Philadelphia 76ers Film Breakdown: Assessing Brett Brown’s Offense

Over the past three seasons, the Philadelphia 76ers have ranked among the bottom of the league in offensive efficiency. Is it Brett Brown’s fault?

For the large part of the past three years, it appeared universally agreed upon that any evaluation of Brett Brown’s coaching acumen at this point in the Process was premature, unfair, and unnecessary. Regardless of one’s stance on the Process, defenders and critics alike jumped to the defense of Brett Brown. Whether right or wrong, nearly everyone was a Brett Brown apologist for at least some time.

After a 1-9 start to the 2016-17 season, Brett Brown finds himself in an unprecedented storm of criticism. While the national and local media have yet to lash out, the blogosphere and Twitter community have begun to turn on Brown.  

While there is some degree of deserved criticism, it seems that both the support and the criticism for Brown is crudely formed and misguided. Critics who denounce Brown’s coaching decisions usually do not suggest any alternative strategies, and those who support him use more excuses than proof. For a fan base that prides itself on divorcing process from outcome, we have greatly failed to do so here.

For that reason, I decided to do a breakdown of Brett Brown’s offense. No matter what your stance is, hopefully this breakdown will serve to give you a basis on which to make your decision.

Knicks

Let’s start with one of the Sixers’ most commonly run sets: their “Knicks” series. The term “Knicks” is coaching slang for a step-up ball screen. The most common way the Sixers will run it is to use a play called “14 Knicks” because the Power Forward will screen for the Point Guard.

When run correctly, it’s very good action. The ball reversal into the Knicks screen often catches both defenders off balance and scrambles the entire defense. More often than not, proper execution leads to either a pull-up jump shot for the Point Guard or a lay-up or alley-oop for the big man.

The caveat is that the Sixers frequently run it with miserable execution. In this first example, Joel Embiid is unfocused and ends up being very late to the play. By the time he sets the screen, the defenders are balanced and fully expecting him. These types of mistakes are forgivable and should be expected from a young team, but tend to make Brown look bad.

More Proof

In the second example, you can see Brett Brown screaming in the top right corner of your screen because Ersan Ilyasova is blissfully unaware of the play being run. Mental lapses such as these are simply not Brown’s fault and thus should not warrant criticism on his part, especially considering that this play has so much success when run correctly. Since two examples of this issue is small proof, so click here if you’d like to see more examples of these errors.

Whether it’s due to bad execution or sheer lack of skill, it is unfair to judge Brown based on the team’s ability to even carry out a set play he has called.

For further proof, here is a play that the Sixers run called “Iverson STS” to get post-up position for Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor. This is one of the most commonly run plays in the NBA for post-up position. Several teams run it with a fair amount of success. In the Sixers’ case, however, they often struggle to even get their centers the ball. (Note: this play is called Iverson STS because it involves the Iverson Cut from wing to wing followed by “Screening the Screener”)

Take this play for example. Here, the Sixers fail to get Jahlil Okafor the ball in the post, but smart ball movement leads to the Jerami Grant dunk. This is precisely the problem with judging Brett Brown given the current roster. When the play goes awry and the offense fails to create a shot, coaches are chastised for it. When the play fails but the ball still moves and creates a shot, we lionize them.

Coaches Aren’t Players

As a coach, the only in-game control Brown can truly have is the play he calls. For this reason, we need to judge Brown based on what we think of his offensive philosophy and play-calling rather than simply reacting to the team’s execution. A team, I might add, that is missing its number one overall draft pick and two other starting-quality players.

Another one of Brown’s favorite sets is the “Elbow” series. This series was pioneered by the Phoenix Suns under Mike D’Antoni, and D’Antoni undoubtedly played a role in implementing this series during his time with the Sixers.

From the Elbow series and Iverson STS, you can tell that Brown has an emphasis on using the low post. “Elbow Down” consistently gets deep post position for the big men. One thing I like that is unique to the Sixers is the dribble hand-off to initiate the set. It helps to disguise the set and keeps defenses guessing. Like the previous plays we looked at, proper execution leads to a beautiful looking offense. When the defense thwarts the first and second options, however, it inevitably leads to isolation that is rather cumbersome for the Sixers.

Horn’s Lift

The last play I’ll show here is called “Horns Lift.” It is fairly common in the NBA but is perfect for a team like the Sixers. It allows for low-post big men like Embiid and Okafor to roll to the basket and get post position with space while the defense must also keep track of Power Forwards like Ersan Ilyasova and Dario Saric when the pop out to the three point line.

Much of the criticism towards Brett Brown has come in regards to his late game play-calling. In late game situations, teams will tighten up their defense and simplify their offense. When the trapping defenses come out and the intensity increases, late game situations essentially become a barrage of high pick and rolls and isolations.

Due to the lack of individual talent, the Sixers often find themselves unable to score in these mono e mono scenarios. It is remarkably difficult to put players in a position to score when they hardly belong on the court. For this reason, the Sixers’ late game performance in tight games says more about Brown since the Sixers were in the game in the first places that they have no business being in to begin with.

After all of my research, I still believe that it is impossible to assess Brown as a coach until more talent arrives to the roster. As for now, Brown deserves a tremendous amount of credit as a coach. He has done a remarkable job of putting his best players such as Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor in positions to score.

In addition, Brown has a habit of introducing new plays in each game the Sixers have played. His ability to adapt to the players on the floor and cater to their skills is extremely impressive. He deserves credit for Joel Embiid’s historic start, Ersan Ilyasova’s eccentric start to his Sixers career, and his ability to place his shooters in positions to be successful. (see below)

For the complete vault of Brett Brown’s playbook that I compiled, click here.

In the end, fans judge an NBA coach by his win/loss record.  But thankfully, front offices just the coaches by the ability to improve and develop players, to play better as a team than the individual player talents might suggest, and to keep the team focused and upbeat.

Next: 5 Things to Watch For Against Washington Wizards

Brown does far more for this team than serve as a cheerleader in a suit. Thanks for reading!