Cooney: Sixers' Brown 'gets' Philly, is driven to please fans

THE MORNINGS for Brett Brown begin at 5:45. Shortly after, he makes his way to the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. Since Sept. 6, many of his players for the upcoming NBA season have assembled after the coach's arrival for workouts.

Thursday, while on his way to the soon to be defunct practice facility, Brown was stopped at a red light. Distracted by his own thoughts momentarily, the 76ers' head coach didn't notice the light had changed to green. In the second it took him to realize, the driver behind him was already laying a heavy hand on his horn.

Brown didn't react as most of us would have; instead, the incident brought a smile to his face and a chuckle to his throat. During his three-plus years here, Brown has not only gotten to know the landscape of the city, but the pulse of the fans. He would expect nothing less than a honk at a traffic light, or a suggestion on how to run his team by a stranger in the park or a lusty boo after a lackluster performance by his team.

He gets it. He is as blue collar as most of the fans who have come watch his team lose at an incredible amount over his first three seasons (47-199). Though he grew up a fan of the hated Boston Celtics, his admiration for the Philadelphia faithful was formed at a young age, when he would attend games at the Boston Garden that were littered with Sixers fans.

As much as he wants this season to be successful for himself and the painfully young players that make up his roster, he is driven by a never-ending motor that should be too revved for a 55-year-old to handle. But it is fueled by a desire to put out a product the fans would be proud of.

"If we do anything, we have to defend, we have to guard," Brown said Thursday during a lunch with local media. "This city is built for this. It mirrors it. Our team has to reflect the spirit and personality of the city. I drive up to Springfield (Mass., for Allen Iverson's Hall of Fame induction) and I go there and I look around and I see the dignitaries of our sport and it's breathtaking. It's the who's who of basketball. Then, you realize, what's that? It's Philly fans for A.I. in the rafters and they are loud and they are vocal and they are on A.I. and it's Sixers and MVP (chants) and it's Philadelphia.

"Then I go to the Eagles game (Sunday) and you see the atmosphere all over the parking lots. Then you go see Jordan Matthews and the first pass he drops it, and 'boo.' And it's true. You are just reminded. There's a vibe that this city has. I'm at a red light and in about one second after it turns green and I didn't go and (the horn blows). People are on me. This is a competitive city. This is an aggressive city and we have to play the same way. So the defensive mentality has to be the bottom line."

The key figure of that defense, Brown said, is Joel Embiid. The 7-2, 276-pounder is a full participant in workouts right now and, if Brown had his way, would be a 30-minute-a-night guy when the season begins. But the coach knows the medical staff will be cautious with Embiid, who will be making his first appearance in an organized game in 2 1/2 years due to injury when he takes the court during the preseason. Still, with so many other pieces assembled during the past couple of years finally able to get on the court together, the coach's excitement level is immeasurable.

"I left the gym an hour ago and on the court is Dario Saric going up and down," Brown said. "On the court is Ben Simmons going up and down. Joel Embiid, Jerami Grant, Hollis Thompson, Nik Stauskas, Jerryd Bayless, Gerald Henderson. You start counting names and looking at all of that and you've got Jahlil (Okafor) getting shots on the sideline and Sergio (Rodriguez), who brought his family in from Spain. Our gym has been alive since Sept. 6. Watching Joel and seeing him actually get up and down the floor is beyond exciting."

The dilemma of how to fit all the pieces together is still one that Brown is trying to figure out. He said Embiid is a center and nothing else. He also stated that Nerlens Noel is the modern-day center who can run the floor, block shots and rebound. Brown also stated his desire that Noel be a rim protector at one end and never shoot another jump shot at the other. Which leads to the question of where Okafor fits, being as he is a suspect defender and, like the other two, appears best suited to play center.

But Brown gushed about Okafor's fitness, though he is currently sidelined after rolling an ankle last week. The favorite phrase of the coach is "career-best fitness" and he seems pretty convinced that Okafor, who played just 53 games last season, is there.

His eyes light up when talking about the passing abilities of Saric and Simmons. He knows that it is incumbent upon Robert Covington and Nik Stauskas to be consistent outside shooters, to open up the middle for Embiid and Okafor.

"We all see what other people think," Brown said. "People have us at 20 wins, 24 wins. You see we're last in the league or second to last in the league. We all see that. I feel like I can use that for motivation for our young guys. The expectations of how I deem success and what my own goals are for us, some are personal, some are public. I think we're all going to step back next year and ask, 'Did the program move forward at the level that it should have?' Ultimately, my job is going to be to win games. Along that path, we need to grow young guys. We cannot take our eyes off the prize of culture and values and how we play defense and how we play offense. If you really want to grow a program, I've seen what championships look like. I've seen five times what it takes to play in June (when he was on the Spurs' staff). The growth may not be as quantifiable to the outside world, but I know it."

He does know it. Brown talked of his pain when his team is not playing its hardest, which he said rarely happens, and he looks in the stands and sees a family having spent hard-earned money to be there. He reminds his team of how hard the fans work and that his group should be no different, whether it is winning 10 games or the projected 20-25 this season.

The plethora of talent that now surrounds him excites Brown. The demand and patience of fans drive him. Brett Brown gets this city. Now he wants to please it.

@BobCooney76

Blog: philly.com/Sixersblog