Washington Basketball Markelle Fultz needs Brett Brown coaching

Jun 22, 2017; Brooklyn, NY, USA; General view of the stage before the 2017 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 22, 2017; Brooklyn, NY, USA; General view of the stage before the 2017 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
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Markelle Fultz played for the Washington Huskies under head coach Lorenzo Romar. But watch his progress under Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown

It’s official now. The Philadelphia 76ers have selected Washington guard Markelle Fultz with the top overall pick of the 2017 NBA Draft. Many presume that a top pick comes NBA ready, and will begin pumping out double doubles from the moment the buzzer sounds to start game one.

Don’t be too optimistic folks.

Markelle Fultz has incredible talent and dizzying heights to his full potential. But he is a rookie on his first day with his new team.  He has only just met some of his teammates, his coaches, and his new gymnasium.  He came from a loosely coached program which was the equivalent of a shotgun blast on the court.  Point and shoot.

Not Fully Developed In College

Washington Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar could recruit as well as any NCAA college basketball coach. But the entire X’s and O’s scheming was not a strong suit.

With the Philadelphia 76ers, the pace will be the same. But roles are more defined, and defensive expectations are much greater. That will need to be practiced, trained, and learned.  Learning requires some failure to truly happen.  There will be bumps in the road. But like everything else, that is all part of a required process to build players into a team.