The Sixer Sense
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Can O’Brien and Brown Coach These Philadelphia 76ers?

By Bret Stuter

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 /
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Apr 2, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown reacts against the Indiana Pacers at Wells Fargo Center. The Indiana Pacers won 115-102. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 2, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown reacts against the Indiana Pacers at Wells Fargo Center. The Indiana Pacers won 115-102. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

Good Coach Bad Coach

The most noticeable element absent from the Philadelphia 76ers last season was the role of disciplinarian. It was most evident when news leaked of Jahlil Okafor’s skirmish outside of a Boston club in the wee hours of the morning. In the end, the team clearly had not anticipated that rookies on the team may test the boundaries, break curfew, and challenge the sanctioned regiment of staying in and keeping their noses clean.

The team had build an infrastructure to promote positives, but had done nothing to create barriers for less than positive behavior.

That could change this year.  While the statistics of successful head coaches are clearly in favor of the motivator, some players need to be reminded of consequences of their actions in order to listen to positive motivation.  A very good expose of the coaching effectiveness was written by Ian Levy back in April 2010.  This is the same Ian Levy who wrote a very good article about the Philadelphia 76ers off-season review recently, and he was kind enough to allow me to respond to some very intriguing questions about the future of the 76ers.

But that future remains as a path to be blazed.  To do so, each player must fully understand their role, their strengths, their limits, their teammates, and their responsibilities. Part of that maturation is the durability through tough times together.  For the past three years, head coach Brett Brown has been the right guy to keep the team motivated, positive, and emerging stronger

But if the #TrustTheProcess planning is accurate, the team should begin to see significant progress this year.  No, not in the framework of a playoff appearance, but winning games.  As the team does this, the players own perceptions of the work required to improve runs the risk of waning.

Enter Jim O’Brien, the more “taskmaster” style of coaching.  While Brown helps to pick players up from the floor, O’Brien is skilled and keeping their feet on the ground.  It’s that “reality check” quality that forces teams to show how good they are on the basketball court.  Winning is a positive feeling, but winning games is just a step in the right direction.

O’Brien refocuses a team towards that ultimate goal, and redirects the efforts towards getting there.  Until the team matures, experiences the heartbreaks of playoff losses, O’Brien is that system check coach who keeps players from getting too full of themselves.

Next: Will the Coaches Click?