Nick Piccone
One thing I generally like about following the Sixers while they’re trying their hardest to rebuild themselves into a contender is the news off the court. Jahlil Okafor’s problem of getting into fights, for one. That was at least interesting.
Jerry Colangelo joining the front office and being possibly the replacement of general manager Sam Hinkie before long is another interesting story this Sixers season. If we didn’t have that, who knows where we would be in terms of our fandom. At least there’s the Flyers, who just might make the playoffs this year and be the first team to play in the postseason since early 2014.
But here’s another cool tidbit, brought to us by Business Insider, by way of ESPN’s Zach Lowe’s The Lowe Post podcast. Apparently, Sixers coach Brett Brown makes his players give PowerPoint presentations on topics completely unrelated to basketball. Brown says it’s a way to keep the season interesting amid all the losses they’ve accumulated. I can’t say it’s a bad idea.
Throughout the course of the year we have team breakfasts where we give somebody a topic and they work in conjunction with our video department and they produce a PowerPoint talk. It’s probably once a month. I let them choose the topic.
“Interesting things came up. And I enjoy that part of coaching. I enjoy that part of trying to find ways to keep a team together. I think that it’s even more important when you’re losing, and have lost like we have over the past few years to keep the group spirited. To keep the situation real. Apart from sort of the philosophical approach to culture building, I enjoy it. I like talking to my guys on different levels like that.”
“I know from a team-building, or just a keeping-the-season-interesting perspective, I believe it achieves something these guys will remember.”
According to Brown, topics have ranged from gun control to whether college athletes should be paid.
Give a listen to the podcast here.