The Philadelphia 76ers are resuming the 2019-20 season down in the bubble in Orlando amid a global pandemic and there is a lot of civil unrest going on in the world. That in itself makes it tough to really focus on basketball and try and focus on your job.
Coach Brett Brown understands that there was some apprehension going to Orlando and that not all of his guys were going to be on board with this idea. However, his guys have come ready to work and that has made him feel confident about his team’s chances in the restart.
“There is a maniacal competitiveness,” Brown lauded. “Let’s call it for what it is. We’d all be quite naïve if everybody thought everybody was just thrilled to get on a plane and fly to Orlando. None of us can think you’re going to get a strike rate that was certainly a 100% thing. So, for me, you come down here and even though I’ve talked to my guys straight throughout with Zoom calls, you don’t really know what’s going on with a person individually. So, it would be quite naïve to think everybody was just thrilled to arrive in Orlando.”
That competitiveness can be exactly what the team needs to get them focused back on the task at hand and realize that there is work to be done. It is something that Josh Richardson has loved as the team gets back to work and the practices have even gotten chippy which is good for the team.
“It’s been high competition every day,” Richardson explained. “A few practices have gotten a little chippy, but I like it. I like it when practices get like that because it shows that people care, that people are competing and at the end of the day, we’re all brothers. When we walk off the court, we’re back to being friends like we were before. I’m just glad we know what it is between that 94.”
To keep the competitiveness going, Brown and his staff are charting the wins and losses of the teams that participate in scrimmages. That competition has allowed the guys to play for bragging rights which they definitely remind each other of when away from the floor.
“I feel like the way we constructed practice, I’ve kept a group together for a few day period and kind of every drill like they’re a team and then they’re a team,” the coach explained. “Then we chart wins and losses and there’s sort of bragging rights that get talked in unapologetic ways on buses and as drills are going on. It goes something like that. It’s crazy competitiveness followed closely by a team spirit and togetherness.”
Being away from each other for four months can be difficult and it can cause some issues on the basketball court. Now that they’re back together and they can compete again on the floor as well as hang out off the floor, the team can try and build some chemistry again moving forward.
“I think it’s just helped us get back in the swing of things,” Richardson added. “We haven’t hung out, we haven’t seen each other in so long so just being able to spend time together and catch up, ask each other how our quarantine and everything was has been cool to be able to do that. I think it will help us getting back on the court just because that comfort factor is there.”
The Sixers are a team with a ton of expectations so it will be up to them to figure it out on and off the floor to ensure they are in a position to compete for and win a title. This time in practice and the upcoming scrimmage and seeding games will help them. [lawrence-related id=34921,34897,34890]