Sixers Will Have High Volume Offense, Low Performing Defense

By George Kondoleon | Oct 18, 2016

Oct 15, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (5) looks to pass as Philadelphia 76ers guard T.J. McConnell (1) defends during the second quarter of the preseason game at the Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports /

The Sixers don’t lack young talent, but they do lack a formidable defensive unit.

The Sixers have had one of the worst defenses in the NBA since 2013-14 season. This includes an outlier 2014-15 defensive season where the team ranked 13th in defensive rating. The combination of simplistic defensive schemes and a lack of any defensive talent have bogged down the success of the Sixers. They have great individual rim protectors in Nerlens Noel and Jerami Grant, and a decent wing defender in Robert Covington, but they haven’t been able to control the defensive progression of this team.

That will continue in the 2016-17 season. Joel Embiid manning the center will relieve some of the problems the Sixers had defending the low post brought on by the inabilities of Jahlil Okafor, but lineup experimentations could bring the defensive struggles of the team to light. Along with the inability for any of the three centers to guard the power forward position (despite popular belief), the forwards the Sixers do have are inconsistent defending the power forward position.

Jerami Grant’s perimeter defense has shown shakiness, and Covington had barely seen time defending the four position. Dario Saric‘s defense has improved over his two-year tenure, but adjusting to the quickness of forwards along the outside will hurt him at the start. Ben Simmons, if he does step onto the court this season, will also cause a defensive lineup problems.

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Add in the fact the Sixers’ backcourt players are less than formidable on the defensive end (outside of T.J. McConnell), and you have a recipe for another year of poor defensive performances. Gerald Henderson is average on the defensive end, but won’t benefit from a drop in talent level from teammates in Portland to his current teammates.

A good team defense masks the defensive struggles of an individual, but the Sixers have struggled to find a defensive system that alleviate the problems they have. This isn’t a call for the team to transition to a D’Antoni-like zone defense, but there has to be a change in defensive ideology that starts with coaching to mold the talent of the players.

Another way to try to overcome defensive struggles is to ramp up the pace of the offense. This is often a debated philosophy. With the pace of the Sixers’ offense, it usually gives the opposing team more possessions, putting an emphasis on team defense. The thought behind this scheme is that a good offense will hide a bad defense.

The Sixers have been dead last in offense the past three seasons, however. That’ll change with a better offensive talent this season. The depth in the backcourt has significantly improved, despite still being one of the worst units in the league. They added some potential high-volume scorers in Dario Saric and Joel Embiid that can fit the current offense and take the game over themselves. Sergio Rodriguez and Jerryd Bayless can bolster the offense behind McConnell with no drop-off.

The team is pretty deep offensively, and will produce a surprising amount of offense, but will need huge adjustments from individuals on defense. The almost inevitable departure of Nerlens Noel will magnify the Sixers’ defensive problems, leaving the team to get dusted night in and night out.

In the ten wins the Sixers had last season, opponents scored 98 points or more in five of those games. This will be replicated in this season. Close to half of the Sixers’ wins will come on solely out gunning the opponent. There will be nights the team catches fire from the outside, and those nights will result in wins.

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But blowout wins are not in the picture for the lowly Sixers. Defense still holds the key to becoming a contender, no matter how much scoring the offense puts up. The Sixers may very well finish in the top-20 in scoring, but their win totals will put them near the bottom of the league thanks to a lack of defense.