The case for and against Nick Nurse as Sixers head coach

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The case for and against Nick Nurse as Sixers head coach originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Three seasons after hiring Doc Rivers, the Sixers are searching again for a head coach.

To begin our series on Sixers coaching candidates, we’ll look at the case for and against hiring Nick Nurse to replace Rivers:

The case for Nurse 

A natural place to start is Nurse’s first season as Raptors head coach. With assistance from an impossibly dramatic Kawhi Leonard buzzer-beater in Game 7 of the second round against the Sixers, Nurse’s team won Toronto’s first NBA title.

The next season, Nurse led the Raptors to a 53-19 regular season and won Coach of the Year.

After spending five years as a Toronto assistant and accumulating ample head coaching reps in lower leagues, Nurse was evidently more equipped to gain respect and thrive under pressure than the average first-time NBA head coach.

“I just think that I relied on hard work,” Nurse said on The Old Man and the Three podcast with JJ Redick and Tommy Alter in January of 2022. “Twenty years of head coaching experience put me in a lot of situations. I’d seen a lot of basketball and had to deal with it, not just sit back and say, ‘Hey, maybe try this, Coach.’ I was dealing with it on the front lines at a pretty high level — EuroLeague and things like that. And when you go up there to put up that game plan and tell them how to guard the personnel, it’s got to be solid.

“And if you do that … NBA guys are also on the other side of that; they really want you to coach ‘em. They really want you to put them in positions where they can have a good game. They want you to help ‘em. They want to succeed. And if you can show that you’re able to do that, then the thing turns pretty quickly, I think.”

Nurse’s willingness to implement unusual, aggressive schemes that force opponents to adjust has shined in the playoffs. He’ll blitz ball screens constantly, play a box-and-one, or do anything else he feels might give his team an advantage.

“Why are people afraid to try something different? Because of the scrutiny they’re going to receive if it…

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Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia

Publish date : 2023-05-19 19:05:00

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