Philadelphia 76ers: Pick And Roll Must Become More Effective
The Philadelphia 76ers and Brett Brown will have to find ways to improve on the pick and roll game if the team wants to see improvement offensively.
The Philadelphia 76ers have their main facilitator in Ben Simmons and have put some decent pieces around him to allow his transition into the NBA more to come more fluidly. Simmons’ major strengths and weaknesses have been pointed out many times since the day the NBA Lottery played out, but what pushed him to the top pick in the draft was his amazing passing ability at his 6’10” stature.
For the Philadelphia 76ers to maximize his game and find which current players “fit” with him is to improve on the pick and roll game that the team failed to gain any ground on throughout their historically bad season last year. A large part of that was due to the lack of point guard play that plagued team, which was somewhat solved with the reconnection of Ish Smith and Nerlens Noel. Simmons will ideally be able to resolve the issue long term. Noel and Jahlil Okafor both failed to form any consistency setting screens, and the offense became stagnated because of it.
Noel, who is the bouncier of the two centers, ideally would be able to roll off the screen quick and have an easy shot towards the basket but his finishing around the rim is questionable when contested. Okafor, who could become a much more effective player with a pick and pop game, failed miserably at setting any sort of decent screens. For the most part, Okafor’s screens became “phantom screens” due to poor positioning and timing which caused him to often miss his screen target.
When Okafor did hit the target, it was usually followed by an untimely roll or rare peel outs that led to an open mid-range shot. Without improvement from the two centers, the Philadelphia 76ers will have to hope for dynamic screen setting from polished rookies Dario Saric and Joel Embiid. The pick and roll game will open up a lot for Ben Simmons, and allow the team to see which players mesh together.
More from Philadelphia 76ers
- 3 Reasons the 76ers Should Poach Blake Griffin From the Celtics
- 3 Most Overpaid 76ers Heading Into the 2023 Season
- Ranking Daryl Morey’s 3 Biggest Mistakes with 76ers
- 3 Teams Crazy Enough to Trade for James Harden
- James Harden Putting Career in Jeopardy With Holdout Threat
Simmons is versatile enough to stump defenders on the pick and roll. If he indeed takes up the role as “point forward”, that would force the opposition to assign either their small forward or a quick power forward to matchup with him near the top of the key. This shifts the defense in multiple ways that make a successful pick and roll play almost unstoppable.
A good screen from the Philadelphia 76ers centers would force the defense to switch on to the ball, putting the a big man on the agile Ben Simmons, whose creativity with the ball allows him to get the rim with ease. Much like what the Milwaukee Bucks get on the offense thanks to the versatility of Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is more of an aggressive finisher at the rim, the Philadelphia 76ers should see a gravitational effect towards the ball once Simmons gets by the switch.
The pick and roll game not only allows Ben Simmons to get into the lane easier, it also opens up the offense for others. When Simmons gets by the screen, shooters on the outside will have more room to work as defenders. This is why the on-court presence of new additions in either Jerryd Bayless and Sergio Rodriguez become important. The effect also comes positively for the inside scorers.
The way the roll happens after the screen and the positioning on the floor is all important into allowing for an effective inside result from a pick and roll. Nerlens Noel should be able to be on the receiving end of plentiful alley-oop passes, while Simmons’ creative passing should allow for Okafor to work on the inside with his consistent ability to catch the ball down low.
The pick and roll is simplistic, which is why failing to do so made the offense ineffective. Opening up the court by attacking the inside will allow for the team to score the ball more, masking the inexperience of the Philadelphia 76ers roster.