Brett Brown and the Sixers can see the finish line for the preseason. The two-a-days of training camp, the injuries and the games in places like Albany, New York and Manchester, New Hampshire will be a distant memory soon enough.
So with a week to go before the Sixers open the season in Boston on Oct. 28, Brown and his players spent Tuesday’s practice cramming for the test that is about to begin.
At task?
Get the ball to the big men.
Brown saw glimpses of what can be on Sunday in Brooklyn with rookie center Jahlil Okafor and power forward Nerlens Noel. Playing together in the preseason for just the third time, the duo combined for 29 points and 16 rebounds against the Nets.
Noel assisted on three of Okafor’s baskets, and Okafor notched an assist on an underhanded, fast-break alley-oop that excited the coach. It’s something he hopes to see a lot more of during the season.
Wait a second ... seven-footers throwing alley-oops to each other?
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“That’s not what I’m saying, but relationship-wise, it is,” Brown said.
The chemistry is building between the big men on the floor and it was noticeable in how well the pair passed the ball in Tuesday’s practice at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. In fact, Noel said the combination of big men on the floor has actually created more space, not less.
Chalk that up to Okafor’s instincts, Noel said.
“There’s a lot more open,” Noel said. “Jah is a smart player and he knows I’m going to find him every time he’s open. There’s a lot more space because Jah definitely needs a lot more attention at the post.”
More than simply finding the big men where they can score, Brown spent a lot of his practice time configuring other players around Okafor and Noel. The coach said it’s similar to how the offense was set up when he was an assistant coach in San Antonio with Tim Duncan in the paint.
Figuring out how the puzzle pieces fit around two big men is going to be Brown’s most important task.
“Where does JaKarr (Sampson) go, he’s more of a slasher. Where does (Robert) Covington go, he’s more of a shooter,” Brown said. “Fortunately, I have a lot of experience dealing with spacing behind Tim Duncan and I have to do a good job with these guys."
Then there is the point guard position, which has been the biggest question mark for the team since training camp began. With Kendall Marshall and Tony Wroten injured and out until November or beyond, Isaiah Canaan has received most of the minutes in the preseason. Additionally, T.J. McConnell, Pierre Jackson and Scottie Wilbekin have mixed in at the position and guards Nik Stauskas and Sampson might be pressed into duty, too.
Whoever becomes the Sixers’ point guard will have to quickly learn Brown’s offense.
Get the ball to the big men.
“The quality that most stands out to me now is I need some help combining the speed in which we play and the reality that we have Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor on the court,” Brown said. “That can’t come from me all the time. So you’re trying to find help on the floor in the position of the point guard that can recognize gut-feel of the pace of the game.”
With the season quickly approaching, the Sixers are optimistic that they can make it work.
“It’s coming along really good,” Noel said. “We had a great practice today. It’s only getting better.”