5 reasons Philadelphia 76ers can still improve without Ben Simmons
By John Buhler
No. 1 overall pick Ben Simmons fractured the fifth metatarsal in his right foot. Here are five reasons the Philadelphia 76ers can still improve without him.
Friday evening was a tough blow for the Philadelphia 76ers. Their No. 1 overall draft pick in former LSU Tigers point forward Ben Simmons broke the fifth metatarsal in his right foot in practice.
The 76ers have had ridiculously bad luck with lottery picks succumbing to injuries before their should-be rookie seasons. Nerlens Noel missed his first season in the NBA after wrecking his knee in college for the Kentucky Wildcats. Joel Embiid has yet to appear in an NBA game after a litany of injuries in college for the Kansas Jayhawks.
Philadelphia can’t seem to catch a break (pun intended) with their one-and-done rookies. Jahlil Okafor didn’t get hurt before the 2015-16 season opener, but he wasn’t without the occasional off the court incident.
So what if Simmons broke his pinky toe? He’ll survive and so will the 76ers. Here are five reasons that Philadelphia can still improve without Simmons playing for them on the hardwood for a good bit of this season.
5. Brett Brown is a good coach, despite his record
It doesn’t matter that his career winning percentage in the NBA is .191, head coach Brett Brown is still good at what he does. Brown was chosen for a reason to be the coach during The Process in Philadelphia. He stems from the Gregg Popovich tree of player development. As long as he is coaching the 76ers, they’ll find ways to improve.
Even coaching a roster devoid of experience and mostly bereft of talent, Brown still has his team playing hard for him. Offensively it has been a struggle in Philadelphia, but his team does seem to be cultivating a defense-first identity. Brown’s Sixers are more adept at using their athleticism to stop the other team from scoring than getting their own shots to fall.
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It’s not a winning culture in Philadelphia; frankly it’s a losing one . However, all that losing doesn’t mean this organization is dysfunctional. The 76ers chose to blow the whole thing up back in 2013 and everybody was on board. It just became too hard to stomach that much losing.
While Philadelphia continued to lose at an alarming rate, the blame was never put on Brown whatsoever. Fans would look to the front office and ownership if they had any gripes with the sanctity of The Process. The 76ers will still lose a lot in 2016-17, but Brown isn’t going to lose the locker room. For that reason, Philadelphia can still play better even without Simmons on the floor.