I wish Brett Brown would stop saying, “I don’t know.”
The other day, the Sixers head coach gave a triple “I don’t know” when asked how he planned to use newly signed power forward Dario Saric.
During last season, he said he didn’t know how he was going to get young centers Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor to work cohesively on the court, and their season-long struggles went on to prove he did not figure it out.
He has intimated that he doesn’t know if he wants prized rookie and No.1 overall draft pick Ben Simmons to play as a “point forward” or a “point guard.”
I understand the context of the statements concerning Saric and Simmons. Both responses were light-hearted in light of the players' versatility and the fact that those are good problems to have.
But Brown isn’t in a position to make throwaway comments about uncertainties.
His career record is 47-199, and going into the fourth season of this rebuilding project, Brown should be constantly projecting confidence that he knows exactly what he’s going to do concerning the Sixers.
Saying “I don’t know” about players who are considered vital cogs in moving this program forward does not do that.
I’ve said consistently that I believe Brown is a quality NBA head coach and would prove that when Sixers management provided him with a legitimate NBA-caliber roster.
It has taken three seasons, but with Simmons, Okafor, Saric, Noel, hopefully double-redshirt center Joel Embiid and some veteran additions in free agents Jerryd Bayless, Gerald Henderson and Sergio Rodriguez, Brown should finally have a core unit that is at least capable of competing.
He has to show he knows what to do with it.
With some rough cards dealt to him, Brown has a winning percentage of .191. Not too many coaches can survive a start like that -- much less turn it into a two-year extension.
I include myself among the people who say judging Brown solely by his record is unfair because management handed him rosters filled with players who did not have the talent to compete on the NBA level.
Legendary coaches such as Red Auerbach, Phil Jackson and the San Antonio Spurs' Gregg Popovich, Brown’s mentor, would also have a winning percentage below .200 if they had the players he’s had to work with.
Others, however, are not as conciliatory to Brown.
A coach’s job is to do the best with what he has. They see the fact that Brown is 152 games under .500 and conclude that nothing justifies a record that putrid.
They’ll say that no player Brown has coached with the Sixers has improved significantly under his guidance.
Even I have to admit that if you look at Brown’s resume without considering the qualifiers, it’s hard to argue in support of him, other than taking a longer leap of faith.
Brown has produced a worse record in each season, culminating in the disastrous 10-72 campaign of 2015-16 that included a record-setting losing streak, eclipsing the one he had previously equaled. Of the many questions surrounding the Sixers, the biggest might be is Brown truly the coach to move this program forward.
There is a buzz, however, about the Sixers that has been missing for a while. Along with that comes an expectation of significant improvement – probably something between 15 and 20 more victories.
A bad start in which Simmons, Saric, Okafor, Embiid, et cetera appear confused or lost without direction will turn up the heat under Brown. And when the questions come, “I don’t know” won’t be an acceptable response.
While it appears that Brown and new president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo are on the same page, it cannot be forgotten that Brown is not Colangelo’s hire.
The promise made is to take this to the next level, and everyone will be scrutinized. A commitment to Brown could be tied solely to any success he will have.
“I don’t know” isn’t an answer Brown should give about anything concerning the future of the Sixers. This is a time when he should say things to reassert confidence that he knows exactly what he is doing.
