Donnellon: Sixers coach Brett Brown and the light at the end of the tunnel

After Monday's victory over the dysfunctional Sacramento Kings pushed the Sixers' record for the month of January to 10-5, Brett Brown was asked if his team might finally be emerging from the darkness of the last four seasons.

"I don't know what the light looks like in our room,'' he tried to say to start. "I don't know if it's dark or bright.''

I say tried, because what followed clearly sounded as if he was uttering some profession of faith. He spoke of all the different ways they had won, with Joel Embiid in the lineup and lately, without, of all the lineups used and roles changed and the latest crisis of faith just a month ago when Nerlens Noel became the latest big to express frustration over roles and playing time.

"I'm really very proud of our team,'' the Sixers coach said as he became increasingly animated following Monday's 122-119 win. "It's a very close team. They co-exist just fine. You have an incredible, real-time, real-life situation that our bigs are going through, trying to navigate all that. And they do it with class. And they do it with maturity. And they do it with tremendous friendship. I really enjoy and respect this team I'm coaching.''

"I do feel very strongly that the foundation is starting to prove dividends. I think the pieces are in place underneath me. Stuff that you guys don't see as much but I do... the infrastructure of a program… Somebody helping me with offense, somebody helping me with defense, somebody helping me with special teams. Our out of bounds after free throws stuff. Somebody who helps me with analytics. A shooting coach. Somebody who helps me with strength and conditioning. A medical staff.

"That thing that I just said represents about 22 people. This is who we are. This is what we want our culture and our program to look like. If the base wasn't as strong and as steady and as collaborative as it is – to get through what we have had to get through the past three years? I don't know. But I am very proud and grateful for the staff beneath me… and we're starting to see dividends from what I believe is a solid system.''