PHILADELPHIA -- It's early days in the LeBron James era for the Philadelphia 76ers, but the vibes have been high around him and the organization. It's hard for it not to be, but it's important for James and this team to get off on the right foot and build chemistry.
That means with everybody, not just his teammates. It's important for James and coach Nick Nurse and his staff to all be on the same page as well, and it's been a good start.
"It's been great early on, it's not only Nick, but the whole coaching staff," said James. "I'm just trying to fast track everything offensively and defensively, the commands, the calls, the reads and everything they've had in place over the few years. I'm stepping into a new system and I'm stepping into a whole new environment..they've
welcomed me with open arms and have kind of made it more and more comfortable every day."
One aspect of Nurse's coaching that James is clearly a fan of is his aggressive defensive style. Between himself, Jaylen Brown, Joel Embiid, VJ Edgecombe, and Tyrese Maxey, the Sixers have the potential to lean on an aggressive, blitzing type of defense that will then fuel a fast, transition type of game. That is a style the Sixers have a lot of athletes for.
"I think the potential of our team defensively can be very high," said James. "We really commit ourselves to the defensive end, we can be a top 10, if not top 5, defensive team if we commit every night. It starts at the point of attack, picking guys up from the point of position, and then who's ever picking the ball up, we have to have four guys behind them, eyes and ears, just like communicating constantly throughout the whole possession."
With that being said, the Sixers will have to be a much better rebounding team than in the past. That has been an area of concern for this group at times as they have struggled in terms of defensive rebounding. James is preaching that the Sixers attack the glass and get after it to fuel a quick offensive game.
"Then even after that, when teams miss, a lot of teams now in the NBA, they crash three or four guys at times, and we have to put bodies on guys, and we have to rebound," James finished. "So, no matter how much firepower we have offensively, if we're not cleaning glass, if we're not rebounding, we're never going to get out in transition. So, but we can be really good defensively. We have the length, we have the athleticism, we have the minds, we have the schemes, as we're still putting them in. If we can do that consistently, we're really good. It's only going to help our help our offense."
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: LeBron James opens up on relationship with Sixers coach Nick Nurse
