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CAMDEN, N.J. -- The Philadelphia 76ers welcomed Cam Payne back to the roster over the All-Star break as they were looking to add more depth at the guard position. Payne was playing overseas in Serbia playing for Partizan and the Sixers brought him back to the NBA on a deal.
It has been a slow start for Payne as he's shooting only 4-for-20 from deep over his first five games, but he has been steady on the floor as a ball-handler and has been able to get everybody organized. He has given coach Nick Nurse an option to turn to and feel comfortable as a backup point guard running everything on offense.
"I think, fine," Nurse said at practice on Saturday. "I mean, I think it took him a minute here. I really like him. I really believe in what he brings. He brings some pace. He gets off the ball. He seems to create his own 3s quite a bit, and he just wasn't making any, right? It gets painful. I'm glad he hit one."
With that being said, Payne will eventually find his rhythm again. He is a player who focuses so much on the vibes being good and his ability to produce in stretches. He had to move back across the world and readjust to the Eastern standard time zone and all of the travel and such. Once hie fully adjusts, he'll be fine.
"I don't ever like I'll never get that worried about that," Nurse added. "I think it's reasonable for a guy to come into the league and need a few games to kind of settle back into the speed and size and what's going on. There's a lot coming at you. We obviously changed a lot of stuff from when he was here last. We had to kind of learn a whole bunch of new stuff on top of just getting your body right and getting the rhythm right and all that stuff."
As long as Payne is able to continue running offense and making sure everybody is on the same page and the team finds a groove with him leading the way, then the Sixers will be OK with it. The shooting will eventually come.
"I think he's ready to go," Nurse added. "I think he'll probably—he hit some big shots to keep us clicking the other night, and we'll probably get here pretty soon, one of his big games where he really gets it going."
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Nick Nurse evaluates the early play of Cam Payne in return to Sixers
Continue reading...
It has been a slow start for Payne as he's shooting only 4-for-20 from deep over his first five games, but he has been steady on the floor as a ball-handler and has been able to get everybody organized. He has given coach Nick Nurse an option to turn to and feel comfortable as a backup point guard running everything on offense.
"I think, fine," Nurse said at practice on Saturday. "I mean, I think it took him a minute here. I really like him. I really believe in what he brings. He brings some pace. He gets off the ball. He seems to create his own 3s quite a bit, and he just wasn't making any, right? It gets painful. I'm glad he hit one."
With that being said, Payne will eventually find his rhythm again. He is a player who focuses so much on the vibes being good and his ability to produce in stretches. He had to move back across the world and readjust to the Eastern standard time zone and all of the travel and such. Once hie fully adjusts, he'll be fine.
"I don't ever like I'll never get that worried about that," Nurse added. "I think it's reasonable for a guy to come into the league and need a few games to kind of settle back into the speed and size and what's going on. There's a lot coming at you. We obviously changed a lot of stuff from when he was here last. We had to kind of learn a whole bunch of new stuff on top of just getting your body right and getting the rhythm right and all that stuff."
As long as Payne is able to continue running offense and making sure everybody is on the same page and the team finds a groove with him leading the way, then the Sixers will be OK with it. The shooting will eventually come.
"I think he's ready to go," Nurse added. "I think he'll probably—he hit some big shots to keep us clicking the other night, and we'll probably get here pretty soon, one of his big games where he really gets it going."
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Nick Nurse evaluates the early play of Cam Payne in return to Sixers
Continue reading...
