Past the halfway point, Sixers coach Brett Brown still looking for answers from his bench
The reserves haven't played with the consistency that Brown has looked for, especially lately.
More than halfway through the 82-game NBA season, 76ers coach Brett Brown is still looking to find the right combinations from his bench. Because of the inconsistency, it seems almost certain that the Sixers (26-16) will make a deal by the Feb. 6 trade deadline to bolster their depth.
When it was suggested to coach Brett Brown after Thursday’s practice that there hasn’t been consistency with the bench, especially wing players, he didn’t disagree with the point.
“Your question about the wings is true, we are trying to develop a little more consistency from that area,” said Brown, whose team will host Chicago (15-27) on Friday.
On the surface, the bench scoring stats haven’t been disastrous. According to NBA.com stats, entering Thursday’s games, the Sixers were 12th in bench scoring averaging 28.8 points.
However, many of the bench players, especially lately, have hit a major lull.
That has been especially true for power forward Mike Scott, who entered the season expected to play a major role off the bench but has struggled to get into his groove.
Over the last 10 games, of which three have been as a starter due to injury, Scott has averaged 3.9 points and is shooting 26 percent from the field and 22.6 percent from three-point range.
“I am just trying to figure out where our wings are shaping up,” Brown said.
In Wednesday’s 117-106 win over the Brooklyn Nets, Brown tried a new wrinkle, using 6-foot-6 James Ennis III at the power forward spot. What that did was cut into Scott’s minutes. Scott, who is averaging 18 minutes and 34 seconds, played 11:23 against the Nets.
Ennis, who Brown didn’t play in Monday’s 101-95 loss to Indiana, responded with a solid effort. He scored six points, shooting 3 of 5 from the field with five rebounds and a plus 4 rating in 15:28.
Monday’s game was the first time this season that Ennis was a DNP (did not play) Coach’s Decision. He has missed one other game with a stomach illness on Jan. 3
Ennis had been struggling before Wednesday’s win. In his seven games before facing the Nets, he was shooting 29.7 percent from the field and 23.5 percent from three-point range.
While he is never going to be a big scorer, the Sixers need better shooting numbers from him.
“It felt good to contribute,” Ennis said after Wednesday’s win. “I put the work in. If I don’t play or play, I am the same way and always stay ready.”
Complicating the bench production is Joel Embiid’s injury. Embiid has missed the last four games after tearing a ligament in his left ring finger in a 120-113 win over the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder on Jan 6.
Scott started the first three games that Embiid missed and Matisse Thybulle, who Brown has said he is looking to increase his playing time, started against Brooklyn and played almost 27 minutes.
Without Thybulle coming the bench, it hurts the already questionable depth.
Center Norvel Pelle, who has brought defensive energy, can only be with the team 45 days in the regular season because he is a two-way player. He is running out of days so the Sixers will have to make a decision on him.
Veteran center Kyle O’Quinn has not played in 11 of the past 12 games.
The Sixers got a big game from 6-7 Furkan Korkmaz on Wednesday. He scored 15 points and hit 3 of 6 from three-point range.
Yet Korkmaz, like the other reserves, has had stretches of inconsistency. In his eight games prior to facing the Nets, he was shooting 29 percent from three-point range.
And then there is the revolving door at backup point guard. Trey Burke, who saw limited time early in the season, had appeared in 12 straight games before being a DNP Coach’s Decision vs. the Nets.
Point guard Raul Neto has played in the last three games after being a DNP Coach’s Decision in five of the previous seven games.
Brown is looking for members of the bench to state their case.
“Not really anybody has stamped their foot and said ‘this is mine.’” Brown said. “You hope over time that that this happens in the event it doesn’t we will play this thing out and try to be wiser and smarter in the final third of the year as the run to the playoffs gets closer.”