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If You Try Hard Enough in Practice, the Sixers Will Let You Shoot Threes in the Game
By Jim Adair
Published:
Photo Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Over at Grantland today, Ben Detrick’s “What Hath Shammgod Wroten: The Emergence of Another Sixers Point Guard” rightfully drools over the devil-may-care play of Tony Wroten this season. But deep inside the piece, there is this almost Chip Kelly-esque detail about Brett Brown’s practices:
As an organization, the Sixers maintain a revolutionary policy toward shot selection; every single attempt in the practice facility is tracked and monitored. If a player puts suitable effort toward improving his outside shooting, he’s allowed to fling up shots in real, live NBA games. “It’s a partnership,” Brown said. “If you’re putting in the time and the work, you have the privilege of taking open 3s, even if your percentage says that’s not a wise move.”
But what does Brown mean by open threes? Ask Henry Sims, who was roughly four miles away from the nearest defender when he made his first NBA three:
Okay so tracking shots in practice isn’t exactly monitoring sleep patterns, but in a locker room devoid of veterans and veteran leadership, Brown is trying to let his team know that in order to play the way you want to play — even if you’re career .280 3PT shooter Brandon Davies, who has taken five more threes this year than he did in 51 games last season — you have to put in the work. As a result the Sixers are throwing up the 4th most threes per game as a team, so balls must be flying everywhere at practice.
When he's not writing about sports here or ranting about them on Twitter, Jim is probably watching X-Files on Netflix or drinking a beer somewhere. Jim has nothing against hockey, it's just not his style. He once met Duce Staley at a Sixers game.