The Philadelphia 76ers’ head coach will let the gym decide his rotations.
The Philadelphia 76ers are weeks away from the resumption of basketball in Orlando. With three weeks of practice (and three scrimmages) before the real games start, Brett Brown still has a lot of figuring out to do.
A lot of that figuring out revolves around the rotation, and how exactly Brown plans to construct his lineups. We still don’t have a definitive answer on Al Horford‘s role — will he start or sit — and the second unit is currently a mess of capable wings.
In talking to reporters this morning, Brown unveiled his plans for the rotation — at least during the eight “seeding” games. He wants to use 10 players, and most notably, he wants to operate in the spirit of competition.
Brown says he’s hoping to play 10 guys in the rotation to start and sounds like different guys will be given opportunities in individual games to see who rises to the top
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) July 12, 2020
This doesn’t come as a surprise. Brown previously voiced a desire to pit players against one another in practice, and his motto has always been to “let the gym speak,” to use some variation of the eloquent Brett Brown-ism. He used Alec Burks and Shake Milton as an example.
The Sixers’ playoff rotation will come down to whoever earns their keep. Horford may have to battle for his spot in the starting five. Milton may have to battle Burks, Burks may have to battle Glenn Robinson, Robinson may have to battle Matisse Thybulle, and so on. A lot could change between now and the postseason.
It’s important to emphasize the length of time between when the season ended in March and when it’s slated to resume in August. A lot can change in five months. Players have gone a quarter of a year without touching a basketball. Brown can’t expect everyone to walk in the gym and pick up where they left off.
This is a complex environment for all 22 teams, and every coach will have to navigate it. The Sixers have one of the least settled rotations in the bubble, but every team — not just Philadelphia — will need to reevaluate and make changes based on new information in practice.
Brown has run “competitions” in the past — the key example being James Ennis and Jonathon Simmons last season. Now he’s likely to run several at once, looking to piece together how exactly this rotation best works in a competitive setting.