Brett Brown’s appointment as Boomers coach has seemingly hitched the team’s Tokyo Olympics wagon to Brown and Ben Simmons first succeeding together with the roller coaster Philadelphia 76ers.
For failure by the 76ers this season – and the associated blow torch that would inevitably be applied to Brown and/or Simmons – would make for an extremely awkward act to follow in green and gold only a couple of months later in Japan.
To use a wagering metaphor, the Boomers’ job of winning a first medal at a major international competition now represents the second leg of a speculative multi-bet that is contingent on the duo first leading an often-times dysfunctional 76ers to NBA post-season success.
The precarious state of the 76ers – and the fierce spotlight regularly fixed on Brown and Simmons – was largely lost amid the NBA-associated hoopla that greeted the news of Brown replacing Andrej Lemanis as Boomers coach last November.
And it’s no wonder.
Here was a local hoops scene long entranced by the bright lights of big brother NBA being gifted the coach – and (presumably) in turn, the superstar (in Simmons) – of one of the NBA’s most recognised franchises in place of the respected, but uber-understated, Lemanis.
That Brown was also cloaked in the familiarity borne of being a former Boomers and NBL coach only sweetened the pot.
Sure, there were concerns aired in some local quarters that the coaching change had been informed by the player power which is so much a part of the contemporary NBA.
Key to this sentiment was the link between Lemanis’ exit and the reported friction between him and each of Simmons and his 76ers teammate Jonah Bolden arising from non-selection and positional issues respectively.
There was also the request early last year by the universally respected and humble Patty Mills for greater investment by Basketball Australia to bridge the gap in off-court support between the Boomers and NBA which raised question marks as to Lemanis’ long-term cultural fit with the Boomers.
Certainly, there was also an appreciation for just how close – and how much closer than Brown – the tactically astute Lemanis had come to delivering that elusive medal from a tilt defined by a blend of defensive grittiness and offensive fluidity.
Cue harrowing flashbacks to the Boomers’ agonising medal near misses at the 2016 Rio Olympics and last year’s World Cup in China.
Yet, such is Simmons’ otherworldly talent (and profile to match) that such concerns were easily brushed aside.
For most down under, it was a case of the Boomers needing Simmons and Simmons needing – or at least apparently being happy with – Brown as coach and that was that.
But this ignored the risk of the Brown and Simmons combination going awry in Philadelphia ahead of the opening ceremony in Tokyo in late July.
After all, it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing for the 76ers under Brown’s watch.
At the heart of the issue has been the incompatibility between Simmons and superstar center, Joel Embiid.
Breathing life into the persistent rumours that the duo share a less than cordial relationship is the lack of on-court chemistry between the pair.
Embiid is a dominant inside force and yet, the lack of a Simmons jump shot coupled with the Australian’s size and athleticism, often sees the pair vying for space in the paint.
Brown’s inability to make this issue go away and to solve the 76ers’ ongoing offensive woes more generally is a significant cause for concern.
Ignoring the first few years of “The Process”, the 2017-18 season ended in a bitter play-off series defeat to an unheralded Boston Celtics team sans Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, before potential 76ers saviour Jimmy Butler mysteriously walked to the Miami Heat after last season’s second round playoff exit.
A topsy-turvy season so far has seen new recruit Al Horford complaining about his role in Philadelphia’s offence, and Simmons failing to accept Brown’s challenge to shoot more amid the 76ers’ outside shooting struggles following marksman JJ Redick’s departure at the end of last season.
Throw in the now standard Simmons trade rumours ahead of the February 6 NBA trade deadline and one can start to appreciate that it’s far from sunshine and lollipops in the City of Brotherly Love.
Which leads us back to Brown, Simmons and the Boomers’ Olympic campaign which begins in just over six months’ time.
It goes without saying that Tokyo presents the Boomers with their best chance to break the medal duck.
Combining the most talented player this country has ever produced in Simmons with the usual cast of NBA-hardened Australian players is dreamland for Australian basketball.
And yet, one strongly suspects that if the 76ers fail to progress to at least the NBA Eastern Conference Finals this season, Brown will be shown the door and the Philadelphia brains trust would look long and hard at a Simmons trade – that is, if Simmons isn’t part of a shock exit over the next couple of weeks.
Aside from the awkwardness that such a development would likely cause the Boomers camp ahead of the Olympics, there is also the question of Brown’s bona fides in leading Australia to the promised land of a first major medal.
After all, if Brown cannot succeed with a loaded roster in Philadelphia, who’s to say he will fare in any better with a – Simmons aside – relatively blue collar national squad at the second time of asking.
When viewed through this lens, one can only hope that Australian basketball has not cooked up an Alen Stajcic type scenario which it’s hard not to feel ultimately derailed the Matilda’s World Cup tilt before it began.
Having failed to achieve sporting success, Jump has resorted to writing about those that have. Jump lives at jumpballsports.com and is a regular contributor to Footyology.com.au
