Brett Brown Keeps Team Fighting
It comes down to the attitude of the head coach. With his positive outlook, the team has not allowed itself to get down. They keep scrapping, competing. Today, that feistiness is paying off. Today, that festiness is translating into wins, and close losses. Losing now is not a reason to be down, it’s a reason to go back to the gym, practice and train harder, and use the lessons to factor as an incentive to improve both individually and as a team.
#Knicks Derek Fisher: 'Brett Brown, in my view, is the coach of the year already because of how he gets his guys to compete.' #Sixers
— Tom Moore (@TomMoorePhilly) January 18, 2016
Philadelphia 76ers fans have felt the pain of the losing streak for over three seasons. The team sinks to the bottom of the NBA but then has a flash of success that places them at about the third or fourth worst team in the NBA. From there, the Sixers end up with a top five draft pick, but not the top pick. Prospects who were talented enough to be taken at one who fall due to health issues (Nerlens Noel, Joel Embiid) or whose position did not suit the teams picking earlier in the draft (Jahlil Okafor). But this year was to be different. This was the year with a team’s roster loaded with young talent, with plenty of undrafted players, with one veteran who was injured and joined by four teammates on the injury list to start the season.
All of which resulted in a one win thirty loss start to the season. With that kind of start to the NBA season, the team was most assuredly guaranteed to finish with the worst record in the NBA, and thus reap the most likely chance at scoring the top pick in the upcoming 2016 NBA draft.
But something changed. Point guard Ish Smith happened, and now the team is playing like a team on the rise. A team with a streak of minor success, but enough momentum to carry them into a twenty win finish to the season. Something clicked.
Next: What About The Draft?