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Sixers have a lot to learn

The coaching staff is focusing on transition defense, which is tough to do when turnovers start so many transitions.

Celtics guard Marcus Thornton blocks the pass attempt between 76ers guard Casper Ware and forward Arnett Moultrie. (Bill Streicher/USA Today Sports)
Celtics guard Marcus Thornton blocks the pass attempt between 76ers guard Casper Ware and forward Arnett Moultrie. (Bill Streicher/USA Today Sports)Read more

THE DEPTHS to which the teaching lessons have to go with this young 76ers team sometimes even catch the coaching staff off guard.

Think of putting a finger in a leaking dike. And then another leak pops. And then another and another and another . . . There just aren't fingers and toes to plug the holes.

Coach Brett Brown and his coaching staff have keyed on one very important area to his group this preseason: transition defense. When there is a missed Sixers shot, he wants his team to thwart the opposition from getting out in a full run, trying to hinder the first three steps anyone makes toward the other end of the court.

Seems good, until the 76ers start turning the ball over on a daily basis. That then leads to odd-numbered breaks for the other team, which leaves the Sixers scrambling to find where they are supposed to be and who they are supposed to cover. Against Boston on Thursday, 16 first-half turnovers led to 21 three-point attempts and 10 makes for the Celtics. You would have to look really hard to find one of those attempts that was even partially defended.

In Saturday's win over a scaled-down Orlando Magic team, the Sixers turned the ball over 25 more times, giving them 130 giveaways in the six preseason contests they've played so far (21.7 per game). It is almost impossible to teach transition defense after a turnover because the players' location on the court when a turnover happens is hardly ever the same.

Another area that hurts the Sixers in the defensive transition game is that they have no one who can consistently make a three-point shot. Though he knows this roster is lacking in good shooters, Brown still does feel the future of the game, and perhaps this organization once the proper players are put in place, is a fast-paced style that lends itself to shots from beyond the arc. Problem with this group is it will take the three (18.5 attempts per game this preseason), but rarely make it (5.3 makes). That means long rebounds when long shots are taken. When the opposition corrals a long rebound, that means it's just a few strong dribbles away from getting either to the basket or a drive and kick-out to what many times is a wide-open shooter.

For the coaching staff, it often is like trying to teach a student calculus but realizing the basic math concept hasn't been retained yet. Kind of like one step up and two steps back.

"We're just trying to see with all these guys if they can be consistent and what they're going to give us on a day-to-day basis," said assistant coach Chad Iske. "From the beginning, we felt because of the youth of our team that training camp was all the way through preseason. It wasn't just that first week when we were out at Stockton College. It was really going to be eight preseason games for us to get better and to practice every day.

"We've got a lot of guys to look at and we only have this month to have this many bodies. It's a crash course for all of these kids and a lot of NBA concepts that are brand-new to them - defensively and offensively. You take for granted when you've been around the league that what's second language to you, NBA terminology, to these kids coming in they've never heard the word. It's good for us to realize that there are so many things that you have to explain and to teach more that it takes more time. We felt that we had to spread it out over the period of a month instead of a week.

"Part of that growth process is that there is nobody there to rescue you. You are going to have to learn to be a pro, and what you have to do to help your body and your mind and get through the fatigue and the battles that you are going to have throughout the season."

The physical grind is what it is, and while many players on this roster can't really comprehend that just yet, the mental part of it may wear them down even more. There aren't many players in the NBA who weren't winning most of their games growing up through high school and college. The Sixers are no different in that respect, so going through long losing streaks in a season when the win total may rival that of the Eagles is going to be a huge mental challenge.

"There is no rainbow waiting for you at the end of the tunnel," said Iske. "There is going to be another game waiting for you, you're going to have four games in five nights sometimes, and how are you going to respond? You might feel tired, but your mind's got to get you through it. Nobody is going to be there to take it easy on us. You've got to fight through it and mentally be stronger."

Sixshots

Nerlens Noel (upper respiratory infection) again sat in Saturday's 95-84 win over the Magic in Allentown. He'll be a game-time decision tonight when the Sixers take on the Nets in Brooklyn . . . Tony Wroten also was out, due to personal reasons . . . The team will play its final preseason game Thursday in Detroit. The season opens Oct. 29 at Indiana.

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