Sixers defense has to choose between paint, arc

I UNDERSTAND this thing about "picking your poison," but it is a known fact that some poisons are a bit more lethal than others.

In nature, for example, the venom of the beaked sea snake is considered to have the fifth-deadliest poison in the world. But the skin of the tiny dart frog contains about 100 toxins and is considered deadlier.

So in basketball, if points in the paint are strychnine, then the three-point shot is potassium cyanide.

Both are going to kill you if ingest enough, but one is a more efficient than the other.

In the Sixers' two losses on Monday to the Golden State Warriors and last night to the Wizards, they surrendered a total of 33 three-pointers.

Obviously, it was not the goal of Sixers coach Brett Brown for his team to allow 15 treys to the Warriors and then 18 to the Wizards in last night's 116-102 loss at the Wells Fargo Center. What team would intentionally give up 99 points from beyond the arc and expect to win?

But Brown fully acknowledged that the Sixers have decided to take their chances messing around with cyanide.

"If you look at those numbers, they certainly look deflating on first glance," Brown said. "But we've picked a poison where we want to try to guard the paint.

"We've chosen a way to play. We've chosen to protect the paint with a young team. We've hedged our bet. At times, it's helped. At times, it's hurt us."

In the last two games, the Sixers have been torched by three-point shooters. But if you look at who has done the most damage, it's difficult to argue with Brown's strategy.

Andre Iguodala did a lot of things for the Sixers in his career here but knocking down the three-pointer on a consistent basis was not one of them.

On Monday, he hit seven on his way to 32 points.

Wizards guard John Wall is lightning-quick driving to the basket, but he shoots 42.3 percent for his career from the floor and just 24.4 percent on three-pointers.

Against the Sixers, Wall, who had never made more than three three-pointers in a game, sank five of eight threes.

"You've got a speed demon like John Wall, what do you want him to do?" Sixers swingman Evan Turner said. "It's not disrespecting his shot or anything, but he's such a great driver and slasher. He can get to the [free-throw] line 15 times in one game, and that can be a headache."

As a coach, there is not much Brown can do to improve the talent base of his team. He can have his team run plays to put certain guys in positions to maximize their abilities, but ultimately the talent level is what it is.

And on most nights, the Sixers' well is going to tap out before the opposition's.

So for what they lack in sheer talent, the Sixers have to make up with effort, smarts and execution. That's something Brown and his staff drill into the players every day.

That's what was so disappointing for Brown after the Sixers suffered their first loss of the season against Golden State on Monday.

"We weren't good [against the Warriors]," Brown had said. "We were sloppy at times. We didn't guard the way we should have. It's just facts."

Against Washington, the Sixers did many of the same things wrong.

This isn't hard to explain.

The Sixers don't have enough overall talent to make up for turning the ball over 20 times and letting a team drain 18 three-pointers.

There is a certain level at which the Sixers must execute to be successful. There is no margin for error.

The Sixers must hit that benchmark or they lose.

"You're going to get turnovers with a young team," Brown said, "but that's all part of the process. I have no drills on how not to turn the ball over. We just have to be smarter, especially in transition.

"I'm not putting a lot of this on effort. I'm not going there and I think it's unfair if others do. We turned the ball over and that put us behind the eight-ball from the get-go.

"I think that because of some defensive schemes, the three-point shot is hurting us. But I don't see any of that having to do with a lack of effort. It has a lot to do with things that happen with a young team, but they are correctable. That's the encouraging thing."