PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia 76ers coach Nick Nurse brought an unorthodox coaching style to the City of Brotherly Love. The Sixers have played plenty of different defensive schemes and run a more free-flowing offensive style designed to get everybody involved.
The result is a 19-8 start despite guys being in and out of the lineup due to injuries, illnesses and other issues. Nurse has done a great job of keeping everybody together. Factor in a big trade on Halloween that brought in a handful of new faces, and the Sixers are playing very well with Nurse at the helm.
“I like Nick,” said key veteran Marcus Morris Sr. “He was my first coach in the G League when I first got drafted. I think his style is good, man. He allows players to be themself. I like the shootarounds because he plays a lot of music. I’ve definitely played for a lot of coaches and he gives me that old-school style where he likes to practice, likes to be very detail-oriented, and I like it, man. I’m an old-school guy myself. I think we mesh really well.”
Nurse wants to make sure his team gets the little things down. He wants to be sure they get the details right. They work every day at practice and in shootarounds before games to be sure they are prepared for anything.
[lawrence-related id=87973]
“We all have one goal and that’s to win, and I think Nick’s coming from a great spot when he wants to practice and wants to watch film,” Morris added. “I mean, it’s not just to do it, so I commend him on that and guys are buying in so I mean, we’re all kind of getting used to it.”
It was initially a tough situation for Morris, who came to the Sixers from the Los Angeles Clippers. The number of practices Nurse conducts is not always easy to handle, but to be prepared to win, they are necessary.
“It’s a little tough because when I was with the Clippers we never practiced.,” he explained. “I had to put my hat on and start to realize that this is different right here. I mean, I like it, man. Like I said, I played for older coaches, Stan Van Gundy (with the Detroit Pistons), where we practiced every single day. So, I mean, I’m used to it.”
[lawrence-related id=88028,87983,87980]