Philadelphia 76ers mailbag: Embiid’s defense, Brett Brown’s strategy & more

Brett Brown’s End of Game Playbook

This question touches on a hot topic of discussion over the previous four years: Brett Brown’s end of game coaching.

In case you missed it, here’s the gist of the discussion: fans of a team that has twice broken the record for youngest team in NBA history have criticized the team’s coach scathingly for the team’s end of game performance.

I’ve found that these discussions tend to be tremendously off-base and abstract on a subject that is very concrete. Either you liked the play he drew up or you didn’t. The rest is out of Brown’s hands. Let’s add some substance to the discussion.

The Sixers didn’t find themselves in many of these exact circumstances in after timeout scenarios, so I’ve collected a few other after timeout plays that could be used in end of game situations.

I should also note that this is an extremely nuanced question. The package of plays for 10 seconds left are drastically different from those we’d see with five seconds left, and those plays differ drastically from the plays we’d see with two seconds left. I digress.

This is my personal favorite that I’d like to see. The power forward receives a screen at the nail to receive a pass on the wing, then flows right into a pick and roll with the center. The idea of Simmons running this with Embiid is tantalizing. Turn this clunky Ilyasova sequence into a smooth dime from Simmons.

This next example is another personal favorite. The initial back screen serves as a convenient decoy for the subsequent pick and roll, effectively clearing the lane for the stampeding Holmes.

Brown also loves to use his elevator play in baseline out of bounds situations. Should the Sixers ever find themselves in need of a three, expect to see Brown whip this bad boy out.

Lastly, this back screen set he uses is nifty. It’s a bit of a quick hitter for a 10 seconds left play, but it’s still extremely effective. Brown loves to use decoy screens to set up the main action in his play, and the cross screen here dizzies big men ever so slightly before the back screen strikes.

Still, don’t be surprised when the majority of late game plays this season are an isolation or simple pick and roll. Creating an open look against tight defense from an out of bounds play is remarkably difficult. Defenses don’t have to be distracted by the player moving with the ball, like in a normal set play. Each player’s undivided attention is on their man.

For that reason, teams often default to a reliable isolation player or pick and roll duo. It’s not unique to the Sixers, but it certainly looks a lot worse when the Sixers haven’t had either of those things for the entirety of the Brown era. It’s tough to devise an effective chess strategy with a board of all pawns. Regardless, expect to see more hesi pull-up jimbos than back screens and Iverson cuts in these situations.