Philadelphia 76ers Bank D’Antoni Brings Fast Break Fix

Dec 10, 2015; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown reacts during second half against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center. The Brooklyn Nets defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 100-91.

Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

Now For Offense

The plan for the 2015-2016 was to change all that, to fix the offense while maintaining the improvements in the defense that head coach Brett Brown had painstakenly implement last season.

"“It’s taking these young guys who play downhill and play fast and have just come out of the summer where they put up thousands and thousands and thousands of shots and learning where can you play with your toy — it ain’t in the kitchen,” Brown said. “This is a problem and it’s a fine line to walk as a coach sometimes. When I talk about offense I say, ‘The pass is king,’ and I say it all the time,” Brown said. “So if I can avoid good-shot/bad-shot cop, and get them to understand what [a good shot is] and show them evidence that the pass is king, then you don’t need to have [an All-Star] point guard because you have a team. “And then I have a real post focus, to study what we did with (San Antonio Spurs) Timmy (Duncan) and David (Robinson) in the post back in the day. We have Jahlil and Nerlens, and we’re going to have to post perfectly in space. Those are the types of things I take pride in. The Spurs thing — it’s not a truly realistic example because of the nature of what we really are doing,” Brown says. “It’s just so different with this abundance of 20-year-olds that we have in Philadelphia. In San Antonio that whole team was veteran. Not once did we ever say it was a youth policy. It was a team riddled with veterans. That’s why I say this is not the Spurs. It’s so different dealing with a 20-year-old and with social media and Twitter and agents and the inner circle. – Brett Brown"

The point is obvious. With so many young faces needing so much attention, and only so much Brett Brown to go around, the Sixers have placed far too much on one man’s shoulders. Brett Brown is a keen coaching mind, and his record with the Philadelphia 76ers betrays the fact that he has been the glue, the mentor, the positive force that keeps the nose up on this plane while it crashes again and again as general manager Sam Hinkie’s plan underpowers it with talent today for the belief that the team will grow into an NBA powerhouse.

But therein lies the rub. To become that powerhouse, the team must develop. With too many consumers and too few suppliers of solid NBA strategy and expertise, the team has not truly taken off. The hire of Mike D’Antoni should change all that.

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