The Philadelphia 76ers are a team with high expectations as the season gets set to resume in Orlando. Despite an up and down regular season, the team has maintained that they are built for the playoffs and that has come from coach Brett Brown, general manager Elton Brand, and even Al Horford himself.
Why do they believe that though? The Sixers are a team with an inconsistent offense, they are working through a brand new rotation and lineup change that Brown just introduced, and they have a lot of issues that need to be worked out. Why would the playoffs magically fix those problems?
“I think there’s a defensive presence, a physicality, length, height that makes me say that as much as anything,” Brown explained. “The fact that our offense at times has struggled for different reasons, for me it’s space, give you a little bit of pause when I declare that comment. Really, it’s driven out more from a defensive comment and opinion as much as anything.”
The Sixers are a very good defensive team, that is true. They are sixth in the league in defensive rating at 108.2 per basketball-reference and they are led by defensive stalwarts such as Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Al Horford. However, there appears to be something different with this current version of the Sixers. There’s a different vibe around the team.
Maybe it’s the forced camaraderie inside the bubble. Maybe it’s the focus the team has now that basketball has taken the absolute forefront. Nothing matters more–other than safety, of course–than basketball at the moment. It’s all they have.
“You love going to practice and you’re back in the gym and I think that for that reason it’s the priority, it’s the focal point, it’s the thing that is most important on the day,” Brown added. “Although that’s the way it should be in a normal situation, people got lives and outside families and outside influences and a lot of other things that could maybe water down that comment and I just feel that because we’re so secluded, the sanctuary becomes the gym and I think for that reason that focus is driven with the backdrop of this needs to be the most important thing we do today and everybody’s really excited to be back in the gymnasium.”
Philadelphia is a team that has a lot of expectations and when the season does resume on August 1, they will get their chance to prove that they are serious contenders in this league. [lawrence-related id=35058,35050,35040]