PHILADELPHIA– It has turned out to be an endless summer for the Philadelphia 76’ers as they searched to find a coach to replace Doug Collins.
Now, after what seemed like an interminable four month interviewing process, they have finally settled on San Antonio Spurs’ assistant Brett Brown, reportedly signing him to a four-year guaranteed contract.
The 52-year old Brown, who learned the game playing his dad Bob, a New England Hall of Fame coach at Cheverus High in South Portland, Me. Naismith Hall of Famer Rick Pitino at Boston University, actually has some qualities that could help the Sixers in the long run. He has been with the Spurs since 2001, spending five years as director or player development for the best run franchise in the NBA before moving on to the bench with Greg Popovich, where he played an important role as the Spurs advanced to the NBA finals.
He brings a huge amount of international experience with him, having won a successful 149 games and one title over nine seasons as the head coach with the North Melbourne Tigers and the Sydney Kings in the Australian National Basketball League. He also led the Australian men’s national basketball team, which played without less than healthy veteran NBA center and NBA first pick Andrew Bogut, to a quarterfinal appearance and seventh-place finish at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, highlighted by a 31-point blowout of of host nation Great Britain and an exciting 82-80 victory over eventual bronze medalist Russia in group B play when star guard Patty Mills– who Brown coached with the Spurs– inbounded the ball, then got it back for a game winning buzzer beating three pointer.
Brown’s Australia Boomers thrived in London, playing a tough, physical, swarming brand of defense predicated on forcing turnovers that would get Mills, clever former St. Mary’s backcourt partner Matthew Dellavedova and left handed point forward Joe Ingles out on the break and in the open court. It remains to be seen whether Brown will favor a similar type of pressuring defense and up tempo offense in Philly or gamble he can find enough shooters to run Spurs’ style sets in the half-court when things slow down.
Hopefully, management will give him time to find out what works since it has decided to go with a youth movement and may only win 20 games in a best case scenario this season.
Other than the chance to put themselves in position for a quick turnaround if Sixers win the lottery and select 6-8 Canadian prodigy Andrew Wiggins, who is a freshman at Kansas, it is hard to rationalize any coach, let alone Brown, taking this job. Four years is just not enough time to turn this troubled franchise around and there is no guarantee Brown will be there when they do. Even Celtics’ new coach Brad Stevens, who has no NBA experience, got six.
The Sixers are a bad team that seems destined struggle with attendance at Wells Fargo again. They have suffered from one mistake after another with player personnel, the most grievous being that embarrassing three team trade with Denver and Los Angeles last year that cost them Olympic forward Andre Iguodala and brought them damaged seemingly unvetted center Will Bynum, who missed the entire season with two severely damaged knees.
Bynum turned out to be nothing more than a $16 million tease who is long gone and the Sixers paid a huge price, dropping off a cliff from a second round playoff team in 2012 to a 24-38 team that played with little or no energy and frustrated Collins to a point he resigned after the season.
The hope of course is that the Sixers win the lottery and draft Wiggins, the 6-8 Canadian prodigy who will become the reincarnation of Kevin Durant and make the same immediate impact the versatile 6-10 forward, who was the leading scorer for Team USA in the London games, did with the NBA Oklahoma Thunder, who reached the finals in 2011 when Durant was just 23 years old.
But he is walking through treacherous terrain, entering a franchise that has an absentee owner Joshua Harris from New York City, is run by a publicity shy 35-year old GM Sam Hinkle, who didn’t exactly install fan base enthusiasm with his secrecy in the draft process and a roster that by all accounts is the worst in the league.
The Sixers raised eyebrows on draft day when they selected 6-4 point guard Michael Carter-Williams, whose wild fluctuation on assist-turnover ratio and inconsistent shooting percentage has made him a questionable choice to run a team in the half court, with their lottery pick, then traded All Star guard Jrue Holiday to New Orleans for 6-11 center Nerlens Noel, the sixth pick in the draft.
Noel was really starting on come on for John Calipari at Kentucky when he suffered a severe knee injury midway through his freshman year. He has been rehabbing in Birmingham, but is not expected to be 100 percent until at least December, leaving the Sixers once again without a legitimate starting center. Noel has a chance to be a defensive force in this league, maybe even a Rookie of the Year candidate, even though he is an unfinished offensive product.
The Sixers’ best player at this point is power forward Thaddeus Young. Guard Evan Turner, the No 2 pick in the draft, has been an enigma as a shooter. Hinkle is hoping 6-8 off season trade acquisition Royce White, a 2012 first round pick who was traded from Houston, has an diagnosed anxiety disorder and doesn’t like to fly, can get his act together, rookie forwards Arnete Moutrie and Arsalem Kazemi will eventually become good players and that young pieces will emerge from next summer’s group of two first round draft picks and three second rounders. The Sixers will also have $36 million in active cap space available next summer, giving them room to sign a high profile free agent.
That’s in the future.
No one in holding high expectations for this year’s team, which has no experienced talent. The honeymoon could be short and Brown could be gone by the end of the 2015 season if the team goes not show some noticeable progress. .
This city has always pride itself as a basketball town and its knowledgeable fans can be tough. But there is an outside chance Harris, who has his business interests in Manhattan and is involved in the bidding for the Jersey Devils in a deal includes a new arena in Newark. The Sixers are locked into a 20 year lease to play at Wells Fargo but it is not out of the realm of possibility to think Harris could attempt to maneuver the Sixers across the river and up the turnpike.
That’s the latest wild eyed rumor, at least.
Brown can’t be worried about distractions he cannot control. Given the lateness of his arrival and the fact Hinkles has made it apparent finding a coach was not a high priority, Brown will have to make friends with the most influential players– if there are any– in the locker room, convincing them he is the right man for the job and getting them to buy into his philosophy. He has a good reputation for individual player development but must find a style that suits his players, most likely maximizing the skill set of Carter-Williams, Young and the mobile when healthy Noel in transition and upgrading the amount of possessions.
And he must mirror the front office’s patient approach, even though Sixers’ fans aren’t likely to embrace that for more than a year.
This is another grand experiment in a town filled with boo birds who are becoming increasing frustrated by the fact they do not have any pro franchises that can be considered contenders.
Welcome to Philly, Brett Brown. Hope you like the cheese steaks. There are one thing this town can brag about.
.
