Point-counterpoint on Sixers issues

AS THE PROCESSORS basked in the afterglow of six wins in eight games (two against possible playoff teams), Daily News staffers Bob Cooney and Marcus Hayes sat down for a point-counterpoint on the club. They avoided directly addressing the situations of cornerstone players Joel "The Process" Embiid and tantalizing Ben Simmons, the No. 1 pick in the 2016 draft. No worry: There were other relevant questions. All aboard, everybody . . .

Brett Brown is an improving coach, and needed to improve.

BC: The thought that Brett Brown is improving as a coach goes directly to his team improving its talent. Joel Embiid is better – by far – than anyone thought he would or could have been at this point of his career. Hell, he's better than many thought he might ever be. In Embiid, Brown now has a centerpiece to build around, go to at the end of games and thwart opponents' forays into the lane that used to result in an endless layup line on most nights. In Ersan Ilyasova, the coach has a player who is best paired with Embiid, who can stretch the floor, who can make big three-pointers, who knows what it takes to win an NBA game.

Go down the list on the roster and it's just so much better – either by improvement or experience – than at any time in Brown's tenure. I've seen him in all kinds of basketball settings: games, practices, coaching clinics, one-on-one with players. I've talked basketball endlessly with him and rarely have I walked away not learning something about the game, whether it be situational or otherwise. We all know that disciples of great coaches – Brown being one of Gregg Popovich's – don't always pan out as head coaches. But there is something to be said for a guy who was around five Finals teams. I've always said we had to wait and see with Brown's coaching, until he had real NBA talent. He's getting it now and showing he knows what to do with it.

MH: To say Brown got better implies that he was not competent, much less good. It ignores both his accomplishments as an international head coach and the fact that he has had neither a competent starting point guard and, until recently, no palatable veteran players. Not only does it assume that Brown had room for growth, it assumes that he had the tools he needed for success. No, he didn't get any better. He always was very good. Brown is a man who suffers fools with patience, but he bristles when asked whether the team's recent success results from changes in method:

"No," he said. "We really haven't done anything differently. We've just stayed the course."

That means he has molded serviceable point guards; that he uses Ilyasova, the team's most polished player, to perfectly complement his star, Embiid; and that Embiid, breathtakingly talented but still painfully raw, has, as part of a process, become more efficient in the final minutes of games. Brown's coaching always has been outstanding. His players have not.

Embiid is awesome; so, which center should the Sixers trade: Nerlens Noel or Jahlil Okafor?

BC: I see the logjam. I understand that Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor both are playing the role of good soldier and they could, rightfully, explode at any moment over the hand they've been dealt. But Bryan Colangelo can't make a trade just to make a trade. Ideally, this plays out just as Sam Bradford did for the Eagles. The hope has to be that, at some point, a team that believes it can make a playoff run feels the need for a big man, whether a defensive one like Noel or a scorer like Okafor.

Obviously, this is not a great situation. But what is the hurry? Unloading with very little return can be done at any time. Let it play out, for the rest of the season if need be. Maybe something good could come of it.

MH: Indeed, this supposes that either Noel or Okafor should be traded; and, it being the trade-happy NBA, one probably will. So, if that's the reality, the choice is simple. Noel has to go.

It's about insurance for Embiid, who, Brown said Tuesday, will not play more than 28 minutes in any game this season. We can assume, then, that he also will not play in back-to-back games. This abundance of caution indicates lingering concerns about Embiid's durability. These concerns prompted the drafting of Okafor in the first place, with the No. 3 pick in 2016, instead of forward Kristaps Porzingis. Okafor has his deficiencies, but Okafor can score. He might one day become better conditioned; he might one day play harder on defense; he might one day develop a desire to rebound. Noel, a useful defender and a fine rebounder, seems unable to develop a significant offensive game. Until Embiid sheds his restrictions, Okafor is the better backup plan.

T.J. McConnell is, to some degree, a long-term answer at point guard.

BC: There are more variables to T.J. McConnell than most have seen. There is no question he has been a real spark for this team during the current run of six wins in eight games. There also is validity to thinking that once this roster is improved, his time will be cut dramatically. Both are true. There is little chance, even in McConnell's eyes, that he will be the starting point guard of this team moving forward, but there is certainly a place for him on this roster.

Few on this team are more liked than him. Few, if any, practice harder than him. He is a player who is happy to be in the league but still has a chip on his shoulder to prove he belongs. There's always a place for a guy like that on the roster.

MH: A year ago, no. Six weeks ago, maybe. Today, yes. Tomorrow? We'll see.

McConnell has come to realize his limitations, has developed weapons and, more than anything, he has minimized his turnovers – the hallmark of a real point guard. He is averaging 8.6 assists and 1.9 turnovers in his last seven games, in which he has averaged 33 minutes. He had 4.7 assists and 1.6 turnovers in 19.9 minutes in his first 31 games. In other words, he's averaging about one more assist and one fewer turnover per 36 minutes, a remarkable difference for a team with so little margin for error. Some of this is a product of playing more with the starters, but he also was often playing against the other team's reserves.

Can this last? After all, he's a poor midrange shooter and a lousy three-point shooter, which teams should begin to exploit. But maybe that will change, too.

Rookie forward Dario Saric should get more of veteran Ersan Ilyasova's minutes.

BC: Dario Saric is in a perfect position in his first season in the league, backing up a veteran power forward, Ilyasova. Learning the game, the country, the American lifestyle, is all part of Saric's growth as a player. Throwing him huge minutes with big expectations right off the bat wouldn't be good. Easing him in, while he is still getting 24 minutes a game, is perfect. If the roster on this team improves the way it is expected to, Saric might just be a very valuable backup anyway. He could turn into one of the best young bench players in the league.

MH: This is the toughest one, and probably the least urgent. The answer depends on priorities and positions. Saric's instincts and IQ give him the potential to be much more than a typical stretch-four. If your priority – your vision – involves him as one day being an integral part of an unstoppable machine that brilliantly and selflessly moves the ball, you develop him now. If your priority is developing Joel Embiid at all costs, then you continue to play Ilyasova and let Saric act as apprentice.

However, if winning is completely unimportant, then, yes, you let Saric steal some of Robert Covington's minutes, running with the starters at small forward but sacrificing Covington's defensive abilities. The answer: Somehow get him more minutes with the starters.

Winning now is a good thing.

BC: This is tricky when you take into consideration the draft opportunities the Sixers have before them, but, yes, winning – more important, learning how to win – is vital to these young players. The Sixers lost so many close games over the last few years for a variety of reasons, but the biggest one was because they knew they weren't going to win. They felt deep down that the opposition was going to make plays, and force the Sixers out of theirs, in order to get a win. Now, they are learning how to win in a variety of ways. That is vitally important moving forward.

MH: As long as it does not impede what's important. What's important is the development of Embiid, Saric, Okafor and, eventually, Simmons. What's important is finding the ceilings of Noel, shooter Nik Stauskas and gunner-turned-stopper Robert Covington. If winning is a byproduct, fine.

If that means riding Embiid late in the fourth quarter as they did against the Knicks, so be it. If that means having Saric inbound the ball perfectly to Covington for a win over the Timberwolves, fine. Remember, though, that Embiid could have been called for a travel on his drive; and, later, that he had no intention of banking his three-pointer. Remember how perfect Saric's pass to Covington had to be. That these plays were successful cannot be obscured by the fact that, had they failed, they still would have been the right plays by the right players – the players who embody the future of the franchise.

cooneyb@phillynews.com

@BobCooney76

Blog: philly.com/Sixersblog

hayesm@phillynews.com

@inkstainedretch