The BroadCast: 4/6/2018 ~ Reflections on Helping Build a Playoff Team, with Asst. Billy Lange

fresh fatherhood will do to you. So at your patience during the last couple of weeks when the podcast episodes have not been quite as frequent, very much appreciated. So yes, the Sixers as of the recording date of this podcast, just tearing things up. Twelve consecutive wins, the longest winning

streak active in the NBA. And what great timing it is that the Cleveland Cavaliers are coming to town in a battle for third place in the Eastern Conference standings heading into the final weekend of play in the regular season. To talk about where the Sixers are now, where the team enfranchise has come from. We're gonna sit down with assistant coach Billy Lange. He's been on Brett Brown's staff since day one, and that chat will come your way

in just a matter of moments. If you have not listened to the podcast before, or perhaps more relevantly, if you not yet subscribe to our feed, you can do so in a couple of ways. You can head to iTunes, SoundCloud, or Stitcher or Google Play, type in Sixers podcast Network and that should take you to where you need to go.

Just thinking about everything going on with the Sixers right now, it is truly amazing to think of where the team was and what it's on the cusp of achieving what it's already achieved a playoff berth forty eight wins, its highest total since two thousand and two two thousand and three at this late stage of the season, tremendous amount of credit all the way around, from the players, the

coaching staff, to the front office. And to give us a little insights on what the build up has been like for the seventy Sixers over the last five years, we're going to welcome in seventy Sixers assistant coach Billy Lang and as we sit here now in the bowels of the center, Billy Court has been laid down. Seventy sixers have a huge game against the Cleveland Cavaliers later on on Friday night, April to sixth. This has got to be what it's all about. I know you guys,

as coaches and much the players do. You take it one game at a time, but the next game up is a vital one for you guys, and just thinking back over the last now almost five seasons, for you to get to a point like this has got to be pretty fantastic. Wells, it is, and you appreciate it

having been what we've been through, you know, building. I will tell you this, and this is not coach speak, and I'm not saying this to bring credence to the four years prior to this moment tonight to play Cleveland for third place in the East, but for coaches, for leaders, for people that like to build, for people that are

passionate about what we do. There are many moments in those four years, some scene, some unseen that we were just as passionate and excited about those days, in those minutes and those moments as we are in anticipation for what is going to be an amazing atmosphere here tonight with Cleveland and Lebron And I mean, that's what you get to this point. Now everyone else gets to see it, and now you feel that energy off of everyone else. But I think, and I'd not even think the humility

that Brett approaches every day with. And part of it is because what we've been through. But remember, Brian, we all accepted what we were going through. No one signed up for this in twenty 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. So we're excited about it and we'll approach this day no differ. And then we did when we were just trying to win our game two seasons ago. We're gonna want to win. Well, that's the craziest part. Going into the game against Detroit on Wednesday, you guys had a shot to become just I think it was the fourth NBA team ever to

win ten straight games by ten points or more. And then you think, yeah, it was only two years ago that there were just ten wins total on this season, and it's remarkable, and I agree with you. It's it's not just the coach speak that we're talking about that, oh, we came in positive and excited to work every day. I mean you guys, the enthusiasm for those of us that were lucky enough to observe practices and sit in and watch it was the truth. It was like the

results didn't matter. And when I think back on it, and I just kind of wonder, like, how does that happen? How were you guys? Can you give a little bit more insight as to how you were actually able to let mine prevail over matter? You know, the word that is so popular right now in sports and in businesses and anything that involves a group of people is culture. And it's become like this mythological world word, like how do you find it? Do you pull it out of

a bottle? And it isn't. It's two things. It's one people, you have to have people that represent the vision of what you want. And then two you've got to bring You've got to build in systems that like force you to function day to day. Right, So if you have positive people and then you're building in systems like our approach towards player development was a big one. The way that we make the guys learn about each other through some of the off court things that we do, the

way we meet and how collaborative our meetings. I mean, these are things that we've Some of it's grown as we've gotten here, as Brett has expanded his leadership knowledge and our staff has gotten more familiar with each other. But a lot of this stuff was day one. And we have positive people And doesn't mean we didn't have

dark days. That doesn't mean they were in some drives home and some flights where you're thirty thousand feet above sea level just wondering if your existence is even worth it. But by and large, ninety nine point nine percent of the time, this is a positive group of people. And it starts with bread and it seems like it's gotten across through all the years, the five years that you guys have been here, the players as well, like they have had the buying and that can't be an easy tasking.

And when you guys have a couple more years on players and people of that vintage, so there may be some perspective where you can see not only things in the short term, but the long term. But I gotta think for some guys, you know, this is maybe they're only shot, or maybe it's a chance to if there's the availability of minutes to do more, show themselves more. Yet through it all, there's been a steady line of

buying through just about everyone that's come through here. Again, when you have positive people and you have a vision, and that vision has a daily commitment towards it, one of the things that makes the vision become a reality. As relationships and people, oftentimes we don't give credit enough

to players. They're very smart and a lot of these guys, man, I mean, they have been coddled, enabled, cond whatever word you want to throw that's negative from the time that they people knew they were going to be good to the time they get to the NBA. And they can sense when someone really cares about who they are and whether or not it's about you as a coach or about them as a person. And we have made it

about them. So when we were losing, it would have been easy for Brett and the staff to look inward and think about how we looked. Instead, we'd put our energies into helping these guys because truth be told, they might not have had some of these situations had we

not been going through our process. Right now, I don't know if I need to trademark Joe on the process though, But we just developed them, and we developed them as people, and Todd Wright and Jesse Wright in the sports science world, and all the coaches on the court and Brett coming at them with the analytics and the data just show incremental improvements. It just built in energy. It doesn't make it any easier, and it didn't make what we did

any better. Sometimes. What it did is it made it manageable, and it gave a focus on a purpose to each day while we were going through some of those dark times Outside of things on the court, What were some other stuff that you guys built into the cultural aspect that kept things fresh, that kept play is mine and maybe not just players, but the entire staff basketball operation kept everyone engaged in their minds into it through some of the tougher time. But yeah, I would answer that

in two ways. I think let's just talk about the staff part first, because I think that's the easiest part. It's not about us one. We do what we do because we love it and we do what we do

because we're passionate about it. One of the things that I feel I was either fortunate or unfortunate, depending on how you looked at it, is I had been through some rebuilding things when I was the head coach at the Naval Academy and then when I went with Jay to Villanova in two thousand and one, and a little bit when I went back in thirteen, and those situations, there was always light at the end of the tunnel, and we always reached. You know, we got better at Navy.

We had a nineteen win season in our fifth year. Nova is what they are. You know, you ended up getting Kyle Awry and Randy four Like you know, it turns so faith is the evidence of things unseen. But I was fortunate enough to see those things. So for me personally, that was easy to come in to do that. I think what Brett did for the staff as he

made aid an environment of curiosity. So we were always looking for ways to get better, whether it was watching a close game that you know Miami had against Minnesota and like what would we have done in that situation. We were getting ahead of the storm before the storms even came in and you just come in fired up because you love the game with the players, you know, besides the encourt things which you were privileged to. Um. You know, it's again, it's relationships, man, it's it's a

it's a brotherhood. We did team dinners, you know, and I'm sure other NBA teams do it, but maybe we did it a little bit more. Um, the way we did our film sessions, you know, the collaboration making a player be the coach of the day and lead the film session as opposed to just sitting there and listening to us all the time. The team breakfasts that we do where players have to present a topic in front

of their teammates. You know, we've had people do things such as like our UFOs real and shit, college athletes be paid and some of the you know, social injustice events that have happened through our time. It was Nix Stauskis and it was awesome. It was really really good. So you know, you have to build those things in And let me tell you something, we're doing the same things even right now as we're on the cusp of fifty wins, and it just gives you a level of

humility it's bigger than just basketball. And who's to say that those things that we're doing back then have not led to these fifty wins because we keep doing them and you just keep seeing the joy these guys have just to kind of crystallize and bring it all together. Then it sounds like the intent was always to get to this point and this day that we're at right now, where the franchise is, even if the results might not have been there to indicate at what point of the

journey you guys are along. Well, I would say where we're at right now is definitely still not where we want to be, okay, And that's number one. Two. No one came here to do anything ordinary, No one, And you got you know, I tell my kids all the time, don't settle for what you already know you can do. You know, you can't have excellence and ordinary existing in the same vision, in the same sentence all the time. My kids are probably tired of hearing that, but it's

really what we brought. And you got to remember that our head coach came from the pinnacle. You know. He came from not only a championship winning organization where the world, the external world sees what they're doing. But all the things that happen behind the scenes that are internal the culture building, he knows it, and he has not relented for one day. And we're blessed to have him as our leader. When we look at the last three weeks of what's been going on with the Sixers, give me

some insight. I mean, how did this all come together. It's such an important stage of the season where here you guys are going in the Cavs game having won twelve straight fortunate scheduling. Can't we can't ignore that, But you guys have been really with all due respect the other teams, I mean, these have been pretty convincing wins.

I mean, you guys have really seized control and left little Dad about that, all right, So if you ask me to put them in, like, you know, give me specific things, I'd say we've, in our opinion, we've had a fortunate schedule, and some of that fortunate schedule has been able to play here at home, and playing here at home is awesome. I got. It's funny when like Brett will come in or someone else will come in

and say that was a playoff atmosphere. You know, my wife and I's first date where the playoffs here in two thousand and one, I think it was our second and heard they tell them a real big spender and I kill him. It's not even close. Like when you see what these fans are like when there is nothing else going on basketball wise, it's going to be insane. Tonight could reflect that to a degree. So the fans have been great. We've had a favorable schedule in terms

of the opponents a little bit. You know, are the coaches really just you know, whether it's Lloyd Pierce or Jim O'Brien or Brett Brown or myself, Like, we have to get better, and I'm sure the players would like you to take your foot off the pedal for a little bit, but then when you don't take it off, they want it. They want even more. So we have found little areas we call it like zoom focus. We zoom in on our particular area and we're gonna beat

it up until we see an improvement. We've got such an amazing analytic crew behind us that they can show us, like, you know, how much better we've gotten from here to there and where that would in the NBA had we done it over a thirty game sample size, and we just keep going at them with fresh things. You have to in eighty two games keep things fresh for an NBA player, and I think that's what we're doing. In one of the areas Brianette were proud about, I think

we had nine straight games of thirty plus assists. You did, yes, tut the last eleven. I would love it to be eleven straight. And you know, the a game that we didn't we had twenty eight. So you know, these guys are finding a joy of playing with each other. That's unheard of at this point that the ball was zipping around and moving. So these guys are coming with great

energy every day. It's funny because if you hear and I'm sure you guys don't listen to it, some of the external outside noise and people are like, well, what is the you know, the coaching staff done in this situation. It's like, well, it's essentially delivered upon everything that you guys set out to do from day one in August of twenty thirteen. It's the pace. It's building it through

a defensive lens. It's sharing the ball and passing, it's developing players, embracing the three point line all that stuff, and right now it's almost this if like the hard work the system has now caught up to talent being brought in and it's like these guys with how hard they're playing, it's like and I'm kind of like a little bit of a superhero nerd, like I watched the Batman movies and all that, but it's like, you know when a superhero is like discovering his powers or her

powers for the first time, and it's like, that's what it almost seems like has happened with this team. And it's like they don't want the games to stop coming. It doesn't matter if you've got a home game against Brooklyn and a road game the next day against Detroit. It's like it's almost like you feel that energy of wanting more games to come, to continue to trying to prove well, you're hit on a lot of great things there. You know. One, it's a talent league, right, this is

a joke time. It's a player's league. It is. You better accept that as a coach, you're gonna X and O all you want. The other coaches are really good, Okay, everyone in this league that coaches a basketball game or is on a staff is the best of the best of the best, bottom line, So your system's going to look a lot better when you're throwing out more talented players. Now, we have some very talented guys and guys that really are young and going to be better and better and

better as time goes on. And then we've got some homegrown guys that we've developed that some people wouldn't mat might not have wanted, you know, a few years ago. So when you take the talent and then you have the familiarity of some guys within this defensive system and the offensive system and coaches concepts of pace and pass, these type of things can happen. You can get to this point and you are right there. They enjoy it.

So we believe that we have an enjoyable basketball system, and now they just want to keep playing and playing and playing and almost test themselves every night when they

go out there. It really was interesting back in September, I think it was this very first media availability going into the first practice of training camp, Brett came out and said, our goals to make the playoffs, and that based on previous years is something that you did not hear to that tone, is that something that you guys spoke about internally in the weeks leading up to that first practice, But how does its staff make the judgment call that this is the time now where we have

a team that's capable of shouldering that type of comment as a leader. Goal setting is a real slippery slope because if you set something like we all have the desires, right, but if they're unrealistic, it's delusional. Okay. So we talked a lot about it, and I think the most important thing that we wanted to is we wanted a paradigm shift, which meant some of these mistakes, although we didn't like them in the previous four years, we were able to

be more tolerant. Okay, coaches have to have some tolerance because it's not perfect. We wanted to make a statement, it's going to be less tolerant. Right We're gonna be less tolerant of these mistakes right now. We wanted to tell. We wanted to say we believe that if we're gonna go out and make the commitment we made the JJ Reddick, this is not for a circus. This is for like,

we've got something real we want to do. We want to put pressure on Joel and his preparation and tell Ben that we're gonna hold you to a higher standard. And you know, Brett's type A. We're all type A. You know coach O'Brien's no nonsense, Lloyd, you've seen him coach the defense. You know my background, Brian, Like, we're type A. So it wasn't really hard. It was just how we delivered it right, because it would have been foolish for us to deliver it thinking that we were

going to reach that that early. Think about it. We jumped out decent at the beginning and we went on a real skid there in December, I believe it was. But if we just said we're gonna be the third seed and gain home court advantage, like at some point, it might not have looked attainable. But we just kept showing them visuals like we're in ninth, we're in eighth, we're in seventh, we're two games out of six, and now it's attainable. So now they want to learn more.

It's been masterful by Brett. You are responsible in part for working with the Sixers offense, and there has definitely been an infusion of talent there. But man, that part of the team's game has taken such a great leap over the course of this season. Brett said he wanted it to be I think, and maybe it changed at some point this year top fifteen offensive rating team and you guys are thirteen heading into the final week of the season. You had to salivate yourself seeing some of

the talent that was coming in. How did you go about with the rest of the assistance in Brett, figuring out what would make the best type of formula and fit for the personnel that you have it. It's a great question, you know, we have so many Like you said, it's all the assistance. I mean, it's my main responsibility, but I would be foolish to think that it's just me. We've We've got a great development staff. You know, Kevin Young has done a terrific job. He was our g

League head coach for a few years. And you can get the wisdom of Jim O'Brien and everything he's seen. So a lot of people have dug into it, and really a lot of what goes on behind the scenes with our analytics crew, it's like NASA in our building. Can you give me an example of that spilling any trade secrets. I won't spill trade secrets because I do like my job. What they're able to come with and

just say, hey, are you paying attention to this? Or you ask them something that you have a hunch of and they're able to back it up or dispel it right, and and and the collaboration going back and forth. It's not like we're always given in either we're asked. The most skilled analysts are the ones that are gonna dig just one more step deeper than the other analysts. And our guys dig, I mean, they really really dig. That curiosity starts with our head coach and Brett, but it's

really staff. So you know, we have broken our offense into like segments, Brian. We've got our half court make offense. We've got the first seven seconds of the shot clock, We've got the last seventeen seconds of the shot clock. Our analysts have been on us about offensive rebounding, which is really like a no no in the NBA because

people don't think it's that important. But the amount of three point shots that's being taken, that's one the fact that Joel is going to be one of our leading shot takers in theory that takes an offensive rebounder off the glass unless he's following up his own two footers. So how we taught our four is how we use Ben Simmons at our one. I mean, these guys have

been great for us. So I think our offensive evolution has one been talent, that is the main one, and then just a steady improvement in the areas where we felt like we could gain wins over a five to ten game clump. And I think since like Christmas, we've been like top five offense in the NBA. So if we settle in a thirteen, that tells you how low we were prior to Christmas time. But we're very proud of of our of our development there and too, I know I got off the subject here, sorry, but I

think we have a home. We have a system, and when you add a guy like JJ Reddick, or you bring in a guy like Ben Simmons, or then you watch Joel's development, you have to figure out, like what additions do you need to put on that house to make it work. We can't squeeze them all in the one room. It's it's not that way in the NBA. It's just not like you. We believe we have a system, but we have to change that system if it's better

for the players. And we've done subtle tweaks while keeping our house trying to remember the exact phrase that Brett Hugh's from talking about the Spurs back when you guys face them and just how they've been able to go about doing things over the years, and it might have been something like the system prevails. And even in these last couple of games with Joel Out and Dario Out

keeps on rolling. I mean, you plug in guys like or sign Elio Silva, like Marco Bellanelli, great additions midway through the season that it seems like have helped take you guys to an even higher level. Yeah, be seeing his crew. That's Brian Colangelo and his crew deserve a lot of credit for bringing those two guys in because we were doing okay, you know, and then you all of a sudden, you're bringing a couple of pieces, Like you think it's going to take you one way, it

could take you the opposite way. But they did their homework and they got the right guys. The system in which we play one it's predicated on the notion of passing. So no matter what we're running. We want our guys to pass and move the ball. We have stats that say anytime we hit a sweet spot Brian, between three and five passes, our shooting percentage jumps up like it's huge. How much it jumps from zero to one, to two passes, then three to five, you're shooting amongst the best percentages

in the NBA. So when you plug, and I hate using plug because it makes like these sound these guys robotics. When you add the unique talent of Arson or Marco, and then you subtract Joe which none of us want to do, or Adario for a portion of time, you can the system will prevail if they have skill sets of passing and shooting and movement, which these guys have. And then Ben, the guy is just on another level where I mean, you can't even can you call him a guy. This young man, this kid is just on

a different level right now. And he loves to pass, and he gets joy and seeing his teammates score. And that makes a world of difference for us when we lose two guys like Joe and Dario. When did you know that he might be able to have the type of impact that he has ended up having this season talking about Ben, you know, I mean, he did some things early that you were just like, this is incredible.

But I would just say, prior to All Star Break, I just thought he was starting to trend to another area and he's comfortable and who he is as a basketball player. I mean, everyone's gonna te him he's got to shoot and he will get better. He's gonna get better fans. I mean each year he'll add something new. If he never shot a three point shot in his entire career, this guy can dominate because he's so unique as a passer and gifted physically and unselfish, and the

other thing is just smart, Like he's really smart. So I think handed headed towards All Star Break, we kind of saw it, and then to me, he's just come back on a whole different level since we've done that something that Brett was talking about that without Joel. Towards the end of March, Ben has done a little bit more talking in huddles. The leadership part of his package has grown up. But how do you, guys, is that something that you as coaches take hands on roles and

trying to nurture Over the chorus of a season. How do you try and teach leadership qualities. Well, great leaders are a lot of things, and one of those things is definitely authentic. Okay, so you can't force someone to

be someone that they are not. I don't know if you know he can lead like a guy like Kyle Lowry or a guy like Avery Johnson where it's like outward and it's like you see it and you want it, and it's like you know, Kevin Garnett, like it's inspiring, it's motivating, you could feel it, right, maybe Ben will get there. I think the communication that we have daily with our players, whether it's an individual meeting or group meetings,

you know, stuff like team dinners and team breakfast. Like when you make people talk, they did they develop a comfortability not only with their teammates but also in their own voice, which is really big for some of these young players. And they'll do like quizzes with these calls all the time. But post post shoot arounds will give these guys quizzes. I'm sure they hate it, but hey, if you've only gone to college for one year, you should be able to take quizzes at least for four.

So you Ben has just developed a confidence in his voice and he uses it, and our players respect him because he's so unselfish. If he wasn't unselfish as a basketball player, I don't know how much they would. I mean, I'm sure they would respect his talent, but his unselfishness and the fact that he's going to go out there and back it up by getting guys shots, and the fact that he really allows us to dig in and coach him gives him some credence as a leader. It's

been fun to watch. I don't even think he's tapped the surface of what he'll be Eventually. He may be businesslike and even killed and smooth, but that is going back to your point of being someone being true to themselves. I mean, that is no doubt about it what he is. I mean, you can tell that that's just his nature, his demeanor, and it definitely seems to have served him well. The guy acts like he has been here, like done

this ten times before going through an NBA season. It's amazing something that you were talking about earlier in dance around of it, But I did want to after you

mentioned it, go back and revisit. I feel like maybe something that perhaps fans out there aren't totally aware of is that after Brett was hired in Nuggaus of twenty thirteen, it was really like a mad dash to assemble a coaching staff and for as much chemistry and camaraderie as we see from players in the court, the court of this coaching staff has really been intact for the last

five years. What was it like for you guys getting together that first initial time, not having much familiarity with anyone at all, and then developing this coaching staff, right, I mean, Brett is a great communicator, so and we met a lot. Brett's family was not with him when he first moved. So when I say a lot that you got to bold capitalize and underline that with five

exclamation points. We met a ton, and you know developed being a staff is you know, I just can tell you from my own experience of having to hire a staff and I was a head coach, like it's as hard as putting a team together. You gotta you know, someone told me one time, you gotta hire slowly, fire quickly, and it takes time. And you know, guys were men.

We come in here with responsibilities outside of just coaching, whether it's families, or moving or you know, wives, you know, just real life stuff and it just takes time and it takes trust. That first staff was great, you know, Vance Wahlberg. We learned a ton from with Vance Wahburg. Chat Isskey he was offense, he did he helped with development, and he did some offense. He was just he was awesome. And chat Isskey brought an energy and a fire on

the defensive end and it matched Brett's. And you know, and now Lloyd and I have been here the whole time for five years, and you know, our relationship is strong enough now because we've been with each other and we've seen each other work, and you know what challenge is not the right work because it would seem like we were all fighting. But it just it takes time. And then you go through losing, right, So it's already hard to get to know people, and then you put

them in a situation where you're losing. And when people are losing, they just try to survive individually, Like what's this mean for me? Right? It's just human nature. And if I want to give us credit in one way, I'm again, we've all had the dark moments. There's no doubt I'm going to speak for myself, but I'll assume that everyone had them. We've stuck together by just communicating and showing up every day. In addition to being a bench coach, you've also won the hat of director of

player development for the Sixers. So what formed your views on the essentials for developing individual players and, by the same token, using the individual paths to form collective development. But that's great, I mean, it's a great question. In my heart, I believe that players play because they love it right, and before they can think about, you know, setting the screen, they've dreamed of making the shot right. So there's a joy in development. People want to get better.

I've seen it in my own kids. I've seen it in my experiences with Kyle Lowry. I've seen it at the Naval Academy with Division three players that became All League guys. Or Jay and his focus at Villanova working for her McGee. How much time we spent on just player development and shooting. I've been really blessed that I've always believed this, but that I've been around people who

have cultivated that same development environment. And when we first got here, it's all we had to hang our hats on right was taking young players and developing them either for our future or for someone else's future that would attach to our future, whether it was through trades or anything. And you just saw how guys feel when they get better. It's energizing. So you know, I think one you have to recognize that a player's joy is attached a lot

to how they feel about themselves. If you've got a joyful environment in any business, you can get a lot done be I mean a lot done. And we got a lot done because we had a joyful environment because people were just sewing into these players to get better. Then it has to zoom into something more focused. What does that player need? And a player has an arc right being The fans can't see this or the listeners. I hope people are listening, but people can't see me drawing.

Did The arc just constantly changes? So where they start here, you got to focus on that. But as this starts to move, your focus on that player's development might be on a totally different skill set. And I think we did a good job. You know, I look at a guy like Robert Covington or a guy like TJ. You know, some things we did with guys like Jeremy Grant or Hillis Thompson. I mean, really, you know, Richard On Holmes, I mean these players, and it's gonna be the same

for Ben and Joel. I mean, look at Joel right now. I mean he got better as he was sitting out. So we created time, we created a system to do it, and we just really believe that this is what makes players love the game. And you know, it was a great experience for me to do that. And now to watch Connor Johnson and Chris Babcock take that same model and move it forward even more has been really rewarding.

Do you think there has ever been an assistant coach or any coach at any level that has been videotape more during pregame warm ups than Billy Lang. I do not know that. I you know, I'm not you know, I learned this when I was at Navy. I do not get on blogs or websites or you stay away because you're for everything you're gonna see that's good about you, You're gonna see some things that are bad. So I'm

not on it. But it has been mentioned to me that my attempts to look like I'm guarding Marquell have made for some pretty fun internet fodder. And if people can get a laugh at that, so Ba and I'm happy to do as long as my kids don't say it, that's great. Just based on how Coach Brown came out and announced that Markuell would be rejoining the team prior to that Nuggets game, you could tell this is something that not just the players, the coaches, the entire organization

really had something big invested in. Everyone seemed genuinely happy that he was able to get himself back to a point to get out there, and I mean he's looked great since coming back. Well, he's a great player. That's why you know, our organization drafted him number one because we believe that in him, and we still believe it in him, and that belief never wavered again. He goes back to faith is the evidence of things unseen. We knew what we felt about him, you know, first and

foremost with Marquel. If you've spent any time with him, which I know you have, you're just blown away by his character, his humility, his appreciation for everything, and underneath that, he's got a lot of confidence in himself too, So he's got to find balance. It was a great moment for everyone, but more importantly forget everybody else. It was

a great moment for mark Ll. You know, like we just did our jobs, so but for Markull, that journey of injury to now nursing yourself back to health and the length of time it was to get to that point, it's great. And like you said, he's played pretty well, so we're we're impressed with him, but we're not surprised. It's like, you know, you asked who's listening to this podcast, Maybe you could also say the same for like who's staying up real late and watching some of those Utah

Jass Summer League games back in July. But you coached that team. We all saw then everything about Mark L and I think it's been great for fans to be reminded of the package and skill set that he has at this late stage of the season. Brian, Yes, and more encouraging than that. And personally, I didn't understand this until the last four or five months when we were working as closely as we were. He's gonna get a

lot better. I mean he's got in one way. You're like, man, he's got a long way to go in and one way You're like, Wow, this kid's got a lot left in him, and he really really does. But what you see immediately is how dynamic he is with the ball in a transition setting and in a half court setting, particularly in the pick and roll. And then the other thing that you know fans might not pick up on.

I mean, to go into a game as a point guard and run an NBA offense when you haven't played in seventy games is like not easy, and he seamlessly has gone in. I was just watching our last game against Detroit this morning again getting Riady to make my edit for him, and watching him just physically, verbally and like really aggressively point urson Iliasova to the right spot. I'm like, Okay, here we go. I mean, so his intelligence and he embraces that part of the game, of

the organization of the point guard. We got a real gem on our hands. We look forward to seeing Ali grows. You'll probably do a whole different podcast on the next subject, but to me, at least, it does not seem unrelated that you have someone like Joel Embiid who sat out for a considerable period of time, came out did what he did. Yeses he had physical tools that other players don't have. Sure, but you know he came back and

made an immediate impact. Ben Simmons what he's doing this year after missing all of last season, Mark kel sits out for sixty eight games, comes back with some confidence. So based on what we've seen with those three players, what do you make of that dynamic and how just being able to sit around, observe, soak some things in for a young player, how that could ultimately help them.

We could write a book on this, and you're write because no one wants to be in this situation, whether it is as a coach or a medical staff, or a strength and conditioning staff or certainly the player. So you just learned a lot of things. I mean, one,

these guys are all young. So every one of these guys we're getting at like a real early stages of their basketball developmental curve and excuse me, taking that year or two in some cases and using it to develop physically like your strength, your your body, you know, composition, how you move. I mean, Todd and these guys are amazing. Our strength and conditioning staff is really first class. I mean, these are really really good guys. It's embarrassing to think that.

I try to get my guys lifting weights. When I was at the United States Merchant Marine Academy that was doing basically like a beach workout. But that helps these young players. I mean, like Ben Simmons, I don't know if he's doing what he's doing if it wasn't for that year of body development. You see it with Joel they get right, they learn how to eat. So that's one two. You realize, like the players, it's really debilitating to their minds, forget their bodies, like to just be

out of something they love to do. This is how these guys identify themselves, whether it's right or wrong, it's the truth right, and we just invested time. Man. It just goes back to the very first question you ask me, just people, And if you care about people, then you care about relationships and you care about communicating. These players sense it because they know you have a job to do, okay, and they're seeing you go out of your way, out of your daily schedule to invest in a guy that

like some we'd never know we'll play again. Some we don't know. Is it gonna take a year or six months? And we're just digging into them and you do it and they benefit from that year. It's like a red Shaw program. We don't do it on purpose, despite common belief amongst many competitors. But when it has happened, we've

tackled it and we've gotten a little bit better. And we had it with New Orleans and you're right, So we've had it with New Orleans, we had it with Joe for two, we've had it with Ben, and we've had it a little bit with Marquel. So with each one of those situations, we've gotten a little bit better

and a little bit smarter because of it. And it is crazy because you know, everyone thought that Ben Simmons coming out of LSU going into the first Summer League that he played, was a physical specimen, But if you just see some of the still pictures taken during that time from then to where he is now, it's like a completely not even close different past. A couple more quick things, how do you guys balance the here and now of trying to attain to legitimate and reachable goals

in the regular season getting to fifty wins? Based upon what players have talked about, that sounds like it's something Brett has talked a lot about the home court advantage, but then also trying to get ready for the playoffs, because again, this is something else that for me, I didn't understand until I started in this position. There really is.

Once you get to March, virtually no practice time in the NBA schedule, and that's like no shootarounds, no, because you got to get guys recovered on days when they're not games. So how do you balance the here and now versus what's to come in about ten days? Yeah, I mean one, I would say a lot of these goals that we're setting out right now of a fifty wins or home court, truth be told, they've been player driven. I mean JJ Reddick's voice in that locker room has

been no, we're getting fifty. No, we're getting home court. You know, at the beginning of the year, we just wanted to make it right. And then I'm sure within that was like, well, if we fell one game out of eighth, not that we would be satisfied with that, but it would still be a lot of growth based on where we were last year. I mean, how many games we win last year, it's twenty seven. It's we're already twenty past that. I mean, that's a big jump.

So a lot of the goal stuff has been played or driven and supported by Brad and we've created an atmosphere of not settling. I think I mentioned that a little bit earlier in this podcast. Then for them coaches again, it comes back to zoom focus, like if we don't think something is going to win in the most difficult situation, we're going to address it, like, hey, we were a little sloppy on that two for one. There, we've got

to be better. Here's the clips, and you become you know, I've told a lot of my coaching friends, you know, high school coaching friends that I have and college coaching friends that I have, And this is going to sound really weird, but I really believe this coaching in the NBA personally, for me, has reminded me more of my days as a high school kid coach and a Division three head coach, because it's just teaching. You have to be a good teacher. The better you get as a teacher,

your players, your students become better learners. Right. So the art of video it's more than just putting it up there and showing highlights like how you freeze frame something, how you sequence something, how you slow most something, how you use the laser, the feedback you have to get from the players, that eye contact you make with them, the repetitive themes, but in a different variety so they

don't get bored. These guys learn how to learn. And because we can't get on the court right now as much as we would like to, the video teaching is just it's paramount. I can't. It's liken't literally going to class every day. So they might have left LSU in Kansas in Washington early, but I'm sure they've had more

classroom sessions than they ever have. And that's really the balance right now, is like keeping the goals in mind, keeping the bodies fresh, and then make sure that you were teaching and then subsequently learning at a very very high level. You referenced that as far as big time, long term goals for this team, I think we all

have an understanding what that ultimately is. But as someone who has lived and breathed this area your entire life, do you ever think that we'd be in an arrow where Four times now in the last ten years, and I guess it's three times in the last two years, there have been parades in Center City Philadelphia. I mean, I know that you obviously have a tie to a

team that Twin two champion. You know, if Philly gets a bad rap, right, if you just here's one thing, if you want to give Philadelphia a Moniker, it's passion. They people are passionate here. They're passionate about everything. We're passionate about our food. We're passionate about our families. We're passionate about the South Jersey beaches. We're passionate about our Philadelphia sports teams. We're passionate. Sometimes that's gonna look pretty

good and sometimes that's gonna look pretty bad. But there's no fight. There's no give up. I mean, it's all fight. There's no quit give up, there's no quit, and there's loyalty. And when you see these teams winning like this and you see the passion from these fans, I believe it helps the players compute at a high level. I think they sense it and feel it. I mean, look, we're at other venues in the NBA. I mean, there are some amazing venues in this league. This right here, this

is off the hook. Right here it is And then you throw in the euphoria that the Eagles have provided, and then the way in Illanova has gone out and represented the city of Philadelphia and really just been the best team in college basketball for the last four or five years. This is a great time to be from Philadelphia, but it's always been great to be from Philadelphia. Well put from a passionate man himself, Billy Lang always very

much appreciate it. Thanks so much. I respect the fact that you were able to ask this many questions without falling asleep, given the fact that you and your wife just had a twin boy and twins boy and girl. So thanks for the time today, Brian. So we'll do the podcast on young players getting at least one year off next and then maybe after that we can do tips about twin parents. You got a Brian. Yeah, I'm not quite sure what part of the demographic the basketball

and twin parenting podcast would hit, but who knows. Maybe at some point after completion of what hopefully we'll be a successful postseason run for the seventy six ers, that's a territory that we can venture into. Billy Lang awesome as always, much thanks to him. Much thanks to you for a checking out the podcast. We're gonna have some more stuff coming your way between now and whenever this thing wraps up, but definitely next week. We're back at you as we wrap up the regular season and look

ahead to around number one of the playoffs. Every weekend too,