for Brown and he is more than aware of it. Anything less than an ECF or Finals appearance is considered a bust, and there is really no reason to give him another chance. He has the team, the coaching staff, and the momentum to take this team all the way.
This time next year will be a very weird feeling. It is at the point where this team has reached a level of success that they have not seen since the Iverson days, or there will be a complete overhaul of the head coach and supporting staff. Brown controls his own destiny, he has the tools to win it all, only time will tell how far he can bring this team and if he is truly the right person for the job.
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