Sixers’ Brett Brown says he learned something from Josh Richardson

Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown said he learned something new from Josh Richardson on Saturday.

The Philadelphia 76ers acquired Josh Richardson from the Miami Heat on the first night of free agency on June 30 in a sign-and-trade for Jimmy Butler. Over the summer, he mentioned that he wanted to kill the Heat and on Saturday night, he got his first chance at doing so and he didn’t waste it.

Richardson went for 32 points on 11-for-15 shooting and he drilled six from deep as the Sixers went on to knock off the Heat 113-86 in what was a relatively easy win from start to finish.

Coach Brett Brown says Richardson wouldn’t lead on about how important this game was to him, but Brown did learn something from him. Brown stated:

I learned something tonight. It doesn’t surprise me, but to the level that he displayed that stood out. He was very, very good on both sides of the ball tonight.

Richardson was not only good offensively, but also on the defensive end as he had a steal and he bothered Miami’s Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson into tough nights.

Brown spoke on his effort:

I think that I saw just a two-way guard. I saw somebody stalking people down, rearview contest of their shots, making people have to chew up clock on just full court entries and he made it difficult all over the place. He was stalking, he was harrassing, that’s what I saw and then you saw him score. I really think, it was as fine a performance on both sides of the ball that should be refelected on how we judge him tonight.

There is so much that Richardson can do on the floor and Saturday was just another example of what he can bring to the floor. His effort on both ends of the floor knocking down big shots on offense and then the stalking on defense is a big thing for this team. They can continue to grow with this type of effort and it’s something that can be used moving forward. [lawrence-related id=19933,19925,19917]