Tyrese Maxey speaks at 76ers’ team meeting after heat loss: ‘I wanted to say something’

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tyrese Maxey, the Philadelphia 76ers star point guard, usually has a smile and a nod for everyone. He’s usually the first to say hello and the first to stick to a conversation, even if it’s just a few words.

On Tuesday, as the Sixers wrapped up an energetic and spirited practice in Memphis, Maxey’s face was steely. His trademark was nowhere to be seen. His tone was measured. The conversation was to the point.

Monday night, during a long team meeting, with the details confirmed by AthleticsMaxey flexed his leadership muscles. He looked at his close friend, Sixers superstar Joel Embiid, and told him that the way he handled his business affected the rest of the team. Those were the words, among other things, that sparked a long discussion in which players and coaches held each other accountable for various reasons regarding an NBA-worst 2-11 start.

The Sixers haven’t been healthy, nor have they rolled out a full roster this season. But it doesn’t matter. What matters going into Wednesday’s game against the Grizzlies is that there is too much talent on the roster, regardless of who is available, for this team to have won just two of 13 games. The coaches know it. The players know it.

“I wanted to say something,” Maxey said. “I felt the need to do it because I wanted to share that we are better than what we have shown on the floor. A lot was said, but it is what it is. We said what we had to say and we have to find a way to move on to the rest of the season. Everyone understands what is at stake. Everyone feels the hurt.”

In the short term, team meetings almost always add some juice to a group. So if the Sixers play well Wednesday night, it won’t be a surprise. But this Philadelphia team has basketball issues that are starting to feel like little more than rust. They have issues that start to feel fundamental. They turn the ball over too much. They go through pockets of games where they struggle to score efficiently and at a high level. They go through stretches of play where they struggle to get stops in defence.

While the lack of defense is atypical for a Nick Nurse-coached team, the lack of offense shouldn’t happen to a team with Maxey, Embiid and Paul George, not to mention an offensively brilliant rookie like Jared McCain. The penchant for turnovers shouldn’t happen for a team with typically steady veterans like Kyle Lowry and Eric Gordon. There have been several external factors. The damage error has run through the list. It’s made for a lot of lineup changes, rotation adjustments, and things that generally don’t happen to a team 13 games into a season.

But this should be a championship-level roster even without McCain’s emergence. He can be one of your leaders in the race for the NBA’s Rookie of The Year. This team simply needs to be better than it is.

“We’ve got to start winning, there’s no doubt about that,” Nurse said. “Last night’s meeting was brutally honest. Everyone wants the team to be successful and we are not right now. We are losing and there are all sorts of problems and reasons why and we are trying to get it taken care of. We knew at the beginning of the season that we had to be healthy and we had to get some things together quickly.

“So far, none of that has happened. So I think everybody just needed to get those things on the table and I think in that sense the meeting last night was a step in the right direction for us.”

Maxey, who has been out for an extended period with a hamstring strain, went through all of Tuesday’s practice. He is listed as questionable Wednesday night, but if he returns, he will be on a heavy minutes restriction. It would also mark the first time this season that the Sixers have their big three of Maxey, Embiid and George on the floor at the same time. However, Lowry will miss the next three games with a hip strain and will be evaluated next week, so the Sixers will not have a full roster even if Maxey returns.

What disappointed Maxey on Monday night was a perceived lack of fight from the Sixers against the Miami Heat. In a 106-89 loss, the Sixers led by as many as 19 points in the first half. They lost by 17, a turnover of 36 points. Looking deeper into that game, the Sixers were the team with the rest advantage when Miami played the second night of a back-to-back. And yet the Heat played with far more energy, especially in the second half when they were able to pull away.

“When they hit us, we had to fight back,” Maxey said. “It was supposed to be a (proper) game out there, but it wasn’t. We kind of settled down in Miami, and that’s something we can’t do anymore.”

The Sixers scored just 33 points after halftime against the Heat. Once they allowed Miami to take control, as Maxey said, they never fought to regain it. That’s why what was supposed to be a blowout for the Sixers turned into a blowout of the Sixers.

Tuesday’s practice was, under the circumstances, lively and productive. But the nurse has seen them. What he wants is to see things translated. What he wants is for Philadelphia to finally start playing to its talent level for more games.

“Will things show up tomorrow under the bright lights? That’s the most important control point,” Nurse said. “You try to scratch your head and think why the wins aren’t coming. We try to uncover every stone and anything you can repair. Why don’t we shoot the ball better when we are wide open? We generate a lot of looks, and if we can start making more of them, that increases the margin of error pretty quickly.

“But then we have turnover issues in the third quarter of games, and that’s a lack of execution and a lack of focus and toughness. And for a lot of them, baskets are the other way. So we’ve got a lot to clean up.”

(Photo: Bill Streicher / Imagn Images)