Patrick Beverley and Kelly Oubre, Jr. discussed why they’re excited to be with the Sixers at Media Day.
FORT COLLINS, Co. — Digesting Nick Nurse’s new system hasn’t been a slog for the Sixers.
“It’s been amazing,” Tobias Harris said Wednesday after Day 2 of training camp, which featured James Harden's return. “I think you could ask anybody in here and they would answer the same thing.
“It’s fun, high energy, and at the same time, everybody is gradually figuring out their spots on the floor and how we can come together for the best type of chemistry. Through all the coaches and staffs I’ve (had), this has been an easy system and an easy environment to get adapted to.”
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Danuel House Jr. outlined multiple significant differences between Nurse and former Sixers head coach Doc Rivers.
“It’s just a lot more selfless basketball,” House said. “It’s not so much of two guys having the ball. Doc, it’s two guys (being) ball-dominant. Nick Nurse is everybody plays together, everybody works for each other. Help, cut, get your brother open shots. You can see the difference, night and day.”
Once the games begin, it will be interesting to see the degree to which Nurse tolerates his players’ mistakes.
On one hand, Nurse has indicated that he’ll let Tyrese Maxey learn playmaking nuances through reps, aim to accentuate individuals’ strengths, and encourage aggressive team defense. On the other hand, Nurse didn't give bench players many minutes in recent seasons with the Raptors, and those teams cared plenty about limiting turnovers; Toronto led the NBA in offensive turnover percentage last year, per Cleaning the Glass. And, given the ongoing competitions for playing time and roster spots, Nurse will presumably weigh mistakes in his evaluation.
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House is involved in one of those competitions on the wing, along with offseason pickups Kelly Oubre Jr. and Danny Green.
“Hard workers,” House said of Oubre and Green. “Talented, experienced. They’ve come here to help and come here to win. That’s what we do.”
Jaden Springer has not yet gained much NBA experience — 18 games and two end-of-season starts over his first two professional years, to be precise.
Like House, Springer was immediately impressed by Nurse’s coaching style.
“He came off strong,” Springer said on July 1 as the Sixers prepared for summer league. “I can tell he’s a coach that really wants to help the players learn and wants to teach. He’s stopping drills, stepping in, and giving us points on what to do here and there. It’s great. I haven’t seen that too much since I’ve been in the league. That’s been very special.”
Nurse spoke at length Wednesday about Springer, a 21-year-old guard who won G League Finals MVP last season. While his comments didn’t suggest that Springer will step right into key NBA minutes, Nurse dished out substantial praise.
“I’m doing a lot of teaching with those guys,” he said. “I stop practice and make sure that I’m getting some points across. Jaden, he’s trying to do everything right. He’s playing hard, he’s physical, he’s into the ball. From the start of practice, every early drill — even some of it that’s not at game speed yet — he’s always going at game speed.
“But there are some things that I’m trying to make sure he understands to use those abilities — just some of his physicality. Just because he’s a guard doesn’t mean he can’t be a good basket protector. … Today we were working on him going over there, taking charges, or going up vertical and using the gifts he has to do some of that stuff. … He’s done very well and he’s doing what he can do. He gets to the front of the rim. He’s limiting his mistakes. I think that’s what he needs to do. Play hard and limit mistakes.”
At this foundational stage, the Sixers seem collectively enthused about persistent effort from everyone being a core Nurse principle.
“It’s all about heart and energy, and just the flexibility of being able to go outside the box and figure out different ways,” Harris said of Nurse's defense. “He talks to the whole team just about being committed to that end and bringing it each and every night.
“Even starting off training camp, we’ve been defending and working our tails off on that end, so It’s going to be great.”
