The Philadelphia 76ers are hard at work in Fort Collins, Colorado, as training camp is now underway. One of the major changes the Sixers made from last season into this is that of the head coach, as Nick Nurse was brought in to replace Doc Rivers.
Among the many Sixers who have praised Nurse’s efforts early on now include swingman Danuel House who is now in his second season with the team. This praise came alongside a comparison to the style of Rivers, who clearly ran a vastly different scheme on both sides of the ball.
With two days of training camp in the books, House was asked about how he would contrast the difference between the difference in concepts of the two coaches.
House spoke on the differences from last season to this, saying, “It’s a lot more selfless basketball. It’s not so much of two guys having the ball. House continued, “Doc is two guys, ball-dominant. Nick Nurse is everybody play together; everybody work for each other, help, cut, get your brother open shots.”
House’s excitement about the new offensive concepts was evident. It’s not hard to see that multiple Sixers are excited by the idea of this offense over last season’s scheme. What Nurse is bringing to the table seems to be a welcome change compared to Rivers.
Rivers is an accomplished coach in his own right, but it became quite clear over his time with the Sixers that there was not enough of a commitment to ball movement. While the pick-and-roll that Rivers ran between Joel Embiid and James Harden was nothing short of elite, there was not enough ball movement programmed into the team so they could function when the pick-and-roll was inevitably denied, or when the Harden/Embiid tandem was not on the court.
Under Nick Nurse, this doesn’t appear to be an issue. There’s no telling how the team will take to the new scheme until the regular season begins, but early signs are encouraging.
