It was a busy weekend and it was only in one tweet, so you may have missed it, but Brett Brown is telling people in the NBA that his team will indeed make the playoffs. This comes less than a week after suggesting otherwise.
Although very little has changed in terms of circumstance, Brown apparently changed his mind. After saying that the 2014-15 season will be “painful,” Brown claimed the Philadelphia 76ers are going to make the playoffs a year from now.
A week ago as a guest on the WIP Morning Show, Brown claimed that the following season will be another one of pain. He cited having a 20-year-old Nerlens Noel and the two draft picks, which will likely be two more 20 year-old’s.
“We’re going to take some hits, it’s going to be a season again of pain,” Brown said, via WIP.
The key phrase is “season again”, as the “again” obviously indicates he expects a repeat of last season. But unless he has a crystal ball, Brown ultimately has no idea what his roster will look like. He probably will have three new starting players next season when all said and done.
Despite not having that information, he is confident the Sixers are going to make the playoffs in 2014-15. While attending the practice facility of his former team, the San Antonio Spurs, Brown told at least one person, guard Danny Green, that he thinks his team will in fact make the postseason, according to NBA Writer Dave McMenamin.
It’s only been five days since the season ended and literally nothing has happened to the roster—it is the same group that went 4-32 from the month of February on. So it’s not like the 76ers just brought in some known asset that has inspired confidence. The only other possibility is the head coach watched the first round of the NBA Playoffs in the East, and somehow made the determination that his team will pass teams currently playing in the playoffs.
That of course can’t be the case so it’s an interesting scenario that promotes a lot of follow-up thoughts and questions. If Brown really does think a team that won 19 games can add a few 20 year old’s to the lineup and suddenly win at least 20 more games, than does that mean they really were “tanking” this season, not putting forth their best effort to win games? Then what does that say about the “A” effort he claimed his players gave all season long.
It seems as though Brown would be more optimistic with his fan base than his ex-players. Then again, it is possible that he was just publicly saying to expect pain to protect the expectations on him.
Or maybe he just used the extra week or so to really study the draft pool, and what he saw has him that much more inspired and confident. Or maybe he’s just throwing out a bunch of predictions and hoping one will come true.
Regardless, it was an interesting plot twist.
