Without Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Jerryd Bayless, holding out Jahlil Okafor, the Philadelphia 76ers are in a three-game winning streak. Is that too successful too soon?
As the prestidigitation continues from all eyes of the NBA turned toward whether the Philadelphia 76ers will deal a center, pundits and experts alike are missing the bigger picture. These Philadelphia 76ers are very good. Very good. This team entered 2017 with a record of 8-24. Two players: Ben Simmons and Jerryd Bayless have had virtually no impact on the team so far.
Rookie Sensation, Joel Embiid, has appeared in just 31 of the team’s 55 games this season. His counterpart, sophomore center Jahlil Okafor, has appeared in just 37 games. Nerlens Noel has appeared in just 28 games. So much for the center “logjam”…. so how does head coach Brett Brown approach coaching Jahlil Okafor, who may be traded tomorrow?
I asked Brett how he approaches coaching Okafor: I double down. I'm going to coach him as hard as I can. Like he's going to be mine forever.
— Molly Sullivan (@MollyESullivan) February 15, 2017
That’s one of the reasons Brown has this team winning. But there are more. This is a never-say-die team. You can see the resolve on the roster. A group of men who have been written off before they ever got a chance to play. From rock star Joel Embiid down to point guard T.J. McConnell, all have known the sharp-witted keystrokes of NBA pundits and trolls