The Sixer Sense
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Philadelphia 76ers Hope or Hype?

Apr 10, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown goes over a play with his team during the third quarter of the game against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Wells Fargo Center. The Milwaukee Bucks won 109-108 in OT. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 10, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown goes over a play with his team during the third quarter of the game against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Wells Fargo Center. The Milwaukee Bucks won 109-108 in OT. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports
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Oct 23, 2015; Manchester, NH, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Nerlens Noel (4) talks to forward Jerami Grant (R) during the second half against the Boston Celtics at Verizon Wireless Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 23, 2015; Manchester, NH, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Nerlens Noel (4) talks to forward Jerami Grant (R) during the second half against the Boston Celtics at Verizon Wireless Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

Focus on Defense

It starts with the defense.  That is the we roll in Philadelphia, and that suits the coaches just fine.

For three seasons, the Philadelphia 76ers’ cupboards have been relatively bare when you consider what head coach Brett Brown needed, versus the players he had at his ready.  As he did not have the player skills on the roster, Brown developed them.  Last season, he targeted both Robert Covington and Nik Stauskas and worked with each player to evolve into two way players.

The team already had three young solid defenders in Nerlens Noel, Richaun Holmes and Jerami Grant.   But Brown knows that the team must do more.

To that, the Philadelphia 76ers have upgraded defensively, particularly in the back court. Philly’s native son Gerald Henderson returns home and brings significant defensive ability with him.  For the other guard slot, it appears that Jerryd Bayless will get the nod. Bayless is also strong defensively as well.

In the front court, the team has loaded up with rookies in Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, and Dario Saric.   While only a rookie, Brown has not hesitated to name Embiid as the cornerstone to the defense.

But it will be more than just new personnel this year.  While Brown was so overloaded just patching holes in the roster last season, he was forced to keep it simple stupid on both offense and defense.  The quality and versatility of the roster this year will give the coach the green light to throw the entire playbook at his defense.

We’ve seen Brown work miracles with next to nothing before. In the 2014-2015 season, the team held opponents to 101 points per game. This roster is much improved defensively over that team and that team only scored 92.0 points per game.