Philadelphia 76ers Brett Brown Continues Player Development

Despite the challenges of a losing more games than their roster shows they should, Philadelphia 76ers Brett Brown continues to develop players despite the ever increasing cries from fans to set a consistent starting lineup and stick with it.

The game was close. It went into overtime. It went into double overtime. But Jahlil Okafor sat.  The Sixers needed offense.  They squeezed out just enough to send the game against the New York Knicks into double overtime.  Still, he sat.  In fact, he sat through the fourth quarter and through both overtimes.   What gives?

Jahlil Okafor said all the right things. He was elated at the competitive nature of his teammates, but he was ready to play.

"“I was ready. I was staying ready, but the guys had it rolling,” Okafor said. “It was an exciting game. I’ve always been about the team. I’ve been around some really great organizations and it’s all about winning. That’s what we’re trying to do here and it was a great game.””"

Still, Jahlil Okafor was having a tremendous game on both sides of the court. Despite only playing 3 of the six periods, Okafor led the team with 20 points. He had seven rebounds, two blocks, two steals, and only one turnover. He had 26 minutes in the game, which was fifth behind Nerlens Noel (18 pts, 13 rebs), Robert Covington (11 pts, 5 rebs), Ish Smith (16 pts, 7 rebs), and Hollis Thompson (11 pts, 4 rebs). It’s a puzzler, particularly knowing that Okafor is the teams most prolific scorer.

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What did Brett Brown say afterwards?

"[It was] really difficult. But you looked on the floor, Ish and Nerlens had a thing going where we pick-and-rolled them, we got lobs, Ish made passes, we sprinkled shooters around it. I think Jahlil, when I kept looking over at him, you feel like is it going to be his time? And you never really felt like it was. I kept looking over there and he was an amazing teammate. First person off the bench, encouraging Nerlens. It was a very difficult decision, but that group was rolling and I didn’t see any fatigue and we rode them out.” – Brett Brown discusses keeping Okafor on the bench with game in balance"

Was it the success of the players on the court?  Was it something more.  There is a science behind the schemes in Philly.  They often have minutes restrictions on players returning to health.  In the games that Jahlil Okafor has returned from injury just after Christmas, he has amassed minutes per game: 20, 23, 18, 21, 27, 34, 32, 33, 29,26.  Has it had an effect?  Well, in the month of January he is shooting 61.5% from the floor, while his turnovers have fallen to 1.6 per game.  His season averages have been 48.8 % from the floor and turnovers at 2.3.   So the minute restrictions, if they are in effect, have benefited Okafor.  Are they hold him back?  It could appear that way.  But while there are those who appear to be held back, there are others have seized upon an opportunity to make an impact on an NBA roster.

Next: Point to the Point Guard

Point To The Point Guard

When the Sixers traded for Ish Smith, the thought is that the best the Sixers could hope for is a player who could cover the position well enough to feed a basketball to other players well enough to develop other players. But a funny thing happened on the way. Point guard Ish Smith arrived better than advertised. Since arriving, he’s averaging 16.8 PPG and 8.3 APG. Those number have sewn up his starting role at the point.

The rest of the story? T.J. McConnell is a young man who is learning how to be an NBA point guard.  He had a good jump start on the position early in the year, outplaying Los Angeles Lakers D’Angelo Russell early in the 2015-2016 season.  But as the season lengthened, his minutes were curbed.   His minutes dropped from 27 minutes per game (mpg) in the first two months of the season to 15.4 mpg in January 2016. Surprisingly, his assists per game have increased to 5.3 apg in January from a season average of 4.9.

And so it goes on a team with young players learning to play NBA basketball together. As a team, they are building one another up, and tearing one another down, as a team. When the Sixers addressed the point guard position, that

This is what the Sixers have been hoping for.  When the team has a veteran paired with a young player, they learn how to play, how to react, and most importantly, not to panic.  That has resulted in some very impressive play from McConnell.  Right now McConnell tops all NBA rookies with 212 assists.  That’s better than  the 159 dished out by Denver Nugget  Emmanuel Mudiay, and the 140 tossed around by Los Angeles Laker D’Angelo Russell.  McConnell is humble enough to award his play on watching how Ish Smith does it.

"“I think Ish has done a tremendous job since he’s gotten here.  I’m just continuing to learn from him.  I think in the beginning of the year, point guard, it was good, but Ish has taken it to another level where I can learn from him.  When I go in there, I just try not to let our team skip a beat, because he does so well.  He’s been great.  Just the pace that he plays at, and how calm his is, no matter how the game’s going.  I’ve tried to kind of mimic how calm he is, whether something’s going good, or something’s going bad. He kind of told me, we’re going to have a rule throughout the season, you have to stay even-keeled throughout the whole thing.  It’s been tremendous having him around.” – T.J.McConnell speaks about the mentoring provided by starting point guard Ish Smith"

Next: Embiid Embraces Second Chance To Recover

Embiid Embraces Second Chance To Recover

But this is not the first time the Sixers have turned to a veteran to help bring a young player along.  The Sixers turned to Zydrunas Ilgauskas to help mentor the young NBA player from Camaroon. So far that pairing has proven to be better than hoped for. Why Ilgauskas? Because he had a similar surgery track and recovered fully. To the point, Ilgauskas had numerous surgeries to repair navicular bone injuries early on in his career which was the same injury Embiid suffered. He also had a follow up bone graft procedure similar to the one Embiid had this past summer. Ilgauskas is frequently cited as the success story for big men with navicular bone repair, as he returned to play ten healthy seasons after foot issues caused him a serious lapse in playing time early in his career.

"“Our doctors are saying it’s going ahead of schedule. At the end of the day, we know we have to show you and not just tell you. I will tell you that he is an elite talent, and I think he’ll be an elite player in this league.” – CEO Scott o’Neil"

This time the repairs seem to not only have taken, but the time away from the court has given Joel Embiid a chance to mature, to start fresh, and to absorb the loss of his younger brother.

But added to this recovery is the intense management of Dr. David T. Martin. Martin was hired to introduce a more formal sports science/ medicine element to the Sixers organization.

Martin has been attributed to the establishment of sports science and medicine in competitive sports.  It took almost no time before the good doctor had an assignment from the team – oversee the rehabilitation of top draft pick Joel Embiid.  We actually went into injury and rehab in a three part series: part one was merely announcing the success of the second surgery, part two was an indepth analysis of the injury and how sports science would benefit Embiid in his recovery, and part three was the aftermath and narrative about the team locating a team of experts to operate.  The final result has been impressive.

"“David Martin has done a fantastic job of overseeing this whole thing,” Brown said. “It’s probably the #1 part of his job right now is overseeing Joel’s recovery.”"

Was it a stroke of dumb luck that placed the expertise of Dr. Martin on the payroll of the team that needed expertise in that field almost immediately? Or was it that knowledge of the opportunity that afforded the Sixers enough certainty to select high upside players whose injuries had chased away other teams? In any case, Embiid is on track and he’s bringing a lot of optimism with him.

Next: Train the Trainers

Train The Trainers

With the success of Joel Embiid maturation with the guidance of Zydrunas Ilgauskas, the team next turn their attention to the remaining members of the front court – Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor. Noel has some NBA experience, and has migrated from a sole center role to that of center/power forward. Okafor is a young rookie player who has been prolific at scoring in the NBA. But with youth comes brash behavior, brash enough to place Jahlil Okafor into TMZ headlines. Unfortunately, he was the second such player with that distinction. Joel Embiid also made TMZ reporting when he was caught in Beverly Hills without a cast.

When Jahlil Okafor was caught by TMZ involved in a fracas with Boston Celtics fans after a game, wheels began to turn. First Okafor was suspended for two games. Then Sixers owner Josh Harris reached out to former Phoenix Suns owner Jerry Colangelo to sign on with the team as an executive advisor.  In essence:

“I think I can offer a lot of mentoring to Sam,” Colangelo said.

One of the first things he’s done in persuade former Phoenix Suns head coach Mike D’Antoni to sign on as an assistant head coach with Brett Brown. D’Antoni is known as one of the most innovative minds in NBA offenses, and his presence gives 76ers Brett Brown the wisdom of NBA longevity that he had not had until now.

"“The first thing that [Colangelo] said to me is, ‘How can I help you?’ And we talked about everything, the staff being included, and we started sharing names. He mentioned the name Mike D’Antoni, and I said, ‘Do you think he would do it?’ Because that’s a hell of a name. Less than 24 hours later, he came and said, ‘Mike is yours.And so the speed of it caught me way off guard. I think that for me, if I see it like I need to and should and really use Mike for what he brings to the table, I got an amazing resource of a Phoenix Sun-type offense that I remember so well because I had to go through it with my Spurs days, and the Spurs system that I came from. You get great coaches in a room, those two programs are gonna feature among the great offensive programs. He was with me for the past two days in an office with my two bench assistants, trying to connect the dots with a Phoenix Sun mentality and the San Antonio Spur history I have, with integrating post players and random pick-and-rolls and spacing. I can’t tell you how much I enjoy talking to somebody of that experience. I think we’re all gonna benefit. Truly. I studied Mike for a long time, to be able to now sit next to him and say, ‘What do you think?’ and ‘Let’s go to a white board.'” – Brett Brown describing his experiences with Mike D’Antoni."

And so, by the random nature of events, Jahlil Okafor’s clash with rowdy fans in the streets of Boston may have been the event that began wheels to go into motion – reinforcing the team’s front office with NBA greats.  Mentors for the current Philadelphia 76ers front office are now in place.  What’s left?

Next: Brand New Mentors

Brand New Mentors

And so, we’ve come full circle. Ish Smith mentoring T.J.McConnell. Zydrunas Ilgauskas mentoring Joel Embiid. Jerry Colangelo mentoring Sam Hinkie.  Mike D’Antoni mentoring Brett Brown.  Oh.. but that leaves off the mentor for the young man who started the wheels turning.

Jahlil Okafor’s mentor will be Elton Brand.

When Brand spoke about his role with Okafor, you could almost sense the deep respect the veteran has for the young player, and the empathy:

"“You might’ve noticed we’ve got a pretty talented kid on the roster in Jahlil Okafor, someone I happen to share some things in common with. Despite how he’s been portrayed, I know Jahlil. He’s a good kid with a good heart. He’s not unlike most 20-year-olds you probably know, and he’s definitely not at all different than most of his fellow players. Hell, if camera phones were around when Brad Miller, Ron Artest, and I were Jahlil’s age, we might’ve been banned from the league altogether, never mind suspended for a few games. I’m not coming here to hold Jahlil’s hand — or anyone else’s, for that matter — because that’s not what he needs. But I do believe my experience and wisdom can benefit him and my other young teammates. It’s about communicating with them like men, starting to grow together, and — hopefully, eventually — winning some ballgames. That’s what Sam Hinkie and I talked about when he approached me about joining the team, and what has me so excited about this opportunity. – he wrote in a recent article of “the Cauldron”."

Brand joined the team on January 5th 2016. Since that time Okafor has played 27, 34, 33, 29, and 26 minutes.  In these games, he’s averaged 19.7 ppg. 6.8 rpg, 1.0 steals and 1.2 assists per game.  He’s developing into a two way player.   That’s pretty impressive, with the fact that he’s so good on the offense.

Next: Sixers Potential 2016 Free Agent Targets

"“My teammates had it rolling,” Okafor said. “They were playing phenomenal.”"

And there is is. Many have overlooked that statement by the young NBA player from Duke University. But I cannot. I recall a saying I heard in my early 20’s – “A group becomes a team when each member is sure enough of his own abilities to praise the skills of the others”.

Is it Jahlil’s own personality shining through, or a reflection of his new teammate and mentor Elton Brand?  In any case, he’s maturing into an excellent team player. That is one of the last and most difficult skills to develop in an NBA player.