This Sixers 2019-2020 season has not gone exactly as planned, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Philly is used to a little adversity, because that’s what this city is, a hard-nose working town who's used to being the underdog.
Certainly the Sixers didn’t expect to be in sixth place in the Eastern Conference at this point with a 26-16 record. A big part of that has been their recent slide as they've lost six of their last nine. In my season preview post, I talked about how the time to win is now. Last year was disappointing because seeing that shot go in by Kawhi Leonard ended the chances of a team with a lot of potential to make a run in the playoffs. Now this year, it’s a new team with new faces, and it takes time to get on the same page and build chemistry. This has been evident with players like Al Horford and Josh Richardson. Recently, Richardson has played well, but he hasn’t been as consistent as I thought he'd be. Al Horford looks off, especially when Joel Embiid is on the floor with him because the spacing on offense is congested and not as spread out as Brett Brown would like. With Joel Embiid being out with a torn ligament in his finger, someone needs to step up. Part of the reason for the Sixers’ struggles has been creating chemistry, but also it's a leadership issue as well. With players changing teams from year in and year out, it’s hard to create a consistent culture. This is where experienced players like Horford and Tobias Harris need to take more of a role and become more vocal to inspire someone like Ben Simmons to step into a similar spotlight. Speaking of Simmons, in a press conference earlier in the year, Brett Brown said he’d like to see him shoot at least one three-pointer per game. Since then, he hasn't made a three. I like Ben Simmons as a player, I really do and I think he has a gifted skillset that not many people have. However, I still think he needs to be more aggressive in all facets of his play. The more he pushes his game, the farther he’ll go, and the Sixers will be better because of it.
Another issue has been consistency. As I talked about earlier, the Sixers have a talented roster, but I still think they need to add another shooter for scoring depth off the bench. It’s also unclear who will take the final shot when games come down to the wire. Last year, it was Jimmy Butler who was the go-to-guy, now maybe it’s Joel Embiid when he's healthy, but when he's not, who is it? It certainly isn’t going to be Furkan Korkmaz, I can tell you that much. I actually like Korkmaz and think he’s really improved his play, but if he’s your primary three-point shooting option, that’s when you know you have to make a move. He’s also clearly a liability on defense. One player who has stepped up though has been Tobias Harris. He has had one of his better seasons and has been pretty consistent. Through 42 games, Harris is averaging 19.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.0 assists. Also, rookie Matisse Thybulle has been terrific, especially on the defensive side of the floor. Even though he’s only averaging 4.6 points in 34 games, he’s shooting 41.8% from three and has 1.4 steals and 0.8 blocks per game. It's also a positive he's has played in 80% of the games so far this season, usually Sixers are not so lucky. Knock on wood that he stays healthy. Other than those two bright spots, the Sixers have not been able to cultivate enough consistency from the starting five to the bench players.
I don’t think that these issues should be attributed to coaching. Head Coach Brett Brown has been under the microscope for a few years now, and he has received some tough criticism because well, this is Philly. I would expect nothing less. The problem I have is that some of the criticism is invalid. Brown is doing the best he can with another different roster for the third straight year in a row. I know there are times where he frustrates fans, and I get that, he frustrates me too, but I think overall you have to see that he’s trying to rally this team together so they can start generating a winning streak to build that consistency and chemistry to be prepared for the playoffs.
It’s interesting to note that the Sixers are 3-0 against the Celtics this year. Boston is a team that have frustrated the Sixers for years, and now Philly will win the season series which may be important down the road since the Sixers are only 2.5 games back of Boston, who’s the three seed. The Sixers also defeated the NBA’s best team in the Bucks on Christmas Day at home, and they made it look pretty easy. However, Philly has not played well against the Heat and the Pacers, two more teams in front of them in the standings. The two (Heat) through six (Sixers) seeds in the Eastern Conference are separated by just three games. It’s safe to say that it will be intriguing to see if any team emerges from the pack as a clear two seed, because let’s be honest, no one is catching the Bucks.
There's a piece that was just recently published in The Players' Tribune on Joel Embiid called, “The Only Way is Through.” It’s a good read, and I’ll link it at the end of the post, but the takeaway I had from it was Embiid talking about this team in the playoffs and how the Sixers are going to be a problem for other teams. Hopefully that becomes a reality, but right now Philly has to weather the storm without their big man. When he gets back we’ll see how this Sixers team responds and prepares to try and make a run before the All-Star Break.
Link to Embiid’s Article in The Players’ Tribune: