“You’d think shaving the Beard from the Sixers would leave the offense with all kinds of bumps. But Philadelphia currently has the NBA’s fifth-ranked offensive rating. New 76ers coach Nick Nurse’s free-flowing system is working. Tyrese Maxey looks like an All-Star. Joel Embiid is showing new layers to his game. And with a strong group of role players providing versatile defense, headsy cutting, and steady shooting, the Sixers look like they’re one great addition away from being back to believing they can make a deep run.”
by loco1989
5 Comments
Good breakdown of why Nurse ball has been so much more watchable than Doc’s team, at least through a small sample-size of games.
One other thing I’ve noticed, which I haven’t seen mentioned, is that it seems like Embiid isn’t as reckless on offense this year. Through these early games, he seems to have far fewer offensive possessions where he takes a spill and needs to get up off the floor to get back in transition. I’m not sure if that’s another aspect of Nurse’s coaching, or just Joel trying to be smarter with his body as he gets older. But it has stood out to me as a stark contrast from the last few seasons.
“Per Synergy tracking data, the Sixers are running the third-fewest pick-and-rolls per game this season. Harden and Embiid have been one of the league’s most dominant pick-and-roll duos since they got paired up, but now the Sixers are turning to a different action as their bread and butter. Philly is running 9.3 dribble handoffs per game, which ranks as the second most in the NBA, and a little more than triple their 2.9 average from last season, which was the second least. And instead of Harden, it’s the Embiid-Maxey pairing that’s flourishing.”
If Morey is who we think he is, he is looking to take the strengths of his best players and push them to the absolute limits of conceivable basketball. Our MVP excels at dribble handoffs.
Im obsessed.
Get Lavine onto the fucking sixers and run nothing but dribble handoffs! Morey saw how valuable a play the Harden iso play was in terms of PPP. He created an entire team based on the play his best player excelled at. Run 20 dribble handoffs a game with Lavine and Maxey and break the game. New Morey-ball just dropped and I wanna see it!
In the words of a Legend: “Let us show you” – Daryl Fucking Morey
Years from now, when we look back on the Embiid era, people will point to Doc Rivers as the man who wasted three years of Embiid’s prime.
Since its the Ringer, I’ll say this could be like a non injury Ewing Theory where the team plays better without helio Harden. Leading the league in assists does not equal good ball movement.