When it comes to NBA coaching, everyone seems to have an opinion.
Many times fans will ask that the coach be fired when the team loses, but rarely do they get a lot of credit when the team wins a game, there just isn’t a lot of common ground as to relates to NBA training, especially Sixers coach Brett Brown.
Brown is constantly under fire from a fan base that wants more from this underperforming team.
“It’s a handy punching bag for things that just aren’t systematic out there, in terms of the list.” said former vice president of basketball operations for the Memphis Grizzlies, John Hollinger.
Brown is in one of the most difficult situations in the NBA.
He has a lot of talent on the list to win, but talent doesn’t really go well together. Although he has talent to gain, his list lacks continuity, with several different looks during his tenure, in part thanks to the presence of three different general managers.
“He went through two front office transitions, where you never really hear a glance at the things going on sideways,” said Hollinger.
There were the multiple different looks over the years of process under Sam Hinkie, in which Brown’s teams always played hard, even when they were under-equipped. He then added talented pieces like J.J. Redick to his young stars Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid. The team traded for Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova for their playoff race. The following year, Belinelli and Ilyasova were gone, after the Celtics eliminated them from the playoffs. The team then added Jimmy Butler, while treating Robert Covington and Dario Saric, then Tobias Harris to the mix. This season, Butler and Redick were gone and Josh Richardson and Al Horford replaced them.
So finding team chemistry has not been an easy task for Brown and it is one of the most essential things to succeed not only as a team, but as a coach.
John Hollinger and Nate Duncan recently ranked the NBA coaches and ranked Brown in their second level of NBA coaches, just outside the top-10.
“I thought he had done a very good job in this Toronto series last year,” said Duncan, an NBA expert Salary Cap. “I think putting Joel Embiid on Pascal Siakam totally changed this series last year.”
Brown is criticized for many things from his spins, at Simmons not shooting, for not calling enough games.
“He failed to reach Ben Simmons,” said Duncan on Brown’s negative register.
“I like the way he spreads out his groups, he works well with his analytical staff, he works well with the way he manages his rotations, I think that makes sense. With the staff he has, he has adopted the post-ups, Embiid has great numbers have increased this year, “added Duncan on some of the positives.
The guys have classified coaches based on various categories, including:
- Talent vs results
Composition / use of the logical drive
System
The team plays hard
Locker room harmony
Player development
Harmony with the front office
Coaching at the end of the game
Playoff adjustments
“He certainly gave a lot of great talents, but also a lot of great challenges.”
Some of the best coaches include Toronto Nick Nick Nurse, Clippers Doc Rivers coach, Spurs coach Greg Popovich, Celtics coach Brad Stevens and Steve Kerr of Golden State.