When you have a roster like the one the Philadelphia 76ers possess, one has to get creative in terms of how it’s going to be used. The big advantage of this roster is versatility and the Sixers were able to use that in big ways in recent games.
One way to unlock the offensive potential is using Josh Richardson as the primary ball-handler in the offense and using their 6-foot-10 point guard, Ben Simmons, as the screen-setter and roll guy in a pick-and-roll. This offers Simmons an opportunity to use his athleticism and finish ability around the rim and be able to be more efficient on offense.
It began a bit in the second game of the trip against the Miami Heat and it was then used a lot in the loss to the Houston Rockets where they were able to use him a little bit more in that capacity. It offers a different look for them that didn’t have in the past with JJ Redick.
“J-Rich has sort of got that wiggle and can play out of a pick-and-roll,” said coach Brett Brown. “We’ve been playing with it for a while, we did it a lot more in Houston, I think it’s an interesting look. We did some against Miami’s zone. I think Ben is a really good screen-setter, he’s physical, he embraces that side of it, and he’s a dynamic roller. He’s a lob guy, he’s a catch-go guy, and he can facilitate picking off corners as a passer.
We’ll continue to look at that for sure.”
The beneficial thing about Richardson is that he can handle the ball and he has experience of distributing the ball to other teammates. He averaged 4.1 assists with the Miami Heat in the 2018-19 season and he’s averaging 3.5 assists so far with the Sixers. Break it down even further and he’s averaging 4.6 assists over the previous nine games. This can help Simmons even more offensively.
“I think it’s been good,” said Richardson. “I think we’re starting to figure out different ways to use his athleticism. Me coming off, I can usually get the ball over the top or on a pocket pass to a guy rolling like that and he has a radius around the rim. So when he rolls, I can really just throw it up there and he can just go catch it.”
Philadelphia will look to continue to exploit this even further when they look to break out of a slump on Monday against the Oklahoma City Thunder. [lawrence-related id=22745,22736,22719]