Joe DeCamara was impressed with Nick Nurse’s introductory press conference on Thursday, but in the end, he doesn’t believe the coaching change will be enough to get the 76ers over the hump and through their ceiling that has been the second round of the playoffs.
Yes, Nurse overcame something similar with the Raptors when he was the head coach in Toronto, but Joe says the Sixers have problems beyond coaching that will prevent them from making a deep postseason run with this group.
“They were a classic team that was trying to break through, and he did get them there,” Joe said of Nurse. “Here’s where I’m at on this…I’m sad to say this, I really am. My biggest takeaway was that Nick Nurse was really impressive on a lot of fronts…it sadly, probably won’t matter.
“I just feel like he has entered a situation…it’s not impossible. It’s possible the Sixers get the boulder up the hill. I just tend to think that they won’t.”
While Nurse had plenty of encouraging things to say when it came to maximizing Joel Embiid and using Tyrese Maxey in the pick-and-roll to help him take the next step, Joe believes it ultimately won’t be enough for the Sixers to finally break through, which isn’t a knock on Nurse.
“I thought he was really impressive on X’s and O’s stuff,” Joe said. “I was genuinely very impressed with Nick Nurse, I just don’t know that it matters.”