The Philadelphia 76ers need the best of Brett Brown
The Philadelphia 76ers have had a rough go while in the Orlando bubble thus far. To open the restart, the Sixers were taken down by the Indiana Pacers without Domantas Sabonis and Malcolm Brogdon, allowing T.J. Warren to torch them with 53 points.
The Sixers followed up that disastrous defensive outing by letting the San Antonio Spurs creep back into a game many thought was over. The Sixers, who were up 12 going into the fourth quarter, eventually allowed the Spurs to reclaim the lead. Philly needed a heroic 3-pointer from Shake Milton in order to pull off a miracle and keep the game from going to overtime.
The Sixers even had trouble a few nights ago putting away the Washington Wizards. In fairness, Ben Simmons did leave the game due to injury in the third quarter. Nevertheless, you don’t expect a team as talented as the Sixers to struggle with a Bradley Beal and Davis Bertans-less Wizards team.
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Nobody can say the Sixers don’t have talent. Their roster includes two superstars, two All-Star level players, and a lot of great role players and developing players.
The problem for Philadelphia has been coaching. Year after year, the team has underperformed. This is a team people saw making the NBA Finals and they are currently the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Since leaving “The Process” phase of their rebuild, Brett Brown has guided the Sixers to two 50-win seasons. Brown has managed the Sixers to a 41-27 record this year, with an impressive 30-2 record at home. While 30-2 at home, sounds great until you realize they are 11-25 on the road, which is abysmal.
To fire Brett Brown in the bubble may be an overreaction. As the most realistic option to replace him would have to come from within.
The Sixers don’t have any other coaches on the staff with any notable accolades. Two of their assistants are hires from their G League affiliate. The other coach was an assistant with Brett Brown in San Antonio.
Brett Brown will really show his coaching capacity while Ben Simmons misses time with an injury. If he fails to do anything meaningful in the playoffs, then this might be Brown’s last stand as the head coach.
In the modern NBA, teams can not be wasteful when they have two superstars. The Sixers could possibly return to “The Process” if they received a trade request from Embiid or Simmons. Remember Jimmy Butler had no problem forcing his way to Philly and then forcing his way out.
Rumors are the NBA might need to return to the bubble next season. The Sixers should really look into replacing Brown in the limited time between their quarantines. Bringing a new head coach into the bubble might be their best shot at an NBA Finals run. We trusted the process but the trust in this coaching staff is long gone.