Either the Philadelphia 76ers did not anticipate the team’s playoff push this year, or they failed the team last off-season. But the Philadelphia 76ers bench is the team’s Achilles Heel as they near the NBA Playoffs
The Philadelphia 76ers starting five are outperforming virtually everyone’s expectations. With center Joel Embiid, power forward Dario Saric, small forward Robert Covington, shooting guard J.J. Redick and point guard Ben Simmons, the team matches up well with nearly every starting five in the NBA. But when you try to talk about the five players off the bench, well it gets dicey. Who is Joel Embiid’s pimary backup? Robert Covington’s?
We know that T.J. McConnell runs the teams offense when Ben Simmons rests. But are we comfortable that both Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova, two recent signings after the NBA deadline, are the primary scorers off the bench?
We musta’ got lost
In short, the Philadelphia 76ers had an entire season to prepare for post season. How could the front office abandon their responsibility of giving head coach Brett Brown the best team this season?
In short… oops! Their bad.
In the modern NBA, there is no excuse for a team to miss so badly on their own upside, or to misguess their fundamental needs off the bench. This is not the first team led by Bryan Colangelo. And the front office staff he has surrounded himself with all got high praises on their hirings.
So where did the Philadelphia 76ers go wrong with this bench this season?