An offseason emphasis on improving defensively is paying off early in practice and will now get its first preseason test.
The coach had unleashed Melton — the fifth-year guard the Sixers traded for on draft night — to pick up the starting ballhandlers full-court. That pressure stifled the first-teamers’ ability to run their offense.
Last season, they ranked 12th in efficiency at 110.2 points allowed per 100 possessions, a solid finish but not championship-caliber when considering that the Finals participants, the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors, were first and second, respectively, in that category. The Sixers, though, were among the NBA’s worst in transition defense and rebounding .
And veteran big man P.J. Tucker, the Sixers’ primary free-agent target, has long been respected for his versatility, toughness, and voice as a defender. Rivers said during the Sixers’ first practice he could hear Tucker’s calls coming from the opposite end of The Citadel’s gym more clearly than the ones coming from the players from the side on which the coach was standing.