Teaching moment for Sixers' Jahlil Okafor, Nerlens Noel

IT WAS around this part of the season that we expected to finally have formed an opinion on the 76ers' big- man situation.

Instead, we're watching a couple of 30-plus players try to hold down the fort while rookie Jahlil Okafor takes care of the torn meniscus in his right knee. Okafor last played on Feb. 28 and will miss the rest of the season.

Meanwhile, Nerlens Noel and Okafor can observe and learn. They can watch the work ethic of Elton Brand, who celebrated his 37th birthday Friday with the Sixers' ninth win of the season. He played just over six minutes, but had a steal, a block, and tried to draw a charge. They can see the simplicity of 32-year-old Carl Landry's game; he thinks a box-out on the defensive end is only successful if he ends up with the rebound.

Coach Brett Brown just couldn't seem to figure out how to get the best out of Noel and Okafor when they were on the floor together. The problem is both want to do the same thing at the offensive end - get the ball close to the basket and do their work - and at the defensive end - defend by the rim.

While playing Brand and Landry certainly isn't the answer moving forward for the Sixers, perhaps there could be some good to it.

These two have played a combined 26 years in the league. They have made careers out of being midrange shooters on offense and capable defenders by knowing their opponents and, more importantly, knowing themselves.

Brand, generously listed at 6-9, does his defensive work against bigger players by concentrating on them from the middle of the back on down. The middle of the back is where he'll set his huge hands or lethal forearms and use his strong base to move the offensive player just a little farther away from the basket. His positioning is usually solid due to good footwork and exemplary anticipation skills. Never to be confused with an outstanding defensive player, Brand does what he can to make himself serviceable at that end.

The first pick out of Duke in 1999, Brand came out as a terrific scorer, one of the first big men to have an offensive game that wasn't limited to only being around the basket.

Sound familiar? Like Brand, Okafor has an offensive game that is not only NBA-ready, but could turn out to be way above average. If Okafor can learn the defensive intangibles the way Brand did, perhaps the talk of him being a one-way player will eventually drift away.

At 6-9, 248-pounds, Landry is more athletic than you'd think. But more than that, he is a bulldog when it comes to getting the job done. Most comfortable hitting 15- to 18-foot jumpers after a strong pick, Landry has the guile to get himself to the basket and then use a variety of moves to get an open shot or draw a foul. He makes the most of his talent and never seems to try to do more than he can.

Are you watching, Nerlens Noel?

This isn't to say that Brand's game is strikingly similar to Okafor's, or that Noel should pattern his game after Landry's. But there are just so many lessons that can be picked up by the two youngsters that it would be a shame to just let that get away.

"I see veteran NBA players," said Brown. "The game, in that sense, seems easy to them. Those two guys make it easy."

Maybe the game should be that way a little bit more for Okafor and Noel. What sticks out, to me, is the way Landry and Brand set such solid picks. When that happens, the advantage immediately goes to the Sixers. It means Ish Smith can beat a big man off the dribble. It means that either Landry or Brand can simply let go of the defending guard after the pick, create space, then step into a wide-open midrange shot.

With Okafor and Noel, that just doesn't happen. On most pick-and-rolls, there is little, if any, contact with the defending guard. Therefore, no space is created. Therefore, no mismatches are formed. Therefore, 10 or more seconds run off the shot clock with no definitive offensive advantages and a frenetic scramble ensues, usually ending with a poor shot.

When you become an older player, whether it be in the NBA or in pickup games around your town, you see the game a whole lot differently, more simply. Brand and Landry have seen it that way for years. But it is an art that can be learned by young players, also. And it would behoove Okafor and Noel to soak in as much as they can for the final 16 games of the season.

cooneyb@phillynews.com

@BobCooney76

Blog: philly.com/Sixersblog