The Philadelphia 76ers have a new coach and they have a new roster that they need to integrate in just a few short weeks before the season begins on Dec. 22. In order to get everybody on the same page, it is up to that new coach to get his message across.
Doc Rivers will take over a roster led by stars Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid but will be welcoming in plenty of new pieces around them. New pieces such as Seth Curry, Danny Green, Tyrese Maxey, and others will have to be integrated around the star duo and they all have to be on the same page.
There are three major items on Rivers’ checklist as camp gets underway in this unprecedented setting.
“A normal training camp, I’d be able to come in and see who is in shape and who’s not,” Rivers started. “A COVID training camp, you really don’t know because all we can do is 1-on-1 stuff so that’s not real basketball or conditioning. Somebody can look like they’re in shape and not be so I would say honestly the first thing is what our conditioning level is at? The reason that’s important is because of injury. You don’t want to be working on something and the guys literally can’t maintain. I would say conditioning would be first and then defense would be second and then third is how we play offensively. How we should look and play every night.”
Getting the message across to this ream is important for Rivers. That establishes their identity which is something that is important for the team’s success. The team lacked an identity all throughout the 2019-20 season so that is something the veteran coach wants to be pushed across this season.
“Messaging is always important because we have to tell them how we want to play,” Rivers said bluntly. “Identity is important. We have to show that what we should look like every night and get our guys to buy into that and believe that and then structure as far as offensively, advance the ball and getting the ball up the floor has to be something that is worked on every day.”
In order for Philadelphia to play the way they want to and be able to push the ball and play faster, they will have to use this time in camp to make sure they are all on that same wavelength. This time in camp is something that should be used to its full extent for Rivers.
“You cannot take it for granted,” he added. “You can’t even take for granted who takes the ball out. If you want the ball up quick, we got to make sure the right people are taking the ball out, the right people are running their lanes. That will be taught.”
The Sixers are in a tough situation. They need to figure out all of these new pieces while the Boston Celtics, the Toronto Raptors, the Miami Heat, the Milwaukee Bucks, and others are teams that have been together.
So while they also have to deal with the shortened camp, they won’t have to deal with the newness that the Sixers have to figure out.
“Teams like Boston, Milwaukee, Miami they have an advantage, and so we’re fine with that,” Rivers finished with. “We just have to make up the deficit and we probably have to do it through work.” [lawrence-related id=39727,39724,39717]