Dario Saric | The Chris Murray Report: A Public Forum For Sports, Politics, and Culture

Rookie Joel Embiid is giving Sixers fans hope that better days are ahead in the City of Brotherly Love.

Now that the team appears to be making progress, the phrase “trust the process” is no longer a laughing matter for the Philadelphia 76ers.

By Chris Murray

For the Chris Murray Report and the Philadelphia Sunday Sun

When Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown visited the Philadelphia Eagles training camp at Nova Care, he told reporters that he could see the light at the end of a long tunnel with his young team, expressing some cautious optimism with the pending debut of Joel Embiid and No. 1 draft choice Ben Simmons.

So far this season, Brown has a reason to believe that this light at the end of the tunnel is no longer an oncoming train.

Fans are starting to see some semblance of progress thanks to the way that the Sixers (14-26) are playing. While that probably won’t lead to a playoff spot this year, you get the feeling that a playoff game at the Wells Fargo Center isn’t beyond the realm of possibility.

“We’re all starving for some success, we’re starving for some good feelings and some wins,” Brown said. “Fans are dying for us to get this right and pull this off. This city and these fans deserve it.”

The Sixers have won seven of their last 10, three of which came against playoff teams, the most recent being a 94–89 win over the Toronto Raptors (28-14).

The Raptors took the NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games in last year’s Eastern Conference finals and currently have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.

His team’s effort on defense over these last 10 games is something that Brown can be proud of. The Sixers held a Raptors squad that averages about 111 points per game to just 89 points.

“We’re playing with a defensive mindset,” Brown said. “There is a belief in each other amongst the team that it’s the best that it has been since I’ve been here. There’s a rhythm to what we’re doing, there’s a beat to what we’re doing.”

One of the obvious reasons for the Sixers current run of success has been Embiid, who despite being limited in terms of minutes has proven that quality is far more important than quantity. He has scored at least 20 points in his last 10 games.

In the win over the Raptors, Embiid scored 26 points and pulled down nine rebounds. It was his defense and clutch free-throw shooting in the last 30 seconds that enabled the 76ers to come away with the victory. On the defensive end, Embiid came up with a huge block and rebound of a shot by Raptors guard Kyle Lowry. He sank four free throws.

“When you have a five man that can make free throws … if you can find a five man that has the defensive presence that Joel has and isn’t a liability on offense when they start fouling. … If they wrap him up and he’s a 40 percent free-throw shooter, you’ll have problems,” Brown said. “[Embiid] shot 32 free throws in the last two games. So apart from the percentage, the volume that he gets there (free-throw line) makes it a luxury, too.”

Embiid said the biggest takeaway from beating Toronto was the confidence they gained from beating a playoff contender like the Raptors.

“Winning against the second-best team in the Eastern Conference is just amazing and we’re going to keep on working,” he said. “Everybody is buying into the system and coaches are doing a great job of preparing us and everybody has bought in and we’re playing good basketball.”

Brown said he was really impressed with Dario Saric’s commitment to contribute on the defensive end. In the second half of the Raptors game, Saric had two consecutive blocked shots including one against Raptors power forward Jared Sullinger.

Known as a guy who likes to hit the outside shot, Saric has really made a commitment to playing defense.

“I try to bring the teams some kind of energy,” Saric. “I just want to be in the game.”

The Sixers aren’t ready to be a playoff team just yet, they’re still are a work in progress and that’s what the fans want to see. They want to root for a team that’s moving in the right direction.

Finally, fans have a reason to trust the process.

Sixers head coach Brett Brown can’t wait for the season to start. Photo courtesy of Philly.com

By Chris Murray

For the Chris Murray Report and the Philadelphia Sunday Sun

Because he hasn’t had much of a team to work with, Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown hasn’t had a lot of reasons to feel optimistic about an upcoming season.

In fact, the Sixers have been so bad that the only thing they’ve had to look forward to is possibly getting enough ping-pong balls to get the No. 1 draft pick.

But if you bump into Brown these days, there seems to be a little bit of pep in his step.

About two weeks ago, Brown shared his enthusiasm about the Sixers upcoming season with reporters while hanging out at Philadelphia Eagles’ training camp.

And much of that enthusiasm is spelled B-E-N S-I-M-M-O-N-S

“Just that there’s a real delineated feeling of hope,” Brown said. “I feel that we all ought to look at people and players that we believe can be with this organization and in this city for a long time. That although they are young and they are still 20-years-old, they’re talented.”

Simmons, the team’s No. 1 draft choice, showed glimpses of his tremendous potential during the games he played in the NBA’s summer league. If you got a chance to watch Simmons play, you saw a kid who made his teammates better by his court vision and passing ability.

When Simmons did score, he proved that he could use his athleticism to take the ball to the bucket, but he still needs to work on his jump shot.

With center Joel Embiid apparently 100 percent after his longtime foot injury and the recent addition of Dario Saric, who shot 40 percent from three-point range, and the team’s big men, including Jahlil Okafor and Nerlins Noel, the Sixers are looking like they have the beginnings of what could be a decent team.

Granted, no one is expecting to see the Sixers in the NBA Finals or even the playoffs, but there are some good young pieces that could really make some noise if a veteran is added through a trade or via free agency or another strong player can be added through next year’s draft.

At the very least, the motor is running for the Sixers, but how fast this car will go is anybody’s guess at this point.

“We’ve got a team that we’re excited about, that we think can put more wins on the board,” Brown said. “We understand that’s become more a part of our blueprint in our judgment day and it should.”

During his impromptu confab with reporters, Brown talked about the potential of Embiid despite not yet taking the floor in an NBA game. The former Kansas star is on pace to play this season even though he did not participate in summer league competition, Brown said.

“(Embiid’s) summer is going to the way we hoped,” Brown said. “We’ve crafted a plan, we’ve scripted a plan from him that he is following religiously. When we start talking about all these different pieces, the city is going to see something very unique in a seven-foot-two that has a skill package that is exceptional.”

Brown’s excitement about the upcoming season is about the potential of Simmons with his size and the playmaking ability of a point guard. He said how Simmons plays on the court will determine what position he will play with the team.

“(Simmons) is going to have some taste of that for sure. You know he will dictate that himself when he rebounds and leads the break,” Brown said. “The NBA point guard is the hardest position in the NBA. He’s never played a point guard, let alone an NBA point guard. … Initially, we’re going to play him in different positions and (point guard) will be one of them.”

With his 6-10 and 240-pound frame, Simmons can play multiple positions to help the Sixers, Brown said.

The Sixers will need to add some additional pieces and if they win more than 10 games next season, it will be seen as progress, especially considering how badly this team has been for the last few years. Any movement upward for the 76ers should be considered a step in the right direction.