Playing against the zone in recent games has caused the Philadelphia 76ers to make some changes to their rotation and get a little creative. On Saturday night, coach Brett Brown pushed all of the right buttons in a much needed 125-108 win over the Washington Wizards.
Brown decided to roll with Trey Burke as the backup point guard rather than Raul Neto and then went with Furkan Korkmaz rather than Matisse Thybulle initially as well.
Burke responded by scoring 12 points, knocking down two from deep, and giving the Sixers a different look offensively. While Ben Simmons can help the Sixers by offensive rebounding against the zone, Burke offers more of a shooting aspect.
“We were trying to get more pace to what we were doing to get into the seams of the zone to give Trey a chance to use his skill set,” said Brown. “It’s something a little bit different. I thought that he played really well tonight and I was very happy with him.”
Burke hadn’t played much recently as Neto has really taken control of the backup point guard minutes, but in this certain situation, it gave him a chance to show what he can do when given that opportunity. This is a situation he has found himself in at all times in his career, but he has made it a point to stay ready and make sure he’s in a state of mind to contribute.
“Sometimes it’s the nature of the business,” said Burke. “That’s the role that I understand I’m in right now. My job is to stay ready. You don’t know when your number is going to be called…for me it’s just staying prepared, staying locked in on the game plan and doing what we’re supposed to do on both ends of the court and when my number’s called being myself.”
Trey Burke on his current role with the #sixers pic.twitter.com/Xxd98mQGPZ
— Michael K-B (@therealmikekb) December 22, 2019
Burke is more of a scorer than Neto, but his continued understanding of what Brown wants to run was huge on Saturday night in helping Philadelphia put en end to a three-game skid.
“He did a good job getting us organized,” said Josh Richardson. “He was communicating on defense and he always brings good energy to the game. That’s one of his big things that he does always.”
Philadelphia’s next opponent, the Detroit Pistons on Monday, may want to try their hand at a zone defense, but if they do it appears that Brown will roll with Burke again. [lawrence-related id=21858,21844,21846]