The results of the season Nick Nurse to the Sixers is difficult to draw up, the former Raptors technician having been deprived of his best element, Joel Embiid, for more than half of the regular season (39 games played).
This undoubtedly explains his position when Draymond Green questions him about the duration of the exercise and the famous 82 games. “ I think a few fewer games equals a much better product “, asks the inside of the Warriors in his podcastwho says he doesn't want to take a ticket for a Sixers game without the pivot.
Reduce the number of matches per season then? “ I think I would be in favor of that. I don't know how this works logistically, financially and otherwise, but I agree », joins the Philadelphia coach, taking a leap in time.
“ You go back and say, 'Oh but in the 1990s, these guys played all 82 games.' But back then they were dribbling, sending the ball to the post with two guys waiting, there were a lot of guys standing around static. It was not at all what we know today “, describes Nick Nurse.
“Twice” the effort?
While today, according to him, “ everyone can do anything. Everyone has to defend over everyone. Everyone has an outside defender. Everyone must defend the 3-point line. There are a lot more transitions. So that activity level and generally speaking if the pace is twice as fast, that means we're probably doing twice as much, right? »
A well-known argument, with the NBA becoming less “physical” but more “athletic”. But this argument is contested as it is complicated to measure the “activity level” of each player.
“ So the risk of injury and everything else must be twice as great too, right? », finishes the coach to get to the end of his reasoning. However, Nick Nurse undoubtedly knows that calling into question the 82-game season is not on the table for the league. On the contrary, even…
“The culture should be that every player should want to play 82 games. […] That's the culture we're trying to reestablish right now. The competition committee gave its approval. The players' association has signed, they agree that this is an 82 game championship and everyone should expect to play 82 games “, said Joe Dumars, head of basketball operations for the league, in October to justify the war waged against “load management”, when the NBA was negotiating its new agreement with its TV partners.
