Some thoughts and observations left over from the 76ers’ most recent game, a 106-94 loss to the Washington Wizards on Friday at The Center.
Despite falling behind by as many as 25 points in Friday’s third quarter, the 76ers still managed to threaten the Washington Wizards towards the end of regulation. They relied on a series of mid-range and perimeter jumpshots from T.J. McConnell and Nik Stauskas to trim the score to 92-83 with just over six minutes to go. From that juncture forward, Washington’s John Wall proved to be a stabilizing, decisive presence. First, he tossed a lob to backcourt partner Bradley Beal, who snatched the pass and slammed home an alley-oop jam. On the Wizards’ ensuing possession, Wall buried a three, his third of the night. Then, his next time down the floor, he zoomed inside for a driving lay-up. The three-time All-Star point guard’s impactful sequence helped put Washington up by 13 points.Ish Smith was one of the Sixers asked to cover Wall, who would walk off the court with the fourth triple-double of his six-year NBA career. The box line was highlighted by a career-best 13 rebounds. Smith got to know Wall this past fall, when the Wizards invited Smith to spend the pre-season in Washington. Smith and Wall were members of the 2010 rookie class. While Smith was already familiar with Wall’s elite speed, strength, and athleticism, he was unaware of another key characteristic of Wall’s game. “He was a heck of a leader,” said Smith on Friday. “His speed is something that you see, but one thing that I noticed about him that I didn’t notice about him from the outside looking in is his leadership. He was great talking to guys, and was competitive, and he was really good. But his speed, his change of direction, his speed, his quickness, he was unbelievable. He is a rarity.”After watching Wall’s performance from the sideline, Brett Brown had nothing but superlatives to offer to the Kentucky product. “I think he is an All-Star,” said the Sixers’ head coach when asked to sum up Wall’s showing. “There is absolutely no doubt why he is an All-Star. Look at the rebounds. You look at him, and he just keeps getting better and better and better. He is great for the league. He is an All-Star for sure, and I thought our team responded quite well, despite what the stat line says.”The Sixers are scheduled to face the Wizards three more times this season, with two of those meetings coming before the end of February.
“No retreat, baby, no surrender.”Not only does that refrain capture the conviction contained in the rapid drum-beat driving, synth-infused rock hit from Bruce Springsteen’s 1984 Born in the U.S.A. album, the line also reflects the essence of an important Brett Brown credo. While Brown, a big Springsteen fan, has yet to specifically invoke the chorus from the song “No Surrender” when discussing concepts like determination and purpose, he has, on several occasions, made mention of going through a season without having regrets, and sticking to instincts. Every so often, he outlines the following scenario. If the year were to end right now, would he, would his assistant coaches, would any of his players, wish they would have done things differently, taken more well-intentioned risks? Almost always, he wants the answer to that question to be “no,” and for his team to feel that it has left all options on the table. With that condition in mind, we arrive at the current state of the defensive assignments for power forward Nerlens Noel and center Jahlil Okafor, the two young pillars of the Sixers’ starting front line. “We’re trying some different things with Jahlil, trying to see if he can guard perimeter four-men type, and let Nerlens block shots,” explained Brown after Friday’s 12-point setback to Washington. At the outset of the contest, and during several later stages of the game, Okafor covered Wizards’ forward Jared Dudley. Dudley is a capable three-point shooter, and is enjoying his most accurate season yet from the perimeter (46.3 3fg).”We tried that at the start, and persevered even in the third period to start the second half,” Brown said. “It’s something I don’t regret. It’s what our job is, so we’re trying different things. I think you just have to do it…We’ll probably try some [Saturday] night. We didn’t do it long, but we did it. To start games, when want to try things like that from time to time.”Wednesday was first instance in which the Sixers extensively tinkered with Noel and Okafor’s defensive responsibilities. Noel was put on Atlanta center Al Horford, while Okafor guarded power forward Paul Millsap. “It was really only my second time doing it, so I still have to get used to it,” said Okafor on Friday. “I just have to get better at guarding the four, if that’s what we’re looking to do.”Even amidst this week’s experiment, Okafor has logged minutes at the five position, both offensively and defensively. On Friday, he had to deal with 6’11,” 240-pound Marcin Gortat, a nine-year veteran. Saturday, he’ll likely contend with another vet in Brook Lopez. Lopez is a 7’0″ tall, 270-pounder who’s been in the league eight seasons. “They just have a lot of experience, and it shows when I play against them,” Okafor said about facing older big men. “You have to bring your A-game every night playing in this league, but when you know you’re going against an older guy, they’re usually really strong, and really, really smart defensively and offensively, so you just have to have your hands full.””They’ve been doing it for so long. Eighty-two games, they’ve been doing that for a while. They’ve played a lot of games, and they’re just really smart.”Should Okafor spend more time defending the power forward spot on Saturday versus the Nets, as Brown suggested, he could end up being paired with former Sixer Thaddeus Young. Young is having one of his finest all-around seasons, averaging 15.0 points, and a personal-best 9.0 rebounds. He’s also produced a career-high 23 double-doubles. And to quickly circle back to the Brett Brown / Bruce Springsteen subplot, yes, Brown – and his family – plan to be among the 20,000-plus attending the Boss’ February 12th concert at The Center.
The Sixers are reaping the defensive rewards of the athleticism and length of forwards Jerami Grant and Nerlens Noel, as the he team entered Saturday tied with the Miami Heat for an NBA-best average of 6.6 blocks per game. According to stats.nba.com, Grant’s 77 rejections rank 11th in the league, while Nerlens Noel’s 70 swats place 18th overall. On a per game basis, Grant and Noel, each averaging 1.6 blocks an outing, are among four players sharing the 11th spot on league leaders list. In Washington on Friday, the Sixers turned aside eight field goal attempts in all, with four blocks coming in the third quarter. Grant and Noel each posted two apiece.Nerlens doesn’t play games. https://t.co/UXiDF2cQFk— Philadelphia 76ers (@Sixers) February 6, 2016 Before the Sixers’ game against the Wizards, Brown spoke about the Sixers’ shot-blocking prowess, saying a key has been “to encourage gang blocks, to block shots from behind when you’re out of plays…to turn our young athletes loose when they can go after stuff…to just winding them up, and chasing stuff down.”About Grant specifically, Brown added, “His athleticism and him understanding the NBA has made him more of a dangerous defender. He really has his length and his mindset where he wants to make steals and blocks and make plays.” In addition to pacing the Sixers in blocks, Grant is fifth on the squad with 37 steals.
Nerlens doesn’t play games. https://t.co/UXiDF2cQFk
