Why Brett Brown Must Define the Sixers’ Bench Roles
Although early-season injuries to stars Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid have prompted a variety of starting lineups, Coach Brett Brown has struggled immensely to establish a consistent bench rotation that is largely responsible for the inconsistent play of role players.
Coming into this season, the Sixers’ bench was expected to be much improved with steady performers such as James Ennis and Mike Scott returning. However, with several shakeups to the starting lineup, players such as Matisse Thybulle and Furkan Korkmaz have had varying roles that have not allowed them to get into a consistent routine.
When analyzing the best NBA teams over the past decade, each one has had a group of players with very defined bench roles. Players such as Shaun Livingston, Andre Iguodala, and Matthew Dellavedova had extreme playoff success partly because they understood every night what their job was.
In his tenure as head coach, Brett Brown has shown an overall unwillingness to commit to a true sixth man. Clearly, Ennis and Scott are Brown’s primary bench players. But when moving towards the back end of the bench, predictable playing time is a real confidence-builder especially for young players like Furkan Korkmaz or Matisse Thybulle.
Thybulle played over twenty minutes in each of the first four games while starting two in place of an injured Joel Embiid. However, in the five games since, he has averaged a mere 7.5 minutes per game and did not even see the floor against the Denver Nuggets. This lack of consistent playing time is certainly detrimental to a rookie’s outlook and does not help him develop. It is evident that Thybulle has much room to grow and while 20+ minutes per night seems like too much for him, a consistent 12-15 is what is best for his development.
Furkan Korkmaz continues to get opportunities within Brown’s rotation as well. Frequently, Brown has described his vision for Korkmaz to be a scoring spark off the bench who can pile up three-pointers. Coming into the season, Sixers fans were skeptical if Korkmaz would even see the floor. And after averaging 15 minutes per game and shooting just 29% from the three-point line in October, he has exploded since his game-winner in Portland.
In the four games since, he has played over 25 minutes per game and has gone 15/28 (54%) from the three-point line. Korkmaz’s emergence has been fantastic for fans to watch, however, it seems likely that once his shooting comes back down to earth, he will dwindle in Brown’s rotation once again.
In order to foster a healthy bench culture and put his players in the best position to win, Coach Brown must commit to a somewhat regular rotation that creates defined roles for his players.
Young players will make mistakes. Korkmaz will come back to earth shooting-wise and Thybulle will continue to struggle to some degree on offense. Nonetheless, rolling with your young players through their ups and downs is crucial for development.
In addition, the Sixers are in the lucky position to be a near-lock to make the playoffs. This means that Brown and the team can afford more mistakes from younger players that will hopefully be beneficial long term. Of course, this does not mean he should give his bench players 30 minutes per night and put games in jeopardy, but the flexibility that this team has record-wise should be used as a real asset moving forward.
Starting a player like Matisse Thybulle so early in his career, then essentially benching him for two straight games makes no sense.
Matchups are important and not every game will be suitable for every player to succeed, but by giving his younger bench players a chance every night, Brown can keep confidence high and continue developing his young nucleus of talent.
Featured Image: USA Today Sports
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Categorized:Sixers