Shootaround Report: 12/23 vs. Suns

The following storylines were ones that emerged from the Sixers' morning shootaround on Friday, December 23rd. They play the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena at 9:00 PM EST.* The Sixers continue to operate as a relatively healthful team, as Friday morning's injury / player availability report reflected.The only development of note Friday was that Richaun Holmes did not accompany the club to Phoenix. Following a collision at Thursday's practice at the Sixers' training complex in Camden, the second-year forward was placed in the NBA's concussion protocol program. He remains under evaluation. As for Joel Embiid, his playing time budget is 28 minutes for Friday's pairing with the Suns. Jerryd Bayless, who underwent season-ending left wrist surgery on December 15th, joined the Sixers for this leg of their four-game trip. The veteran combo guard not only grew up in the Phoenix area, but attended the University of Arizona.  * One of the first items Brett Brown checked off his to-do list prior to shootaround Friday morning was to meet with the big men currently on the Sixers' trip – Joel Embiid, Nerlens Noel, and Jahlil Okafor. The focus of the conversation was, as Brown put it, “What are our advantages?,” with the individual skill sets of the three centers serving as context. “I asked them the question, 'You three bigs, what are our advantages?,'” Brown said Friday, following the team's hour-long workout at Talking Stick Resort Arena. “Tell me about defense, and we say things. Now tell me about offense, and we say things.”Embiid said the main message that the chat drove home was that all three five-men – when used either separately or in tandem – should be dominant on the glass at both ends of the court.”I look at it as completely identifying what are our strengths when we grow these guys and play these guys,” said Brown. “So we better do them. We better do them.”Friday's talk provided the latest example of Brown continuing to have open, transparent dialogue between himself, and Embiid, Noel, and Okafor. The trio again left the coach with an encouraging impression.”They're friends,” Brown said. “They really want the best for each other. They understand the situation, and that I'm going to find the balance of growing the team, and growing them. They're good people. Their hearts are in the right place. I think the support that they have for one another is genuine, and was discussed.”As the Sixers try to find the most effective balance of playing time for the members of their center rotation, Embiid said he, Noel, and Okafor have been able to co-exist thanks to bonds forged a while ago. “I've known both of them for a long time,” said Embiid. “We've got a great relationship off the court. We've been talking to each other. On the court, we're not going to let that affect our relationship.”Brown said for Friday's game, he intends to start the Embiid-Okafor pairing for a fifth straight game.* Brett Brown felt Friday's group exercise with Joel Embiid, Nerlens Noel, and Jahlil Okafor was particularly timely, given the personnel of the Sixers' opponent Friday.Phoenix center Tyson Chandler might be two months past his 34th birthday, but the 7-foot-1, 240-pounder can still rebound, and do so in great volume. He ranks seventh in the NBA with an average of 11.5 boards per game, and has posted a pair of 20-rebound performances this year. “I think that if Tyson comes in, clearly we should rebound well,” said Brown. “We should be a defensive rebounding team, and we should punish on the boards offensive rebounding.”Embiid, the Sixers' own 7-footer, has yet to face Chandler. In the Sixers' first go-round with Suns on November 19th in Philadelphia, Chandler was in the midst of an eight-game absence following the passing of his mother. Embiid, however, has watched Chandler on tape, and has taken notice of one factor in particular.”From what I've seen, he's really physical,” said Embiid, who leads all rookies with 7.4 rebounds per game and 46 blocked shots. “He'll be a good test for me.”In his 15-year career, Chandler has twice topped the NBA in offensive rebounding, and seven times eclipsed the century mark for rejections.* The University of Arizona's Tucson-based campus isn't very close to Phoenix. The drive probably takes about two hours. But, that doesn't change the fact that T.J. McConnell enjoyed two very good years in the Grand Canyon State. After starting his collegiate career at Duquesne University, located in his hometown of Pittsburgh, McConnell transferred to Arizona, where he played for Sean Miller. The Wildcats went 67-9 with McConnell, reaching the Elite Eight in back-to-back campaigns. A Phoenix-based reporter asked Brett Brown for an update on the undrafted rookie free agent, now in his second season with the Sixers. “He's done well,” said Brown. “In Philly, I use the verbiage 'marine.' He is a competitive, tough, you know somebody's trying to stay in the league and be noticed.”Brown went on to point out that McConnell has made himself a valuable presence in certain line-up configurations. One such example is when McConnell is on the floor with starters Gerald Henderson and Robert Covington, and part-time starters Ersan Ilyasova and Jahlil Okafor.”He's taken this opportunity and ran with it,” Brown said.McConnell is logging about three more minutes per game in December than he did in November. For the season, he averages 4.1 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game.