The BroadCast: 1/31/2019 ~ Assistant Billy Lange Examines Defensive Growth

getting a little bit more comfortable now. I really think it is we need them to lock into every possession. We are not there yet. I'm just going to be honest. We're not there. We don't take that level of concentration to every possession. But we're trending in a good way as the numbers been around. That's assistant coach Billy Lang. He oversees the Sixers defense and he'll be our guest on this episode of the broadcast. Greetings seventy Sixers podcast

people from the West Coast of the United States. The seventies Sixers road Trip rolls on, as does our podcast feed right and Seltzer is saying hello, Sixer has been doing some good stuff as of late, and once again we are set to wrap up a month of January under the coaching tenure of Brett Brown, and we look back over the last thirty days or so and you can say with pretty good authority that the Sixers have been making headway. That's been the case the last couple

of years. It seems like January as the time that this team comes together. And definitely, at least for me, what stood out with the exception of that Denver game, aside when the Sixer has had some circumstances working against them, the defense has been really, really solid as of late, and that is a good sign. That has been the calling card of this club with Brett Brown as coach.

And we're going to dive into some of the nitty gritty details of what the Sixers has been doing as of late, but also how things were set up this year on the defensive end of the court and what changed and how the team has had to adjust since the Jimmy Butler trade and also bringing in a guy like Corey Brewer or making some other personnel tweks. We're going to talk to billing in a sixth season as

a Sixers assistant about that. But before we get started, a reminder that to subscribe the podcast, you can do a couple of things. You can go to Apple Podcast, you can go to Google Play, you can go to stitchers SoundCloud. Tune in, type in Sixers podcast Network that will take you to our feed. So if you watch the Sixers game against the Lakers earlier on on this road trip, a game the Sixers one twenty one to one oh five, the start of that game was nuts.

It was totally out of control of the Sixers came out out of the gates with defensive stoppers Joel and b Jimmy Butler and Wilson Chandler back in the mix. They're just flat out punched the Lakers in the mouth. They were swarming, they were aggressive, They created turnovers. They had seven turnovers in the first I think it was six minutes, and at that point had fourteen points off turnovers.

They were scoring off miss shots, and I really felt the defensive intensity helps set the tone for that game, and that's been emblematic of a larger growing trend for the seventy sixers. When we look back over the last two weeks. Since the fifteenth of January, the Sixers have been the third best defense in the NBA, and they're putting up numbers in terms of their defensive rating that would put them good enough for fourth overall in the league.

So the Sixers, they made some adjustments in the offseason and they've been growing. I think there's been more cohesion so that it'd be a good time to pull up a chair. As you'll hear where with assistant coach Billy Lange has been with Brett Brown since day one for the seventy Sixers left Santa Monica and route to San Francisco to continue this four game Western Conference road trip. This is a message out there for our wives. If you're listening, what you hear in the background, perhaps the

rolling crescendo of waves, the rustling of palm trees. It's not that it's just ambient static in the atmosphere. Natural things had happened when you podcast, right, Billy, that's right. I'm just happy this is not on video. True true statement. So maybe in our minds we can just imagine that we're only about fifty feet from the Pacific Ocean. It's around seventy degrees sunny, a nice breeze coming in on the West coast. Seventy six is picking up a great

twin against the Los Angeleslers. So right now, at this very moment, life is excellent, Yes it is, it is. But we do have the Warriors coming up in like a little over twenty four hours so and then that'll be excellent because it's a learning experience. But we're blessed man. We do what we love to do regardless of the results. We have to always remind ourselves look at what we're doing, you know. And we've got great supportive families back home

and you know, our coaching staff. This is something Money and I talk about all the time, just how you know strong our wives are, our families are for us to be away from them. And the same thing goes with the players, you know, like we look at these guys as these young, invincible people, but they're away from support staff a lot. That's where earth they're support system.

I should say. It's why it's great to see a lot of these parents that are able to fly and watch their children play, you know, because there's still their children even if they're they're in their mid twenties. These are their kids. We've got a great basketball family with the seventy six ers, but we have to remember that we have these families back home, and we're just really blessed to have the sport we do. It's funny is

still a relatively fresh father myself. I'm looking at the game against the Lakers the other night, and there down to the corner of the base line is Dave Simmons sitting watching Ben put together another terrific performance. And I'm like, this guy who's really played the sport at about as high level as you could without being in the NBA and talking about Ben's dad, but it's still got to be just such an amazing feeling to sit there and see your kid do something to the level that Ben does.

It must be unreal, I'll tell you what's crazy. Actually, that same thought after the game yesterday. Really yeah, just you know, because you're on this stage in Los Angeles, you know, it's a state, right and you're you're watching your child play, and that your son's in the NBA, you know, and you know, think about all the things that the Simmons had to do and all these parents had to do to help get their children here, the commitments they made, the sacrifices they made, the dollars they spent.

You know, they made a decision to move, you know, to come to the United States to get Ben against the competition over here. For all these kids. I mean, you know, Joel and Beat left the country, left his family to come over here to play. You know, it's all the hours that you know, t J. McConnell's father spent with him in the gym. It's just a huge commitment.

So to see their children on this stage and in this limelight of Los Angeles, and then they probably still remember holding them and burping them and giving them passifiers on all the things you're going through right now. You probably understand what a binkie is more now than you did a year ago. And you know, this is just part of life. But it has to be really cool for them to see that. So the Sixers bounced back, got the full personnel back against the Lakers, and the

start of that game was outrageous, really was. It was like when you think even Sixers basketball to warp speed, aggressive, defensively, keen, scoring opportunities on the break, scoring off missus, Like what was going on? What did you see happening at the started Well, I want to go back to something you said about full roster. It's just important we never make

excuses for missing people. Okay is particularly coach Brown. I mean, he's been here for six seasons, so in the first few years of some people could say we were missing the whole roster, right, So this is just what we do. We have to coach, and we really challenge our players after the Denver game because a lot of those guys that were on the quarter still in our rotations and

we trust them and we believe in them. And some of the things, the mistakes or noncommittal things that they made on the defensive end, and then some of the things we did in the on our offensive end in the second half. We're not accepting that just because Wilson, Jimmy, and Joel were not on the floor, but we do understand the impact that they make. What you saw last night was probably the result of a challenge to those other players to step up and then bringing back those

three guys. And we're going through a little collision here right now, particularly on the defensive end, meaning this you can not win in the spring and summertime if you do not play solid possessions, valuing each detail, because the offenses are not going to turn to basketball over They're just not going to do that. That's why they're in

the playoffs. However, because of Jimmy, because of Joel and who he is, and Ben and who he is, and TJ and who he is, we have this element, like this explosive element that we probably have not had here where we're able to jump on people. So now we have to find a way to balance that. This is what I think Golden State has done a great job of.

They gamble a lot. Golden State. They are in the passing lanes, they leave an assignment to go randomly double the ball, and they all rotate and play off each other. But then when they have to play Cleveland or Lebron or they've got to go against Boston and they have to just lock in and be solid and just protect the basket and get a key stop, they're able to find that balance. We're going to have to find that movie forward. But it's pretty cool that we're adding this

other element right now. Where do you see things defensively at this stage of the season, just past the fifty game mark. I know you guys are always striving for more. But really, I guess a lot of people have made a lot of this stretch that you could say started back with the home game against Minnesota, and since that point, you guys are number three in the league defensively in terms of defensive rating, almost right at number two where

Boston is. So where have you seen some evolutions, some growth because as you said, like there have been stretches when Jimmy wasn't available for the last three game. Yes, no, I mean if you take the whole Minnesota game and the whole Indiana game, and then the second half of the Oklahoma City game, and really maybe quarters two through four, and then the whole game against Houston, we were amazing.

We were not great against San Antonio because the result was not great, and part of that was San Antonio played amazing. It really did. That was just a well played basketball game, and that's going to happen at this league. You have an effective offensive players that can do a lot of things. But what we did in the last four minutes that game, particularly the last two and a half, we're just really in line with what the team had done prior to that. Since Minnesotas you allude to, where

I see us right now is still growing. You know, a guy like Jimmy Butler has been in the same defensive system for almost his entire career, and even though things really don't change that much from team to team, we have a few nuances that are unique to us, and he's getting adjusted. Wilson Chandler is healthy and now learning.

He's a twelve year veteran or maybe even more that's done a lot of things in a different way, and now he's getting accustomed to our mantra of trying to take away the open three point shot, because you're going to need that as you progress forward in the springtime. And guys are just getting a little bit more comfortable now. I really think it is, Brian, we need them to lock in to every possession. We are not there yet.

I'm just going to be honest. We're not there. We don't take that yet, take that level of concentration to every possession. But we're trending in a good way as the numbers bear out. Walk me through how you guys have decided to coach this thing defensively, really going back to the summer, like, how does that work with the coaching staff when you philosophically decide to tweak a few things that we really had been very successful to a

certain degree last year. Yeah, so a few things I think too much has been made of these tweaks, because really they were things that we did last year. We just didn't make them staples of this is what we're going to do. We made them like adjustments, or we made them change based on an opponent or an opponent's playoff series or losing a game. So everything that we've added or emphasized are all things that were in last season.

We just studied during the summer and say, you know, it's not about two thousand and eight seventeen eighteen anymore. It's really about, like, if we believe we're this good, how are we going to be good in two thousand and nineteen to two thousand and twenty two, twenty three and behind. And one of it is you have to look at your superstar on the defensive end, and Joe Ellenbid and how do we craft a defense that allows

him to play to his strengths. That was one of the first things I think we sat down and said that that's number one. Number two, we studied a lot of playoff basketball. We studied a lot of trends of the teams that are moving in that direction, like guys that can compete for a championship, teams that can compete

for a championship. And you notice a few things. You know, it's almost all five out, Brian, once you get to that level, So you know, rim protection is different than when there's three guys around two guys or four guys around one. When you go to five out, how do you get Joel around the basket as much as you can? And why our teams five out because they want to drive the ball. Yes, they want to get layups, but more they want to kick you in and then kick

it out for three. So we just went to some things that we did last season that we thought were effective and then we made them staples. And those things took some time, but I think they're rearing itself in a good way right now. We still make a few more mistakes than we would like to, but that's what we always here here for its coaches, is to pick

out all the little mistakes. Then the crazy thing is about a month in the season, you get a four time All League defender, a four time All Star Jimmy Butler. And while there's been such great young talent here over the years, inheriting and absorbing a talent like that, it's something you guys have structured thing tours, but it had

happened until this year. What are some of the nuances and subtleties and then maybe even some louder things of Jimmy Butler's defensive game that you really appreciate, And like, I mean number one, we also give up a really good defensive player, no doubt, so like and he was good and and Rob knew what we wanted to do, so like in the end of the day, effectiveness might have been equal. But with Jimmy brings is he brings this reputation and he is a good like small space toughness.

He's got like a football like a soccer fullbacks body and he's able to get underneath people and it gives the team a lot of confidence. And now what we're learning is Jimmy has a lot of gambling in him, right, So it's not all bad. It's just he sees things. He's gotten an intellect about him. So the balance that we have to have as a coaching staff between like, Okay, we've studied this enough to know we have to be solid here versus, Hey, this guy has a unique skill

and how do you marry those two things? Like that's not an easy thing to do because one time Jimmy might try to go make a play and it works, so we're all happy about the result. Then he tries to go make the same play and it didn't work and we're not happy about the results. So you know, what is the risk and is it worth it? Like you know, we talked about it. Did he calculate it? Like?

Did he think about it? And Jimmy's intellect to your point, those are the things that he has brought to us that we've needed, Like his ability to see things and then visualize it and then take it to his teammates and talk about have been good. I mean we've learned from him as coaches too. He's been really helpful. More with Billy Lange in just a moment, but wanted to take a moment to remind you about the Sixers Youth Foundation GALLA. Fourth Annual Sixers Youth Foundation GALLA presented by

Vip Wireless. It's gonna be on March eleventh, So in about six weeks from now at the outstanding Fillmore, Philadelphia. Sixers players, coaches and alums are gonna be on hand for a great night as everyone works together to create a brighter future for the leaders of tomorrow. Purchase tickets to the event at Sixers Youth Foundation dot org slash gala Strong Youth, Strong Communities, Promising future six or Strong and if you've not been before, the six Or Youth

Foundation Gala is fantastic. It doesn't feel like one of those traditional charity events. This is comfortable. You get to mingle with some of the true dignitaries of the seventy six Ers family and again support a great cause while doing it. Six or Youth Foundation dot org slash Gala for more information and to purchase tickets. Hope to see you there now. Back North Billy Lane. I feel like there's always this narrative and talk about well, is eighty

two games too many? And is the season too long? I've got to think that from a coaching standpoint, in this type of situation, it's got to help. I mean, you can't. It's not like a sport like football, where

you live and die with every game. It's more like chunks where like here we are right now at the end of January, Surprise, surprise once again, and it seems like you guys are rounding more and more into form, because it does have to take some time for you to figure out a guy's tendencies and what he prefers, whether that's Jimmy Butler or moving Wilson Chandler up on the wing more bring well, I just want to tell you, don't be fooled. We live and die with all eighty two, right.

It's just the fact that we're able to have a response to the loss within usually forty eight hours. It keeps it in perspective. It just like it allows us to be like, okay, did we get Let's take the San Antonio game. You know in the game we were like our defense thinks you go back and watch it, you're like, no, Like, you know, they made some really hard threes and DeMar derozen did what he did, but he does it against everybody, and our guys gave great effort.

So the chance to just bounce back and play quickly helps us what hurts. Now, there's two things that have happened. There's less back to backs, and that is much much better for the players. Okay, where it's actually hurt is usually when you would have a back to back, the next day would be off, and then if you came back the next day and didn't have a game, you would have it like a real practice. Okay. Now, when you're playing four games over seven or eight day span,

those days in between are like maintenance days. These guys are getting shots to taking care of their body. You're walking. When I say walking, I mean walking through some things. So the game schedule is hurt mostly for us because of we just don't get the practice time, which I'm sure the players love. So these guys ability to learn through video is at a premium, and you need to

have smart players and we do. Did you do anything differently this offseason preparation wise, knowing that you would get a shot at overseeing the defense? I mean, I don't want to make too much of that, but I'm sure, like you know, we it's crazy. We can probably go back about a decade or so. I was working at Penn, you're at Navy and Villanova, and I feel like you've always been a guy to seek out knowledge and speak to people. But the type of things that you tried

to learn and acquire over the summer. Was that any different at all? You know, Lloyd and I used to talk about this all the time, you know, behind coaches back. I guess it won't be anymore because it's a podcast. But we're coaches. This is what we do. You know. I've been a head coach. I've done all of it, you know, player development, I've had to put games straggy together, coach offensive, coach defense. Lloyd worked for other coaches. We

communicated a lot. We were in these meetings for five or six years on different you know, responsibilities, but we talked and we paid attention to each other. When coach puts someone in charge of something, really what he's saying is, I need you to be the most intimate person with this area during the season. In the end of the day, it's coaches offense and coaches defense. But he doesn't have the time after every game, like we just talked about,

with the schedule to like dig into every possession. He's some games he's like, I need to look at all our after timeouts, or I need to watch the last four minutes, or today I'm watching all the opponents make So Billy, give me all the transition defense, and what he's counting on is do I have intimate knowledge of the defense. So that's what it means to be in charge. So now go back to your question on the off season, it was I studied every playoff game for the last

two seasons. That was my job. Not played in the NBA, played in the NBA. So I had to see, like, where are things trending? You know, how did you Tall play pick and roll against James Harden? Why is Boston so good against the three point shot? Why was Golden States defense last year? I think, you know, I say, only maybe finished like nine ten or eleven in regular season rating, but they were amazing in the playoffs. You know, you know what makes these teams good? And that was

the study. And now then take that back and watch our Miami series and watch our Boston series and then project where we have to be going forward and who were we going to have to beat. And that was my summer and it was exciting because I got to see it through a different lens. It's not that we haven't talked about it. We share ideas all year long, just as Monnie and Kevin and I do now. But like I had to get real intimate with that study. Brett gave me a ton of studies. It was a lot,

but it was a lot of fun. Everyone talks about team chemistry, especially in the context of the Sixers now with new guys coming in, But there's gotta be something the coaching staff chemistry too, right, because I mean really, essentially, with the exception of a few guys here and there, the same core was together for the first five years. Yeah. No, I mean I missed my relationship with Lloyd Moore than anything.

We just had a funny way of making each other laugh, both doing it in different ways, and we knew how to like help Brett, you know. We knew what type of mood he needed us to set, and who was going to be the good cop and the bad cop, and how would we support each other in our different roles. This season has been great too, you know, And it

just starts with this. Brett brings great people, and if you have good people like it'll take time to learn each other's rhythms and how to give each other's space and who will allow who and who's lane and how do you play off each other and how do we help coach. That's the main thing like, how does this group together help coach? But when you have great people, man, these things come together. And this has been a great staff, a really really good staff. Let's go back to the

beginning of our conversation. Not to in any way, shape or form remotely suggests that we're sitting out on sunshine, but the event that I did not apply my SPF seventy five or eighty before we did this, I think my pigmentation. I should wrap it up. Believe a plane to cats to get to San Francisco as well. Top to do list items universally for the seventy six ers. As we look at we're almost the All Star game break.

There's still obviously a big two weeks before that. But as you look ahead of the rest of the season, what are some of the main things that you're looking forward to. I think just getting you talked about the chemistry, and it sounds like such a nebulous thing that you're gonna rub a Genie lamp in it. So it's just gonna come out and be good. But it happens through repetition. So each game is a learning experience for us to deliver us to where we need to be at the end.

That would be one. Two. I think get tighter offensively, like, don't have possessions that we were just too talented to waste a possession. It doesn't mean we're not going to take a bad shot here and there, but we all have to know what is the mission on this possession right now? And then I think three. Defensively, it's just how do you impose your will for as long as you can do in four day minutes? And we need you know, Landry and TJ and these guys Michael, guys

that are coming off the bench. John the Bolton has been getting some run now to play defense at a high level off the bench. And I think those three things. You know, guys just got to get reps together. We have to value every possession on the offensive end as if it's May and June. And then how do we just have more intensity on the defensive end, particularly guys coming off our bench. I know you are an Atlantic guy through and through, but could someone sell you on

the Pacific. I'll tell you what. If Aunt Betty's and Uncle Bill's pancakes and ice cream were right below us, they probably could. I love the Atlantic, I love Ocean City, I love the city of Philadelphia. That's where I'm from. This is really cool, though, this is really cool. I could definitely get used to this, but I always look at it. I got this an hour from where I live. I just when I have the time to do it,

I'll do it. If we were sitting ocean side, of course, that's right, of course, all right, Billy, Thanks as always, man a Pacific Ocean Front Conversation with seventy Sixers Assistant Billy Lang. Always enjoy chatting with Billy regardless of location, but certainly you had the elements from southern California. It just makes the vibes the atmosphere that much better. But

appreciated Billy's insights. Hopefully you enjoyed them and found them informative, and as always, thank you for checking out the podcast. Talk to you next time. See you