Great piece, MOC. This is some of the best analysis of this Sixers trainwreck that I've seen, for it pinpoints exactly where Nurse has gone terribly wrong. I've said to anyone who will listen (a dwindling few now) that this team has talent, PG is not washed (Embiid is a different story), etc. but Nurse schemes or really the lack of them is dooming this team. Maxey, PG, McCain (when healthy), EG, Edwards and now Grimes should be getting plenty of plays drawn up for them. All are high-level 3 point shooters. But nope.
In many ways, aside from the Cavs and the Celtics, the East is terrible this year. Yet here the Sixers are, upteen games under .500. Can you imagine if Morey had hired Atkinson and his fun schemes compared to Nurse? That Cavs team is fun to watch, one of the precious few in this dreadful era of NBA basketball.
"With the level that Embiid was playing at last year, you would have been insane to suggest that the Sixers should run a highly intricate, egalitarian offense." Not knowing if he would have Joel early this season is partly what did this team in, but Nurse's inability to adjust on the fly or have a backup plan is mind boggling. It also begs the question: What if Nurse had installed a real offense last year? Maybe the non-Joel minutes wouldn't have been so disastrous yet again?
The Sixers ran a play to get Maxey a wide open look straight on for three against the Nets last night, and then just seemed to decide to stop doing that about 4 mins in to the 1st quarter. It's truly baffling.
The Sixers have consistently made the obvious moves, which aren’t (and haven’t) always been the right ones. Sad to see Embiid giving up on himself and his body, Maxey losing his joyful personality, and PG looking completely out of place and disinterested. Those all sound like things a coach should be helping to navigate. Nick Nurse always had an element of complaining and spitefulness to him, and often appears to flail his hands and just give up. Unfortunately it seems as if that vibe has taken hold of the locker room…
I didn't expect Nurse to ever look so clueless. Add that to the fact that he's seemingly lost the locker room and I think he's gotta go. I fail to see the upside to having Nurse coach the team next season although I'm interested in the argument that it could work out.
Great piece, MOC. This is some of the best analysis of this Sixers trainwreck that I've seen, for it pinpoints exactly where Nurse has gone terribly wrong. I've said to anyone who will listen (a dwindling few now) that this team has talent, PG is not washed (Embiid is a different story), etc. but Nurse schemes or really the lack of them is dooming this team. Maxey, PG, McCain (when healthy), EG, Edwards and now Grimes should be getting plenty of plays drawn up for them. All are high-level 3 point shooters. But nope.
In many ways, aside from the Cavs and the Celtics, the East is terrible this year. Yet here the Sixers are, upteen games under .500. Can you imagine if Morey had hired Atkinson and his fun schemes compared to Nurse? That Cavs team is fun to watch, one of the precious few in this dreadful era of NBA basketball.
"With the level that Embiid was playing at last year, you would have been insane to suggest that the Sixers should run a highly intricate, egalitarian offense." Not knowing if he would have Joel early this season is partly what did this team in, but Nurse's inability to adjust on the fly or have a backup plan is mind boggling. It also begs the question: What if Nurse had installed a real offense last year? Maybe the non-Joel minutes wouldn't have been so disastrous yet again?
Kudos to you for watching this train wreck of a team to even have the ability to write that many words
The Sixers ran a play to get Maxey a wide open look straight on for three against the Nets last night, and then just seemed to decide to stop doing that about 4 mins in to the 1st quarter. It's truly baffling.
The Sixers have consistently made the obvious moves, which aren’t (and haven’t) always been the right ones. Sad to see Embiid giving up on himself and his body, Maxey losing his joyful personality, and PG looking completely out of place and disinterested. Those all sound like things a coach should be helping to navigate. Nick Nurse always had an element of complaining and spitefulness to him, and often appears to flail his hands and just give up. Unfortunately it seems as if that vibe has taken hold of the locker room…
I didn't expect Nurse to ever look so clueless. Add that to the fact that he's seemingly lost the locker room and I think he's gotta go. I fail to see the upside to having Nurse coach the team next season although I'm interested in the argument that it could work out.