3 takeaways from Daryl Morey’s press conference after Doc Rivers firing
Daryl Morey did not always speak in direct language Wednesday about the work ahead.
But in describing the process that led to Doc Rivers being fired as the teams head coach, Morey was clear.
Its my job to evaluate everything, Morey said, and we felt like that was the best move for helping us get to our goals going forward.
It was carefully thought out and I recommended it to ownership, and they accepted it.
Outside of Moreys comments on James Harden the Sixers president of basketball operations said the teams Scenario A is to retain the 33-year-old guard here are three takeaways on Wednesday’s press conference:
The experience factor
In any coaching search, many variables merit consideration.
Morey was asked specifically about prior NBA head coaching experience. Though he didnt rule out a first-time head coach Sixers assistant Sam Cassell would meet that description Morey indicated hed generally view experience as a plus.
I wouldnt say a requirement, he said. I think when you get into requirements, you miss opportunities. But I will say we have a roster ready to win. Obviously, weve been very successful came up just short of our goals. I think we have an MVP-level player. And I do think, if you look at the history of the NBA, its challenging to walk into that as a first-time NBA head coach.
That doesnt mean it hasnt worked. For every rule, there are solid counterexamples. So were not going to go in with a prescription or proscription, but were looking for someone who brings leadership and accountability; someone who is good at tactics; someone who has great relationships with his star players; someone whos good at recruiting star players and that players want to play for; someone who builds a great organization.
I 100 percent believe we had that with Coach Rivers but those are the kinds of criteria we looked at. Those are the kinds of criteria that led to hiring Doc, and were going to work hard to find someone who hits all those marks again.
Morey later added that he feels the tactical side tends to get overvalued and that it ends up being a much smaller part of the game than people expect relative to working with your star players, recruiting star players, things like that.
As for the free-agent coaches out there, Nick Nurse, Frank Vogel and Mike Budenholzer have NBA titles on their rsums. Budenholzers Bucks beat Monty Williams Suns in the NBA Finals two years ago.
The available coaches are very strong, Morey said, and thats why were encouraged by the ones that have reached out to us already. Recent championships, its a factor. It’s a factor.
Definitely not a litmus test, but all else equal, I do think that can lend a lot of credibility with players. Hey, I just did this. I think that matters, and its why adding a P.J. Tucker last year is also a positive. Hey, when I just did this with Milwaukee, these were some of the key elements. And I know that gave him a lot of voice in the locker room.
Embiid shocked by the firing
Morey said Joel Embiid and Harden wont have direct input on the Sixers coaching hire, though you want to look for a coach that is a fit with how we want to play and the players we have.
Moreys decision may be rather telling on this topic. While Mike DAntoni of course has many credentials besides having coached Harden, we imagine that if the Sixers hired the 72-year-old offensive innovator, they would cite that duos history as a source of optimism.
Regardless, Morey has long seen stars as extremely important in the NBA. On Wednesday, he admitted that the Sixers biggest star, Embiid, did not endorse Rivers dismissal.
Embiid said he thought Rivers had done a fantastic job and should be fine after the Sixers Game 7 loss to the Celtics.
They had a strong relationship, Morey said. I have to make tough calls all the time with trades. Joel was disappointed, and some of it is he didnt know the player we were getting in the trade, who ended up helping us, but he was disappointed in the players that went out. I think its natural to be very close with the people in the locker room. He was very close with Coach Rivers and yeah, he was shocked about the change. Its my job to help convince him that the new coach is someone hell have a great relationship with as well.
Morey had another interesting Embiid-related answer when asked about why the six-time All-Stars efficiency has dipped in the second round of the playoffs.
Injuries have regularly impacted Embiid, who played through a right knee sprain this postseason, but his 5-for-18 shooting performance in Game 7 was not nearly good enough. Overall, Embiid averaged 25.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in the Celtics series. He shot 42.1 percent from the floor and 20 percent from three-point range.
That was a big conversation with Joel again, led by Joel, to his credit, Morey said. Working through, Hey, how can I make sure I can still get to my spots? How can I make sure that when theyre trying to take this away, I have a counter?
Look, its something that we need to do a better job of during the season. The regular season can often be a Wednesday against a bad team, and Joels so good that he can just dominate a game without them doing a lot of keying. Thats why I thought a lot of reps against a Toronto or a Brooklyn this year were good. They were guarding him with heavy double teams and different looks.
We want to try to make sure that we get him those similar kinds of high-intensity defensive looks during the regular season and have that be something hes more comfortable in as we get into the playoffs. So I think thats a big priority to continue to give him rep after rep so he can work on it in the offseason and during the season … so hes ready for the really, really focused defenses that he faces in the playoffs.
Where exactly is improvement required?
At this time last year, the Sixers seemed to have a clear sense of what went wrong in the postseason and how they could fix it.
Both Morey and Rivers wanted to enhance the Sixers toughness, pick up two-way players, and have a team better equipped to conquer playoff-specific challenges.
I do think we addressed a lot of those questions. I do think a lot of progress has been made, and we need to keep making progress to get further, Morey said Wednesday.
Heading into this offseason, does Morey have a similar grasp on why the Sixers fell short and where they must improve this summer?
Besides the coaching search, we go through a pretty careful process with the front office on what needs to be done, he said. We havent gone through that yet. We will figure that out going forward. But yeah, last year I think was a little more straightforward, especially the two-way player part. The toughness part I thought was real but sometimes thats used just if you win or lose. I think two-way players was a little more clear, and I think we did address a lot of that. We still have a lot of things to improve, though, and so well have to.
We do have some normal improvements that are coming this year, though. (Tyrese) Maxey we think has a real shot to be one of the top players in the league. He is absolutely committed to putting the work in, as we know, so I think thats an area thats pretty exciting.
And then Joel Embiid, as youve seen, I wouldnt bet against him improving again. Hes done it every year since Ive been here. His health is improving and his game is improving. And again, a lot of the conversation with Joel was him immediately being like, Hey, I can do more. I can work on this. Im watching the playoffs and Im looking at this guy; I can add that to my game. I wouldnt bet against him.
