The Philadelphia 76ers are looking to take advantage of the talent they have on the roster. They have guys who can knock down the 3-pointer, they have guys who can run the floor, and they have guys who can play multiple positions.
Therefore, coach Doc Rivers wants the Sixers to run the floor more often and play random offensive sets rather than any set offensive plays.
For example, Tyrese Maxey has been able to use his speed to be able to run the floor and be able to quickly get to the basket. There were a couple of times in the last preseason game he played on Oct. 7, he was able to get to the basket constantly and have the Sixers playing fast and quicker.
“It’s actually helped me a lot the last couple of games, for sure,” Maxey said of the random offense. “He’s given me a little bit of freedom as far as any time I fly and get in the lane, get in the lane and create plays for myself and create plays for others, that takes the stress of the thought process off and it helps you play as far as a feel for the game.”
The more random offensive sets the Sixers can run and run them comfortably, the more they will be able to show off more of their offense. Philadelphia has a lot of guys who can get to the basket and finish as well as knock down some triples like Seth Curry, Tobias Harris, Georges Niang, Danny Green, and Furkan Korkmaz as examples.
Rivers wants the Sixers to be able to execute when they are running quicker offensive sets. It can catch the opposing defense off guard and it makes his team tougher to defend.
“That’s what we’re doing,” Rivers explained. “Last year, the first year, you put in a lot of stuff. This year, we’re actually trying to run more random, but organized random, obviously. That, to me, serves you better in the playoffs a lot where they’re reads and today was a great day of that. We ran stuff, but when we can run stuff through random, it makes you really good. It makes you very hard to guard.”
On top of the shooting the team has, a guy like Maxey who is so quick can run a quick hitter play with Joel Embiid. Where the big fella can do dribble handoffs with Maxey–or Ben Simmons if he returns–and they can get to the basket that way. Or if the defense overcompensates for the handoff, Embiid can turn around and put the ball on the floor and do his thing. There is much more versatility with this roster.
“I also think the game’s more skilled,” Rivers finished. “I hate to say that to my generation, but they are. They’re more skilled. I don’t know if they’re smarter or have figured out what it takes to win as a group and as a team, but these guys are skilled, man. They work on their game. It’s rare that you have three or four guys, all of them can put the ball on the floor, they can dribble handoff, so take advantage of that.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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