Three-point and help defense
The Sixers allow the third-highest three-point percentage in the NBA, and their closing out on the long ball has looked lackadaisical on occasion. Brown’s switching-oriented defensive strategy has its perks, but when the entire team rotates when an opponent makes a move to the basket, it leaves players wide open for catch-and-shoot threes.
The Maine-born coach needs to relax with the amount of switching he has his team do on defense because it leaves shooters open on the outside and creates mismatches, especially when the starters sit.
Brown sees Philly as a positionless team, but that depends entirely on who is on the court at any given time. For instance, Embiid can handle guarding a point guard off a screen for half a possession, but when Amir Johnson switches onto Kyle Lowry, a problem arises.
Johnson has defended well enough inside for the Sixers, but it’s naive of the coach to think he can shut down guards. And when mismatches like that occur, the four off-ball defenders cheat inside to help, and that is why nights like Brook Lopez’s 5-11 three-point shooting game happen.
Once Embiid and Simmons leave the game, Brown needs to make sure his players stop switching on every single screen, especially when it happens early in the shot clock. Letting McConnell get posted up by Al Horford or forcing Johnson to try to clamp Kyrie Irving on an isolation is not a sound defensive philosophy, especially when they have open shooters surrounding them.