CAMDEN, NJ – Nick Nurse made his popularity within the NBA on the defensive aspect of basketball.
Simply because the brilliance of Kyle Lowry and Kawhi Leonard introduced Toronto a championship, these Raptors groups have been constructed on a basis of protection, with Nurse reworking a bunch of initially nameless, lanky, strong-willed defenders into regulars within the NBA and a few as unlikely stars.
The workforce Nurse inherited final summer season in Philadelphia was, to say the least, not it. And whereas the 76ers made just a few tentative makes an attempt at stopgap defensive additions, it wasn’t till the contract expired on the finish of 2023-24 that Nurse bought his first actual likelihood to construct a roster for his draft.
That point has come, and Kelly Oubre Jr. has already chosen the nickname.
“Name it water caps,” Oubre advised Monday in the course of the 76ers’ media day. “Name us the plumbers.”
It would take a little bit of tearing him up, however the exuberant Oubre is heading in the right direction.
Whereas these 76ers, due to electrical scoring from Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid, might not create as formidable a defensive legacy as Nurse’s Raptors, they at the least aspire to enhance defensively from the center of the pack final yr .
Protection was a precedence, not an afterthought, in the course of the offseason.
That is a part of the rationale the 76ers centered on Paul George to be the star complement to Embiid and Maxey, bringing 9 All-Star nods and 4 All-NBA defensive workforce alternatives. That is why the Sixers introduced in Caleb Martin, an undersized however versatile defender who can play zone. That is why Andre Drummond and his rebounding capacity have been valued as Embiid’s substitute.
“As of late you need to have two-way gamers,” Nurse mentioned, referring to George and Martin specifically. “And people guys are each succesful on each ends of doing high-level issues. I believe there’s good size versatility with these two and with Oubre, a great measurement again defending the rim with Joel and Andre. We have now a fiery acceleration forward of them within the guards. I believe we now have the prospect to be superb defensively and likewise very versatile, which I like.
This “multi-purpose” world was used quite a bit on Monday. Similar to its extra subtle, college-educated, “no place” cousin. However with some justification.
The 76ers have been discovered falling behind too typically final yr on the defensive finish.
Accidents hampered so-called specialist shot-stoppers like Danuel Home and De’Anthony Melton, whereas others like Marcus Morris and Pat Beverley have been eradicated through commerce. The beginning duo of Maxey and Tobias Harris was not significantly gifted defensively. The trades and basic upheaval resulted in an unsustainable and chaotic hodgepodge of 28 gamers, disrupting any likelihood of continuity.
All of it felt like Whac-a-Mole, which the 76ers’ season fell into as soon as James Harden determined he needed to retire.
Now, in your second yr of nursing, you have got the chance to construct on the rules applied final yr and be proactive relatively than reactive. Defensive finish is perhaps the place that is most felt.
Oubre appears appropriate to steer the cost. He known as final yr a “darkish summer season,” slowed by nagging shoulder accidents. Barely capable of elevate a basketball, he signed in late September nearly as an afterthought.
He continued to common 15.4 factors per sport and persevered within the beginning lineup, incomes a two-year contract to remain in Philadelphia, the place he insisted that the media applaud and faucet their ft earlier than responding to questions. questions.
With this stability, it is an opportunity to forge a formidable defensive entrance with George.
“Countless quantity of alternatives for us on the defensive finish,” he mentioned. “We’re positively very versatile, agile, athletic. However the distinction is that all of us need to tackle this problem. We will must struggle them to see who guards and who arrests this man.
Martin is in the identical boat. He did not arrive within the NBA till he was 24 years previous. That is a yr older than Maxey is right this moment. He stayed in Charlotte due to his defensive tenacity, then bought a deal in Miami due to it.
He did so with the prospect to be a 6-5 energy ahead who’s nonetheless able to defending nearly anybody on the court docket, and he’ll get a fast shot at that place, the place the 76ers have switched between completely different philosophies. over the previous couple of years.
“I believe it’s positionless basketball most of the time in right this moment’s sport,” Martin mentioned. “So I don’t actually think about all of it 4. I simply consider it as simply being versatile. But when I will play the 4 and guard the 4, I have been capable of maintain my very own for so long as I have been within the league, and I will proceed to study and discover methods to try this. he.”
With their huge three, the Sixers possess star energy. However it will likely be as much as gamers like Oubre and Martin to convey the vitality. Oubre’s efficiency at media day fits him completely for this function.
“In fact I’m not glad,” he mentioned. “I am very hungry, I am ravenous, I would like extra and I preserve getting again to the place I do know I used to be earlier than final summer season. I’ve to exit and present. Phrases cannot actually do it justice.
