Doc Rivers addressed the media on Monday for the first time since officially being hired as the new head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers. Rivers answered a host of questions regarding the Sixers makeup, including his thoughts on the Joel Embiid-Ben Simmons dynamic.
There have been questions about whether the Sixers can function with both Simmons (a point guard who has a reluctance to shoot) and Embiid (best utilized in the post) can coexist on the roster going forward.
However, Rivers seems to believe the two stars can play together, pointing to recent successes:
“(Embiid and Simmons have) won 65% of the games that they've played in, right? It clearly works when they play together,” Doc Rivers said, via Andrew Joe Potter of The Score.
Rivers suggested Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid serve as the foundation. Doc believes his role is to facilitate more winning and put them in positions to be successful:
“[Ben and Joel have] already had success. My job is to add to that,” Doc Rivers said, via Lauren Rosen of the Sixers. They’ve done a lot of winning, but we want to be THE winner. Winning is great, but being the winner is the best. And that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
There is plenty of focus on Simmons and Embiid, but perhaps the focus should be on the supporting cast.
With Simmons out, guys like Tobias Harris and Josh Richardson struggled to complement Embiid in the team's first-round sweep at the hands of the Boston Celtics. Al Horford is locked in for another four years in Philly (barring a trade), but did not seem like a good fit with the roster.
In any case, Doc Rivers does not seem to think there is a need for an overhaul this offseason for the Sixers.
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