Sixers give honest effort after a rotten one
Brett Brown questioned "the spirit and toughness" of the 76ers after Sunday night's blowout loss to the Boston Celtics. "I don't even know what team I coached," a befuddled Brown said in the astonishing, 70-second news conference that followed.
Brett Brown questioned "the spirit and toughness" of the 76ers after Sunday night's blowout loss to the Boston Celtics.
"I don't even know what team I coached," a befuddled Brown said in the astonishing, 70-second news conference that followed.
Nobody was surprised, of course, that the 76ers lost the game. It was the 39th time in 45 games they had lost this season. It was not even newsworthy that they had been beaten by 20 points. That had happened 10 times previously this season.
The shocking part was that their coach had correctly decided the biggest problem was a lack of effort.
"We just didn't come with the energy, for whatever reason," he said.
A day later, after watching the tape, Brown felt exactly the same way. He bemoaned the Celtics' 26 second-chance points and called it "a lifeless, dispirited game."
The 76ers' losing because of a lack of talent is understandable. It's difficult and often times impossible to watch, as we've learned over the last three seasons, but, for all his faults, general manager Sam Hinkie never promised a quick fix when he sent the franchise into tank mode.
What's entirely unacceptable from a team this young and this bad is a lack of effort, especially against a team like the Celtics. No, not because the Sixers and Celtics are bitter rivals that have met in the postseason 12 times. That ship sailed a long time ago. They should have known, however, that the Celtics entered the Wells Fargo Center with a winning record, including a couple of victories over the 76ers. Nerlens Noel, in fact, has lost to the Celtics seven times in as many games during his first two seasons.
The next time the Sixers beat a team with a winning record will be the first time this season.
Anything less than full effort was not going to get the job done, which is true for the Sixers even when they are playing the worst of NBA teams. Despite having three days off, the Sixers played as if their fuel tanks were empty.
Brown said Monday that he aggressively addressed the issue, but before sending his team back out on the court Tuesday night against the Phoenix Suns, he defended his young team. He knows it is true that there are some nights over the course of an 82-game season when a team will show up at the starting line out of gas.
"I think it can almost happen more [with a young team] because it's exposed in the biggest of big ways when you just aren't an A-plus [team] because of experience or age," Brown said. "Really good teams can cover it easier. I think to say that every great team is going to play 82 games is wrong. It just doesn't happen.
"I just think for us, when it does creep in in the tiniest of ways, it's a landslide and the floodgates open. In general, that isn't us. I'm thrilled with this group. The last game was a real disappointment because we were playing so well, but I think as far as frequency goes, I would stand by sort of explaining it the way I did."
Perhaps Brown was stroking his team after scalding it. Regardless, effort should never be an issue when a team has so many players with so much to prove.
To the Sixers' credit, they did not let it happen again Tuesday night and they were rewarded with a 113-103 victory over the wretched Phoenix Suns.
Give the Sixers extra credit, too, because they played shorthanded and hurt. Rookie Jahlil Okafor, the team's leading scorer, sat out Tuesday and will again Wednesday because of illness. JaKarr Sampson was also out with illness, while Isaiah Canaan played with a sore wrist and Jerami Grant played despite being sick.
"I think that we were sick after we watched the replay of the Celtics game to the point where it even hurt Isaiah's wrist," Brown said.
The coach was finally able to make light of what had been a disgraceful night Sunday and it had to help his mood even more that his team rebounded from that loss with a high-energy victory against the Suns.
"The lesson is always be prepared, no matter who you're playing against and no matter what the circumstances are, snowstorm or not," Noel said after filling up the box score with 14 points, nine rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals. "You have to make sure you show up for your job and you're ready to work. We weren't.
"Coach Brown was angry at some points, but he has respect for us as young players and he addressed it . . . and we had a great practice and it shows in how we played tonight."
Point guard Ish Smith said he couldn't sleep Sunday night after the disappointing performance and he responded with a team-high 20 points to go along with nine assists.
Robert Covington, another potential keeper if and when this team ever completely turns things around, connected on 5 of 12 three-point attempts and scored 19 points.
The best thing, however, about this win against a bad team was the honest effort. It's something this band of NBA auditioning Sixers would be foolish not to provide every night.
@brookob