National Basketball Association

How Long Can Brett Brown Keep This Up?

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 10:49 p.m. ET

Fansided, Bret Stuter/FanSided via The Sixer Sense

Dec 5, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown reacts during the second quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Wells Fargo Center. The Denver Nuggets won 106-98. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brow has naturally gravitated towards developing younger players. But attrition continues. How long can he keep this up?

The Philadelphia 76ers are on a treacherous climb to the top of the NBA, and head coach Brett Brown knows that. In fact, he knows it all too well. You see, his co-guide to the promised land, Sam Hinkie, fell off the mountainside last season.

Now it’s just him.

But this is a coaching role that is ideal for coach Brown. Ideal in that he can fulfill his greatest strengths, developing young raw NBA talent, from the first day of their NBA career to their last day in the NBA.

The Rub

Ah, did I say something wrong? Why yes, there’s the rub. Brown doesn’t get to see his players’ careers develop. The player with the most longevity with the team is center Nerlens Noel. And right now, he stands in the eye of a hurricane of NBA rumors. The Philadelphia 76ers have made no moves to retain him. The young man who erupts in media about the 76ers center situation is the longest veteran

Some believe that Brett Brown’s job is in jeopardy. I don’t see that yet. For one thing, it would send the wrong thing to their top draft pick Ben Simmons. You see, Brown has known Simmons all his life, and once coached his father. It’s too strong of a bond to toy with without complete certainty of that decision to part ways by the team.

Jun 24, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo during an introduction press conference at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Don’t Do Brown Any Favors

Attracting talent to the Philadelphia 76ers is not an easy task. The NBA found it easy to complain about the Philadelphia 76ers lack of significant free agent activity in the past three years. But in the 2016 free agency market, the Philadelphia 76ers landed two NBA veterans and one international veteran. And right now, none are healthy enough to play.

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Doing is never as easy as saying. It’s a fact. Just like building a winning roster is easier said than done. But the limits of Brett Brown’s team are the players on the roster. But on top of that, the healthy players on the roster.

Critiquing Rules Apply To All

Now it’s just as easy for me to critique team moves today as it was for NBA basketball-minds to question the tactics of the team’s moves in the past. But it’s not doing Brett Brown any favors by sending his players away without a solid long term plan in place.

Successful players expect retention. Successful teams give it to them.

The latest move of waiving Hollis Thompson was more reaction at risking signing unhealthy veteran free agents than a complete failure on Thompson’s part. And there is the part that hurts Brown. Brown develops players, take them as far as he can. Errors in the front office end the relationship, prematurely.

Dec 30, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown looks on in the fourth quarter against the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. The 76ers won 124-122. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Brown Blue

Brett Brown spends about 15 percent of his day in the duties of a normal NBA head coach nowaday. The rest of the time? He’s trying to solve the equations of minutes played, minute caps, injuries, development, and player satisfaction. Even though he had a similar situation in the past, it seemed as though he was not alone in solving insurmountable equations. Now, it appears as though he stands alone.

“If you went into my office, it’s a Rubik’s Cube,” Brown said. “I need an abacus. It’s how you spend your money. And then, how do you intertwine it with Jahlil? How do you try to go win a game? You want to save some for the fourth period.”

Keep It Simple Stupid

But in a season where things aimed at simplification, things became ever so more complicated.

“I have five sets of four-minute segments with Joel Embiid,” Brown said. “I have three sets of four-minute segments with Jahlil Okafor. And then you have Richaun Holmes. And so you intermittently sprinkle it in and you like to pair guys up with their matchups. We’re not there yet. It’s too complicated if you make it. So it’s simplistic. We’re going to end the game with Joel. The times he is sitting, he will be on a bike. We’ll monitor that. We practiced this. It’s probably the single thing we learned from the preseason: How to spend our money.”

Brown is called to the carpet on his “game decisions” by fans. But its highly unlikely that he gets to devote even a fraction of his time to game planning and strategy relative to other head coaches. His immediate task is trying to set a line up. And then, setting his rotations. By game time, that likely has consumed the lion’s share of his day. And that has to be frustrating.

Oct 15, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown talks to Philadelphia 76ers guard T.J. McConnell (1) during the first quarter of the preseason game against the Detroit Pistons at the Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports

BrownTown

Brett Brown love to interact with his players. He’s a “players coach” for sure.

Sixers coach Brett Brown is out personally working with injured first-round pick Nerlens Noel on his shot: pic.twitter.com/oHkUTURNv8

— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) February 3, 2014

It’s “in his blood”. In fact, it has been for some time. But optimism and resiliency is also part of his fiber

“There has to be a real level of resilience. There’s got to be a level of excitement that new opportunities have presented themselves. It’s a group that really hasn’t spent much time with each other. It’s not like they can call upon this strong friendship or this strong bond. We are a very young, new team. You don’t absorb a hit like losing Ben like you could if you were a veteran team that has been with each other on the floor a long time.” Brown speaking after news of Simmons injury

But Brett Brown has been stuck in the mud of optimism, resiliency, and player development. This season was to be about focusing energies to optimizing scheme and teammates for Embiid, Simmons, and others moving forward.

Some things haven’t changed. For Brett Brown’s sake, it’s time to hope they do.