Brett Brown Previews the Season

back in the gym in Camden this week. See a little hoops, guys getting up and down on the floor. I mean, from my standpoint, it's simply been nice to have some fresh storylines to talk and write about. New year, new faces, and with that comes new themes. Although the expectations surrounding the Sixers for better results in the next eight months or so ahead, you can make the case or even higher than what they were this time last year.

Brian Seltzer, welcoming you back to the broadcast or welcoming you to the broadcast for the first time, if you are a new listener, If you are either way, regardless of what category you fall into, Thank you very much for checking out this episode of the podcast. To subscribe, all you gotta do is go to any one of your favorite podcast hosting platforms Spotify, Apple podcasts, Google Podcasts,

tune in, Stitcher, SoundCloud, whatever it is. Just type in Sixers Podcast Network and that will bring you to our feed. And now that the preseason is underway, I think we're probably gonna have at least one fresh episode for you each week, if not more so do beyond the lookout. We'll hear from Brett Brown momentarily. But first, it has been a crazy start to the week. Well, I guess the week's almost over now, perhaps better put, the week

started in crazy fashion. He had media Day on Monday at the training complex, so much activity buzzing national media members in the house, people like Rachel Nichols, Zach Low, Brian Windhorst, Sham's Terrainia. Just really cool to see Camden become a hub of activity for media day and hype going into the NBA preseason. So there was media Day Monday, first practice of training camp on Tuesday. So I want to get started by taking stock of some of the

very first impressions we're getting. The twenty nineteen twenty seventy six ers. Last we saw Joel Embiid a tough moment for him, very emotional at the end of Game seven in the second round against the Toronto Raptors. Following an off season of hard work. The big man is ready to rock. My life is a movie. Everything happened so fast, and I don't know. Sometimes I sit back, I'm like, us,

that's crazy. I never thought I would have been ano setrition, and I'm really thankful Joelle's got a new do with braided corn rows shed some pounds over the summer for what figures to be a really big year ahead. It was definitely a really big summer for Ben Simmons, coming off his first All Star season, and he's now got a new long term deal. I'm happy to be here

for another five years. I don't really want to be anywhere else, obviously, so I'm excited about what we have going on and excited about the new guys coming in. I think we have a real special opportunity to do something, you know, major here. Yeah, and it's been really nice to hear about Simmons and his leadership to the first

early part of training camp. That was something that he talked about in his finals press conference of last year, following these second round exit to the Toronto Raptors, trying to become a better leader, and by all accounts, that seems to be the case so far. You to check out Lauren Rosen's right up on Ben Simmons and his leadership. Along with Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris also inked the contract this offseason, and he's been around a little bit over

the summer. He was on the court even before the preseason officially start. It's just been good because you see that everybody's open to feedback and open to criticism and just understanding each other personalities but also understand each other's game. What can Tobias Harris do in a more featured role. We're gonna start to find out a really important subplot for the Sixers this year. You know, I really just

can't believe that Al Horford is here. It's amazing that he's in seventy sixers, red white, and blue for Horford, the guy who formerly donned the green and white the last couple of seasons. The reasons to come on board here for the seventy sixers or evidence, You know, when I looked at the caliber players that they had, Joel and Ben and Tobias. Um It's something that um they that was hard to overlook right now. Spacing is something that Horford and Joel and Beat a working on at

the outside of training camp. Josh Richardson perhaps a not so secret weapon, but he figures to be an X factor for sure, and he's getting to know his new team this week. I think it's a new challenge. So you know, I'm super excited to see, you know, where I fit, where how our team meshes and uh, I'm always excited for new things and new challenges to attack.

So I know it's not gonna be easy starting out, but you know, the quicker we can, we can figure it out, and the quicker I can figure out where I fit and where I can help, I think it will be the better. But it's gonna happen. It's just

a matter of time, can't wait. I love that picture of the projected starting five at a photostation on media day, just hanging out, spreading good vibes, and one of the first opportunities to see members of that projected starting five and other guys on the roster is going to be this Saturday for the Blue and White Scrimmage at seventy Sixers Field House in Wilmington, Delaware, the home of the Delaware Bluecoats of the NBA G League. And then on

Tuesday down at the brand new Revamp Center. So excited to get back in the building and see all the changes, including that incredible scoreboard. Tuesday, the Sixers are going to host the Guanzoe Long Lions in their preseason opener. That game is going to be at seven o'clock and you can look for tickets by going to Sixers dot com slash tickets. So about the Blue and White Scrimmage that's going to be held on Saturday afternoon in Wilmington, Delaware.

The idea was conceived in part by Brett Brown, set to enter his seventh season as the Sixers head coach, and before training camp got underway, had the opportunity to sit down with Brett talk about some of the guys on the roster, his summer activities, his feelings for your head. But the first thing we brought up was the Blue and White Scrimmage. Why don't we start with where the idea for the Blue and White Scrimmage came from? What

inspired that. We have always felt that to conclude training camp no differently like than you study all week, you

come and take a test, we practice all week. A great way to conclude training camp will be to play and to have an in a squad scrimmage and let the camp because there's still quite a number of people before you make final cuts twenty to be exact, you have an opportunity to play, you know, a legitimate type of you know, scrimmage game with your own team and it can culminate into all the teaching and implementation of defense, offense, whatever at the end of the week into a fun environment,

you know, they can play a game. And so we have played that in different places recently at the Palestra, you know, try to like have a great interaction with the fans in the city. And this year we're really excited to be able to take it to Delaware and just show the importance and the partnership that we have with a G League program in Delaware and that will culminate the camp and tip off sort of the launching pad of our new season. And we're really excited to

bring this event to our partners down in Delaware. Tell me a little bit more about your impressions of the seventy six ers field House, because you were there for a game, and I guess common perception is that development leagues, minor leagues, that's going through the trenches. But down there, I mean that facility is spectacular. So simply speak to the facility and what having something like that does to benefit the overall program. I was blown away at the

professional of the event. You know, I can talk to you about the actual court, but what we should talk a little bit more about was, you know, something as simple as the ease of parking and getting to the building and parking and having a professional sort of you know, concourse that you're going through to get to an incredibly

professional court. And then you see, you know, off on the sideline there's some strength and conditioning areas and you look up and you see, you know, kind of a skybox thing looking down on the court that sponsors can be a part of, and you know, administration and be a part of. And then you see, you know, just a like a college type program, a college type atmosphere venue that you're sitting at watching a high level game.

You know, of a bunch of players that want to go play in the NBA one day, and many have and so all over the place, Like you drive down that you're not really sure what to expect and that's what you get. And you know, I look back at sort of odd days at you know, our old stomping grounds prior to us coming to this mecca, you know, this glorious basketball temple, that that's a hell of a venue for a G League program. And the trenches don't come to my mind when you start talking about what

path did you take. There's no hard knocks that are happening with the Bluecoats. They're in a very professional environment. I feel like I remember you telling lots of stories about how you would go to the Boston Garden growing up and taking pictures with your camera and that sort of thing. What do you think something like the Blue and White Scrimmage would do for a young fan? Just how intimately fans can be involved and see the team

be that close. I mean, you know, if you situate yourself in the mind of a family who might not be able to get to all these sold out games, what do you hope they get from the Blue and

White Scrimmage? I mean, first, what you just said the opportunity, whereas they may not have this opportunity, the opportunity to you know, see Joel and and get close to Ben Simmons and wants tobiases Harris gifts up close and see somebody like Alhof that we used to battle with, you know in a competitive way with the Celtics six arrivalry, you know, and to just see it and feel it

and just be a part of that atmosphere. I think for any you know, young coach, you know, young, young, young person even adult, like it's an experience if that's not something that you're accustomed to having the opportunity to go to NBA games all the time. And so that thing that we just talked about is really important. It's uh, it's that that saying you don't get a second chance

to make a first impression. We want to go down there and you know, give a good performance and respect the audience and gives something back in our own way to that part of you know, our relationship, our partnership with Delaware. That's the first thing. And the second thing is to to make a very defined statement like we

treat this program that we're working with seriously. It is a fet a system you know, my old coach now as the head coach, and we share you know, ideas and they implement our system and we can bring you know, Zaea back and forth, maybe motifs back and forth, you know, whatever it is, it is like it's a real relationship. And so those two things most resonate when you say, you know, ultimately what's the objective of the event, Those two are most important to me. Start with Tobias Harris.

What were your thoughts when you found out that Tobias resigned that was coming back to the team. I mean, first and foremost, just an amazing teammate, you know, a plus human being, incredibly prideful on wanting to get better, wanting to win. A talented twenty six year old, you know, going on twenty seven that just annually has gotten better. Like his upward trend, his upward mobility to improve has

been his sort of trademark over the years. You know, did you make a good investment and rewarding him with the contract that we did, And my answer is unequivocally quickly yes. He just ticks boxes all over the place. From skilled perspectives, from human perspectives, from teammate perspective, and there's an upside. So you know, all those things came to my mind when he agreed to terms with us. Off the court, like he's doing these clinics, like not

just basketball clinics, like your wellness yoga. What are you reading when he has like kids? There? Get me some stuff on like what you learned about tobias human being off the court that distinguishes him. Well, just go to his charities, you know, go to where he invests some of his money, go to where he invests some of his time. It's a it's a very real snapshot into who he is. You know, he doesn't have to do this stuff. Lots of NBA people don't do this stuff.

He chooses to do this stuff, and he feels clearly a responsibility to give back, like he there's there's a piece of him that he's very mindful of. This is calculated, it's not by mistake. And you know, you give credit to for sure, his family and his parents, how he was obviously raised. And then at some point all of us that have children, they leave the home and they're the world sort of shapes them. And he's been shaped,

you know, by both standards in an incredible way. To me, and you know, this is my twentieth year now in the NBA, and you've had a chance to see a bunch of different personalities and mindsets, and he is as as special as I have been around shifting to a new guy, Josh Richardson. Tell us what you know about Josh Richardson. Good people, you know, genuineness and authentic part of him that I'm incredibly attracted to. Like you speak to teammates and his old coaches and I've downloaded them all.

You know, anybody that had some level of contact with him him always like what do you think? Like what can I do to help him? You know, all that type of stuff. And I think the notion that he loves to play defense, just love it gets me really going, really excited. He not by sort of purposeful instruction. It kind of just evolved. He ended up maybe Miami's go to guy last year, and you know, is that who he is? I think at times it can be, but it's not like, you know, for us, that's what it's

going to be all the time. You get Tobias and Alan, Joel and Ben, Like I think he's going to come in and do his thing. He's going to fit in. He's gonna play defense. We're going to tap into him when we should. I suspect he's going to have the smallest player on the opposition team guard him. Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong, But like, how do we exploit that? And you know, you combine this just good person, authentic person with that type of mindset and like that type

of skill. Talk about a perfect fit sandwiched in between Tobias, al Joel and Ben. That seems to work on paper and in my gut sort of feel first glance impression just fine. And for Alan, how to have him on this side of the rivalry at this stage of his career. What do you guys get from having al Horford on the court off the court again, Like we're really where do you begin? And you you learn a lot about somebody competing against them when the stakes matter the most.

And we have done that with the Celtics and you just left those games that series, the times that you know I have coached against him, We've had a game plan for him. It keeps you up late at night and you feel like you did a few things. You took something away from the Celtics that was important to them, and you know there is some level of a win

in that capacity. Then you get him with us, and so now he's you know, under our roof, and you've learned over all the years of how he has heard us off pily, his unique ability to post and pick him pop and play out of like second side, deep durable handoff action, pick and roll action. So like you get that. I think he was one of the toughest

defensive players guarding Joel for Joel. I think Joel would admit that too, And so you know, win win, win, and and now he's a Philadelphia seventy six and sort of like, oh, by the way, stuff, he's just like an A plus person, Like he's an incredible locker room guy, a good human being, and you know, just thrilled to be able to have an opportunity to coach him. Ben seems like he has just been very active constantly throughout the summer. How much have you been following his activities

basketball related and just everything he's done. Went back to Australia for about a month. It seems like he said, a very active summer he has and I have followed at all, you know, from what he's done here in

the United States. I was in Australia while he was in Australia and not in the same city, but in the same country, you know, following all the stuff he was doing there with his camps, etc. And you know, he had the the incredible experience of signing a MAX contract, you know, over the course of the summer, and so we easily, you know, said, this is what we think

of you is a MAX contract. And the the growth that I think that he feels he has to make, and it's true to first just get better because he's prideful and he's certainly aware of the responsibility that comes with you know, that that sort of annointment of we hope to see you for a long long time, and he is the paycheck to prove it. I think he's had a fantastic sum of meshing all that tough stuff together and uh, you know, excited to come back and lead us. I standard. Our goals are to hold a

trophy up at the end of the year. And you don't cast that sentence out lightly. A lot of it is going to be put on his shoulders. He understands that we got a great team around him, but he still is out point guard and um, you know, I think that he's said a fantastic summer understanding all that stuff while getting better some random questions. See there's still some mud caked on your jeep. Tell us where is it? Tell me about the summer. Where did the mud come from? Yeah, yeah, yeah,

we're opening it up. Tell me about the mud, the cake, the mud and in the summer, what you guys did. Um. I had a fantastic summer with my my family. I had a chance to go for three weeks in a little beach house in between Adelaide and Melbourne and spend some time in Australia in that environment. It's a small sort of fishing village of about a thousand people that empties out in Australia's version of the winter, which is, you know, our version of like October. It's not snow,

it's just a little cool. And had a great time there. I took my eighty two year old father whitewater rafting. They said he was the oldest person to ever go down this grade five river. There were times that you weren't too sure if this was a wise thing, but it was effectively a six and a half seven hour roller coaster that went and it went, and as I said, a grave of people who whitewater raft Grade five rapids

are sort of the gold standard. And the jeep that you see in our practice facility parking lot still has sort of deep Maine maybe a little bit Canadian mud cake to it, but that is a reflection, a byproduct of a very deep in the woods experience with my son and my dad and my brother in Lauren and my young nephew who is a lacrosse player at holy Cross. It was a family thing, a bonding thing that that challenged some sanity, I have to say, in a pursuit

down a very rough river. So was that was that like an overnight pitch, a tent type thing or camp out or it was no, no, no no, because we did a few things like that was and I give credit to my dad. My dad planned the whole thing out. One day, um we went sort of deep into the woods and had some some guided boats that took us

fishing and a very very secluded lake. Um. The other day we had a chance to go over to an island and just sort of explore this incredible part of Moose had Lake Mount Kineo and had a great sort of day exploring that walking around and just sort of like remote trails. Then the other day we had this deep in the woods seven hour whitewater rafting experience and we were all sort of scented in the upper main at Moose Lake backs to National Park, State Park. To

be exact, it's tremendous. How you feeling right now? We're about or maybe you can even forecast ahead, Hey, feeling about everything right now? This is my twentieth year in the NBA. I'm going into my seventh year here in Philadelphia, and for me, sort of the compass, the judgment of like what was your someonelike is this is if you can sort of be incredibly excited to wake up and

get into this building and start working. You've probably you know, gotten through some pains of the Toronto series, the fatigue, the normal fatigue that we all go through an NBA season, the anxiety excitement of Elton, you know, forming the team that he has formed, and just get ready to jump. I cannot wait to get in my jeep, albeit dirty with mud, and get in here and start to get ready for what I think is going to be incredible season. And I'm just very very anxious and excited to begin again.

Love that focus from Brett Brown. Love hearing stories from the head coach back for your number seven on the seventy six ers sideline. Hope you enjoyed this edition of the podcasting, and new episodes are gonna be coming more frequently now that the preseason is here. We'll also have our Rewind episodes for you the day after every game, recapping all preseason and regularly season, plus a postseason games too, So be on the lookout. The feed's going to be

more active starting right about now. Talked to you next time here on the broadcast. Let see it