The Philadelphia 76ers’ defense will put themselves through one of the toughest tests of the season in two days when they attempt to contain both Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Sixers will have an early opportunity to take on one of the heavyweights they intend to defeat in a future playoff series when they meet the Milwaukee Bucks in their opening game of the 2023–24 season.
The Bucks, whо hаve а new heаd cоаch аnd didn’t hаve а cоmplete оffseаsоn tо trаin tоgether, will undоubtedly need tо sоrt оut sоme bugs. But feаr nоt: Milwаukee’s new stаr tаndem is sоmething tо be reckоned with. When аn exceptiоnаl slаsher аnd deep-rаnge shооter teаm tоgether, defenders аre in fоr а nightmаre. There аre nо simple оuts when yоu hаve а grоup оf perimeter shооters giving them rооm tо wоrk.
Head coach Nick Nurse talked about some of the more important topics after the Sixers’ practice on Tuesday, including evaluating Antetokounmpo and Lillard.
According to Nurse, “It always starts with that transition part with Giannis.” You’re going to be in for a long night if he puts his head down during transition and dunks it on you, lays it in, or gets to the free-throw line.
The technique of walling up Antetokounmpo to prevent him from having a clear lane to the hoop was made popular by Nurse during his first year with the Toronto Raptors. On their path to winning a championship, the strategy helped his Raptors defeat the Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals. The correct defenders who are large enough to keep up with the Greek Freak are essential, yet mastering the strategy is not always easy.
It will be more difficult to contain the Bucks on the fast break now that he has a player who can make 3-pointers from 35 feet out pursuing him. They now have a dependable option in Lillard to generate half-court scoring opportunities.
However, Lillard clearly provides him with a player who greatly extends the floor, don’t you think? Nurse went on, “Like, practically nobody does it better than him with the amount of space you gotta cover guarding him.” “I believe it will also create some two-man challenges for the defensive strategies because of his small size, quick speed, and excellent start-stop ability. Giannis is one of the players that they have included in a few of those two-man games. Switching those things can occasionally be more difficult because you don’t want to lose some of those size matchups in either direction.
With Nurse leading the defensive unit and new coaching staff, the Sixers are adjusting to a new defensive base. The good news is that if their initial plan fails, Nurse should have them prepared to switch to new strategies. Such adaptability will be helpful to Philly as it attempts to unravel the most recent intricate jigsaw in the NBA.
“We’ll get ready and take care of everything. We always start with [plans] A, B, and C, but we’ll see how plan A goes first and be prepared to make a few tweaks if things don’t work out as planned, the nurse stated.