Adjusting to a Late-Season Change

coach of the Saint Joseph's University Hawks. Look at how the seventy Sixers have gone about replacing him on this episode of the broadcast. Follow out There, seventy Sixers pod people, Hope you are doing great. Three seed all wrapped up down in the Eastern Conference. Team beat the Chicago Bulls convincingly needed to see a nice, solid victory, and the

Sixers got that on Saturday at Chicago. The Boston Celtics then lost to the Orlando Magic on Sunday at ted Garden, and as a result, the Sixers they were able to secure their magic number and the three seed for a second straight year in the Eastern Conference playoffs. We won't

know until Wednesday night, the regular season finale. Whether the six will play either the current sixth seed Brooklyn Nets or the Orlando Magic, which are right on the nets heels, they could wind up in a tie when it's all said and done. They could flip flop spots. Who knows. They're currently equal in the standings, but Brooklyn has the head to head tiebreaker, So in other words, stay tuned. Still got some time before we sort out who it will be the seventy Sixers open up with in the

first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. To subscribe to our podcast feed, We're gonna be all over it come the postseason. Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, tune in, anywhere you get your favorite podcast. Pocketcast is another one. Just go there, type in Sixers podcast network that will take you to our feed. My goal was to put this piece together for our previous episode of the podcast last week, but sometimes the best laid plans are just

that they lay dormants. They don't go anywhere. But I still wanted to get around to doing this commentary at some point, so I figured why not now when the schedules in a bit of a lull, there's a holding pattern. Sixers have got the three seed locked up and there's two games of no real consequence left on the schedule. But what is of consequence, especially as things move forward, is how the look on the sideline for the seventy

Sixers has changed. It is not every day that a team is in position to identify a new assistant with two and a half weeks to go in a regular season, especially with the playoffs right around the corner, but such was the case for the seventy Sixers. After Billy Lang essentially had to go right, he could not turn down the opportunity to become the new head coach of Saint Joseph's University. Is background, where he's been, what he's all about, it was the perfect opportunity. First, we want to give

a huge congrats to Billy. He's been so helpful here on the pod over the years, and we are thrilled that he's got this chance to lead one of the proudest programs in the country. The day the news was announced, he coached his final game with the Sixers, an important win over the Brooklyn Nets brought with it a special ring of the seventy Sixers. Postgame, a locker room victory beat.

By the time Billy Lange was done pulling the rope attached to the miniature metallic bell, he was so dassed with the water from aquafin to bottles emptied on him by T. J. McConnell and some other players. Then, after an appreciative fist pump and embraced with Brett Brown, it was time for some sincere, heartfelt reflection. It's been a blessing to coach you guys. It's a real out. I grew up in the city at the be here and just be any sort of part of it, whether it

was the process or this championship running. You guys are capable of going learning from you guys, helping develop some of you guys, being with you when you were injured, working for you, learning from you guys, being a part of a support staff that loved my family whenever I needed him. This is a blessing. Take advantage of what you got. Man. This will never be It won't always

be here found you Philadelphia seventy six Ers. With that Lang's and pactful tenure with the seventy six Ers had come to a close when a Brett Brown's original hires Lang's influence can't be overstated. He was as instrumental in fostering a winning culture behind the scenes as he was in changing the club's fortunes on the court. Every ebb and flow of Brett Brown's coaching tenure Lang experience too.

He had Brown essentially knew nothing of each other outside of professional reputation before they joined forces in twenty thirteen, and a successful partnership grew from there. We all accepted what we were going through. No one signed up for this in twenty and thirteen without an idea of what it was going to be. We might not have known the depths of it, but we understood what we were undertaking. But it's left a real sense of humility, and you get to this point and you actually feel like you

build it to come to this. He's the son of a coach. He was a head coach at I think twenty three. He knows Philadelphia in this area intimately. He's highly respected by coaches all over the place, especially in this area. He's a man of integrity. I think the pairing of him in Saint Joe's for sort of even spiritual reasons makes sense. I think he's just gonna take off, and I think that the timing in his life is ripe to accept this and grab it right by the

throat and take off with it. Lang wasn't only appreciated by his coaching peers, but players as well. He was the type of coach who would in value over for Thanksgiving dinner if you had nowhere to go, even if you are a Canadian. Here's a text we got from former seventy six or Nick Stauskus, who is Canadian, right after the news of Lang's hiring by Saint Joseph's became official. Yeah, Billy had us over for Thanksgiving a few years ago. The food was amazing. We got to spend some time

with his wife and kids. I'm really happy for Billy. He was one of the hardest working and passionate coaches I've played for. He has the kind of personality and spirit that's well suited for college head coaching. So I think Saint Joseph's made a great decision. There were plenty other acts of kindness that Lang was involved with as well. For one player, he'd serve as a supportive companion to a place of worship. I'm so happy for hum. He's my family to me who's been here since I got here.

Now I'm really close to his whole family, kids, his wife, then clude people. We sometimes you spend time together and then someone to time we go to church, so we've gone closer the past fall five years. I'm extremely happy for him. That's big Tom. I told him that definitely gonna go check him out. Whatever. Octo Lang provided a complete package. But just like that he was gone and the Sixers were left in need of a replacement. We found out Delay is going to be taken the job

at Sanchez. How do you address on the fly, like who do you see stepping up and taking all different responsibilities? Right um, rarely like when you're about to lose somebody when things come up, do you feel like this makes sense? Like it's a natural fit? What was the fit who made the outcome of this scenario such a win win? If you're the type of fan who follows these sort of things closely, you might have noticed not noticing Jim

O'Brien much this season. The respected wise veteran coach took on a new role this year as Brett Brown Senior Advisor. As a result, he willingly gave up a spot of the front row, so Brown couttet more flexibility structuring this year's staff. Jim O'Brien, the former seventy six ers head coach before last year, oversaw the franchises winning a season,

says the two thousand and one finals run. He was Brown's answer to have Jim O'Brien, you know, still with me in a conciliatory type role, has been with me all season to be able to take, you know, a former head NBA coach and a man of his experience that has been with me and knows me in the system and the plays and say, okay, coach, you know you're now coming in and sitting on the front of the bench again and assuming you know, sort of that leadership area with a defense it all fits. Really, is

it that palatable? Listening to Brown talk about O'Brien, it's clear there's a high degree of respect that Brown holds for the kind yet no nonsense Philadelphia native. There's a trust, even a reverence. Perhaps, Notice how Brown refers to O'Brien as coach with a capital C. Last summer, when O'Brien was modifying his responsibilities, Brown was open to just about any idea that O'Brien had. There was only one result that Brown wanted more than anything, and that was to

keep the sixty seven year old Saint Joseph Alum involved anyway. Anyhow, I sort of explored with him, how can I hold on to you? Because he's a wealth of knowledge. He's different than anybody on my staff. He's a man's man, you know. It was all about how do we keep you in the program and still sort of somebody that I personally can go to as a sounding board. He is my sort of confidant and you know, type of

mentor type of conciliatory, type of role. Jim O'Brien's life has essentially been built out of peach baskets, hardwood, and perforated orange leather. His basketball pedigree is lengthy, prestigious, and a reflection of his roots. His path reads like a history book of Philadelphia hoops. I've been in love with this game of basketball for many, many years, and it

all started when I was eight years old. Having coaches that had a tremendous amount of enthusiasm taught the values of the game, but most importantly, taught the fundamentals of

the game. Here are some of the Highlights from O'Brien's resume, mark Word Award winner at Roman Catholic, three year starter at Saint Joseph's during the Mike Banton days, playing for Jack McKinney, a season as a coach at Maryland under the legendary Lefty Drizzelle, then back to his alma mater on the staff of Harry Booth before joining former Penn

player and coach Dick Harter at Oregon. Later on, O'Brien would link up with Rick Patino, first with the New York Knicks, then at Kentucky, and also with the Boston Celtics, where O'Brien ultimately replaced Patino as head coach. O'Brien took the top job with the seventy six Ers in two thousand and four, led the franchise to a forty three and thirty nine record. He then coached the Pacers for four seasons and served as a Dallas assistant twenty twelve

twenty thirteen. O'Brien belongs to both the Saint Joseph's and Big Five Hall of Fame. He's married to the daughter of the iconic Jack Ramsey. He's a bona fide part of our City's great basketball lord. If I had a list, maybe the top five players by position that I've ever coached in the NBA might look something like this. Alan Irvison at the point, Paul George at the two, Paul Pierce at the three, Dirk Navitsky at the four, and

Patrick Gowing at the five. Well, what's interesting about these players? They all love the game, but they all need to be taught the fundamentals of the game, almost on a weekly basis. So if O'Brian wasn't on the bench the past five months, what was he doing exactly? Just about everything else that comes hand in hand with being an assistant coach. O'Brien still is in office at the seventy

six ers training complex and captain. He still tended practices and shoot arounds on a regular basis and took part in coaches meetings. His voice most definitely carried away. He just wasn't seen as much publicly. That is, and this is why O'Brien's whereabats during games. We're back in the locker room. Coach has the benefit back here of a delayed monitor. My first year in San Antonio, when I sat behind the bench, I had access to a delayed monitor right behind pop And what a six second window

gives you is just incredible ammunition. Like you're right. You think you see something in a game, and you look at the monitor and you know he either gets confirmed or something different. And so coach lives in home games back here with a delayed monitor, and you know, we come in at halftime and he's got a wealth of information or things happen in a game, and he will send out different thoughts as the game's unfolding. I'm always like in private meetings with him, just he and I

just talking. After every game, I get an incredible report of like what he saw, and so it's a collaborative type of thing that he and I especially have. He's a mentor to a lot of our young coaches. He's in every one of our coach's meetings, you know, and speaks when he wants to be heard. And so the transition from Billy Lang to Jim O'Brien is really quite seamless. Given how long O'Brien's been at it, over four decades in the business, it really does seem natural to see

him back out there engaging with fellow coaches. Calm yet deliberately delivering instructions and tips to players. There's no doubt O'Brien's doing what he was put on this planet to do. The passion continues to burn because he really doesn't have to do with this. Does he like his career? He speaks for itself. So what do you think like Petson's own at this stage of his life. I mean three things. First,

the love of the game, he loves basketball. To the relationships, you know, staying around a team, interacting with each other. And I think three the competition, you know, the joy of competition. To get him back with me on the bench after Billy Lange left is fantastic. Instead of scrambling, the seventy six Ers coaching staff has just kept on keeping on. The routines and rhythms have stayed the same.

For Brett Brown, having assistance who know their X and o's is of course important, but being surrounded by good, trustworthy people, whether that's Billy Lang or Jim O'Brien, that is what Brown considers to be the ultimate backup plan. I have a great staff. I think that we have bases covered. I say that out of respect for the people that I have and also recognize that Billy brought a lot to the table, there's no doubt about that. But I just feel like it's a rare thing that

has happened. It's going to be good for everybody, and I think that that we have bases covered all things considered, a good spot for the seventy six ers to be in at such a late stage of the year. Thanks for checking out this episode of the podcast. Next time we speak to you on the Pot it will be a playoff gave you audition coming out later this week. Should be sure to check your feeds and stay tuned. Talk to you that see him