The Wright Way and The Philadelphia 76ers

What the Philadelphia 76ers Can Learn from the reigning champion Philly Big 5 Team.

The Villanova University Wildcats Men’s Basketball are the 2016 Division I National Champions. Congratulations to the school, the team, and the coaches.

Brett Brown and Jay Wright are good friends and they actually share a similar personality and approach to the game. For starters, both seem to be “player’s coaches.” Meaning, in a positive sense, a coach that relates to players and identifies that basketball is a player’s game, not a coach’s game. Player’s coaches might: stay current with player development, unrelentingly work on individual instruction, change defenses in games, put players in positions to succeed, and find creative ways to have their skill sets flourish.

"Before the Final: “I think they are going to win it all, I really do,” Brown said. “I think it’s going to be ‘Nova and North Carolina in the final. I think the pain of losing early the previous two seasons has hardened Jay’s team. They have a mental toughness. They shoot free throws, they share the ball, and they play great defense. I love their guards and, let’s face it, it’s a guard-oriented game. I really think they’ll take it.”"

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The style is not for everyone, but empowering your players is vital. Wright is seen as a prospective NBA coach because his ego is subdued by finding talent, winning, and placing the players first.

The NBA didn’t work for John Calipari and Rick Pitino, but it could for Jay Wright, who is perceived as smooth and corporate, but is actually a down to earth everyman. Put aside his nice suit and George Clooney looks and Jay Wright is a basketball dork. That is a compliment. There is a method to Wright’s drive and kick madness.

On August 29th and 30th, 2005, Jay Wright featured a basketball coaching clinic, not for Nike, not to make money, but for fun. Just for the sheer intellectual enjoyment of having old school, grassroots basketball junkies meet and talk about the game and “philosophize.”

The clinic featured Gordon Chiesa, Jay Wright, Billy Hahn, Phil Stern, Ryan Krueger, and Rob Kurzinsky. They talked everything from ball screen offense to special situation defense.

Wright’s approach to the game is why I like to think that eventually Brett Brown will experience the same type of success and build a similar culture. I also think Jay Wright would make an excellent NBA coach.

Here is what I think the takeaways of the 2016 Villanova Wildcats are:

Ball screen action is strong and always beats good trapping defenses when the screener on the screen and roll is skilled and has size.
Ball screen action is strong and always beats a rotating defense if the skip pass to the corner is mastered after the point of confrontation.
The baseline drive forces guards into good habits; finish, jump stop, close quarters dish, or drift pass.
There is little the opponent can do to matchup when you use a solid center and a stretch-4 man.
Defense wins games, offense wins championships.
Experienced bigs with a defensive motor spells w-i-n.
Changing defenses is helpful as long as you maintain your concepts that relate to all defenses.
Offense is meant to score, not to be run.
Floor balance is more important than matchups.
Guard oriented teams value paint touches.

Next: NBA Players Grow From Modest Starts

The Sixers, as they move forward to getting things in-line to compete in the future, should be looking to implement a lot of what Jay Wright offers as a coach, and what the Wildcats succeeded with as a team this year. After all, it won them a championship.

Go Sixers.