Everything Nick Nurse

[DanH]

Nick has improved with his adjustments as each series has gone on.

First round didn't need much adjusting, the talent disparity was too big, but he also never made the right call going to Gasol on Vucevic full time. Magic would have been dead in the water immediately with that move. But, as noted, didn't matter, Raptors were way too good.

Second round, key matchup drove that series. Gasol should have been on Embiid the whole time. Hard matched in game 5, killed them, thought he had it figured out, but then he went away from it in game 6 and it fell apart. Went back to it in game 7, thank goodness, because it came down to the wire.

ECF, another key matchup. Kawhi on Giannis. Never went full bore with this one, and probably would have had fatigue issues for Kawhi if they went with the matchup more. But went with it a lot after game 2 (a little late but it worked out), and never went away from it - which was crucial. 4 games of consistent putting Giannis through hell for half his possessions, using the other half to buy Kawhi a rest (on court or off). 4 wins. Great job by Nurse.

Also, good for Nurse sticking to his 8 man rotation. Kept Powell in play when he was sinking the team, kept FVV in play when he couldn't hit the ocean from a boat, both paid off huge in this series. Also tightened up and kept guys like Meeks off the floor.

Very intrigued to see what he comes up with defensively for the Warriors. They have a lot of role players you don't mind shooting the ball, and the Raptors have made hay with only one or two guys that they dared to shoot to load up on Embiid/Giannis.

[golden]

Jazz > Classical.

Nurse's ultra-flexible approach worked in ways nobody ever expected.... probably not even him. The idea of role players stepping up to make plays off the dribble failed miserably, however....

Kawhi evolving into an elite playoff level playmaker surrounded by knock-down shooters was something nobody really saw coming. This was basically the Lebron + Cavs time tested winning formula. This is the extra gear that we've been looking for all season long, but load management, injuries, trades and lack of Lowry/Kawhi chemistry never allowed that to gel properly. We saw so much less of FVV, Pascal, Serge, Norm, Danny, etc... trying to create off the dribble (thankfully) in the last 3 games and so much more of shooters simply shuffling around Kawhi and being shot ready.

Unlike Bud's scripted system, Nurse's flexible approach allowed the team the flexibility to re-create their offensive identity on the fly. Being flexible and adaptable was the mindset all season long. In contrast, you heard Giannis repeatedly saying "we're not changing anything.... we're going to do what we do", etc..., etc..., and keep running into that wall.

The other great twist was Nurse being touted as a brilliant offensive mind, but the most impressive thing he has done is getting the team to reach the elite defensive potential that this roster suggests we should have. Raps can seemingly get stops anytime we have energy, focus and determination... even when Kawhi and Gasol aren't on the court. That is sustainable and has now become the core identity of the team through 3 rounds. Having OG, even as just another body to give guys some rest can only help, as long as he doesn't make too many mental mistakes.

I am 100% on the Nick Nurse bandwagon. Kawhi Leonard being a Raptor doesn't hurt either. lol.

[planetmars]

Nick has grown as the playoffs have gone on. He's using his timeouts perfectly. I don't think he's ever left a timeout on the table in a loss (like Bud has). He also plays his most important guys (except for that game 1 loss in Orlando). I like that he's sticking with his bench guys even if they struggle. He's as even keel as they come and that's what we need in the playoffs.

Nurse is going to have an NBA job for a long long time. As a rookie, he got his team to the NBA finals and had the 2nd best record in the RS while also managing 20+ different starting line ups and a super star that was on load management. Pretty impressive stuff.

[KeonClark]

Everybody? Coaching is hilarious, you're a genius when you win and a moron when you lose. Quite often, the better coach loses (Not saying in this instance, just in general), because its not nearly as important as who your first best player or 2nd or 3rd best player is. None of these guys are complete morons, but any one of the coaches in the NBA would still be sitting in the finals if they coached Golden State for sure. Sorry Kerr. If Budenholzer and Nurse switched spots do Raptors move on? Tough to say, but I tend to think so.

[golden]

Everybody? Coaching is hilarious, you're a genius when you win and a moron when you lose. Quite often, the better coach loses (Not saying in this instance, just in general), because its not nearly as important as who your first best player or 2nd or 3rd best player is. None of these guys are complete morons, but any one of the coaches in the NBA would still be sitting in the finals if they coached Golden State for sure. Sorry Kerr. If Budenholzer and Nurse switched spots do Raptors move on? Tough to say, but I tend to think so.

Lol. Yeah, I mean everybody knows that Kawhi's insane will to win was really the difference. It's palpable. You literally feel it. You can practically see the thought bubble above his head at critical points in the game when it's slipping away, like "...damn, I'm not losing."

But hey, let's all just stay in Kum-ba-ya mode and be positive. lol. It seems to be working. I feel like I also want to take credit for FVV's turnaround by optimistically predicting the exact moment he would break-out. And I stopped cracking on Lowry after the Sixers series and look what happened.

[MixxAOR]

Anytime a team comes back being down 0-2 in the series you gotta give props to the team and coaching staff. That takes cojones.

[DanH]

One of the big narratives when we hired Nurse was "this guy is a brilliant offensive mind, but coaches he has worked with say he is better at defence." Really saw that shine through in the playoffs so far, the defence has improved with the right adjustments as each series has progressed.

[KeonClark]

Anytime a team comes back being down 0-2 in the series you gotta give props to the team and coaching staff. That takes cojones.

For sure. He coached well. But I am making sure its the same guy that majority of the board wanted fired a week and a half ago?

Or is that the same group that held the funeral for the team after game 3 vs philly. I wonder if they've heard the news

[DanH]

For sure. He coached well. But I am making sure its the same guy that majority of the board wanted fired a week and a half ago?

Or is that the same group that held the funeral for the team after game 3 vs philly. I wonder if they've heard the news

If the majority of the board wanted him fired a week and a half ago, the majority of the board was being very silly.

Nurse is already a massive upgrade over what we had before in the playoffs.

[KeonClark]

One of the big narratives when we hired Nurse was "this guy is a brilliant offensive mind, but coaches he has worked with say he is better at defence." Really saw that shine through in the playoffs so far, the defence has improved with the right adjustments as each series has progressed.

The narrative of the team this year is "Kawhi". And I get that. But the 2nd story should be literally "historically great defense"...there hasn't been too many in the pace and space era, but there is plenty of examples of defense winning championships when everyone else was staring at the other teams hall of famers.

[Apollo]

Everybody? Coaching is hilarious, you're a genius when you win and a moron when you lose. Quite often, the better coach loses (Not saying in this instance, just in general), because its not nearly as important as who your first best player or 2nd or 3rd best player is. None of these guys are complete morons, but any one of the coaches in the NBA would still be sitting in the finals if they coached Golden State for sure. Sorry Kerr. If Budenholzer and Nurse switched spots do Raptors move on? Tough to say, but I tend to think so.

You're mostly right but its not always the case. The Pistons in '04 done the unthinkable in knocking out the Lakers led by Shaq & Kobe in their primes. The Mavs in 2011 over a start studded Heat team including the likes on Bron, Wade and Bosh. Arguably the Cavs in 2016 when they blocked the Warriors from stringing together what now would be four chips in a row. In fact that particular matchup and outcome, along with what we saw from the Clippers in round 1 gives me hope that the Raptors have the potential to upset in seven games. They need to grind the pace to almost a stand still and make this a war that drags out to seven games.

[Apollo]

The narrative of the team this year is "Kawhi". And I get that. But the 2nd story should be literally "historically great defense"...there hasn't been too many in the pace and space era, but there is plenty of examples of defense winning championships when everyone else was staring at the other teams hall of famers.

Yes. This team does give me that '04 Pistons vibe on defense. Tough, high energy, relentless. Its a wonderful thing to watch and fits perfect into the playoff setting.

[Shredder]

Going to a zone is completely a coach decision. We have not historically seen that in the NBA. Nurse has used it on and off all season, and then again in the Bucks series. He is way better at adapting to the opponent than Casey was. A treat to watch.

[GOLDBLUM]

But hey, let's all just stay in Kum-ba-ya mode and be positive. lol. It seems to be working. I feel like I also want to take credit for FVV's turnaround by optimistically predicting the exact moment he would break-out. And I stopped cracking on Lowry after the Sixers series and look what happened.

[DogeLover1234]

Going to a zone is completely a coach decision. We have not historically seen that in the NBA. Nurse has used it on and off all season, and then again in the Bucks series. He is way better at adapting to the opponent than Casey was. A treat to watch.

Yeah Nurse makes changes with an intent, Casey just threw stuff at a wall. I guarentee Casey would have paniced in the Philly series and thrown Boucher in, just to relive the Bebe experience.