CHARLESTON, S.C. — After the Sixers’ first training camp practice at The Citadel, the first scene reporters saw was the theme of the day: P.J. Tucker having a lively conversation with his teammates, in this case, Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris.
The scene at Sixers training camp in Charleston, South Carolina pic.twitter.com/sM709azLUr
— Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) September 27, 2022
The Sixers signed Tucker for his ability to log minutes against the toughest wing scorers in the NBA and make winning plays when the postseason rolls around. But one of the key attributes coach Doc Rivers mentioned on media day, even before the Sixers officially began training camp, is Tucker’s voice.
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That didn’t change after one practice session. At one point, Rivers said he was overseeing a drill that was taking place with different groups practicing on multiple hoops. The Sixers coach said he could hear Tucker, working on the other side of the court, better than the players right in front of him.
“When he’s on the floor, when he’s off the floor, it’s night and day,” Rivers said. “That’s what we’re challenging guys, because P.J. isn’t playing 48 minutes. It’s not just his defense; it’s his talking and his knowledge.”
The Sixers’ defense-first agenda is one of the emerging themes of the early season. Rivers estimated (probably rounding up a bit) “100 conversations” he had with Embiid over the summer about raising his individual level of defense. Former Sixers coach Brett Brown once referred to Embiid as the team’s “crown jewel” on defense, a designation that still fits. Embiid not only has the most defensive talent on the team, but he also plays the rim-protecting role that has the greatest impact on that end of the floor. That is especially true in the regular season, when the Sixers have been among the league’s stingiest units a few times during Embiid’s tenure.
But Tucker is probably the second-most important figure when it comes to the goal of getting the Sixers back to elite status on the defensive end. The 37-year-old forward is the second-best defender in the projected starting lineup, someone whose rigid, corner-based offensive role allows him to concentrate on bolstering the team’s defense.
After one conversation, it’s clear Tucker views his defensive role as more expansive than that. In addition to serving as the Sixers’ primary wing defender, he seems himself as an organizer. That is where the communication comes in.
“This is a fun time for me. I love it,” Tucker said at media day. “This is when your personality shows and guys get to know you really. Guys you’ve played against forever, but being on the same team is different. I love that process, to be able to get to the end of the season and playoffs (when) guys are locked in, together, ready and understand each other.”
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For Rivers, a new season brings new challenges. The Sixers have a bunch of players — Embiid, Tobias Harris, Tyrese Maxey, Shake Milton, Matisse Thybulle, Paul Reed — who have played for him the past two years. With the same coaching staff in place, those players have a large degree of institutional knowledge. And then there is Montrezl Harrell, who played the best basketball of his career under Rivers with the LA Clippers. But the reason many are excited about the Sixers is the team’s newfound depth, which makes the task of integrating key role players — Tucker, De’Anthony Melton and Danuel House Jr. — quite important.
For the well-traveled Tucker, his long NBA career can help bridge the gap. Rivers said that isn’t just because of his familiarity with the cast of characters he played with in Houston a few years ago (James Harden, House, etc.).
“He’s smart, and he’s played for coaches that I’ve been under,” Rivers said. “He’s been in the Miami system, I’m a (Pat) Riley disciple in a lot of ways. So especially defensively today, he knew every lingo, he knew everything. Offensively is where, the spacing and stuff, he’s trying to figure that out.”
If nothing catastrophic happens injury-wise, the Sixers should be one of the better regular-season teams in the Eastern Conference. But their goals are playoff-oriented. Contending teams use the regular-season months to build the habits they’ll need in key moments.
And it’s safe to say Tucker, making himself heard on day one, believes in the importance of that process.
“Once you get to camp, you start laying the foundation for what we’re going to hang our hat on all year,” Tucker said. “When the going gets tough and we’ve got games you’ve got to win and you’re on the road, back-to-backs, all the stuff you go through throughout the season, right now you start to build all those little things that we’ll be able to hang our hats on.”
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Harris tries to speed up his release
Last week, we wrote about how Harris got an extended preview of his role after the All-Star break last season. He saw less of the ball and took more catch-and-shoot 3s.
“It’s almost like he had a self-look at our team and led through the buy in. Like, ‘I’m going to be a star in my role, I’m going to teach the other players you have to make some sacrifices if you want to win,’” Rivers said. “And you come into this year, he probably has to lead the team in that again.”
Things began to click for Harris in March and April. For a 17-game stretch to close the season, Harris made 44 percent of his 3s on over 5.2 attempts per 36 minutes. After practice Tuesday, he was working on catch-and-shoot looks for an extended period.
Tobias Harris spoke yesterday about being in line for more catch-and-shoot 3s this season. He took a bunch of them after practice today. pic.twitter.com/KfFLdJnBqV
— Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) September 27, 2022
Before the All-Star break (and Harden’s arrival), Harris had long stretches during the 2021-22 season when he struggled from beyond the arc. And when he was asked what specific adjustments he made, Harris smiled and said, “That’s the secret I can’t tell you because then I’d be giving my secret sauce away.”
He eventually relented: “Shooting it quicker. I was noticing a lot of the film prior, I just wasn’t letting the ball go fast enough in certain areas on the floor and hesitating a little bit. Just letting it fly, letting it go and living with the results was probably the biggest adjustment.”
Being relegated to primarily a catch-and-shoot role does not come naturally to Harris. He even acknowledged it was a major adjustment for him last year. But with the current personnel, Harris will likely have to continue on his trajectory.
“I do look to let (3-pointers) go even more this year in different situations on the floor,” Harris said. “I just think it opens up the floor for everyone else.”
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Extra notes
• Rivers had high praise for Melton’s first practice as a Sixer.
“In some ways (Melton) screwed practice up because we were having our guys pick up full court. But we couldn’t run our offense because he was disrupting the guards a lot today,” he said.
Doc Rivers after Sixers practice:
"P.J. immediately helps your team defense. He was so loud at one point [in practice].""[De'Anthony Melton] in some ways screwed practice up. We had our guards pick up full court and we couldn't run our offense because he was disrupting." pic.twitter.com/M0VE5z7j4N
— Rich Hofmann (@rich_hofmann) September 27, 2022
• There was some natural lineup mixing and matching during training camp, but one alignment stood out: Rivers said Reed played some at the four next to Embiid.
“I think we’re doing (two-big lineups) all year because P.J. (at the four) is a big lineup in some ways,” Rivers said. “I like the rebounding in that lineup. It frees Paul to be an offensive rebounder more, especially at the four. At the five, it’s hard enough to block him out. I think at the four it will be impossible to block him out.
“Same thing with P.J. I thought both of them just tortured everybody on the glass today. So we’re going to give that a look for sure.”
That would be one way for Reed to get additional minutes after the addition of Harrell in the frontcourt. Reed likely has the athleticism to play the four, but he also needs to become a more reliable 3-point shooter for that to be a realistic long-term path for him. He is only shooting 2 of 14 from deep so far in his entire NBA career.
Related reading
Hofmann: Media day notes on Tucker, Harden and more
Fan survey results: Part I | Part II
(Photo: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
