Guardiola and his new NBA trick: “He flew all over the field. It was a sight to see.”

“Renew or die” is a maxim that governs the high standards of many elite coaches in all sports in the face of the frenetic pace at which everything changes and evolves. A proverb that will resonate with even the brightest minds who will someday conquer the world. pep guardiola and nick nursethe coach who led the Toronto Raptors led by Marc Gasol and Sergi Ibaka to a ring in 2019, with help from Sergio Scariolo on the bench.

Nurse, now. philadelphia 76ers Joel Embiid’s words make it clear that just like Pep, he can’t stop learning, which is why he stopped by Embiid’s facility last summer. manchester city Go meet Guardiola and absorb his methods. This is soccer, not basketball, but after all, the former Barça coach is also a fan of the philosophy of learning from other sports to become a better coach.

Top soccer and basketball coaches

Pep Guardiola & Nick Nurse

The Manchester City and Philadelphia 76ers coaches swapped jerseys over the summer.

The American coach was in Manchester in August for Basketball Without Borders, an NBA-sponsored event that brought together the world’s most promising teenage players. It was an opportunity to go and meet Guardiola at City’s training sessions, as the Boston Celtics coach had already done in 2024. Joe Mazzula.

Nick Nurse, who hadn’t talked about it before, spoke to MD during the Sixers’ last two games in Toronto to explain what the visit was like and what he learned from the Catalan coach.

“It worked out really well. Basketball Without Borders was in Manchester this summer and I was like one of the coaches, and it got us right into the game.” premier league. So I toured a little bit and went to training, which was two days before their home debut. And that was really something, we should sell tickets to see him lead a training session,” Nurse, who was completely impressed by Pep, began to explain.

“He was flying all over the field. It was really motivating. It was really serious, it was really something to watch, it was really good. I stayed with it. It was just how energetic and expressive he was in command, passionate and all that kind of stuff,” Nurse said of being stunned by that look.

The current Sixers coach is englandHe was a player and coach for Derby Rams in the early 90s, so he managed several teams between the decade of the 90s and the first decade of the 2000s, including Brighton Bears from 2001 to 2006. Brighton and Hove Albion The topic of the Premier League and the controversy surrounding the stadium that began construction in 2008.

“Then I was lucky enough to sneak over to Brighton and Hove. They built a new stadium about two blocks from where I lived. And I had to see it because I’d been driving by for years. I was like, ‘Let’s vote no on the stadium, let’s vote no on the stadium.'” They built the stadium, so I had to see it. Then we went to see the Crystal Palace. chelsea The next day I had a very productive three days of soccer,” Nurse also said in a long response.

But Pep Guardiola also learned some valuable ideas from the American coach. Asked about how basketball could utilize football concepts, Nurse (who was originally scheduled to learn from Pep) was surprised when Guardiola said he had more basketball questions than football questions.

“He ‘steals’ more from us. You see him putting behind-the-back blocks in the corners, flare blocks in the corners. He asked me a lot more questions than I asked him,” Nick Nurse also noted.

Celtics coach’s Catalan disciple

Pep Guardiola & Joe Mazzula

Mazzula visited Guardiola in February 2024, followed by Pep, who also visited Guardiola in June to give him support and advice ahead of the final against Mavericks. Luka Doncic That the Celtics won.

The Sixers coach caused laughter among his staff with Guardiola’s final comment, which used a basketball concept. However, the reality is as follows. “Idea thief” As Pep has always defined himself, the Catalan has taken ideas from many coaches, including technicians and players from other sports such as volleyball, tennis and chess. And basketball is often among the other areas that Guardiola draws inspiration from. Without saying more, he is one of his trusted subordinates for many years. Juanma LilloI often watch basketball.

In this connection, the blocks that Pep asked a lot of questions about could have direct application to football. Although they do not always exist with a moving ball like in basketball, they are one of the pillars of set pieces, and numerous screens are used to define these strategic actions.

In fact, playing after a timeout in basketball is the equivalent of a dead ball action in the beautiful game, with some differences. rock In both sports, it is done to establish the final play finisher.

celtics coach, Joe Mazzulatalks about how concepts like field spacing and transitions can transfer from football to basketball, and in fact, Pep Guardiola even advised him to hone his approach in this regard for the 2024 NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks. Luka Doncic.

Still, the most well-known example of an NBA coach inspired by Guardiola is Steve Kerr. The Warriors coach wanted to somehow recreate Pep’s Barça, with its coral reefs and dizzying ball movement, on a hardwood forest, so he played vintage FC Barcelona videos to fans. steph curry When he arrived on Golden State’s bench in 2014, he told them what ideas he wanted to implement. The rest is history. Four rings have taken place in the past decade under the leadership of the greatest marksman of all time. He mentioned those videos in an interview two months ago. lebron james And Steve Nash. And Kerr himself talked about it with the MD three weeks ago.

Basic concepts such as grouping players on one side to define those on the other side are another concepts that can be used differently in both sports. Alternatively, a forward drops to receive and moves the center back, creating space for others to penetrate in the same way a center drops to head to help someone cut into the paint.

Other NBA coaches like Pep’s Catalan compatriot Jordi Fernandes (Nets), Darko Rajkovic (Raptors), Kenny Atkinson (Cavaliers) and Charles Lee (Hornets) all cite Pep Guardiola as a role model to learn from.

However, the coach of manchester city He also didn’t miss the opportunity to learn from the NBA and steal some ideas from the NBA. nick nurse. He tries a new strategy by applying basketball blocks to soccer pep guardiolathe same enthusiastic idea thief who started on the bench almost 20 years ago.