Sixers should model themselves after Spurs of the East

THE MODEL WAS, is and always will be based in San Antonio. That is where 76ers coach Brett Brown learned the NBA game. It is where he witnessed four championship seasons. It is where he helped grow players who were important peripheral pieces into superstars.

Twice a season now, Brown gets to see his former team play. And each time his team goes against the perennial power, the lessons are right there for his young team to absorb. The problem is that San Antonio still boasts superstars, namely Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, each a pretty sure bet to be a Hall of Famer. No matter how optimistic you might be about the young group of Sixers Brown is overseeing, none appears to be anyone who will ever reach the level of those Big Three. If The Plan is going to come to fruition for Brown and general manager Sam Hinkie, it will most likely be with a group that includes some really good players, probably not superstars. Yes, Joel Embiid might become something special, and perhaps they get another player who will be a very good pro from this year's draft, but superstars are few and far between.

That's why, perhaps, Brown and company should change the model they are trying to emulate. Forget the Spurs and start copying everything that is the Atlanta Hawks.

The Hawks were in town this past week, riding a streak of 22 wins in 24 games (which they upped to 23 in 25 against the Sixers). They also are overseen by a Gregg Popovich disciple in Mike Budenholzer, who took over a team that had made the playoffs the six previous seasons, but was bounced in the first or second round each time. So while his cupboard was a lot fuller than the one Brown inherited, the feeling was the same in both cities, that there was no progress being made. The Sixers, of course, have gone through a major overhaul with their ever-changing roster, while the Hawks have more or less kept the roster intact but adapted to the style Budenholzer, now in his second season, has implemented.

The pass-happy Hawks are second in the NBA in assists at 25.6 a game. They have been called the Spurs of the East. On their first possession against the Sixers, they threw nine passes. Nine. They were called for a shot-clock violation, but it showed they are all in on the "good to great" theme Popovich designed in San Antonio.

"I get that question a lot, and I just keep saying that if it's good, solid, fundamental basketball on the court, then that's what we want to be doing," Budenholzer said of the Spurs comparisons. "I think San Antonio does a lot of things that are very solid and fundamental on the court. They and other teams are constantly looking for ways to keep players in their best position to perform. If it's something that makes sense and it's something that San Antonio does, then there are a lot of us that are trying to do similar things.

"I think it's just good basketball. Junior high teams, high school teams, college teams hopefully are doing it, making sure their weakside defense is aware of being back and making shifts on defense, ball movement on offense and sharing it and playing unselfish. Obviously, San Antonio is a team that has done it well, but I think there are teams at every level in every part of the country in every league that do things well that we all kind of want to steal from."

It all looked so familiar to Brown, sans the superstar players. He can only dream of seeing it all the time here in the next few years.

"At this stage of the year, and let's forget about championships, just talk about if they are a good team or not, and the answer is yes, they are," Brown said of the Hawks. "They do it without any All-Star-type players. They do it with a bunch of good guys that are good players, and they are a team. It's not like they have someone who really, really stands out. And so I look at that as another way where you can attain success, where you actually can build a team with a bunch of really good guys who are really good players who believe in a system and play together. Now, their age factors into that when you start looking into their experience and their maturity and all those things that matter. But right now, they're the best team in the East and really there's not many, if any, on that roster that you are going to say are going to be the most popular player in the All-Star Game. I just feel like it's another example of how you can build a program and how you can attain success.

"I give them credit. They pass the ball, they play together. They're a good team. We talk a lot about our inability at times to score. The pass is still something personally that just drives me to not get much sleep. It just haunts me, because I know the ripple effects of team stuff, and the importance of sharing the ball is everything. We need to get better at that. [We need] familiarity with each other, familiarity with the system. Me as a coach never letting it go.

"We talk about Groundhog's Day a lot, to show the same tape and the same theme often. You get to a stage where you say, 'Well, if they're not learning it, I'm not teaching it well enough.' And then you get to a point where maybe it's not in them and maybe that's not the play we want. So I have to grow it, we have to talk about it, we have to promote it. We need to, as a team, understand that's what makes the world go around. You have to pass the ball to the open man. We don't do that at times, and I'm trying to teach them on spacing and coach that better. But I think that all plays into when do you arrive as a team and now you share it.

"Consistency with a roster. Consistency with a structure. Me coaching it and never letting it go and explain how to not play in a crowd. All those types of things."

Once some more players are in place for him, Brown hopes to have just what his good friend has in Atlanta.

The Sixers are expected to sign point guard Larry Drew II to a 10-day contract. Drew is averaging 11 points and 10.1 assists for the Sioux Falls Skyforce. He set a league record on Christmas Day when he dealt 23 assists against Rio Grande. The Sixers need another point guard, as backup Tony Wroten sat out Wednesday's game against Toronto with a sprained knee.

New Orleans Pelicans (19-19) at Sixers (7-31)

When:  Tonight, 7 o'clock

Where:  Wells Fargo Center

TV/Radio:  Comcast SportsNet/The Fanatic (97.5 FM)

Game stuff:  When you talk of who may be the MVP of the league in the first half of the season, the answer usually begins with Pelicans center Anthony Davis. His numbers of 24.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, 2.9 blocks and 56.1 percent shooting from the floor are off the charts. The team played without former Sixer Jrue Holiday on Wednesday, out with sore ankle.

Sixers at Detroit Pistons (14-25)

When:  Tomorrow, 7:30 p.m.

Where:  Palace at Auburn Hills

TV/Radio:  The Comcast Network/The Fanatic (97.5 FM)

Game stuff:  Before losing to New Orleans Wednesday, Detroit had won nine of its previous 10 games. This will be the seventh game in 10 days for the Pistons. Big man Andre Drummond was benched for much of the second half in the New Orleans game by coach Stan Van Gundy.

Sixers at Washington Wizards (27-12)

When:  Monday, 2 o'clock

Where:  Verizon Center, Washington

TV/Radio:  Comcast SportsNet/The Fanatic (97.5 FM)

Game stuff:  The Wizards have two impressive wins this week, as they knocked off the defending champion San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday, then won in Chicago the next night. They have gotten terrific play from point guard John Wall of late.

New York Knicks (5-36) at Sixers

When:  Wednesday, 7 o'clock

Where:  Wells Fargo Center

TV/Radio:  Comcast SportsNet/The Fanatic (97.5 FM)

Game stuff:  Who'd have thought the Sixers would be battling with the Knicks for the worst record in the NBA this late into the season? Carmelo Anthony had missed six consecutive games with a sore knee, but was back on the floor yesterday when they faced the Milwaukee Bucks in London.

26.76:  That's the number of assists per game by the league-leading Golden State Warriors.

5:  That's the number of times the Sixers have had more than 26 assists in a game.

15:  That's how many consecutive games the Sixers have gone without scoring 100 points.

On Twitter: @BobCooney76