The Sixer Sense
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There’s Plenty Of Reasons For Philadelphia 76ers Optimism Beyond The 2016 NBA Draft

By Bret Stuter

Apr 10, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard T.J. McConnell (12) drives toward the net during the fourth quarter of the game against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Wells Fargo Center. The Milwaukee Bucks won 109-108 in OT. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 10, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard T.J. McConnell (12) drives toward the net during the fourth quarter of the game against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Wells Fargo Center. The Milwaukee Bucks won 109-108 in OT. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 10, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown goes over a play with his team during the third quarter of the game against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Wells Fargo Center. The Milwaukee Bucks won 109-108 in OT. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 10, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown goes over a play with his team during the third quarter of the game against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Wells Fargo Center. The Milwaukee Bucks won 109-108 in OT. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports /

II. Team Play

When the team was full strength, they played about .400 ball.  That is far superior than the 12% success rate of the 2015-2016 season overall.  Overlooked in this difficult season was the fact that the team was undermanned at the inception of the year, and at the conclusion of the year.  In fact, for all intents and purposes, the Philadelphia 76ers played an entire season handicapped at 14 players, as Joel Embiid was not able to play at all.

But through this adversity, the team leaned on the entire roster.  Seven Sixers players earned more than 25 minutes of playing time.  On most teams, the number of players with that much playing time per game is limited to the five starters.  It was through this willingness to share court time, and the necessity of enduring so many difficult losses, that the team learned to mature together.  There is no quit in this team, no willingness to just roll over and play dead.   Despite entering NBA contest outgunned and frequently overmanned, they continued to compete until the buzzer sounded, even taking NBA best Golden State to the wire.

The other unspoken challenge to the team this season is the “tryouts” of both Noel and Okafor at the power forward position – essentially trying out for the 2016-2017 season by auditioning their initial comfort in the role as well as their rate of improvement.   The team has significant talent on the roster, but the course of converting two starting centers in power forward players sequentially placed the teams season into choppy waters all season.   Despite the immediate drop of defense for the team as Jahlil Okafor migrated to the four,  the experiment did round out the first year of Okafor’s rookie season, at least to the point of expanding his shots and knowledge base.  It was this experience that gave reason for optimism for Okafor’s sophomore season, if he remains with the team next season.

ALSO ON SIXERS SENSE:  The Philadelphia 76ers Have Simply Returned To The NBA Herd

It was not just the front court where efforts were made.   Brown loves the two-way player, and made it a point to target both Robert Covington and Nik Stauskas as players who should expand their roles to cover both offense and defense.  While the effort to defend is a team benefit, it does tend to slow down the game, and lower more individually measured statistics like points per game and rebounds per game (fewer shots on basket equals fewer rebound opportunities).

As Brown had challenged each player on the roster to step up, each player has attempted to do so to the best of their ability.  They did so because they understood that the team relied upon each individual to improve, to achieve.   The team did not find success in the win column, but the team did find success in the maturation process of so many young players simultaneously.

Next: Young Talent