The Philadelphia 76ers underwent yet another drastic roster makeover this past offseason. While many of the names on the roster may have changed, one thing remains the same. Nick Nurse wants his Sixers to play with pace.
Dating back to last season, after the team traded James Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers on that fateful Hallow’s Eve, Philadelphia began to play with more pace and saw success doing so, beginning the post-Harden era with a six-game winning streak.
The 76ers were just a middle-of-the-pack team in pace, but the stark difference between their pace at that moment compared to 2022-23, which saw the team finish with the third-slowest pace in the NBA, was drastic. While Philadelphia’s new-look roster was more compatible with playing with pace, they couldn’t maintain that pace. Ultimately, the 76ers finished 22nd in the league in pace.
Part of the decline is tied to Joel Embiid‘s injury last season, certainly, but injuries impacting the entirety of the team undermined the entire effort. Only Paul Reed played more than 70 games for the Sixers last season. While you cannot prevent future injuries, you can address the other elephant in the room, and that’s exactly what the Sixers did this offseason.
While last season’s roster was better built for pace than previous interactions, it was still not designed for it. This season, with the additions of Paul George, Caleb Martin, Eric Gordon, Reggie Jackson, and Gerschon Yabusele, compounded by the retention of Kelly Oubre and Kyle Lowry, Philadelphia is primed to improve in pace yet again with not only a roster capable of it but one committed to it.
Head coach Nick Nurse spoke on the potential of this new roster’s ability to play with pace after Tuesday’s practice:
“We want to be better than last year. I think the personnel dictates us to be faster this year. I think we got more wings that can get out. We saw a little bit of it [Monday] night; just throw ahead to guys that are in the open floor that can attack and at least hit the paint, if not, create some offense, not necessarily a shot, but, you know, just in general, I think, I’d like Tyrese to play faster right in the open floor, obviously we see his speed, and I’d like to utilize some of that a little bit more.”
Tyrese Maxey is one of the fastest players in the NBA, but Nurse still believes there’s more the team can get out of him if he utilizes his speed properly. As for what that looks like, Nurse has an idea:
“Well, it looks like him. Again, it probably starts with mindset of, I gotta be more aggressive, I gotta be faster than it probably goes to the next biggest thing is, can he catch the ball up the floor further, right? Can we make the old style, there’s a rebound turn, there’s the outlet up the floor, and he’s got a head start, or he’s already catching it in motion.”
That’s the mindset of the entire team: be aggressive, catch the ball, whether it’s an inbound or a rebound, and push it. Eric Gordon spoke on the keys to properly playing with pace and echoed Nurse’s sentiment:
“[You have to] be a really good defensive rebounding team, and once you get it, you just got to go, and you got to have an unselfish mentality,” said Gordon. “As you’re coming down, always trying to hit the open man, get the ball down the floor… we could be a scary team as long as we continue to move and try to make the right plays all the time.”
Second-year wing Ricky Council proved that Nurse’s message is resounding deep throughout the sentiment shortly thereafter, saying:
“I just feel like, once we rebound and go, I mean, the sky’s the limit for us, Council said. “We have a lot of athletic wings, a lot of people that can push the ball.”
An exhibition game against an international team isn’t the best measuring stick, but the team’s pace in Monday night’s matchup was a key factor in their 55-point victory. Now, they just have to maintain it over an 82-game season, but with a new-look roster better suited for the offensive philosophy, they certainly have a chance to show marketable improvement.
It’s early, but the 76ers have a plan in place, and it’s clear that the team has bought into their head coach’s vision.
