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Rivers preaches more patience for Brown

76ers coach Brett Brown's popularity takes a hit after every close loss. That's what happens when your team is 8-44 and fans are tired of tanking.

Sixers coach Brett Brown is 45-171 in two-plus seasons, but Clippers coach Doc Rivers says Brown does a good job getting his team ready to play.
Sixers coach Brett Brown is 45-171 in two-plus seasons, but Clippers coach Doc Rivers says Brown does a good job getting his team ready to play.Read moreYONG KIM / Staff Photographer

76ers coach Brett Brown's popularity takes a hit after every close loss. That's what happens when your team is 8-44 and fans are tired of tanking.

But Doc Rivers, an NBA champion with the Boston Celtics and the current coach and president of basketball operations for the Los Angeles Clippers, preaches yet more patience for the beleaguered Brown.

"His teams play hard every night," Rivers said Monday before a 98-92 overtime victory over the Sixers.

Rivers, who has coached his own struggling teams over his 17 seasons, said it's hard for the Sixers to constantly hear talk "about them being traded, about what the team is not doing, about the draft the following year."

For a coach, Rivers said, the job is to convince the players to ignore all that and "execute and play hard and want to play for your team."

"He does it," Rivers said of Brown.

Coaching a young and developing team like the Sixers is challenging for many reasons, Rivers said. "Not because they don't know how to play," he said. "Some do."

But many young players haven't developed the chemistry of a team. They haven't learned the value of playing together, the importance of playing their roles so the team succeeds as a group.

"They all want to be the guy," Rivers said.

The 54-year-old coach uses his coaching days with the Celtics as an example. Some of the roughest days were at practices, not games, because players were battling one another for court time in the upcoming games.

Then, on game day, the five starters were happy, and the reserves were mad at Rivers because they were on the bench. Somehow, Rivers said, Brown has kept the Sixers on the same page.

"I don't understand how he does that," Rivers said.

The latest criticism of Brown came after Monday's loss to Rivers and the Clippers. Twitter was abuzz with complaints about his late-game personnel and coaching decisions.

With the Sixers up by three, why didn't Brown opt to foul center DeAndre Jordan, a 41.8 percent free-throw shooter, on the Clippers' final possession of regulation?

And why was 6-foot Ish Smith guarding 6-4 J.J. Redick, who buried the game-tying three-pointer with 10.5 seconds left in regulation?

And why was Nerlens Noel not on the floor for the final play of regulation, which ended with Jahlil Okafor's missed jumper at the buzzer, and the start of overtime?

The answers are pretty much the same as they have been all season. Brown is still evaluating his young players in certain situations, and the front office is still dreaming of draft picks over victories.

Brown's career record of 45-171 is a direct result of the team's several years of tanking.

So, Rivers said, don't be too quick to judge Brown harshly.

"I always say all the time, and [Brown] is a great example," Rivers said, "I think people make mistakes when they judge you by your record sometimes."

kpompey@phillynews.com

@PompeyOnSixers

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