Sixers preseason 2020: 5 things to look out for

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4. The pick-and-roll

Brett Brown wasn’t the biggest supporter of the pick-and-roll. Doc Rivers is the opposite, so we can look forward to seeing this play being used a lot more frequently. With Ben Simmons‘ lack of shooting, J.J. Redick’s style as more of an off-ball player, and Josh Richardson’s lack in creation, we’ve yet to have a conventional pick-and-roll ball handler in the starting lineup, perhaps with the exception of Jimmy Butler. It’ll be exciting to see the Sixers finally employ this simple yet highly effective play to the core of their offense.

Something we didn’t expect though, is a Simmons and Embiid pick-and-roll, which Rivers has already said he plans to use. Many people have deemed this to be impossible as Simmons can’t shoot, allowing the defender to simply go deep under the screen. Rivers acknowledged this and said, instead of looking for a shot, Simmons will have to be looking for angles of penetration and using the lack of pressure to make good passes that will lead to scoring opportunities, similar to how Rivers used Rondo as a pick-and-roll ball handler in Boston. It’ll be interesting to see how effective this is, especially with three spot-up shooters around it and to see how frequently it’s run.

It’ll also be interesting to see how else the pick-and-roll can be used. Is Simmons going to be used as a screener? Is Harris going to be used as a ball handler like he was with the Clippers, as a screener, neither or both? How effective will Shake Milton be as a pick-and-roll ball handler be, especially with a pick-and-roll expert in Dwight Howard? Is Seth Curry also going to run some pick-and-roll actions?

With Doc Rivers as the head of a team with so much spacing, the Sixers have unlocked a world of possibilities with the pick-and-roll. A world that the Sixers should’ve been exploring for years but unfortunately, haven’t. This can a large contributor to the Sixers having an efficient offense and I’m interested to see how its used and how effective it is in the preseason.