The Sixer Sense
Fansided

Philadelphia 76ers, may we approach the bench?

By Bret Stuter

PHILADELPHIA, PA - FEBRUARY 12: Head coach Brett Brown of the Philadelphia 76ers talks to Amir Johnson
PHILADELPHIA, PA - FEBRUARY 12: Head coach Brett Brown of the Philadelphia 76ers talks to Amir Johnson /
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PHILADELPHIA, PA – FEBRUARY 12: Head coach Brett Brown of the Philadelphia 76ers talks to Amir Johnson
PHILADELPHIA, PA – FEBRUARY 12: Head coach Brett Brown of the Philadelphia 76ers talks to Amir Johnson /

Casual fans blame Brown

Casual fans, unclear of what the underlying roster quality and depth was, quickly fell upon head coach Brett Brown to fix the team throughout first half struggles. Let’s face it, Coach Brown found out the hard way just how shallow this bench is when be was forced to try either Jerryd Bayless or Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot in a starting role when J.J. Redick fell to injury.

But fans would hear none of it.  Even when the coach scrambled to find a suitable backup center for Joel Embiid, those same folks used the opportunity to call for Brett Brown to be fired. Fire the coach for a shallow bench? As crazy as it sounds, that was the social media reaction. And it became so hilariously ironic that many others joined in to emphasize the irony. A head coach who finds ways to win despite being outmanned losing support from the fans? Well, from the recent additions to the fanbase it seemed.

Neglected bench begs for attention

But the underlying cause was a bench that was left unattended and neglected. Team president Bryan Colangelo traded away Nik Stauskas, Jahlil Okafor, and a second round draft pick to the Brooklyn Nets for Trevor Booker in December 2018. The result of that move opened up a roster spot for the team. And there was the untimely injury to Furkan Korkmaz.  That injury derailed the team’s timeline for developing wings. And there was the mysterious injury and rehab and miscommunication over Markelle Fultz.  Suddenly, the urgency to fill that roster spot heated up.

But that roster spot did not get filled. In fact, six weeks later, we reviewed the shallow bench and called out the team’s front office for their deriliction of duty to build bench depth. It was an disturbing situation, and unnecessary. In the end, this is a Philadlephia 76ers team which finally found itself competing for post-season play, but left to 12 of 15 active positions. And the team suffered. Not only with a shallow bench, but in finding meaningful starters when needed. Losses began to pile up. All the while, Bryan Colangelo failed to act. Even through the trade deadline.