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Philadelphia 76ers head coach Brett Brown reiterated his verbal exchange with star forward Jimmy Butler was much ado about nothing, noting it was he who asked for the team's opinion on the offensive system, with Butler only obliging to such request. Yet the coach is more bothered by the state of the Sixers' defense, one that has looked distracted and lackadaisical in the past few weeks — a problem he's yet to resolve.
“I've got no problems with any of it,” said Brown, according to ESPN's Tim Bontemps. “I think where the thing pivots is if this isn't seen as typical. I don't agree with that. It's happened many times, and this is the first time it's public, and by my standards it's fine. I'm the instigator. I think where it goes completely north is we should be talking about our defense, and we're talking about our offense.
“Just dig into the numbers with him on the floor, and we are royalty. We are among the elite.”
Jimmy Butler brings a certain intensity that can rub off on his teammates as an edge at both ends of the floor. His defense, stout and cerebral approach can lay the foundation for a great core with Joel Embiid protecting the rim, but the lapses in concentration have been the downfall of that dream, something many have noticed, including Brown.
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The Sixers have won five of their last seven games, but sport losses to the Washington Wizards on the road (haven't won there since Nov. 2013) and the lowly Atlanta Hawks — two games they were expected to win.
“It's arrogant and a mistake not to put everybody in that category,” Brown said. “We learned that against Atlanta and Washington. I feel a little reckless even talking about this thing … the NBA is the NBA, and I try to disregard records … [that] was proven the last three games. You can't get a more blatant reality test than what we've just been through.
“So my mission remains the same: to grow our defense and help our group coexist.”
The Sixers also barely escaped a trap game against the New York Knicks with a 108-105 win, only bolstering the worry about this defense, which heads into a brutal 13-game stretch that can make or break their season.
