The Philadelphia 76ers have undergone a lot of big changes recently. From philosophical changes that then had to be changed again due to recent injury issues and that means players are in different roles.
In this case, it helps that the Sixers roster is so versatile.
Example number one, the Sixers used point guard Ben Simmons at center in Thursday’s win over the Boston Celtics. The move had some good success with Simmons being able to use his length and athletic ability to be able to be effective at that position. He ably defended Daniel Theis and Enes Kanter for stretches and he did his work in the post.
On offense, the Sixers are able to make this move mostly due to having Josh Richardson and his ability to handle the ball and make pinpoint passes. He makes Simmons’ job easier and it allows him to be a roller off the pick-and-roll and use his size at the rim to finish.
“It’s good having me and Josh on the court,” said Simmons. “Being able to run certain sets and being aware of what’s going on on the floor. It gives us multiple options, which I love.”
It also helps that Richardson continues to gather an understanding of what he needs to do on this team. He had 29 points and seven assists in the win on Thursday and it appears that coach Brett Brown and his staff have found a legitimate role for him.
Over the previous six games, Richardson is averaging 18.5 points and 5.3 assists which has opened up many things for Philadelphia offensively. Things that, and this is not a slight at JJ Redick at all, they could not do in the past without a guy like Richardson who can do so many different things.
“He’s getting better and better,” Simmons added. “Just the more I play with him, his reads and throwing the ball up for lobs or whatever it is, he’s reading the game a lot better from the start of the season until now.”
Of course, playing with a guy like Simmons who is so athletic and he is so skilled makes it easier for Richardson too. All he has to do is throw lobs and Simmons will go get it.
“We were just trying to explore those switches and it’s kinda easy to do when you got a guy who’s 6-foot-10 and runs like a deer,” laughs Richardson. “He jumps like he’s on a six-foot guard.”
With Joel Embiid out for a week or two due to the surgery he will undergo Friday to repair a torn ligament in his left hand, the Sixers will need this type of production from Richardson on a nightly basis. It’s imperative that this continues and the important thing is, he understands that.
“He is quite possibly the best center in the game and he’s a huge piece of our offense,” the guard explained. “We knew that it’s kind of a mental note that you have to take going into it. I knew early on that I was going to have to be aggressive to give our offense a good shot.”
Philadelphia will now head to Dallas on Saturday to take on a Mavericks team who knocked off the Sixers earlier in the season after employing a zone defense. They will undoubtedly see more zone in the next matchup with Dallas so it will help if Richardson can continue to probe the way he has been lately. [lawrence-related id=23184,23177,23169]