After a hiatus of more than four months, the Philadelphia 76ers finally returned to game action on Friday afternoon in Orlando. In the first of three displays before the eight “seed” games begin, the Sixers faced the Memphis Grizzlies; a team that they will not see again this season unless both teams make a final race. Both teams were a little rusty, as expected after such a long layoff, and both coaches used the exhibit as an opportunity to test their depth and experiment with rotations. Finally, the Sixers walked away with a 90-83 victory. Tobias Harris led the way for the Sixers with 15 points and 10 rebounds in 22 minutes of action, while Ben Simmons added nine points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
While it was just a game, and an exhibition in that regard, there was still a fair amount to get from the first look we’ve had at the Sixers since mid-March. That said, here are some conclusions from Philadelphia’s victory over Memphis.
Philly’s top five are more balanced
When the Sixers initially started the season in October, their top five consisted of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, Al Horford, and Josh Richardson. While that lineup had plenty of talent, it was not the most balanced due to the fact that three of the players, Embiid, Simmons, and Horford, prefer to do much of their work on the offensive end in the paint. , and therefore are not natural floor spacers. That lineup turned out to be awkward, and didn’t necessarily maximize the talents of any of the young Philly All-Stars at Embiid and Simmons, as they are both at their best when the floor is properly spaced around them.
In an attempt to maximize the space around Embiid and Simmons, Brett Brown experimented with moving Horford to the bench during the season, but injury problems forced him to change course. Now that the team is completely healthy, he is trying again. On Friday, Shake Milton replaced Horford in Philadelphia’s top five; a change that will probably continue for the rest of the season. The move gives the Sixers an extra floor spacer in the first five, and reinforces their bench by having Horford, an All-Star multiple times, as the anchor for the second unit. Horford played center stage for most of his career before signing with the Sixers, thus also allowing him to spend more time in his natural position. The change paid dividends for the Sixers on Friday as they were able to shoot the Grizzlies. Only time will tell if movement is a long-term response for Philly, but it definitely makes them a better balanced team.
Ben Simmons was a willing spacer
The importance of Ben Simmons developing something like a jump shot for him to reach his full potential as a player, and for the Sixers to reach their full potential as a team, has been well documented. During a conference call with members of the media earlier this week, Brett Brown said Simmons has been more willing to shoot triples in Orlando than in the past, which is obviously a positive sign for the Sixers.
“I think this area is possibly one of the most overrated topics that I’ve been a part of in training,” Brown said. “Ben Simmons is going to play basketball and the court will tell him what he should or should not do. You can say ‘well, I don’t agree with your coach Brown’ or you can say ‘fair enough’. Feel his mentality of voluntarily finding the space and find three, that has been a paradigm shift. ”
On Friday, Simmons was a willing shooter. He attempted a 3-point corner kick in the first quarter, and while he didn’t fall, it was a positive sign for the Sixers.
Then, there was another attempt in the second half, and on that one, Simmons was able to connect:
The fact that Simmons has attempted two triples is certainly a step in the right direction, as is the fact that he shot both with little hesitation. By playing it further out of the ball, the Sixers hope that will encourage him to let it fly a bit longer at long distance, as it takes some thought out of the process when simply instructed to catch and shoot. . Simmons will obviously need to continue to be aggressive from behind the line, but the first results in Orlando are promising.
Simmons still has a lot of the ball in his hands
There was a lot of anticipation when Brett Brown told members of the media that Simmons would move into the forward power position to allow Milton to take over from base, but on Friday it seemed that the change was largely in name only. Simmons still had the ball in his hands, a lot, over the course of the competition. He pushed the ball in transition off defensive rebounds as he always does, and served as the main guard when Milton was off the floor. When the two were on the floor together, Simmons was still used as an offensive starter, either from the high post or in the pick and roll. Despite his new forward power designation, Simmons still racked up nine assists in the first half of the game.
Brett Brown is a smart guy. She knows how dangerous Simmons is with the ball in her hands, especially in transition and in paint. So while his position may have changed, the fact that Simmons is going to have the ball and control the action quite frequently for the Sixers, has not. Going forward, it will be interesting to see how Brown continues to find ways to maximize Simmons’ unique skill set while also using Milton to launch the offense.
Wing depth
The Sixers dealt with injury issues throughout the season, so we rarely saw them in full force. But now that they’re completely healthy in Orlando, their depth, especially on the wing, stands out. Behind headlines Josh Richardson and Tobias Harris, the Sixers have four other viable options to connect to play on the perimeter: Matisse Thybulle, Furkan Korkmaz, Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III, the latter two of which were added by the deadline. exchange in February. All four players bring something different to the floor, and they could all be a solid addition to a postseason rotation. However, we know that rotations are reduced in the postseason, as coaches tend to be more dependent on their core boys. So there is no way those four boys can consistently play important minutes for the Sixers in the playoffs. Depth is never a bad thing, but an important task for Brett Brown over the next two practice games and eight qualifying games will be to identify the players he believes can have the greatest positive impact in the postseason and establish a reliable rotation.
