“Miss the playoffs for six straight seasons to start your career, kids… then, get back to me!”
It’s November 12 in Atlanta, and as the Hawks prepare to tip off against the Philadelphia 76ers (7:30 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast in ATL, CSN Philly), one question is foremost in locals’ minds.
Did Dennis Schröder’s hookah lounge pass its follow-up health inspection, or nein?
Like C-Viv, I think it’s wise to leave it to the AJC food critics to risk a bout of botulism finding the answer. 42 is only a cool number if you’re Elton Brand, now happily retired. But in my experience, a 42 at a Philadelphia eatery is good enough to earn 3 stars in Fodor’s. Whether it’s phine dining or pro basketball, Philly pholks have learned how to settle for less.
The real question is whether another balanced effort from the Hawks (6-2) would be enough to sink the S.S. Tankadelphia and extend a highly imperfect October/November run for the Sixers, now at 1-44 over three seasons after last night’s overtime win. Another 8-Straight Special from Thabo Sefolosha (20 points vs. CHI on Wednesday, most in a game since December 2013) shouldn’t be necessary to get it done, although nobody will turn that down. The Sixers were 0-16 to kick off 2014-15, 0-18 at the outset of last season, and roll into ATL 1-7 after splitting back-to-back games with former trade-target Jeff Teague and the Pacers.
Before Friday night, do you remember the Sixers winning in November? That last happened in 2013. Wunderkind Michael Carter-Williams’ not-quite-ready-to-tank squad was saved by America’s Happiest NBA Baller (Spencer Hawes) with a three-pointer with seconds to spare, then rose to a 6-8 record after pulling away from a lousy Bucks team in OT, despite 38 points by Milwaukee’s Caron Butler and 19 by Ersan Ilyasova. Three years later, Ilyasova is here to show everyone, if you CAN beat ‘em, join ‘em!
After arriving in OKC over the summer from Orlando via the Oladipo-Ibaka deal, The Turkish Turnstile found himself packaged with a protected first-rounder and shipped to Philly for Jerami “Fasolatido” Grant. The deal was done just a few days after the Hawks put the Sixers on slow-broil with a 104-72 victory at The Center. The game produced Philly’s lowest scoring tally since getting blasted by their coach Brett Brown’s former employer, the Spurs, last December.
For his part, Ilyasova (13.0 PPG in Philly, tops among players getting regular minutes; 45.8 3FG%) is doing all he can to show he’s fine sticking around for a while, hoping to post some career-best offensive numbers along the way. “The way we play, and the way the team is structured, it’s not complicated,” Ersan (14 points and 11 boards off bench vs. IND Friday, 3-for-5 3FGs) told the Philadelphia Inquirer last week, confessed with just a dash of unintentional shade. It’s a tad reminiscent of Philly comedian Kevin Hart’s refrain: “You see, the way my bank account is set up…”
Now, you know that feeling, right? Your first few days at the big new job. You’re fully qualified and skilled enough for what you’re about to get paid to do. But for a few weeks, there’s that helpless twinge of uncertainty about what to do first, and when, and how best to go about it, as more-experienced staff around you mill about, trying to get you all set up and up to speed with the goings-on while still getting their own tasks done.
Just me? Great, thanks. Anyway, Jahlil Okafor regularly has that “Undercover Boss” look on his face when the Sixers are on the floor, especially when they’re trying to defend pick-and-rolls. He has this persistent look like he sincerely wants to do something, and is just about to go, but isn’t quite sure what to do first. It’s squirrel-meets-deer. Nothing seems instinctive for Okafor (12.0 PPG), unless he’s getting the chance to post up the occasional shorties and slow-pokes around the rim.
This circumstance would be all well-and-good for just about any second-year player, even a lottery stud and a collegiate-champion Dookie like Jah. But not when he’s juxtaposed with fan-favorite rookie center Joel Embiid, who’s good for about one eye-popping maneuver every quarter he’s on the floor. Okafor’s learning curve has flattened with Embiid’s emergence, and traversing the curve will require less time than originally planned.
Everyone’s aware of Embiid’s minutes-restriction, fans counting down from 24 to zero each game like they’re Kiefer Sutherland. But few realize Okafor (20.8 MPG, down from 30.0 his rookie season) is subject to the team’s same short-leash. Embiid (25 points, 12-for-14 FTs) interchanged time on the floor with Richaun Holmes (12 rebounds off bench vs. IND) in last night’s game, and Okafor (under 3 minutes last night) will get Embiid’s playing time tonight, as per Brown.
Brown seems exasperated responding to a constant stream of media queries about playing time for his bigs, especially Embiid’s. He’s quick to remind people the floortime distribution has been essentially taken out of his hands. “I am a complete receiver,” he told CSN Philly after practice on Thursday; the “sender” is Australian doctor David Martin, hired last year to head performance research and development for the franchise’s Sports Science department.
Brown continued: “I sit here and I am told, ‘This is the deal.’ Who am I to say, ‘Well, I think that’s garbage?’” Many Sixer fans can relate, having grown familiar with this exact scenario for years now.
I’ve had absolutely no worries about the lukewarm-seat status of coach Brown, until now. In the old Hinkie regime, the Sixers could go 0-20 and no one around town would bat an eye; it was all about The Process. Perhaps excessively enlivened by Embiid’s exploits, and with Ben Simmons on the horizon for 2017, many more Philly Phanatics are now searching for The Progress, and expect Brown to deliver sooner than later.
It’s not just about fostering the green Sixer talent from season-to-season anymore. It’s the expectation that the coaching and training and sports-science will pay off dividends, preferably in the win column, as the current season wears on.
This time around, if the Sixer Slide doesn’t bottom out soon, there’s no telling what Colangelo & Son might pull, maybe wooing a good paisan like Jay Triano into the fold, asserting that perhaps all this shorthanded roster needs is a “new voice,” a “fresh perspective,” or some such. Maybe they’ll ask Brown to slide over to the lead assistant’s chair, who knows?
Hopefully, Brown’s former Spurs colleague won’t be cutting the 76ers much slack today. I always suspect that the Hawks’ Mike Budenholzer has a soft spot for his coaching cohorts when they’re under a little fire; maybe subbing too soon when Atlanta starts building up a lead, or giving struggling shooters and ballhandlers an extended chance to help the Hawks hold serve. If Coach Bud truly wants to give Brown a hand, he should continue beating his Sixer teams, then offer a canned Brown the vacancy created by Kenny Atkinson’s departure, a void that remains unfilled.
Even though Philadelphia is 1-10 versus the Hawks during Brown’s tenure, it shouldn’t be too surprising to find these Sixers hanging around, way too close for comfort for Hawks fans, in the second half tonight. Philly has had four small leads during the final few minutes of games before coming up short, three times versus 2016 playoff teams (Thunder, Cavs, Pacers).
If Philadelphia is indeed still in the mix late, it’ll be because they have shooters (Ilyasova, the thawing Robert Covington, Hollis Thompson, Dario Saric, Gerald Henderson, Nik Stauskas) hitting whatever open perimeter shots the Hawks grant them (they were a season-worst 5-for-18 against Atlanta on October 29). It could also happen if they can find ways to defend Atlanta shooters without fouling (0.245 opponent FTA/FGA rate, 8th-lowest in NBA, right behind the Hawks’ 0.240).
A close finish can also happen if Schröder, Paul Millsap, Sefolosha, and Kyle Korver continue to be sloppy with the ball, as they were at critical junctures while working through kinks in the offense against Chicago on Wednesday, and if the 76ers can capitalize by turning those mostly unforced errors into points. The Hawks now lead the NBA with 17.6 TOs per 100 possessions, many of them coming from trying to connect with Dwight Howard down low. But the Sixers’ 12.5 opponent TO ratio is second-worst in the league, and their 14.0 points off turnovers fourth-worst.
Schröder (5-for-19 FGs, 3 assists, 4 TOs vs. CHI), whose lack of command in the third quarter contributed to a lost lead and a quick pull by Budenholzer in favor of Malcolm Delaney on Wednesday, had similarly struggled in the season-opener, but bounced back two days later in Philadelphia (11 assists, 2 TOs, 4-for-6 2FGs).
Dennis will have a shot at a repeat performance going after Rodriguez and T.J. McConnell, two players who could use some help from their teammates in getting inside the lane and opening things up. Philly ranks last with an average of 5.5 screens leading to field goals, contributing to a dead-last 93.7 team O-Rating that doesn’t come close to anyone else.
Putting the game out of reach early in the second half with sound execution, and stemming all 76er runs, would allow Atlanta to once again get the rookie wings some burn and make the experience fun and worthwhile for Hawks fans venturing down to Philips on a Saturday night. Postgame party up at the DS17 lounge, perhaps? Well, maybe stick with Fresh2Order in the food court for the time being.
Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3
