Perhaps Jahlil Okafor’s 26-point NBA debut worked against the Sixers on Friday night against the Utah Jazz.
It’s certainly a possibility given the Sixers’ paint-drying pace in the 99-71 loss (see game story). After facing double-teams and collapsing defenses, Okafor still managed to fill up the stat sheet against the Celtics last Wednesday. As a result, his Sixers’ teammates seemed to defer to the 19-year-old rookie in his second game.
That’s understandable, but it really hurt the Sixers against the Jazz.
“They have Jahlil Okafor. They just saw him dominate an NBA game 48 hours ago,” coach Brett Brown said of his team’s languid play. “It’s hard to explain it any other way. You have to balance post and pace.”
Pace, post and space. That refrain has been Brown’s mantra this season and it certainly won’t be the last time he sings that chorus. Nor will it be the last time the coach invokes the name Tim Duncan and his role in establishing post play with an up-tempo offense from his days as an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs.
“I lived this for 12 years so I have to figure out how to grow it,” Brown said.
But Brown doesn’t have Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili or Bruce Bowen in the backcourt. The point guards and shooters with the Sixers don’t quite measure up, so for as good as Okafor can be as a post player, the Sixers will have to pick up the pace in order to have a puncher’s chance.
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This is no secret to Brown.
“We cannot play slow,” Brown said. “As good as I think Jahlil can be, that bothered me a lot. We need to play with speed.”
The slow pace doesn’t just hurt Okafor, who took five of his 12 shots from beyond 10 feet, including a 21-footer. It also hurts power forward/center Nerlens Noel, who though he isn’t as gifted as Okafor in the post, is a strong transition player. Against the Jazz, the Sixers got just 63 shots. Noel scored eight points and shot just 2 for 12. Five of Noel’s shots were 10-feet or longer and six of his shots were outside of the paint.
Though Noel has worked to develop a mid-range game during the offseason, he remains primarily a “track star,” as Brown called him, on offense. Without any semblance of pace, Noel is ineffective.
“We have to execute better in the halfcourt and we need to get more fast-break points and fast-break opportunities,” Noel said. “That starts on the defensive end.”
And yet the Sixers' defense was solid on Friday night. Though the Jazz won by 28, they shot just 40 percent. In the 34 NBA games played through Friday, only five winning teams failed to crack 100.
The defense wasn’t the problem.
“The offense is the problem,” Brown said.
“To walk it up the floor and get 63 shots and think we're going to beat many in the NBA, that’s not how you play. That’s not how I’m playing.”
It’s not like Brown and the Sixers have a choice. Two games into the season, the Sixers are last in scoring and next-to-last in field-goal percentage. Worse, the Sixers are 27th in pace after leading the NBA over the last two seasons.
That’s a problem and Brown knows it has to be fixed.
“As good as Jah is, we cannot play slow,” Brown said.