Al Horford, Brett Brown believe Sixers need to be better defensively

The Philadelphia 76ers believe they need to be better on the defensive end for them to really succeed.

[jwplayer oxAdaBIS-z6KDnl0B]

The Philadelphia 76ers are a team that has consistently stated that the defense is where their money is going to be made. There have been times when it has looked dominant, then there are other times when it has looked terrible and not as good as advertised. Despite rallying to win on Wednesday and really locking in on the defensive end, the Sixers realize they have got to get better on that end of the floor.

Al Horford, one of the big free agency pickups in the league, preached that at practice on Thursday as he believes it has to be there for a full game rather than for one stretch. He said:

On defense, we can be much better. We haven’t been as good as we can defensively…Ben(Simmons) really set the tone in that regard(on Wednesday). He really got into the ball, he got over screens, he was playing with that energy, and coached talked to us that we need to be able to start from the beginning with that intensity. We need to have that physicality right from the beginning of the game.

Coach Brett Brown then echoed Horford’s thoughts that the team does need to get better on that end. Especially after giving up a 15-0 run to the Knicks to open the second half in the win on Wednesday.

Most of that is 3-point shooting as Philadelphia gives up only 9.9 3-pointers made per game, good for third in the league, but against New York on Wednesday, they allowed them to shot 52% from deep. It’s something that needs to be fixed.

Brown added:

We need to be better defensively, because we can be. There are things with the offense that take time and I’m prepared to be patient and try to fix spacial things more than anything. It’s not like it’s a magic bean, space in pick-and-rolls, space on posts, space in early offense, it’s space. So you go over to the defensive side and say ‘well you lead the NBA in fewest threes, but they make quite a bit when they do shoot them’ I’m going to something global, we better be better defensively.

The Sixers continue their homestand on Friday by hosting Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs. [lawrence-related id=19768,19744,19745]