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Sixers coach Brett Brown sees incremental improvements

WHEN YOU think of moving forward, as far as the 76ers are concerned, thoughts naturally move to what could happen on the Feb. 18 NBA trade deadline. Even if something should happen then, the bigger plans seem to be set for June 23, when the NBA draft will be held and the Sixers could have as many as four first-round picks.

WHEN YOU think of moving forward, as far as the 76ers are concerned, thoughts naturally move to what could happen on the Feb. 18 NBA trade deadline. Even if something should happen then, the bigger plans seem to be set for June 23, when the NBA draft will be held and the Sixers could have as many as four first-round picks.

But here and now, the players who are currently on the roster and might very well still be when this whole thing moves forward need to prove they deserve to be part of it.

Wednesday's 38-point loss to Atlanta did nothing to help anyone's standing. And Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor still didn't show any type of chemistry in the few minutes they shared the court. There appears to be some improvement, as the team has gone 6-12 since its 1-30 start and the acquisition of Ish Smith. The diminutive point guard is just a part of the reason, says coach Brett Brown. Just as he insists the newly formed front office will move forward in a collaborative effort, he thinks his team is doing the same.

"We're moving, and a little bit like we were last year at this time," Brown said. "A lot of people, some fairly, point to Ish as the thing that tripped all this. That is not entirely true. There is improvement in all of the players. I think in all of the schemes we've gotten better, because we have been all vanilla."

He's also found more trust with his players. No longer does he have to coach all 2,880 seconds of a game. His players are learning to police themselves a bit, to accept mistakes and to learn among themselves.

"It's just more accountable, it's a freer conversation because they, at times, can beat me to it, because they know they've made a mistake," Brown said. "And a teammate can react to a teammate where they know they've made a mistake. When you get to that type of system, where the players can coach the players, and that level of accountability is moving forward, as I think it is with us, schematically you can improve."

That remains to be seen, for the most part. There are still so many offensive and defensive flaws. Perhaps it's due to the lack of talent, perhaps it's not having the right players to put in proper positions. Maybe a trade-deadline move or the draft will go a long way to helping that. But it is imperative that the players here now keep improving.

"Isn't that life? You get it right or you don't," Brown said. "There is no exact science to any of this. The common demoninator to me is that time does let us make better decisions. The balance of waiting a month too long or not doing something sooner is always prevalent. It's always there. But we have to not overreact. We have to be ruthlessly patient and consistent with what we believe we need to do to build this the way that we're doing. I think that we're on track in many, many ways.

"When you talk about the vanilla thing that we've been doing as a team, (Okafor) has been on a personal road map with me on just a tiny few areas that we zoom in on to help grow him. There's a few things on defense, there's a few things on offense where every game he gets a grade, a little report card. We walk him through - this was good and this wasn't. He's lived in a tiny world, and I've seen his improvement in his screening. I've seen improvement defensively. I've seen his improvement in his spacing when he's not involved in the play. He had a tendency initially that he just wants the ball. Every place that he's ever been, he's going to get the ball and he's going to score. And now he's playing with other bigs, and spacing becomes an issue; people catch and go drive, and he can't crash into driving lanes.

"Defensively, his positioning with his feet in pick-and-rolls has improved. Always, we're going to talk about his rebounding, (his) need to improve there, too. But I think he keeps getting better, and I hope others see the same things as I do."

DRIBBLES

UPCOMING GAMES

Who: Sixers (7-42) at Washington Wizards (21-26)

When: 7 p.m. Friday

Where: Verizon Center, Washington

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

Game stuff: The Sixers always have trouble containing John Wall, like every other team in the league. The fact that he's coming off a season-best 41 points on Wednesday against the visiting Golden State Warriors doesn't bode well.

Who: Brooklyn Nets (12-38) at Sixers

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Wells Fargo Center

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

Game stuff: Former Sixer Thaddeus Young posted his 22nd double-double of the season in Wednesday's loss to Indiana. That sets a personal high for the forward. The Nets have lost both games this month after going 3-13 in January.

Who: Los Angeles Clippers (32-17) at Sixers

When: 7 p.m. Monday

Where: Wells Fargo Center

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

Game stuff: The Clippers will be without Blake Griffin, who will not be with the team on this road trip as he waits for his broken hand to heal. The Clippers had a four-game winning streak stopped in a home setback to the Minnesota Timberwolves Wednesday.

Who: Sacramento Kings (21-28) at Sixers

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Wells Fargo Center

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

Game stuff: Both DeMarcus Cousins and Rajon Rondo are struggling through injuries right now. This game will be the fourth and final of an eastern trip for the Kings.

BY THE NUMBERS

6: That's how many times Sixers forward Jerami Grant has blocked at least four shots in a game. He leads the team with 75 rejections.

125.7: That's how many points the Atlanta Hawks have averaged against the Sixers in their three meetings this season.

29: That's the average margin of victory by the Hawks over the Sixers in the three games this season.

On Twitter: @BobCooney76

Blog: philly.com/Sixersblog