Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown has been a front office dream during his time with the 76ers. He’s dealt with many unusual situations while keeping his team motivated.
Of all the decisions that have gone wrong for the Philadelphia 76ers throughout the past several seasons hiring head coach Brett Brown is not one of them.
Brown, now in his fourth season as head coach, has been nothing but a loyal soldier for an organization that has given him little to work with.
In his first three years as head coach the roster was depleted of quality talent and wins were tough to come by.
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Through it all Brown has kept his mouth shut about the plans of the front office and has gone to work every day trying to get the most out of his players.
Since we cannot judge Brown based on his win-loss record, we must look to other factors to determine how good of a job he has done.
Development of players
Look no further than Robert Covington, TJ McConnell, Dario Saric and Richaun Holmes.
Except for Saric, none of these players were lottery picks or even taken in the first round. Covington and McConnell were not even drafted. But that hasn’t stopped Brown from coaching these guys and making them better NBA players.
Saric has made tremendous strides as an NBA player throughout his rookie season. He is becoming a 20 point and 10 rebound a game player. Those type of numbers were thought to be what Jahlil Okafor would be putting up at this point in his career. Many speculate if Embiid does not win rookie of the year, Saric will get the nod.
Covington has really been an unexpected surprise. He constantly is guarding the other team’s best player and has done a good job doing it. After struggling with his is shot earlier in the year, he has picked it up on the offense side of the court.
McConnell and Holmes have both been developing nicely in their second seasons. So much so that the Sixers received calls about McConnell from the defending champion Cleveland Cavilers, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
#ClevelandCavaliers sought trade for @TJMcConnell sources say. Read more at: https://t.co/6iUNU02Ls3 via @phillysport
— Keith Pompey (@PompeyOnSixers) January 29, 2017
Holmes has provided a nice spark off the bench and has made life easier to deal with after Nerlens Noel’s departure at the trade deadline.
Team Effort
How does a team that has very little talent consistently play in close games? The correct answer is effort. Brown has his guys ready to play every game and every game the team fights hard despite being large underdogs.
Now there is an exception that needs to be pointed out. Jahlil Okafor appeared to give very little effort on defense during a game against the Miama Heat on Thursday. Here is one of the most discouraging attempts to play defense you ever see.
On one hand, the video shows all that needs to be said about the effort on that play. On the other hand, however, Brown should not be held responsible for the lack of effort Okafor showed on that play.
More than likely this is frustration from losing games, which Okafor was not used to prior to getting drafted by the team. Also, let’s not forget the trade fiasco botched by Bryan Colangelo when Okafor sat out because of “trade rumors,” according to Brown.
Aside from Okafor, the players come ready to play every day no matter the opponent.
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In conclusion, Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown deserves phrase for the job he has done. Let’s give it to him.