National Basketball Association

NBA Defense Suits Brett Brown and Philadelphia 76ers

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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With the Philadelphia 76ers familiarizing itself with teammates, coaches, pace and league rules, Brett Brown has announced that he will stress defense for team this season

With a new team, you have to start somewhere. For the Philadelphia 76ers, you simply cannot go wrong if you choose defense.  Ideally, that is what this roster is built to deliver.   And for the first night, and likely the worst night, of preseason, that is just what they did.

All over the roster.

In the aftermath, the team’s shaky first preseason outing resulted in 23 assists, 46 rebounds, 5 blocks, and 10 steals. That is improvement across the spectrum over last season: 21.5 assists, 41.2 rebounds, 6.0 blocks, and 8.3 assists.

But it was more than just a set of statistics in this season’s opener. It was the ability of the team to come back from a 16 point deficit.  The team is young and in the throes of acclimating to the grind of the NBA in Philadelphia.

But look at the roster once more. While we had emphasized a number of elements in the off-season, virtually all new additions help defensively. We had referred to the defense lineup heading into the pre-season sans Simmons, and the team delivered.

Can the team hold opponents to under 90 points for the season? Doubtful.  Preseason teams give minutes to players who may not make roster cuts.  Once the season starts, it’s the best 15 players on each team.

But this is also a time for head coach Brett Brown to take the team out for a spin and see what they can do. Last season, he was too busy working to keep the team running to really open up the playbook and see what he has.

There is plenty of talent on this roster, talent that compliments one another.  As the team moves forward, you will see similarities in the play of Joel Embiid and Nerlens Noel, of Dario Saric and Ben Simmons and Sergio Rodriguez, of Timorthe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Gerald Henderson.

The team is beginning to assemble pieces to fit Brett Brown’s vision.  As Embiid begins to dominate the post, and Henderson harasses the perimeter, the defense will begin to toughen up.  Last season the San Antonio Spurs held opponents to just 92.9 points per game. Brett Brown loves his former mentor, Gregg Popovich, and would love to follow his former head coach’s footsteps.  This year he may very well do so.

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