No, I don’t have any Markelle Fultz video.

Sorry.

When the gym opened up to media on the first day of training camp, the second-year guard drained a three pointer and shot a layup before walking off the floor and into the weight room.

And you know what?

Good. Who gives a shit? He worked all summer on his jump shot and we’ll see how he does when the Sixers play against the Sixers during Tuesday’s intra-squad scrimmage at the Palestra.

Brett Brown described Saturday’s session as “spirited,” with a lot of carryover from last season. He was asked about Ben Simmons’ shooting ability coming into the new campaign and agreed with Ben’s media day quote where he explained that he’s not going to be looking to shoot a ton of three pointers.

Brown:

“The notion that he was going to come back after the summer and (it was going to be), ‘wow, he’s shooting a lot of threes!’ (is wrong). The reality of the summer was going to be looking at the rim and if people back off you, find a way to feel confident and comfortable in punishing that. I think that he’s getting there. I think his confidence and his body language, his eye contact sort of looking at the target has improved.”

More notes from Brett’s availability:

  • the goal is to play in the NBA finals, that requires everybody to be on point while luck and health also play a role
  • the basic premise of a season does not change because the expectations are higher
  • He got to work with Elton Brand very closely since early June. He and others stepped up and “fell into their places.” Brown says the group showed a lot of friendship, collaboration, and recognition of goals. Brand was highly regarded in the group of people who ran the ship after Bryan Colangelo’s departure. “Elton and I are going to do this together. He’s gonna do his thing, I’m gonna coach basketball. I like how it’s played out.”
  • Players understood what specifics they needed to work on because they were given a roadmap 48 hours after the end of the Boston series. “There’s no mystery” as to what everybody needs to work on. The style of play is understood and the culture is defined.

Brown also explained that the corners of the practice floor court have been painted red this season because they want to get their players to get there early in the shot clock as a way to space the floor. Defensively, they also want the team to be aware of that area in terms of three-point threats.

Here’s what that looks like:

Rule changes

I asked Brett Brown about the new rule change, which affects how the shot clock is reset this season.

Here’s the full explanation from the NBA:

Shot Clock Reset – The shot clock will reset to 14 seconds in three scenarios: after an offensive rebound of a missed field goal or free throw that hit the rim; after a loose ball foul is called on the defensive team immediately following a missed field goal or free throw that hit the rim; or after the offensive team gets possession of the ball after it goes out of bounds immediately following a missed field goal or free throw that hit the rim.

This rule has been in place in the G-League for a season and it’s also applied in international basketball.

Here are Brown’s thoughts on how this will affect his team and the game overall:

“You know, it’s not as impactful from a strategic standpoint initially. Because I followed Europe and I like the self-awareness that our league has, where FIBA was playing around with it and we can go in there and look at it, and study it and determine whether it’s good or not and move on. We liked it. The league liked it. So do I. From a strategy standpoint, you would think that maybe there’s going to be more late clock situations, like there’s an offensive rebound, you better get into something because you only have 14 seconds left. It’s really not that. And we studied this thing intimately over the summer and what it really produces. To me, the biggest thing that it produces is that it speeds up a game at the end of a game. You’re not just sitting there chasing the ball around looking to let that thing melt. You have a chance now to legitimately get a stop. You may have to whack somebody and stop the clock. But I see it affecting defensive decisions more than speeding up the game to the point where you have to have a set play because there is limited time. It really does influence the game defensively and I think it makes the game go in a more sort of competitive way, especially at the end.”

Video

Landry Shamet looked fine, no ankle trouble, as he got some post-practice shots up with JJ Redick:

Joel Embiid and Robert Covington worked with Billy Lange on the far side of court one, doing a bit of post and three-point work:

Zhaire Smith was recently cleared for full weight bearing and is expected to return in December. He was out on the court today walking around, dribbling, and putting up some casual shots on a side hoop:

That’s about it for day one.