Tag: Tony Bradley

Doc Rivers, Ben Simmons discuss his minutes playing the 5 vs. Cavs

Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers and Ben Simmons discuss his move over to the center spot against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Philadelphia 76ers entered Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse ready to build off their 2-0 start as they were set to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers. They then received some tough news just prior to tipoff that Joel Embiid would be out for the game due to back tightness.

That caused coach Doc Rivers to turn to Dwight Howard to be his new starting center and that moved everybody up in the rotation a bit. The Sixers made Tony Bradley the backup center and they were not able to activate Vincent Poirier in time so they had to improvise for the third-string center.

Bradley struggled in backup minutes behind Howard and the Sixers turned to Ben Simmons to be the backup center in the second half. Those minutes were not very good as Simmons struggled on either end of the floor in those minutes.

“We were just reaching for straws,” said Rivers of going small. “I thought Tony really struggled in the first half, more with the concepts. At times, when you’re a coach, you make a decision ‘let’s see if we can change the tempo of the game by putting Mike Scott in to stretch the floor’. The problem was our passing was so poor tonight that we couldn’t take advantage of it.”

Without Embiid, the team had a tough time keeping Cavaliers big man Andre Drumond off the glass as he finished with 24 points and 14 rebounds in the win for the Cavs. Despite being 6-foot-10, Simmons is not the one who should be counted on keeping a guy like Drummond off the glass.

Offensively, Simmons is not a guy who is going to fill the role of a center. He is a guy who is supposed to initiate the offense and that part of his game can change while playing the center spot on the floor.

“To an extent,” Simmons added. “I got to just get in my positions for the plays, whatever we’re in, and continue to be able to move the ball. Still, be aggressive, still attack, if I get a rebound, push it and try to find my guys.”

As far as Bradley is concerned, he will certainly get another opportunity for the Sixers. When Embiid has to miss another game, then Bradley will step into the same role for them. He will just have to do a better job than what he showed on Sunday.

“Nothing’s different,” said a dejected Bradley after the loss. “Just gotta just listen better, pay more attention to the plays. Just do different stuff.”

Philadelphia will return home on Tuesday to host the Toronto Raptors at 7:00 p.m. EST.

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Sixers focusing on improving defense, team communication vs. Knicks

The Philadelphia 76ers are looking to improve their defense and their chemistry against the New York Knicks.

The Philadelphia 76ers are getting set to take on the New York Knicks on Saturday to begin a quick two-game road trip as they are in the beginning stages of the 2020-21 season.

The team started off 1-0 as they were able to squeak past the Washington Wizards on opening night, but it was not all that impressive. The starting unit struggled and the team’s defense left a lot to be desired.

The team wants to build a road identity as they get set to begin that portion of their schedule and in order to do so, they will need to communicate much better on the defensive end of the floor.

“I think one of the main focuses is primarily defensively,” said backup center Tony Bradley after Saturday’s shootaround. “Just getting back on defense and communication is what we’re working on. Also, just doing a better job of executing our plays.”

The team will also begin a stretch of playing three games in four nights and in order to succeed during that stretch, they will need to improve not only on the defensive end, but also their chemistry. Everything is moving at such a fast pace right now and the team is basically learning each other on the fly at the moment.

“I think that’s the main thing,” Bradley added. “Everything’s moving so quick. We’re just trying to get used to each other and get adjusted to the schedule. The team chemistry too because this is a whole new team. I think that’s the main thing for us, just getting adjusted.”

Tipoff from Madison Square Garden is set for 7:30 p.m. EST.

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NBA: Philadelphia 76ers 2020-21 roster

Here is the final roster for the Philadelphia 76ers as they head into the 2020-21 NBA season.

The Philadelphia 76ers are one of the more intriguing teams in the league heading into the 2020-21 NBA season. The team is led by two young stars in Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid and they figure to be in the conversation for championship contention in the Eastern Conference.

That sets the table for Philadelphia’s roster overall which has undergone some dramatic changes following a disappointing 2019-20 season. The team made a couple of big trades on draft night including sending Al Horford to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Danny Green as well as sending Josh Richardson to the Dallas Mavericks for Seth Curry. Those two additions are expected to play a major role when the season begins.

With that being said, let’s check out the full 2020-21 version of the Philadelphia 76ers:

Veteran Dwight Howard has a nickname for Sixers big man Tony Bradley

Philadelphia 76ers big man Dwight Howard has a nickname for young Tony Bradley.

The Philadelphia 76ers have had a busy offseason and one of those moves was to bring in Dwight Howard on a deal to be the backup big man to Joel Embiid. He has proven to be a good signing thus far as he even filled in for Embiid on Friday and had a big game.

However, there was another big man added that the team made in the offseason, and that was young Tony Bradley.

After a few seasons with the Utah Jazz, he is looking for a bigger opportunity in Philadelphia, and on Friday, he made the most of it. He had seven points on 3-for-3 shooting as well as six rebounds in a 113-107 preseason win over the Indiana Pacers.

That type of play has Howard giving out nicknames for him.

“One thing that I’ve been talking to Tony about is making sure he comes in and provides energy on every single play,” said Howard. “I call him the battery pack so when he comes in, he’s got to be charged up. Go out there, run the floor, set hard screens, roll hard, finish, he’s doing an amazing job.”

Whenever a player can come off the bench and provide the needed energy, the team feeds off of that. Bradley was tough and physical down low against Indiana’s Domantas Sabonis and he earned the respect of his coach as well.

“I thought Tony, the second stint was very good once he did what we were trying to get him to do,” said Doc Rivers. “He started doing it and I thought that freed up a lot of our guys.”

The good thing with Bradley is that he is just 22-years old. This has been an odd time for everybody due to everything being so short due to the global pandemic. He has had to be brought up to speed much quicker than usual and Howard likes that.

“I’m very proud of him,” the veteran big man added. He’s a young guy so he’s learning how to work in this league and to see his progression from the first day of camp until now has been amazing. Hopefully, he stays hungry and humble and continues to work.” [lawrence-related id=40397,40394,40375]

Tony Bradley says Joel Embiid had to remind him that he isn’t Rudy Gobert

Philadelphia 76ers big man Tony Bradley received his first lesson from Joel Embiid.

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It’s time for training camp around the NBA and this is the time where the new acquisitions on a team get acquainted with everybody else on the roster. For the Philadelphia 76ers, they have quite a few new guys to learn about.

New big man Tony Bradley is looking for an opportunity and willing to learn from veterans like Joel Embiid and Dwight Howard. If his first workout with Embiid is any indication, he will certainly receive a good learning experience in this upcoming season.

Embiid quickly taught him that practice is going to be tougher now. He has a larger offensive arsenal than Rudy Gobert.

“The very first day, we were guarding each other,” Bradley recalled. “After we finished, he said something like ‘This isn’t Rudy. This isn’t Rudy’ and I laughed because it’s different. A lot of things, especially, defensively, from him, I was not expecting. Me on offense, getting up quick shots, quick floaters, and stuff like that. He’s a lot quicker than I thought he was and he moves a lot faster than I thought he did.”

Bradley spent his first three seasons battling with Gobert with the Utah Jazz in practice and Gobert is a fine player himself, but Embiid is a different player entirely. Bradley learned his first lesson with Philadelphia fairly quickly.

“He’s a different type of player for sure,” he added of Embiid. “He’s one of the best bigs in this league and just that individual workout that day, I saw out a lot that I just didn’t know. It surprised me in a lot of ways of just the way he can move. How quick he is, his footwork in the post, but getting the chance to guard him every day, I’m excited because it’s just going to make me better. Him guarding me is going to make me better as well.”

Bradley figures to learn a lot in this upcoming season. Not just from Embiid, but from Howard as well and all of this will help him move forward as a player. [lawrence-related id=39884,39881,39878]

Sixers 3 goals: Tony Bradley needs to take advantage of veteran bigs

Young Philadelphia 76ers big man Tony Bradley has to learn from the veterans on his squad.

This is a new series we are starting at Sixers Wire where we will look at the 17 players that comprise the Philadelphia 76ers roster — 15 under contract and the two players on two-way deals — and give each three goals for the 2020-21 season.

Up next is new big man Tony Bradley, who was acquired from the Detroit Pistons in the trade that sent Zhaire Smith to the Pistons. At 22 years old, his best days are ahead of him, and, as he prepares for the 2020-21 season under the guidance of Doc Rivers, he has a few things he should work on.

For Bradley, his three goals are:

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Looking for an opportunity, Tony Bradley willing to play the 4 for Sixers

Philadelphia 76ers big man Tony Bradley has no issues playing the power forward spot on this team.

It is tough to get an opportunity in the NBA. Once a player is drafted, he has to fight with established players to earn a place in a team’s rotation.

For new Philadelphia 76ers big man Tony Bradley, he has yet to earn consistent minutes. He spent the first three seasons of his career playing behind Rudy Gobert with the Utah Jazz.

With Utah, he played in 70 games, and he averaged 10.4 minutes per game. Fifty-eight of those games came in his third season, during which he averaged 4.9 points and 4.6 rebounds. He averaged 1.5 points and 3.8 rebounds while playing in six games in the playoffs.

“I’m still working on trying to get [more minutes],” he said. “It’s been a while since I’ve had some very significant, high amount of minutes, but I feel like I can get there. I just got to keep working hard, keep developing, keep learning from the guys in front of me.”

Bradley is certainly eager to learn from the likes of Joel Embiid and Dwight Howard on this Sixers roster. The two of them have a lot of experience with Embiid being one of the game’s bright young stars while Howard has a wealth of experience and is likely headed to the Hall of Fame once his playing career is over.

Bradley can learn a lot from those two players, and he said he believes he can be a stretch big in this league. That means moving to the 4 at some point.

“I played the 4 just a little bit,” said Bradley. “They were experimenting with me, especially with Rudy during the bubble. It was very brief, but just a little bit. I will be cool playing 4, but it’s all a coaching decision, but I wouldn’t mind it.”

The Sixers will eventually have to figure out his role on this team and that will happen when training camp begins in Dec. 1.

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Sixers big Tony Bradley eager to learn, believes he can be a stretch big

Philadelphia 76ers big man Tony Bradley is ready to learn from the veterans on the team.

When the Philadelphia 76ers acquired Tony Bradley in a trade with the Detroit Pistons on Sunday, they knew they were getting a young big man in need of development.

He played in 58 games with the Utah Jazz in the 2019-20 season, and he averaged 4.9 points and 4.6 rebounds off the bench playing behind one of the better big men in the game, Rudy Gobert. He learned a lot from the two-time Defensive Player of the Year winner and that helped him along his path.

“It was great just learning from him,” Bradley said of Gobert. “The things that he did on the floor, the advantages of having him on defense, things he’ll do by altering shots, his presence, just learning different things like that. I’ve learned a lot.”

As he heads to the Sixers, he will learn from h as Joel Embiid and Dwight Howard which will help further his development.

“I love learning and try to grow and doing different things to just improve, especially defense,” he added. “Coming to Philly now and Joel Embiid and guys like Dwight Howard, I look forward to continuing to grow, watching what they’re doing, see what I can take from them to improve my game, especially defensively.”

With the way the game is played, there needs to be more shooting from all over the floor, and Bradley believes he can be that guy who can help with shooting off the bench.

“I believe I can be a stretch,” he said confidently. “I shot three 3s this past season, and I made all three of them. I believe I am a stretch 5. I think that I can get the rebound and push it, take a couple of dribbles. I don’t have to go all the way to the basket; I just believe I can push the ball. Those are the things I’ve been working on especially stretching the floor, pick-and-pop, things like that.”

Bradley will get his first chance to show coach Doc Rivers what he can do when the team convenes for training camp on Dec. 1 to prepare for the season.

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Daryl Morey welcomes new big man Tony Bradley to Sixers on Twitter

Philadelphia 76ers president Daryl Morey welcomes Tony Bradley to the team on Twitter.

The Philadelphia 76ers have been one of the more active teams in recent weeks as new president Daryl Morey has been working hard to upgrade the roster in hopes to better compete in the Eastern Conference in the 2020-21 season.

The team has made big trades to acquire shooting to help Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons operate and they also made a couple of savvy moves that can be considered minor, but they will greatly help the depth behind Embiid.

The team signed Dwight Howard to a 1-year deal which is a big move as a guy the team can really rely upon, but they also made a trade on Sunday to acquire Tony Bradley from the Detroit Pistons. While Bradley does not have the decorated career that Howard has, he does have some good potential and he figures to be involved with the backup rotation.

New team president Daryl Morey welcomed Bradley to the team on Twitter along with some highlights from YouTube and Bradley thanked him for the warm welcome.

Training camp is set to begin on December 1 and that will give the Sixers the opportunity to really work everything out in terms of their rotation. [lawrence-related id=39420,39417,39409]

Report: Sixers trading guard Zhaire Smith to Pistons for Tony Bradley

The Philadelphia 76ers are sending Zhaire Smith to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Tony Bradley.

The Philadelphia 76ers are continuing to make big changes up and down their organization as they look to bounce back from a disappointing 2019-20 season.

They made a couple of big trades on Wednesday in order to improve their spacing and improve their ability to shoot the ball and space the floor and with those moves, it means others lose out on opportunities.

That is the case for young Zhaire Smith who has had a tough start to his NBA career since he was the 16th pick in the 2018 NBA draft. He only played in 13 games total through two seasons in the NBA and with the moves Philadelphia made, there is no chance for him to play anymore.

For that reason, the Sixers are trading him to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for Tony Bradley. He played in 58 games for the Utah Jazz in 2019-20 and he was traded to Detroit on draft night and he is now being sent to Philadelphia.

Smith now gets a new opportunity in Detroit where he should receive ample playing time while on a rebuilding team. He has a chance to find his niche in the league and be able to develop as a player. [lawrence-related id=39389,39384,39381]