As the Sixers turn the corner from laughing stock to sudden playoff contender, Joel Embiid's emergence as a franchise corner stone is the talking point around Philadelphia's suddenly interesting basketball team.
But don't overlook the job head coach Brett Brown has done to help this team become a must-watch product again.
How good of a job? If the season ended today, the fourth-year head coach would deserve NBA Coach of the Year consideration.
Logan Ryan is a Sixers fan
Here are four reasons why.
1. Team has excelled since Brown settled on a 10-man rotation.
In late December, Brown and the Sixers stopped experimenting with so many different minutes and playing time combinations. Instead of equal rotations or disjointed weeks full of playing time decisions, Brown inserted point guard T.J. McConnell and power forward Ersan Ilyasova into the starting lineup.
Since that time, the Sixers have been one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference.
If the NBA season had started on Christmas Day, this would be the standings for each conference pic.twitter.com/ZBtSewpiJx
-- The Step Back (@The_Step_Back) February 1, 2017
2. Sitting down Jahlil Okafor.
Playing three big men wasn't going to work. When Joel Embiid is healthy and able, the Sixers simply can't rotate him along with Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor--meaning someone has to sit. The decision to scrap the Okafor experiment and make Noel the true back-up center has worked wonders for Philadelphia's defense.
3. Players are growing under his tutorship.
Brown detractors often Ultrabet asked if players were getting better under the coach often labeled as a teacher in a rebuilding effort. The efforts from McConnell, forward Robert Covington, rookie Dario Saric and Noel should answer those questions.
This pass from Dario Saric though....oh my.#MadeInPHILA pic.twitter.com/xocFvyfxSM
-- Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) January 31, 2017
4. This still isn't an easy roster to work with.
Yes, Embiid is the NBA Rookie of the Year. Yes, there's more talent now on Brown's roster than at any point in his tenure. But this still isn't close to an easy roster to work with.
From Embiid's minutes restrictions (handled expertly by Brown to keep minutes preserved for crunch time), to doctor's taking Embiid away for days or weeks at a time, to Ben Simmons' season-long injury, to managing egos and minutes for Okafor and Noel, to helping Covington overcome a brutal early-season slump, to the weight of expectations rising, the Sixers didn't look to have the ability to win 11 of 16 at any point this year.
Now, under a coach--despite an 18-29 record--that deserves Coach of the Year talk, the Sixers are in the playoff hunt.
Joe Giglio may be reached at jgiglio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeGiglioSports. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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