Everything Nick Nurse

[Nilanka]

Yup, definitely liking Nurse's use of timeouts so far. He can sense momentum shifts as they're happening (like most of us), which for some reason always escaped Casey.

[JimiCliff]

Yup, definitely liking Nurse's use of timeouts so far. He can sense momentum shifts as they're happening (like most of us), which for some reason always escaped Casey.

Yeah, I've noticed this as well.

[Puffer]

Surprised that this thread is so far back considering (at least to me) how different the team is starting to look. Some observations 4 games in.

-I think it's safe to say that the foundation of the team will be built on efficient defense. Maybe amnesia has gotten the best of me but I always thought we were analytically good with Casey but to the naked eye we could have been better. Nurse seems to not waste any time in getting that message across and it's really showing.

-He's going to give guys the minutes regardless of what we think. He knows that guys like Powell and CJ aren't up to our (high) expectations right now but why not ride them from Oct-Dec? God knows how short of a leash Casey kept on these guys and it probably contributed to the mediocrity. Nurse is at least willing to give it time to break them out of it.

-I think it's also worth mentioning that Nurse takes great time outs. He has already shown when to push and when to pull. Having a Coach understand the tempo of the game is going to be crucial. Casey sometimes thought like a GM who thought players deserved to be shown their appreciation and rewarded it by riding them in the worst of times. Screw that. If it's Lowry or Monroe, we have to have a coach who understands the climate on the court and adjust accordingly. Nurse deserves praise in that aspect even if it's only for the Wizards game.

Great general summary of Nurse's impact so far.

I agree that now is the time to play CJ and Powell while providing them with constructive coaching to help both of them find their groove. We all know both of them are capable of more that they have shown so far this season. Throwing players under a bus is poor resource management.

[golden]

Yup, definitely liking Nurse's use of timeouts so far. He can sense momentum shifts as they're happening (like most of us), which for some reason always escaped Casey.

I'm convinced that Nurse is a long-time poster on this board. lol.

[KeonClark]

I'm convinced that Nurse is a long-time poster on this board. lol.

Who hated Casey the most?

[white men can't jump]

I'm convinced that Nurse is a long-time poster on this board. lol.

Who hated Casey the most?

I'm actually one of Nurse's burner accounts. Whenever I'm critical of Nurse it's just to misdirect.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[inthepaint]

I'm actually one of Nurse's burner accounts. Whenever I'm critical of Nurse it's just to misdirect.

Hey if you look at post #601, Beneperez is Nick Nurse. NN joined the Raps in 2013, then beneperez joined RR a year later in 2014. He lurked and listened until now, then started posting after becoming headcoach. Coincidence?

Edit: Now read post 601 as if it's NN talking. [x-files theme song plays]

[KeonClark]

Hey if you look at post #601, Beneperez is Nick Nurse. NN joined the Raps in 2013, then beneperez joined RR a year later in 2014. He lurked and listened until now, then started posting after becoming headcoach. Coincidence?

Edit: Now read post 601 as if it's NN talking. [x-files theme song plays]

And his first post on Saturday wanted our thoughts on what the starting frontcourt should be vs Washington.

It probably is nick.

Hi, nick!

[TrueTorontoFan]

the timeout situation shouldn't be discounted. Not even just the plays out of timeouts, but rather, as others have mentioned his use of timeouts to stem potential runs that the opposing team would go on. Casey would let the other teams routinely go on 8-0 runs. Sometimes the team just needs a second to slow things down and think not even necessarily a line up change.

I also hope that guys like norm powell continue to get minutes. Why? Because when injury does happen he can step up and fit in more easily than before. I do want to see Greg Monroe get some more minutes earlier during one of these blow out games just to see what we truly have. I don't think I saw enough of him during pre season.

All in all I think iits good. It also seems like we are playing line ups soccer style, which in my honest opinion is the next true evolutionary step in basketball. When you can finally get everyone to buy in and it doesn't matter who starts or who finishes because everyone knows that their chance and their minutes will come. When its truly match up driven... I think thats when you will see something truly special and unique and something that hasn't been done before. We saw the start of it last year with the bench mob. This is a continuation of that but to an additional level.

[Beneperez]

*Deep Iowa accent*

Darn it guys, ya got me!

[Joey]

*Deep Idaho accent*

Darn it guys, ya got me!

[ReubenJRD]

Surprised that this thread is so far back considering (at least to me) how different the team is starting to look. Some observations 4 games in.

-I think it's safe to say that the foundation of the team will be built on efficient defense. Maybe amnesia has gotten the best of me but I always thought we were analytically good with Casey but to the naked eye we could have been better. Nurse seems to not waste any time in getting that message across and it's really showing.

-He's going to give guys the minutes regardless of what we think. He knows that guys like Powell and CJ aren't up to our (high) expectations right now but why not ride them from Oct-Dec? God knows how short of a leash Casey kept on these guys and it probably contributed to the mediocrity. Nurse is at least willing to give it time to break them out of it.

-I think it's also worth mentioning that Nurse takes great time outs. He has already shown when to push and when to pull. Having a Coach understand the tempo of the game is going to be crucial. Casey sometimes thought like a GM who thought players deserved to be shown their appreciation and rewarded it by riding them in the worst of times. Screw that. If it's Lowry or Monroe, we have to have a coach who understands the climate on the court and adjust accordingly. Nurse deserves praise in that aspect even if it's only for the Wizards game.

Awesome breakdown. I agree with this wholeheartedly. I also do like Nurse's use of Powell, despite him still playing below-average.

I think one thing that I've fallen in love with is Nurse in crunch time. In the last few minutes of play, rather than going read-&-react, he puts his imprint on the game and starts to run sets to avoid guys being stagnant and just giving the ball to Lowry/Kawhi.

Against the Celtics, after a timeout, Raptors pinned Danny Green in the opposite corner of action, VanVleet with the ball at the top of the key, while Kawhi/Serge set a double-screen to free-up Lowry.

#Raptors ran this impressive double pin-down for Lowry. Raptors in past rarely ran this type of action down the stretch. With Green plugged on left corner, FVV at top, and screeners being shooters, the floor opens up, and cannot shadow Lowry as he comes off the screens. Bang. pic.twitter.com/NddpfDueVu

— JR Dongalen (@ReubenJRD) October 20, 2018

The spacing looks really good on the floor at all times, too. Nurse is positioning shooters really well around the court, which I believe has been the biggest cataylst for why VanVleet/Lowry/Kawhi are getting so many driving lanes or lack of double teams in the post. Especially when Kawhi/Kyle/FVV have gotten into trouble, there's always an anchor on the perimeter who happens to be capable of hitting threes.

Yup, definitely liking Nurse's use of timeouts so far. He can sense momentum shifts as they're happening (like most of us), which for some reason always escaped Casey.

I feel like he manages to take the timeout before the actual shift, too. Casey would call timeouts way after the 9-0 run, or, he'd play on when things have gone absolutely haywire. His timeouts have been so important in all four of the wins -- he rarely lets the one or two feel-good plays lead to a run.

[KeonClark]

*Deep Iowa accent*

Darn it guys, ya got me!

Stay out of deep iowa people. You can get lost in a corn field and die

[LJ2]

Everything is going really well now, but a couple of questions/concerns I have are:

1. Is the Raptors offence once again becoming predictable? Lots of iso's for Kawhi, who is a great option and incredibly productive going one on one.

2. Kawhi and Kyle's health. Both are playing a lot of minutes. With Lowry the concern is more that he is always going all out. With Kawhi my concern is the amount of iso plays run for him. It's pretty taxing to have to put that much energy into every play. The movement offence we run for everyone else is less tiring on the body.

3. The defence. At times it seems to be really good, but we're not exactly locking teams up. Haven't held anyone to under 100 yet. Any rankings for our defence out yet?

[Nilanka]

Everything is going really well now, but a couple of questions/concerns I have are:

1. Is the Raptors offence once again becoming predictable? Lots of iso's for Kawhi, who is a great option and incredibly productive going one on one.

2. Kawhi and Kyle's health. Both are playing a lot of minutes. With Lowry the concern is more that he is always going all out. With Kawhi my concern is the amount of iso plays run for him. It's pretty taxing to have to put that much energy into every play. The movement offence we run for everyone else is less tiring on the body.

3. The defence. At times it seems to be really good, but we're not exactly locking teams up. Haven't held anyone to under 100 yet. Any rankings for our defence out yet?

In the top 10 so far.