Everything Nick Nurse

[planetmars]

Breen and Burke were doing the Nets/Knicks game. I just caught the tail end so didn't hear the Nurse comment. KD is amazing.

[Ebonhawke]

Watching the Nets/Knicks game and the US based announcers saying "no one wants to play a Nick Nurse coached team in a one and done" speaking to how well they're coached and how hard they play.

Would imagine that this arose because, if the season ended today, the Raptors and Nets would face each other in the first play-in game

(as per Tankathon)

[G__Deane]

Breen and Burke were doing the Nets/Knicks game. I just caught the tail end so didn't hear the Nurse comment. KD is amazing.

Yes it was them. Breen made the comment

[chris]

Breen and Burke were doing the Nets/Knicks game. I just caught the tail end so didn't hear the Nurse comment. KD is amazing.

Yes it was them. Breen made the comment

mike breen did not call that game. it was doris and toronto native/paul jones' younger brother, mark.

[Jclaw]

[G__Deane]

mike breen did not call that game. it was doris and toronto native/paul jones' younger brother, mark.

Thanks I don't know his voice, just that it was said; didn't even remember if it was him or her.
Valid point she made though that I think many have voiced. Many teams in the East could win the play-in or make the East Finals. Any of them cold be out in the first round too. Nobody wants Toronto in a winner take all.

[chris]

Thanks I don't know his voice, just that it was said; didn't even remember if it was him or her.
Valid point she made though that I think many have voiced. Many teams in the East could win the play-in or make the East Finals. Any of them cold be out in the first round too. Nobody wants Toronto in a winner take all.

simmons and rusillo were making the same point at the end of their sunday night pod last night, except they were talking in the first round rather than play-in as they think the raptors will catch cleveland.

raptors talk starts about the 1 hr 28 min mark, or with 12:55 remaining, and lasts for most of the rest of the pod except for a brief detour talking about rj barrett.

[golden]

Thanks I don't know his voice, just that it was said; didn't even remember if it was him or her.
Valid point she made though that I think many have voiced. Many teams in the East could win the play-in or make the East Finals. Any of them cold be out in the first round too. Nobody wants Toronto in a winner take all.

Excellent. So based on Nurse's reputation alone... the expectation should be at least 2nd round of the playoffs this year.

[G__Deane]

Excellent. So based on Nurse's reputation alone... the expectation should be at least 2nd round of the playoffs this year.

No I don't think so.
I think they mean (and I agree) that a play in or one and done etc is a crap shoot and this team can take anyone in a one game scenario. No guarantees or expectations of a first round round win because of the same crap shoot nature.

Siakam, FVV, Barnes, Gary and OG can each get you 20-30 on every given night. In theory, one having an off night can be picked up by the others if they/coaches recognize this and pull back on their utilization. In the more superstar dominant teams, there is less parity to spread the load if one is having an off night. The problem is that, being superstars, they don't have off nights too often.

[KeonClark]

You guys are correct, it was my girl Doris

[golden]

You guys are correct, it was my girl Doris

Sorry, pal... Drake stole yo girl.

[inthepaint]

No I don't think so.
I think they mean (and I agree) that a play in or one and done etc is a crap shoot and this team can take anyone in a one game scenario. No guarantees or expectations of a first round round win because of the same crap shoot nature.

Siakam, FVV, Barnes, Gary and OG can each get you 20-30 on every given night. In theory, one having an off night can be picked up by the others if they/coaches recognize this and pull back on their utilization. In the more superstar dominant teams, there is less parity to spread the load if one is having an off night. The problem is that, being superstars, they don't have off nights too often.

Raptors now have each one of the 5 starters averaging 15+ ppg. That can't be very common, is there another team doing that? I can see that kind of distribution throwing opposing teams off a bit.

Vogel: "Fiz, I don't wanna get blownout again, who are we guarding here, who's the top dog on this Raptor team?"
Fizdale: "Well, no one, but also...everyone..."
Vogel: "fine, what about the other end, who do we hunt for in switches?"
Fizdale: "Err...[scratches head]...just.. throw a zone at them on our end and hope for the best"

[G__Deane]

Raptors now have each one of the 5 starters averaging 15+ ppg. That can't be very common, is there another team doing that? I can see that kind of distribution throwing opposing teams off a bit.

Vogel: "Fiz, I don't wanna get blownout again, who are we guarding here, who's the top dog on this Raptor team?"
Fizdale: "Well, no one, but also...everyone..."
Vogel: "fine, what about the other end, who do we hunt for in switches?"
Fizdale: "Err...[scratches head]...just.. throw a zone at them on our end and hope for the best"

I get that but in the playoffs, Durant or Irving or Harden or Butler or Embiid or Tatum or Giannis can drop 40-50 on you on any given night. And that's just in the East.

We have a bunch of guys who will get you 15-30 consistently.... and we all know the NBA/refs will drop us in a -10 hole every damn game with phantom foul calls while putting our key guys in simultaneous foul trouble.

So yah we can beat any team in a one-and-done. I don't like the odds in a long series since we lack the true game breaker elite player.

[Jclaw]

Raptors now have each one of the 5 starters averaging 15+ ppg. That can't be very common, is there another team doing that? I can see that kind of distribution throwing opposing teams off a bit.

Vogel: "Fiz, I don't wanna get blownout again, who are we guarding here, who's the top dog on this Raptor team?"
Fizdale: "Well, no one, but also...everyone..."
Vogel: "fine, what about the other end, who do we hunt for in switches?"
Fizdale: "Err...[scratches head]...just.. throw a zone at them on our end and hope for the best"

Did a quick search. The 5 all star hawks didn’t do it. Nor the Everyman pistons. Not the mid 80’s C*#^cs who were the last to have a 5x20 in a game

[inthepaint]

I get that but in the playoffs, Durant or Irving or Harden or Butler or Embiid or Tatum or Giannis can drop 40-50 on you on any given night. And that's just in the East.

We have a bunch of guys who will get you 15-30 consistently.... and we all know the NBA/refs will drop us in a -10 hole every damn game with phantom foul calls while putting our key guys in simultaneous foul trouble.

So yah we can beat any team in a one-and-done. I don't like the odds in a long series since we lack the true game breaker elite player.

All these guys you mentioned are averaging less than 30 per game. Can they explode for 40 or 50 occasionally? Sure, but that's going to be actually relatively rare in the playoffs when things tighten up, especially vs the Raptors. There's been only 2 players this season putting up 40 on us, Doncic and Trae Young. Raptor's defensive schemes specialize in containing stars with aggressive traps/doubles and forcing other guys to beat you, it's built for the playoffs.

Having said that, Raptors are not winning any titles this year, anyone expecting that is not following the team's development cycle (we're one of the youngest teams in the league). Ultimately though, there's a lot more parity in the league this year, there's no team out there that looks unbeatable, even on a 7-game series, aside from maybe a healthy Nets (and even them still gotta introduce Simmons in their playoff mix/chemistry, plus they're squarely in the play-in where anything can happen).