The Philadelphia 76ers are looking for a new head coach for the first time in seven years after firing Brett Brown on Monday afternoon. It was truly the end of an era as the Sixers grew from “The Process” years to becoming a pretty good basketball team.
The candidates have been released and the one that stands out is former NBA champion Tyronn Lue who was the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers in their 2016 title run and he is currently an assistant under Doc Rivers with the Los Angeles Clippers. A lot of fans are apprehensive about Lue due to the fact that he did win while having LeBron James and Kyrie Irving leading that team.
However, there are three reasons why Lue would be a pretty good hire as coach of the Sixers and we’re going to get into each one:
Accountability
This is the biggest thing that has dogged the Sixers for years. After being swept by the Boston Celtics on Sunday, shooting guard Josh Richardson mentioned it afterward that the team lacked accountability all season and that is something that caused an issue for them. There was nobody who would demand more out of them when the time called for it and that is on coaching.
Lue would immediately bring that aspect to the Sixers. If he can hold superstars like James and Irving accountable, then he can get to Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons and demand more out of them. Brown had been trying to unlock Simmons’ shooting game in the past, but he was not able to. With Lue, he could be able to bring that all-important aspect out of his game.
Adjustments made in a game
The biggest criticism about Brown other than the accountability issues was the lack of adjustments made in the middle of a game. This was exposed in the playoffs against the Boston Celtics when he was slow to make the adjustment of having the big man play up more on the pick-and-roll game on defense rather than drop into coverage. Too many times, the Celtics just walked into easy jumpers off the screen and Brown was slow to adjust.
Lue has never been afraid to make those necessary changes in the middle of a game as he has mastered the “game within a game” aspect that is so important when it comes to coaching. For example, there were plenty of times in the 2018 Finals run with the Cavs when he would have to make plenty of adjustments around James along the way and he took an overall average–outside of James, of course–Cleveland team to the Finals.
Demanding respect
Not that Brown did not have the respect of his players, but Lue has had an advanced class in this aspect. Again, he coached one of the game’s best players in James and he immediately demanded his respect which in turn allowed him to hold James accountable when he made a mistake. Earning the respect of a guy like James is something that is extremely hard to do and that allowed Lue to do his job.
He would be able to come into Philadelphia and demand that same respect out of Embiid and Simmons as well as Tobias Harris and Al Horford to do his job with the Sixers. This team really needs a guy who’s going to come in and demand more out of them. Not necessarily a drill sergeant, but somebody who is going to not accept anything less than their best.
[jwplayer SyfnfpBY] [lawrence-related id=37161,37169,37166]