Nick Nurse Praises Ricky Council IV's Recent Effort With Sixers

Philadelphia 76ers rookie Ricky Council was singled out by his head coach recently.

Apr 7, 2024; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Ricky Council IV (16) dribbles / Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports

While a ton of focus surrounding the Philadelphia 76ers double overtime thriller against the San Antonio Spurs was rightly focussed on Tyrese Maxey’s career night, with the 23-year-old putting up 52 points on an efficient 46 percent from the field.

Yet, there was another player who caught the eye of the Philadelphia faithful, as Ricky Council IV had himself quite the night, sapping up a 22 minutes of gametime thanks in part due to the Sixers’ ongoing injury crisis as well as the back-to-back scheduling of Sunday’s match.

The G-League standout made himself useful on the offensive end, dropping 11 points on 80 percent shooting, while making his presence felt on the defensive end, recording three steals.

This defensive mastery didn’t go past Sixers’ head coach, Nick Nurse, who felt he did a good job messing with the Spurs’ offensive tempo.

“I would say he was really good at the defensive end, he really was disrupting rhythm, picking up full court,” explained Nurse, “He was really moving his feet, keeping his guy in front, making the start of their offenses take a long time.”

Yet, Nurse was also quick to commend Council’s work on the offensive end of the court, highlighting his ability to move quickly in transition, recounting in detail his play in the second period of overtime where the 22-year-old drove in and dished the ball out to a waiting Nico Batum, who in effect iced the game with a three from the corner.

“First and foremost, he was great there, then Ricky's kind of like if he gets some space, he's going to go downhill too,” said Nurse, “He made a layup, he got fouled, incredible pass out to Nico with the left hand wraparound, that was really kind of the dagger play a little bit.”

Council has received the most game time this season from the Sixers’ two-way players, surpassing Terquavion Smith in playing time, as well as the recently promoted Jeff Dowtin, who appeared for 12 minutes against the Spurs.