Sixers' defense has become intolerable

THERE HAVEN'T been many long stretches during this wretched period of basketball when the group put on the floor by 76ers coach Brett Brown hasn't given good effort, though the results usually remain the same.

"Without effort, we're nothing," Brown has said in the past. Well, since the All-Star break, which included the trade deadline, the team has been nothing.

As bad as all of this process has been as far as the product on the court, Brown and the players could always hold on to the fact that they played hard and competed. When that happened and losing followed, it was almost OK. Everyone in the organization knows that, night in and night out, the team won't have a talent advantage. But if maximum effort is shown, the results can be tolerated, though never accepted.

What's happening now can't be tolerated. Sunday's loss in Miami was the team's 12th consecutive and its 10th in a row since the break. At least in this 103-98 loss, the team showed some effort, far more than it had at any point after the break. The numbers pretty much bare it all out.

In the past 10 games, the Sixers have allowed 32.1 points in the first quarter, often digging themselves into the type of holes they just aren't capable of escaping. Opponents have averaged 61.8 first-half points since Feb. 19 and 116.8 overall.

For a team that came into the season with a coach saying the biggest goal was to improve the defense, those are scary numbers. And to show the laziness of the defense in the last 10, consider opponents have gone to the foul line an average of 32.5 times. That's up almost seven more times a game, compared with the first 53 games of the season (25.6).

To see defensive deficiencies coming from areas that will be addressed during the offseason is one thing, but when most of the ineptness comes from the two big men who most likely will be building blocks moving forward, that's concerning.

To be fair, since the break, Brown has moved Jahlil Okafor out to cover power forwards, instead of having him bang down low with centers. That has been problematic for a number of reasons, most notably Okafor's lack of foot speed to keep up with the floor-spreading forwards, who do most of their damage - or at least begin to do their damage - far from the basket. The thinking is that if Okafor is to be paired with Noel or Joel Embiid next season, those two are better rim protecters, and Okafor needs to learn to defend away from the basket. It is still a work in progress.

But while Okafor roams out on the wings defensively, Noel hasn't played up to par at center. Let's just take a look at some of the numbers put up by centers over the past 10 games. To be fair, Okafor has seen his time playing center on defense, also:

* Omer Asik went for nine points and 14 rebounds in just over 19 minutes in the first game after the break for New Orleans, pretty much negating the 24 points Noel scored.

* Two nights later, Zaza Pachulia gathered nine points and 10 boards, also in just over 19 minutes, in a 26-point Dallas win.

* Former Sixer Nikola Vucevic scored a season-high 35 points for Orlando two nights later, helping the Magic to 124 points, then threw in 28 more five days later in a game the Magic scored a franchise-record 77 points in the first half.

* Detroit center Andre Drummond eased his way to 12 points and 18 rebounds in a 20-point win.

* In a pair of games three days apart, Washington's Marcin Gortat went for 12 and 11 and 18 and 20 for the Wizards.

* Charlotte's Cody Zeller had 15 points and nine boards in a 20-point win.

* And Hassan Whiteside, Miami's backup center, totaled 19 points, 19 rebounds and two blocks Friday, then went for 14 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks Sunday.

Brown's mounting frustration has been glaring. He entered one news conference saying he didn't even know who his team was that night. In offering reasons for lapses in defense, he said after the home loss to Charlotte on Wednesday: "I think that our rim protection, our blocked shots with Nerlens has been down. I don't think it's fair to point only to him. It starts with perimeter defense."

If that remark was directly aimed at Okafor or Jerami Grant, two players most likely to be here moving forward, that needs to be a priority. If it's because of the play of many of the players who might not be here, it's not so much of a concern.

Brown's hope at the beginning of this season was to improve upon the team's defensive rating (points per 100 possessions), which was 13th in the league at 105.7. This season, the Sixers rank at 26th out of 30, at 108.8.

Defense, as much as the effort, is key for this Process to move forward, and it can't be here today, gone tomorrow, especially not for the players being counted on moving forward.

cooneyb@phillynews.com

@BobCooney76

Blog: philly.com/Sixersblog