Some thoughts and observations left over from the 76ers’ most recent game, a 112-92 loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday at The Center:
From the very outset of the season, Brett Brown and the Sixers had a pretty strong sense that Jahlil Okafor would be able to score in volume on a consistent basis. Okafor has lived up to this billing, as reflected by his team-best 17.4 points per game average, and his rookie class-leading 18 performances with at least 20 points. As the Sixers work their way to the mid-February All-Star Game break, however, they continues to learn more and more about the offensive abilities the first-year center possesses. Okafor has routinely demonstrated, from game one to 41, that he is beyond proficient in post-up situations. Going into Monday, the Duke product was tied for second among all NBA players with an average of 5.5 post-up points per game, according stats.nba.com. He also ranks third in the league with 6.4 post-up touches per contest. A area where Okafor has recently displayed a different type of growth is with his mid-range jump shot. In his past four outings, Okafor has hit 10 of the 20 shots that stats.nba.com has defined as having come from mid-range distance. Zooming in on that trend a little more, Okafor has been even more reliable from 10 to 14 feet from the rim, sinking nine of 11 such tries. Between a distance of eight to 16 feet, the low-post weapon has buried 11 of 19 attempts. The Sixers have been pleased to see Okafor steadily send in his mid-range jumpers lately. Perhaps even more significant to Brown, though, is that Okafor is becoming increasingly comfortable taking those shots, which the coaching staff is encouraging.”No doubt,” said Brown Sunday. “I get upset when he doesn’t. When he picks and pops, and has daylight separation, I want him shooting. I get most concerned when he just picks and stands. Whether he’s rolling to dunk, or rolling for a little 17 [foot] little pocket pass type shot, as long picking and moving, then good things can happen, and I think bad things happen when we’re indecisive.” “My teammates are telling me to shoot it, and the coaches are telling me to shoot it, because they believe I’m a capable shooter,” Okafor said last Wednesday, when the Sixers were in Orlando to face the Magic. “When you have the people around you telling me to shoot, you’re shooting it pretty freely.”On the season, Okafor has converted 34.2 percent of his mid-range attempts. The flashes of potential he’s exhibited in that area are the root behind Brown’s belief that Okafor could ultimately assume power forward responsibilities, provided that Okafor proves he can defend the position.”If you could ever find a way to figure out how to let Jahlil guard four men, and chase [Boston’s Kelly] Olynyk around, and [Sacramento’s] Rudy Gay when they go small” Brown said. “Let Nerlens [Noel] just be the primary pick-and-roll defender. Put him in all the pick-and-rolls, and let him stay at the rim. That’s a good world.”At this stage, Brown isn’t certain whether he’ll do a late-season positional experiment with Okafor similar to the one he conducted with Noel last year, when Noel logged his final six starts at power forward after spending the rest of the campaign at center. “If I can figure that out, I think there’s a chance we could do [that] at the end of the year,” said Brown.
The one-month-to-the-date mark of Mike D’Antoni’s stint with the Sixers will occur on Tuesday, when the three-time former head coach’s new club hosts the Phoenix Suns, the first NBA organization that he led. Coincidentally, D’Antoni’s debut with the Sixers occurred at Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix the day after Christmas. Before Sunday’s match-up with the Boston Celtics, Brett Brown gave some insight into the area where his recently-installed Associate Head Coach has so far had the most substantial impact.Brown said, “I’ve tinkered around with some of his stuff after free throws, and I have for years. I was very influenced, and still am influenced, by his very creative offensive mind. Have him really look at some things we’re doing after free throws, some of what the league would call ‘pistol’ stuff and ‘chase’ stuff.”Brad Stevens, Brown’s counterpart with the Boston Celtics, was quick to highlight that influence as well. “They run the pistol action after almost every free throw, different versions of it, which is just a throw ahead with a big trailing in for a flare and ball-screen,” explained Stevens, who, like Brown, is in his third season as an NBA head coach. “It comes really quick, they run it really fast, and Ish [Smith] is a blur if you’re asleep on that handback at all, or that step-up at all. They’re doing a lot of that stuff. They’re playing with a lot of drags, which they’ve been doing most of Brett’s time here. But, it’s the idea of they’ve got four guys [Isaiah Canaan, Robert Covington, Nik Stauskas, and Hollis Thompson] that are shooting 67% of their shots are threes right now, and then you’ve got a guy that can get it inside the defense whenever he wants.”Brown has been happy to have D’Antoni around, and not just for the 2005 NBA Coach of the Year’s tactical expertise. “Instead of like going to my notes when I would listen to him at a clinic, you can bring him in your office,” said Brown. “And he’s been fantastic. He’s a good person. He’s been around for a long time. He’s got a really good balance to how he sees the world. And I think he compliments me in a bunch of different ways. I’m grateful to have him on the staff. He’s been a tremendous resource.”
The day after a 112-92 loss to the Boston Celtics, the Sixers were confident they took a step forward. Brett Brown admitted he didn’t recognize the group that fell behind its Atlantic Division rival by as many as 29 points at The Center, and committed 24 turnovers while shooting 39.3 percent from the field. “We will move on. It doesn’t represent anything that we feel that we have been doing lately,” said Brown, who felt the Sixers had a “good practice” on Monday at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. “We’re going to dust it off as one of those games that you just are fearful of. I felt like those days were behind us. [Sunday] it happened at home, and we’re going to move on. We’re going to come out and have a lot better fight [Tuesday].”Brown added that the Sixers “confronted” several of the issues that surfaced in Sunday’s setback, and talked about them “aggressively.” “We showed examples of it,” Brown said. “The guys are great. We keep it very candid and real, and they let me coach them.” Brown admitted that he didn’t sleep well on Sunday night. Neither did his point guard, Ish Smith. “After a game like that, you just kind of like want to get it out your system,” said Smith, who tallied seven points (3-12 fg), four assists, and three turnovers versus Boston. He first woke up at six o’clock Monday morning, reflecting on his club’s latest showing.Smith believed that getting a sweat in during Monday’s “good little workout” helped the squad cleanse itself prior to Tuesday’s contest with the Phoenix Suns.”I had a nasty taste in my mouth. I’m glad that I got a little bit out of it. A win would make it feel a whole lot better.”
