Philadelphia 76ers bench is team’s Achilles Heel for NBA Playoffs
By Bret Stuter
Remedy that situation now
The Philadelphia 76ers cannot hope to advance far in the NBA Playoffs with this constant deficit. The team cannot rely upon the young core to not only take their game to the next level, but to take it so high that the bench won’t lose the game for the team. Here are some fixes:
Use a minimum of a 10-11 man rotation – the team has abandoned playing Richaun Holmes, Justin Anderson, and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot. The team needs to reverse that trend. Give these younger players opportunity heading into the playoffs. The impact cannot be much worse than the current results. And any experience earned by one of these three young men only benefit the team during the demands of postseason play.
Want to learn more about Justin Anderson? Check out: With defense struggling, Justin Anderson might deserve minutes
Place players in roles to succeed
The Philadelphia 76ers rotated Richaun Holmes to the five, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot to the three, and the team pushes Justin Anderson out to the four. Enough. Ilyasova at five, Holmes to four, Anderson to three, Belinelli and TLC at two, and T.J. McConnell through the one. Versatility is important with skilled players comfortable on the basketball court. The young core of this team should not be expected to play a different role in each game in this pressure packed environment.
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Limit their variables. Place them into the same role. Give them time to grow comfortable. Even if a player gets just five minutes in the game. That’s five minutes a starter rests. And it’s five minutes of playing time as the team approaches post-season. The season is too far gone to fix this. But the team must make changes to compensate placing far too much of the game’s outcomes on the starting five lineup. To win in post season, the Philadelphia 76ers must win as a team.