Brett Brown Building Mosaic Team

Apr 4, 2015; Charlotte, NC, USA; Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown talks with players on the bench during the first half against the Charlotte Hornets at Time Warner Cable Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

Brett Brown Building Mosaic Team 

The plans for the Philadelphia 76ers squad for the 2015-16 is a little bit of a work in process. I’m not exactly convinced that Brett Brown knows who will be on the roster until he gets there. From the players he has available to him, he then must forge a team. In no organized professional team sport does a cast of individuals succeed. To an individual, the box score, the stat sheet, the number game, is what gives each player the big paycheck. But that’s not what this team is about. At least, it shouldn’t be.

The team is not about the box score, the stat sheet, or virtually any number in the numbers game except for one precious number, the number under the W column.  To make wins happen, any head coach looks at the team roster, evaluates what the team can and cannot do well, and tries to emphasize the positive and mitigate the negative.   Following the aftermath of the 2015 NBA draft, the Philadelphia 76ers have a pair of giant men who can compliment one another in the post game.  Center Jahlil Okafor can score from a low post, while center/power forward Nerlens Noel can defend from the post.

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The problem with coaching this Philadelphia 76ers team is the absolute chaotic conditions Brown faces.  As he mentors, trains, acclimates, and molds players to fit his team routine, they increase in value to the point where they become trade-able – a quality that does NOT last long on the Sixers roster with general manager Sam Hinkie has an opportunity to convert today’s coin into the possibility of tomorrow’s dollar.

Next: Musical Chairs

Apr 13, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard

(5) dribbles past Philadelphia 76ers guard

(5) at center court during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The Bucks won 107-97. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Musical Chairs

As we evaluate talent for fit this upcoming season, we just don’t know, and CAN’T know, because the roster is new and evolving.  Nerlens Noel, a promising center from a year ago, is now looking to flip between center and power forward, and has spent the summer working on shots from the four.  Tony Wroten showed some offensive spark, but he crashed low for shots that showed his vulnerability for turnovers, and drew many fouls but he only converter 2/3 foul shots.  This year, Wroten will be called upon to take the perimeter shot, feed the ball low or to an open three.   Small forward Jerami Grant showed signs of promise, and could likely see a significant increase in minutes over the 21.3 minutes from last season.  But as the minutes increase, will production go up as well?

Up and down the Sixers roster the team faces questions and uncertainties.  When Brett Brown begins to work with the team this season, he faces not only the challenge of mentoring and sharing his basketball knowledge with a cast of youthful players, but he must assemble the best team from each chip.   In short, Brett Brown is building a mosaic team.

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The challenge with the mosaic team is simply that it looks better than it wears.  Each player, in essence, becomes that porcelain chip that is fitted among the group of other porcelain chips.   The resulting image of so many brightly colored pieces can be quite striking to the eye, and some mosaics are true art in their own right.   But if you have even owned a mosaic – whether the surface of a coffee table to a section of the shower tile – you know that the mosaic requires special care.  Because so many pieces are fitted together ‘just so”, it can be more fragile, more subject to break.

Next: As A Team

Jan 3, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown takes guard

(8) and forward

(33) out against the Los Angeles Clippers during the fourth quarter at Staples Center. The Los Angeles Clippers won 127-91. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

Win As A Team Lose As A Team

The Philadelphia 76ers do not have years of adversity together.   The team has had adversity, but the players who have experienced the losses have been scattered throughout the NBA.  In their place, the team has built a new roster. Whether the team has newcomers happy to be on the roster of an NBA team, or a veteran winding down from a long and rich NBA career, to a highly talented player hoping to make their individual mark on the NBA, they are strangers to one another.  There has not been sufficient time to build that trust, that instinctual knowledge of each other’s tendencies or work ethic or best shot or best situation.  That will come with time.

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Time that this roster has not had until now, and may not have still.  As we’ve seen, as a player succeeds in the Sixer system, that value tempts Hinkie to convert it into tomorrow.   At some point, this team will need to remain together, to succeed and stay. The first warning shot to that effect was fired by Tony Wroten:

As well as this from Nerlens Noel:

This starts now.  But what exactly are we starting?

Next: Handle With Care

Jul 11, 2015; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard D

Fragile! Handle With Care

The pieces that Sam Hinkie brings in are talented players with upside. Each has NBA value in their own right. But you wouldn’t set a stick of dynamite next to the dinner plate. You can’t fix your engine with a wet sponge. Each component of this roster must fit and compliment each other component of this roster.  That’s the rub folks.  We project, speculate, analyze trends, and hope for the best.   In the finance world, this is a swag – a scientific wild arsed guess.  We believe that Brett Brown can find the best pieces to assemble into the best lineups to make up the best roster for the Philadelphia 76ers this season.
That’s a tall order as he is making his introductions.

So Brett Brown is the glue that not only holds the locker room together, but weaves the fabric that instills that team mentality in each of his players.  In one of the toughest professional situations – the struggle to find success – Brett Brown is finding ways to make this team.

"“One of the great challenges is: How do you keep a locker room together? You’ve got to take hits. I remember talking to the owners before I even coached them. I asked, ‘Do you realize, really, the pain of losing? It’s real. It’s real. We can talk about development and this and that, but do you understand that night-to-night, day-to-day pain? So how do you keep a locker room together? And the only thing I thought was that if you genuinely cared for them, and genuinely worked them hard and developed them where they felt like they had a chance to win, where there was no sense of entitlement, where they had earned the right to play and win and get better and they really believed it. Then you had a shot of keeping it real.”"

That is the magic of this team. Tout the numbers game, tout the talent, the real “x-factor” is the love of a man to his players, genuine concern for their well being, their internal make-up, their wellness and perspective. Think it matters? Listen to the words of the Sixers star player, Nerlens Noel:

"“It’s a great job by coach Brown to keep the guys motivated. I mean, it’s not like you owe it to him to play hard. But you owe it to your teammates. And he’s instilled that. We have an effort chart. So as long as you’re playing hard, you’re going to be on the court. It’s become our style. And everybody buys in.” – Nerlens Noel"

We’ll talk about effort charts and the analytics side. But for the moment, sit back and appreciate the visual image that the artist head coach Brett Brown will assemble on the court. You may not have realized just how much of the man has become this team. No other coach could do it this way. Fragile? Perhaps. But each day it is forged to withstand a little bit more.  It is forged out of the concern of a head coach who takes the time to know his players individually.

We’ve talked about how much this team means to Brett Brown.  But Coach Brown is the keystone to this rebuild.  The plan of converting players to bargaining chips must soon end, if the team is to succeed.

Next: Can The Sixers Defend Big Men?

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