Sixers coach Brett Brown needs more time and talent

HERE ARE a couple of examples of the daily emails I get regarding the Sixers:

* "When is the organization going to fire Brett Brown? The man probably has the worst record in pro sports history over a three-year period. His substitutions are baffling, his play-calling head-scratching and his defense is awful. And while they're at it, get rid of Sam Hinkie, too."

On the other end of the spectrum there is this:

* "When is management going to give Brett Brown a true NBA roster to work with? The guy goes out there every night and coaches hard, but he simply doesn't have a roster capable of competing against other NBA teams."

Both are legitimate questions and observations, and ones that are said and written many, many times - and in many different ways - throughout the season.

My stand toward the coach parallels my feelings toward The Process, which is a "wait-and-see" philosophy.

I understand the impatience, and see firsthand some of the coaching decisions that make you wonder what Brown was thinking. There was having Jahlil Okafor, the team's most potent offensive player, on the bench during a tie game and a last possession against the Knicks earlier this season. There is the end-of-quarter play in which Nik Stauskas is given the ball and basically told to make something happen. It has rarely, if ever, worked this season. And then there is the super aggravating five-second inbounds violation incurred after a timeout in a close game against Washington recently.

On the other side, I see terrific plays called after timeouts. I've talked to Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Steve Kerr, Bruce Bowen, Gregg Popovich and others around the league who aren't a part of the San Antonio tree, and they all are in agreement that Brown is a wonderfully knowledgable basketball mind who, when given a formidable roster, will thrive.

It's still astounding that after winning just 45 of 227 games, Brown continues to have his players giving maximum effort just about every night.

Trying to really understand what kind of job Brown has done is like trying to throw water with your bare hand. You just can't grasp what he's done, whether you want to smear him or praise him. And he understands that. It's just where he is at this time, where the organization is. To truly be able to rate Brown, you're going to have to wait a little while longer.

"There is just no margin of error for us. None," said Brown. "If you missed a switch, you lose. If you miss a box out, you could lose. If you miss two box outs and two switches, you lose by eight. There's just no margin for error. We just don't have the roster to absorb multiple errors. So as a team, me and the team, we just have to be on point. We can't absorb multiple errors."

He is not putting any blame on the players. That isn't even close to anything that the man is about. He speaks the truth. He knows it, his players know it and most fans do too. He knows that judgment day comes whenever his team takes the floor and he accepts that. But it's only human nature to want to be scrutinized under a more even playing field.

"I feel like I see the end (of losing) coming a lot sooner," Brown said. "We've talked freely about the Jahlil and Nerlens (Noel) thing. We've talked freely about seeing Jerami (Grant) at some three knowing that (Dario) Saric might come in, or maybe a draft pick could influence it. Jerami is like a free safety - a three or a four, a four or a three, whatever. I'm aware of that and I do that based a little bit on next year, but also out of curiosity. In fairness to him, he should be able to be judged in both positions. But in general for me, it does change from an excitement perspective. What we all know to be this, obviously a situation that has been hard, is coming to an end. It's coming to an end as we knew it. I can say that definitively.

"Let me quantify that comment. We missed a whole recruiting class that redshirted. Joel (Embiid's) class - Saric and Joel - didn't play. As we knew it, this period of time for the 76ers, as we knew it, is coming to an abrupt halt. We know we are going to start to reap some of the benefits of what we've tried to build to acquire. You got, for sure, three first-round draft picks, maybe four. Maybe Saric. Maybe Embiid. The invested time put into Nerlens. The invested time put into Jahlil. The invested time put into Jerami and the growth of (Robert) Covington. I see, with the group that we have, there are survivors. I see the group that's coming in, there's for sure reason to be hopeful. We haven't talked about, for the first time our admittance that we want to get in the free-agent game. It's a whole new world."

Twelve years as an assistant to Popovich in San Antonio gave Brown a master's degree in the NBA. There isn't a situation during a game he hasn't seen, not a defense that hasn't been conquered, an offense that hasn't been overhauled. In San Antonio, it was easier to put talented personnel in good positions because they were also smart players.

"This is my 15th year in the league," said Brown. "You're not really scratching your head much when it comes time to call a play or stop a play. Maybe what you're going to do isn't always the right thing, but you know what you want to do. I have been so spoiled to have to figure out stuff in Game 7s where it's my responsibility (for scouting opponents with the Spurs). You have to navigate deep into Western Conference playoffs. Like, what is the in-game, on the fly adjustment for Dirk (Nowitzki), Kobe (Bryant), (Kevin) Durant, (Russell) Westbrook? As coaching staffs we obviously talked about it and you have 30 seconds to flip the switch. We did that and we did it well. And our team was smart.

"Now, we're cerebral for 44 minutes, 42 minutes. Those periods of time - six minutes, eight minutes, two minutes - it's over. Because that is when the (lack of) talent level is completely exposed. There's just zero margin of error. You can see it happen all the time. We're there and we're just trying to close out a game. It could be a defensive thing; it could be an offensive thing. It could be a KYP thing (know your personnel). It's knowing James Harden wants to go to the left, force him to the right."

Talent makes a coach look better and vice versa. Brown simply hasn't been handed much of it during his tenure. Some players have developed well, others not so much. But for the ones that truly matter, there just hasn't been enough time to develop them or accurately judge what type a job Brown has done.

I'm eager to see Brown coach a roster full of NBA potential, not just a prospect here and there. Only after that should he be questioned on what type of job he has done.

cooneyb@phillynews.com

@BobCooney76

Blog: philly.com/Sixersblog