The NBA's Next Great Defense Is Not Who You'd Expect
Since the structure of their roster was imploded two summers ago, the Philadelphia 76ers have only been able to associate with the word "greatness" if it applied to the rate at which they've lost games in pursuit of ping pong balls.
However, a new trend is beginning to make that narrative obsolete.
Head coach Brett Brown has long referred to defense as the foundation upon which his program would be built, and that approach has always felt pragmatic in the abstract given the team's pursuit of long, strong and speedy athletes.
But more than halfway through the 2014-15 season, it's time to put theoretical assessments to rest. Instead, Brown's emergence as a skilled contractor deserves recognition because he's crafted a burgeoning defense with a collection of raw lottery, second-round and undrafted talent.
Sticking to Brown's core principles, the Sixers have quietly crept up the efficiency charts and sit a spot above the Chicago Bulls in possession of the league's 12th-ranked defense. So in the blink of an eye, the Sixers have cozied up next to a formerly elite defense that ranked No. 2 overall in efficiency just a season ago.
Allowing 102.3 points per 100 possessions, Philadelphia has also carved out a niche as the Eastern Conference's sixth-best defense with a frenetic style that plays to the club's most basic physical strengths. That's all the more impressive when you consider an offense that's on pace to rank as one of the least efficient in league history is providing no relief on the other end of the floor.
"This success isn’t only due to coaching. The Sixers have a lot of long athletes (last night’s starting lineup went 6-6, 6-6, 6-8, 6-9, 6-11) that are versatile and can switch pretty much everything. The teams that typically give them trouble move the ball and shoot the three well, but their individual athletes stack up well against the rest of the league.
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Correspondingly, the Sixers have parlayed wingspans, vertical leaps and shuttle times into a well-oiled turnover-inducing machine.
| Opponents' Turnovers Per Game | 17.5 | 1 |
| Steals Per Game | 9.9 | 1 |
| Blocks Per Game | 6.1 | 2 |
Playing at the league's sixth-fastest pace has aided the Sixers' ascent from a per-game statistical basis, but it certainly doesn't do them any favors in the efficiency department, where more possessions equal more opportunities to hemorrhage points. If things slowed down in conjunction with just a smidgen of offensive progression, their defensive rating would conceivably reside in a more elite tier.
With a healthy Nerlens Noel and the rise of rookies K.J. McDaniels and Jerami Grant, Philadelphia has quickly morphed into one of the league's premier rim-protecting outfits.
Last season, the Sixers ranked 29th in opponent field-goal percentage at the rim and last among Eastern Conference teams, surrendering a conversion rate of 55.1, according to SportVU player-tracking data.
This season, a 180-degree revolution has occurred within the restricted area. Anchored by Noel's 7'4'' wingspan and 9'2'' standing reach (h/t DraftExpress.com), Philadelphia grades out as the league's fourth-best rim-protecting team at 49.8 percent. Only the Indiana Pacers have been better among Eastern Conference competitors.
Individually, consistent denials at the rim have nearly been beyond reproach—astounding for a handful of players who are hovering around the legal drinking age.
According to NBA.com, five of the top 11 rookies in blocks per 36 minutes reside in the City of Brotherly Love, with Noel, Grant, McDaniels, Furkan Aldemir and JaKarr Sampson all qualifying.
Noel's clearly the cream of the crop, though. Among players contesting at least seven shots at the rim per game, he ranks No. 8 overall in opponent field-goal percentage, per SportVU. At 46 percent, the flat-topped dynamo is perched one spot ahead of Tim Duncan and four notches above DeMarcus Cousins.
As a result, Noel is on pace to join David Robinson as the only rookies in league history to average 1.5 blocks and 1.5 steals over the course of a debut season, according to Basketball-Reference.com.
"He’s unbelievable, especially on the weak side, blocking shots," Michael Carter-Williams said of Noel, according to NBA.com's Max Rappaport. "When he’s active, and I’m active, and we really set the tone."
For all of his offensive flaws—and there are plenty—Carter-Williams makes an astute point. When he shares the floor with Noel, the Sixers limit opponents to 98.4 points per 100 possessions. That's nearly four points better than the Sixers' season total.
What's truly remarkable is how the team's most used five-man unit has clicked in such a short amount of time. Since Robert Covington joined the ranks in mid-November, Brown's go-to squadron of Carter-Williams, Covington, Noel, McDaniels and Luc Mbah a Moute has put an absolute vice on challengers.
In 152 minutes together, that core has recorded a defensive rating of 86.0—tops among all five-man units that have played at least 100 minutes this season.
First and foremost, that's a credit to the system and the culture Brown's creating. Players are buying in to the notion that defense can produce wins despite encountering major developmental hitches on offense, and recent results have indicated as much.
Over the past week, the scope of Philadelphia's improvement has been amplified considerably. Wins over the Detroit Pistons, Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves were nice, but losses to the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers encapsulated this season's steady growth.
The Sixers held two of the league's top-flight defenses under 100 points, and by doing the same against the Nuggets, they've boasted that accomplishment in six straight games.
LeBron James was even quick to complement the team's competitive spirit, according to the Akron Beacon Journal's Jason Lloyd:
Not only does all the supporting evidence point to future defensive greatness, but the impending arrival of Joel Embiid as the franchise's two-way centerpiece means the core's potential won't be maxed out for quite a while.
Because if trying to score on Noel alone was a difficult task, imagine what it's going to be like when he's lurking on the weak side while Embiid is meeting opposing rim runners and rolling big men at the summit.
Separated from the Milwaukee Bucks' Eastern Conference-best defense by a mere 3.6 points on the efficiency spectrum, there's reason to believe Philadelphia can follow in the Deer's footsteps. Ranked 29th in defensive rating a season ago, the Bucks have implemented aggressive tactics fueled by raw athletic gifts to make a 27-spot leap in efficiency and mask offensive deficiencies.
That's the sort of trajectory the Sixers are on, and the overarching philosophy guiding such improvement doesn't differ much from the Midwest to the Northeast.
While manager Sam Hinkie has worked tirelessly to compose a roster loaded with cheap, upside-laden talent, he's provided Brown with the tools necessary to fast-track defensive development. And now that the Sixers are flush with cap space and promise, they're slowly and steadily sneaking into peripheral view thanks to a group that's blown expectations out of the water.
All statistics current as of games completed through Feb. 5 and courtesy of NBA.com unless noted otherwise.
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