Brett Brown is only hurting the 76ers.

The Philadelphia 76ers lack offensive identity, thanks to Brett Brown’s turnover dependant philopshy and inability to form the right combination of players on the floor.

Regardless of the stature of Brown’s lineup this season, multiple players frequently cut in the lane and meet at the same spot. Players penetrate and pass until there is only enough time on the shot clock to hurl up a low percentgae shot on the floor. Brown’s offense is littered with lazy passes, little to no off-ball movement, and incoherence.

And no, the incoherence is not due to new personnel unfamiliar with how to play with one another. The same excuse was used a season prior when Philadelphia acquired Jimmy Butler, yet that combination of players never seemed to develop offensive cohesion. The Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Miami Heat, and a handful of other teams are playing great basketball with almost entirely new lineups this season.

Their coaches do not prolong the chemistry process nor make excuses, rather, they hold their players accountable and form efficient combinations of players.

There is no excuse as to why one of the game’s most dominant Centers should be hovering around the perimeter for a majority of games, waiting to launch three-point attempts. Not to mention, he owns the lowest usage percentage of his entire career this season.

Joel Embiid is scoring 9.3 Points in the Paint/Game, his lowest mark since 2016. Also, he is posting an offensive rating of 103.4 (his lowest total since 2016) and shooting 35% on Mid-Range Field-Goal attempts (career-low).

When Embiid touches the ball for less than 2 seconds, he is shooting 52.7% from the field (42.9% 3P%) this season. However, when he touches the ball from 2-6 seconds, his field-goal percentage drops to 37.5% (20.0% 3P%). This is likely due to where Brown deploys Embiid on the floor, forcing him to attempt to dribble his way through a crowded paint to find a good look. 

Embiid is Posting-Up opponents 8.6 times per game this season, slightly above his career average (8.2 Post-Ups/Game), but he is attempting a career-high 4.3 three-point shots per game. Otherwise, his free-throw attempt rate fell from 54.1% in 2018 to 48.5% in 2019 and his 6.3 paint-touches per game in 2019 ranks 18th among qualifying Centers (nearly ties a career-low).

A career 32.0% shooter from beyond the arc, Embiid’s current 41.2% three-point percentage seems unsustainable. Likewise, Embiid has turned the ball over more due to losing it, rather than making a bad pass, in all but one of his three seasons.

Having said that, Brown can not continue to allow Embiid to leisurely hover around the arch nor tolerate him setting high-post screens and rolling outside to the perimeter. A Center should not be consistently playing 18 feet from the basket and should never have to dribble the basketball at least five times before he can even position himself near the basket.

Some argue that Brown is advising Simmons to refrain from jump-shooting and just hunting high-percentage shots. Although that can neither be confirmed nor denied, a head coach cannot be content with his point-guard dribbling down the court, handing offensive responsibilities over to other players, and camping on the low block for an entire possession.

This offensive set-up is a regular occurrence for Philadelphia, and even if it is Simmons’ doing, a coach cannot recognize that and continue to allow that.

Aside from Philadelphia playing a near 4-on-5 in the half-court due to Simmons’ neglect for creating and shooting, he has concerningly regressed in this offense.