Is it Time for the Sixers to Reevaluate Brett Brown?
For more than six seasons, Sixers Head Coach Brett Brown has had the reins to a massive rebuilding project. From winning 10 games in 2016 to coming four bounces from a potential Eastern Conference Finals appearance, Brown has seen it all.
He has coached dozens of players over the years and now is tasked with taking his team to the next level: a championship. For years, his performance as a head coach has been masked by the youthful and immature realities of his teams. But this year is different.
A coach’s job is to put his or her players in the best position to win. No matter the opponent or the circumstances, a coach must deliver a consistent and stern message to his or her team in order to facilitate cohesion and keep every player on the same page.
While Brown’s postgame quotes are eloquent and his players rave about the care and respect he shows them, Sixers fans need to start critically analyzing his X’s and O’s.
Whether it be the Celtics series two years ago, the Raptors series last year, or the Raptors game on Monday night, Brown has shown a propensity to get outcoached. And it would not be fair to the Sixers young studs, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons if the right person was not watching over their progression.
There are many concrete issues at the heart of Brett Brown’s inefficiency as a head coach. All are fixable, but they must be examined.
At the forefront is his use of Joel Embiid. He has made it clear several times that he likes Embiid shooting 2-3 three-pointers per game. And while this is just fine, the post will always be Embiid’s bread and butter. However, opponents will often double team Embiid in the post and although this has been a consistent theme for over a year now, Embiid has shown no improvement in this area.
This falls on Brown as, when a double team comes, Embiid appears lost and unaware of how he should escape it. It is clear that Embiid has not been shown how to break a double team, nor has the rest of the team been instructed to cut to the basket when Embiid is double teamed in order to create easier passes and open layups.
Another area Brown continues to struggle is in his rotations. Against the Raptors, he opted to use Raul Neto as his backup point guard. While this is a fine choice, he has gotten into a pattern of staggering Neto with Trey Burke in the backup point guard role. Both do bring different things to the table, but when he chooses to stagger them, the two fail to get into a consistent rhythm and to find their exact role on the team.
Players thrive best when they know what is expected of them and they can prepare every day for this expectation. While this is only the most recent example of Brown mismanaging his rotations, it is something that he has continued to struggle with.
Defensively, Brown’s pick and roll defense strategy is either quite poor or his players are failing to execute. Consistently, whoever is guarding the pick and roll ball handler decides to go around the screen and trail the ball handler. This has resulted in several easy mid-range jump shots and ally-oops.
Sixers fans should take note as to how Brown’s players choose to guard the pick and roll as, even though the team has added Al Horford and Josh Richardson, two of the best pick and roll defenders in the league, the pick and roll defense has not improved.
But arguably the most concerning area of Brown’s failure as a coach is simply Ben Simmons. While some of Simmons’ lack of development is on Simmons himself, the regression that he has experienced this season is scary. Not only does Ben continue to not shoot jump shots, but he also has been less aggressive on offense, has gotten to the free-throw line less than last year, and has not cut down his turnovers from even his rookie season. He continues to show weaknesses in transition, as he frequently will spin around when driving to the hoop and look to pass when he is clearly bigger, stronger and more capable of finishing at the basket that anyone else on his team.
This lack of development can be placed on both Brown and Simmons, but it has been going on far too long to use the “he is still young” excuse. Ben needs to be strictly told what he is doing wrong and shown how to improve. Whether Brett Brown is doing this or not, Sixers fans will never know. But, clearly, whatever Brown is currently telling him is not getting the job done. Ben is entering his prime and the Sixers have invested too much into him to not get the most out of him.
While the season is still very young, Sixers fans everywhere need to be analyzing Brown’s coaching with a critical eye. This organization cannot afford to waste the primes of once in a generation talent and it is still yet to be seen whether Brett Brown is the man to lead this team to the promised land. It is possible that Brown does, in fact, address many of these issues in practice and film sessions. However, if he is, his message is not being taken to heart by his players. That is a problem.
Emotionally, nothing would make Philadelphia happier than to see Brett Brown lead a parade down Broad Street. He is an unbelievable human being who is both kinds and caring to the city and to his team.
The bottom line is that if he cannot get it done with the talent on this roster, someone else certainly can.
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