As the Philadelphia 76ers continue on with training camp and they look to get back on the right path towards winning a title, they went through a major offseason overhaul. It included a new coach, a new coaching staff, new players, and a front office overhaul.
New coach Doc Rivers is looking forward to seeing what he can do with this new roster, but he will not be alone. There is a lot of stars on his coaching staff such as Sam Cassell, Dave Joerger, Dan Burke, and Popeye Jones as they look to lead the team in the right direction.
So far in camp, the assistant coaches have had a lot of say in practice and the players are hearing more than just Rivers’ voice.
“I give my assistants a lot of voice, I always have,” said Rivers. “Sam offensively and Dan and Popeye defensively, are very involved. Obviously, it’s a collaborative effort. We want our players to hear all our voices. When I was a player, I never liked when I just heard one coach’s voice the whole practice. By game 50, we were done with it so that is something you’d hear every day if you were here.”
Rivers wants the Sixers to be one of the better defensive teams in the league and he will have Burke help with the defensive game plan. Burke is somebody who has earned his trust in the past and Rivers will lean on him.
“Dan Burke, who I hired as my defensive coordinator, is phenomenal,” he said. “Man, the reason we connected so well is because of that. We come from the same system. Dan started out with Dick Harter. That’s who taught me everything I know about defense. So a lot of the same philosophies, but consistency, making sure everybody’s on the same page. Loud team, I told our guys especially Joel and Ben, we got to play with our voices.”
As far as the offense goes, Cassell and Joerger will handle that end of the floor and Rivers is happy with the hires he made there. Joerger is a former head coach with the Sacramento Kings and the Memphis Grizzlies while Cassell will be working closely with Ben Simmons on expanding his offensive game.
“Dave Joerger, who I have found as one of the better offensive guys in the league,” Rovers added. “I thought when he was in Sacramento and Memphis, they ran great stuff I wanted him on my staff. I want to sit with him and go over his stuff, go over my stuff, and try to mesh it together. Today I told Dave, I want them to hear your voice as much as mine offensively and that’s something I don’t do a lot. One thing I’ve always learned is always to be open as a coach, you learn more that way and you get better that way.”
Philadelphia has a star-studded roster and it appears that they have an equally star-studded assistant coaching staff. It will be interesting to watch all of this work out for them when the season begins on Dec. 23. [lawrence-related id=40089,40086,40071]