Every minute Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Al Horford shared the court this season, Philadelphia’s offense looked stuck in the mud, scoring less than a point per possession (0.98) and with all the spacing of a New York subway at rush hour.
For a few games in February, coach Brett Brown came upon a “this might save my job” solution — moving Horford to the bench to get more shooting on the floor. That lasted just three games before reality hit hard, first Simmons’ back pain had him out (meaning Horford was back in as a starter), then came the coronavirus and the interruption of the season.
In Orlando for the restart and with a fully healthy Simmons (something the 76ers would not have had if the playoffs started as scheduled in April) Brown is leaning into that idea:
Ben Simmons has been practicing at the four, Shake Milton moved in as the starting point guard, and Al Horford has slid to the bench.
The reality is this new starting five — Milton, Josh Richardson, Tobias Harris, Simmons, and Embiid — has not played one minute together this season, and after just eight seeding games they are going to be asked to play important minutes together against quality teams.
That high risk/high reward play makes the Sixers the most interesting team to watch in Orlando.
If this comes together quickly, Philadelphia is a threat to Milwaukee to come out of the East. Or, the Sixers could continue to be an all defense, no offense team that finds itself leaving Florida after the first round of the playoffs.
Brown, an eternal optimist, likes what he sees in an Embiid and Simmons front line. Here is Brown saying he likes what he sees so far (via NBC Sports Philadelphia).
“Just a chemistry, a relationship in finding each other. Just with Ben playing sort of an interior position, more than being the primary ball carrier … you could see sort of like that big-big relationship, high-low duck-ins, Joel would be posted, Ben would play peekaboo at a low zone on the other side of the floor, come down and trail, we throw it to Jo and a rim run guy would duck in. And I felt the partnership, the relationship. The big-big mentality of finding each other was crazily obvious.”
Simmons added:
“I feel like I have a very high IQ on the court and see things a lot differently and can pass the ball very well, so that’s a threat. But I love playing in that pick-and-roll situation, or pick and pop, whatever it is. it just gives us so many different options and is tough to guard.”
For a few games in February, coach Brett Brown came upon a “this might save my job” solution — moving Horford to the bench to get more shooting on the floor. That lasted just three games before reality hit hard, first Simmons’ back pain had him out (meaning Horford was back in as a starter), then came the coronavirus and the interruption of the season.
In Orlando for the restart and with a fully healthy Simmons (something the 76ers would not have had if the playoffs started as scheduled in April) Brown is leaning into that idea:
Ben Simmons has been practicing at the four, Shake Milton moved in as the starting point guard, and Al Horford has slid to the bench.
The reality is this new starting five — Milton, Josh Richardson, Tobias Harris, Simmons, and Embiid — has not played one minute together this season, and after just eight seeding games they are going to be asked to play important minutes together against quality teams.
That high risk/high reward play makes the Sixers the most interesting team to watch in Orlando.
If this comes together quickly, Philadelphia is a threat to Milwaukee to come out of the East. Or, the Sixers could continue to be an all defense, no offense team that finds itself leaving Florida after the first round of the playoffs.
Brown, an eternal optimist, likes what he sees in an Embiid and Simmons front line. Here is Brown saying he likes what he sees so far (via NBC Sports Philadelphia).
“Just a chemistry, a relationship in finding each other. Just with Ben playing sort of an interior position, more than being the primary ball carrier … you could see sort of like that big-big relationship, high-low duck-ins, Joel would be posted, Ben would play peekaboo at a low zone on the other side of the floor, come down and trail, we throw it to Jo and a rim run guy would duck in. And I felt the partnership, the relationship. The big-big mentality of finding each other was crazily obvious.”
Simmons added:
“I feel like I have a very high IQ on the court and see things a lot differently and can pass the ball very well, so that’s a threat. But I love playing in that pick-and-roll situation, or pick and pop, whatever it is. it just gives us so many different options and is tough to guard.”