Brett Brown has had a challenging year to say the least. Coming into Wednesday night’s game, the rookie Head Coach is 17-60 as they go through the motions in the final five games of the season.
But Brown will do more than just go through the motions. He admitted during practice this week that he genuinely likes some of his players. Though the record is not indicative of it, he said that the team has stayed together through the hard times, something he has admired.
It made his job easy as all he had to do was get through the them on basketball points and fundamentals, not just trying to motivate them or build chemistry.
“To this day, the group stays together. They allow me to coach them, we coexist well. They come early and stay after.”
As the season is winding down, he only will have a few more opportunities to be on the court or on the sideline with his team. Once the season ends, he admits that he will miss the guys and miss being around them.
Always active and “hands-on” during practice sessions or teaching moments, Brown clearly enjoys getting really invested in and getting to know his players.
“In an inverted way, in a twisted way, I’m going to miss coaching these guys.”
He’s going to miss them because he’s found himself getting attracted to some of his players as the coach.
“I don’t care about the record, there are parts of this team that attract me.”
Brown, a basketball junkie, has a storied background in the game. He’s made numerous stops to different places, including internationally to Australia, and has picked up many little things from the different things he’s been exposed to. He often talks about the great players he’s been around and coached, such as the fundamentally-perfect Tim Duncan, and so he has a lot of knowledge to share.
Being that he has been around a lot of younger, inexperienced players thanks to the roster Sam Hinkie has given him. The average age of the players (not including Jason Richardson) is 23, and so they are very green. That is likely why he is attracted to them.
Injuries: Nerlens Noel still has not been cleared to play, and so he will sit this one out again, same for Richardson as both players recover from torn ACLs. Byron Mullens is questionable with an ankle sprain. Kyle Lowry has a sore knee and is questionable for Toronto.
Game Notes:
- Jonas Valanciunas is expected to play for Toronto despite being arrested and charged with a DUI on Monday.
- DeMar DeRozan is averaging an impressive 31.3 points per game against Philadelphia this season.
- Toronto is on a three-game winning streak, and have won six of their last seven.
- The Raptors, who lead Brooklyn by two games, are closing in on their first Atlantic Division title since 2006-07, when they still had Chris Bosh.
Starting Lineups:
Philadelphia
PG- Michael Carter-Williams
SG-James Anderson
SF-Hollis Thompson
PF-Thaddeus Young
C-Henry Sims
Toronto
PG-Greivis Vasquez
SG-DeMar DeRozan
SF-Terrence Ross
PF-Patrick Patterson
C-Jonas Valanciunas
Prediction: Toronto, despite being banged up, avoids falling to the Sixers.
