Philadelphia 76ers have an identity in head coach Brett Brown’s mind

Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown has revealed how he sees the team operating on the offensive and defensive ends this upcoming season.

With all the moves the Philadelphia 76ers made this offseason, there were going to be questions about how they are going to operate on both sides of the ball this upcoming year. Head coach Brett Brown recently unveiled what he thinks what type of identity the team will have this year.

"“‘…We will end up playing smash mouth offense and bully ball defense…'”"

Considering the size of the starting five entering this season, it’s not surprising that Brown has that type of play style in mind for the roster. Point guard Ben Simmons is 6-foot-10, shooting guard Josh Richardson is 6-foot-6, small forward Tobias Harris is 6-foot-9, power forward Al Horford is 6-foot-10 and center Joel Embiid is 7-foot.

Richardson is the small player out of the starting five, but even he will have an offensive advantage most nights because opposing teams will have their point guard defending Richardson. At 6-foot-6, he will have the advantage against most smaller point guards in the NBA.

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Brown made sure to elaborate when he refers to “bully ball” on the offensive end. He doesn’t want to imply that the Sixers were going old schools with a lot of back downs or long two pointers, but rather just take advantage of the size mismatches they will see. Brown just doesn’t want to give smaller teams an easy out when the 76ers are on offense, but also implied that the Sixers will still be playing with a decent pace.

In theory this makes sense, the 76ers should take advantage of opposing defenses with their size. However, there is danger when this type of thinking occurs. It’s doubtful it will happen with willing passers like Simmons and Horford on the roster, but there still needs to be plenty of ball movement and player movement. If not, this offense becomes one-dimensional with isolation play style. It’s a trap that Philly must stay away from.

Defensively, Brown explained his confidence not only in the starting five, but the depth at the center position. In regards to the starters, four out of five are considered elite defenders. Harris isn’t an elite defender, but that doesn’t appear to concern Brown. In the past, I wrote about how Brown can hide Harris on the defensive end.

Last season, the team struggled defensively when Embiid wasn’t on the court. It didn’t help that Amir Johnson‘s age caught up with him, Jonah Bolden was inexperienced and Boban Marjanovic wasn’t quick enough. With the team’s new depth at center, Brown doesn’t seemed concerned about defensive drop off happening this year.

In theory, this new identity that Brown has envisioned for the Philadelphia 76ers can compute to a championship. The pressure is on him now to mold the team’s identity entering this season.