Sixers still need a few good shooters
TRADING BASKETS against the Golden State Warriors on Monday was as frustrating for the 76ers as if they were getting blown away by the Western Conference power.
TRADING BASKETS against the Golden State Warriors on Monday was as frustrating for the 76ers as if they were getting blown away by the Western Conference power.
While their offense has improved dramatically all season, despite the various changes to the roster coach Brett Brown has endured because of injuries, it is truly hard labor for the team to put the ball in the basket on most possessions. Yes, the ball movement is good, borderline great some nights. And after being stuffed in the NBA basement in team scoring for most of the past few seasons, they have begun to climb their way out, by averaging 104 points over the past two months.
To score, especially with Joel Embiid sidelined for about a month with a knee injury, is a chore, and Monday, it became a frustrating one when the opponent did so with such ease.
In the first quarter alone, the Warriors had a possession where they grabbed a rebound and threw an outlet to Kevin Durant for two dribbles and a layup. Rebound, two passes and a Durant no-look to Zaza Pachulia for a dunk. A rebound after three offensive ones by the Sixers and an outlet to a cherry-picking Draymond Green for another dunk.
Meanwhile, the Sixers, tried, tried and tried some more, but rarely found anything easy. The want to run like the Warriors, play at the same pace, fire shots - especially threes - at a relentless pace. But the obvious is the obvious, and they simply don't have the horses to do it right now.
Two things are in the Sixers' favor, though. First, they should close the talent gap once/if Embiid proves he can stay healthy, top pick Ben Simmons gets on the floor, and they hit the jackpot in June with one or two high draft picks.
The other is that they are learning the ins and outs of the frenetic style they want to play; they saw firsthand on Monday how it should be done; and they are not far off.
On a night when Steph Curry missed nine of his first 11 shots, the Warriors have the other weapons to overcome that shortcoming. But it's more than just Durant and Klay Thompson scoring so easily. It's the rule of "good to great" when it comes to making the extra pass, upgrading a good shot to a great one. It's slicing and cutting through the lane. It's a team concept on a roster filled with individual stars.
The Sixers' goal is to fill the roster with stars and also to copy the offensive template of the team that has been to the Finals the past two seasons, winning a championship two years ago.
"I think Steve Kerr has done a great job with them, not trying to (overcoach)," Sixers guard T.J. McConnell said of the Warriors coach. "A lot of people would try to get their fingers in there and try to overcoach them. He just gives them a couple of sets and lets them play off of it. Credit to him. But if Steph isn't scoring one night, they've got Klay. And if he's not scoring, they've got K.D., and it goes down the line. It's a damn good team."
A little bit of an understatement. As competitive as the Sixers want to be against teams such as Golden State, they know to a man, and coach, that it is also a wonderful lesson on the future style of play under Brown.
"If we don't have that team stuff, we don't have what most NBA (teams) have - isolation guys, NBA All-Stars," said Brown. "That's just not who we are. Not one of them, especially when you start taking out Joel. So the pace of which we do things on offense and the fact that we share the ball, we move each other, we move the gym, those things are all we have to get that 100-plus points.
"These guys (the Warriors) have something (in) that they can score in bunches and they do it with multiple people. Klay can get 30 in a period. Their pace is different because of the stuff going on behind it. We are blue-collar. We fight for everything we get. It's a whole different species. It's a whole different set of resumes. It's ultimately what you need to surround the Bens and the Joels. You better come in with a host of shooters if you really want to go deep in the playoffs."
For the Sixers, it's all about the future, as it should be. The style has been identified, the understanding of its execution is getting better. Now, like so many parts to this rebuild, it is incumbent for the organization to find the dead-eye shooters to bring it all to fruition.
"(We're) attacking a backpedaling defense," said McConnell. "We're getting open shots and we're moving the ball. We're not doing anything special. We're moving the ball, we're cutting and we're spacing. People are finding guys, and it's just as simple as that."
It's even simpler when you're passing the ball to teammates who have the shooting capability of Curry, Durant and Thompson. The Sixers won't find those types over the next couple of seasons - nor, probably, will anyone else - but if proven shooters are acquired, things will get a whole lot easier offensively around here.
@BobCooney76
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