Everything Nick Nurse

[S.R.]

I was looking at some substitution patterns from some of the top teams this year, just out of curiosity. They are before the trade deadline movement, so a bit dated, but still interesting. I don't know how to embed images, so try to open the following 4 tabs (for Philly, Golden State, Milwaukee & Toronto) on the same browser to compare these graphs:

--Philly (http://nbarotations.info/team/PHI2019)
From the graph, you can see Embiid's and Redick's minutes are pretty much in sync. Simmon's and Butler also overlap very well. The result is Philly pretty much always has 2 of Redick, Embiid, Butler and Simmons (their 4 best players) on the court at all times, and the 4 of them are actually on the court together a lot.

--Golden State (http://nbarotations.info/team/GSW2019)
Durant's and Curry's minutes overlap nicely for the deadly 2-man game between those two. When they sit though (usually early in the 2nd and 4th quarters), Draymond and Klay are almost always in. The result is that 2 of Durant/Steph/Klay/Green are always in. The 4 of them also play together a lot to start the halves

--Bucks (http://nbarotations.info/team/MIL2019)
Bucks is an interesting one. They typically give Giannis & Brogdon a quick breather mid 1st and mid 3rd, but they both typically close all the quarters. Giannis/ Brogdon/Snell (their 6th man) overlap, and Middleton/Bledsoe/Lopez overlap. The common thread here is that you have 3 of those guys (their starters plus Snell) together on the floor at almost all times.

--Raptors (http://nbarotations.info/team/TOR2019)
We're a bit the oddball among these 4 teams. If you look at the graph, there's like two "white eyes" looking at you, representing the time that all of our 5 best players are sitting at the same time (late 1st, early 2nd, late 3rd, early 4th). That's the Halloween all-bench hour. Worked well last year, this year not so much, but we're still riding it.

Try to cycle through the 4 tabs quickly glancing at the top of the graphs to have a good feel for how much overlap these other 3 quality teams have in their rotation. They're maximizing their starters time. Now this is all before the trades so things are still *ahem..clears throat*... "fluid", but it's interesting to see how different teams choose to play their higher usage guys.

The Bench Mob lives.

It's just not any good.

[G__Deane]

Nurse be nursing:

“The shooting Gods were with us today,” said Nurse. “[But] I’ll tell you what we have been doing [with McCaw]: We’ve been working extra hard with him. We put him on almost a summertime program two weeks ago with his corner threes especially. We’ve tweaked a little bit of his technique and tried to speed him up a little, and have guys flying at him. We’re charting it. We’re doing a lot of things to get him involved. We figure it’s really hard in any high-level game to play with any total non-offensive player in this league. We figure at least we can space him. Tonight was a big step forward. It’s good to see the hard work pay off.”

“For me, it’s just about getting in a rhythm and feeding off my teammates and picking my spots and being ready to shoot the ball. Coach Nurse has just been telling me: be ready, stay ready, continue to work hard, just encouraging me to shoot the ball because he knows I have a pretty good jump shot so I’m just taking my shots when I have them.”

[inthepaint]

Nurse be nursing:

“The shooting Gods were with us today,” said Nurse. “[But] I’ll tell you what we have been doing [with McCaw]: We’ve been working extra hard with him. We put him on almost a summertime program two weeks ago with his corner threes especially. We’ve tweaked a little bit of his technique and tried to speed him up a little, and have guys flying at him. We’re charting it. We’re doing a lot of things to get him involved. We figure it’s really hard in any high-level game to play with any total non-offensive player in this league. We figure at least we can space him. Tonight was a big step forward. It’s good to see the hard work pay off.”

“For me, it’s just about getting in a rhythm and feeding off my teammates and picking my spots and being ready to shoot the ball. Coach Nurse has just been telling me: be ready, stay ready, continue to work hard, just encouraging me to shoot the ball because he knows I have a pretty good jump shot so I’m just taking my shots when I have them.”

Raptors excel at player development and value-added players. Any draftee should be thrilled to get drafted here because that will more then likely mean a great start to their NBA career.

[G__Deane]

Raptors excel at player development and value-added players. Any draftee should be thrilled to get drafted here because that will more then likely mean a great start to their NBA career.

McCaw was a second round pick and has gone from the Bucks organization to the GSW to the Raps. Pretty good resume except he needs to bring his offense at least partway up to his defensive skills and stick somewhere. Hopefully in Toronto.

[bertarapsfan]

[tweet]

Nick Nurse mentioned that a lot of the Raptors play starts/triggers could be different in the postseason. They're trying some new stuff now but only in small doses.

He basically blamed @CoopNBA for how easy it is to advance scout now.

— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) March 16, 2019

[\tweet]

[bertarapsfan]

[inthepaint]

[tweet]

Nick Nurse mentioned that a lot of the Raptors play starts/triggers could be different in the postseason. They're trying some new stuff now but only in small doses.

He basically blamed @CoopNBA for how easy it is to advance scout now.

— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) March 16, 2019

[\tweet]

Good on Nick. I know plays can be figured out by scouts watching film, but why make their jobs easier by thoroughly breaking down plays on a silver platter for them? I'd say let them do the leg work, playoff games/series are usually tight, any small advantage you can get (or concede) can make a difference.

[KeonClark]

[tweet]

Nick Nurse mentioned that a lot of the Raptors play starts/triggers could be different in the postseason. They're trying some new stuff now but only in small doses.

He basically blamed @CoopNBA for how easy it is to advance scout now.

— Blake Murphy (@BlakeMurphyODC) March 16, 2019

[\tweet]

Wrong direction on the slash. Getting closer!

[golden]

This is the same guy that writes articles on the front page of RR from time-to-time. That's pretty annoying when you think about it from Nurse and the coaching staff perspective. Maybe that partially explains why Nurse hasn't been running plays for the majority of the regular season. Or a very limited playbook.

[bertarapsfan]

Wrong direction on the slash. Getting closer!

Naaah homie.. i cant do this. My shit just keeps freezing up with insert the code and my link is invisible. I think id have a better chance of posting a tweet in morse code then figuring out this new method.

[golden]

Nurse is going to change things up for the playoffs...

“I would imagine we’re going get to the playoffs and be running almost entirely different things than we’re running now.”

How entirely different may not be discernible to casual fans but even the slightest change could provide a one-possession advantage that might alter the flow of the game. It could be as simple as the name of a play call or where the players are positioned on the court but, if it’s new, it might work.

Having a veteran team with high IQ players like the Raptors do makes it easier to make those tiny changes.

Raptors’ game won’t remain the same come playoff time
https://www.thestar.com/sports/rapto...yoff-time.html

[DanH]

There's actually been a lot of really good signs with the rotations lately. There are still troubling stretches where the wrong players run the offence, and troubling stretches of all-bench units blowing leads, but there are fewer of both of those things than there have been in the past. And far more staggering of starters in through the bench unit. Even better, we've been getting slight variants on the starting unit the past few games that have been very effective - FVV in for Lowry, FVV and OG in for Kawhi and Siakam. Having several of those looks with only 2-3 of the stars on the court will be invaluable in the playoffs. Throw in that both Serge and Gasol have shown to be effective with the starters, and the playoff rotation starts to get really easy to build. FVV fits with the starters. OG fits with the starters. Ibaka fits with the starters. There's your 8 man rotation. Boom, done. Powell or Lin can get time if needed, but I see no need for them right now outside of foul trouble or injury or garbage time come the playoffs.

[S.R.]

Nurse is going to change things up for the playoffs...


Raptors’ game won’t remain the same come playoff time
https://www.thestar.com/sports/rapto...yoff-time.html

Should have warned me I was giving Doug Smith clicks

He's gone from "Casey's 'no adjustments' are fine, clamouring fans are idiots who don't know anything about NBA basketball" to "Nurse's secret tricks are awesome, not that dumb dumb fans would notice these subtleties that geniuses like Nick Nurse and me, the estimable Douglas Smith, definitely notice and appreciate."

He's such a shill. Literally defends almost anything that is happening organizationally as just fine the way it is. Instead of attempting actual basketball articles he may as well just write: "Raptors update: everything is just fine. Now, about my freshly stained deck and the best pubs in every NBA city..."

[golden]

Should have warned me I was giving Doug Smith clicks

He's gone from "Casey's 'no adjustments' are fine, clamouring fans are idiots who don't know anything about NBA basketball" to "Nurse's secret tricks are awesome, not that dumb dumb fans would notice these subtleties that geniuses like Nick Nurse and me, the estimable Douglas Smith, definitely notice and appreciate."

He's such a shill. Literally defends almost anything that is happening organizationally as just fine the way it is. Instead of attempting actual basketball articles he may as well just write: "Raptors update: everything is just fine. Now, about my freshly stained deck and the best pubs in every NBA city..."

lol. Doug Smith's professional biography neatly summarized right there.

[G__Deane]

Should have warned me I was giving Doug Smith clicks

Instead of attempting actual basketball articles he may as well just write: "Raptors update: everything is just fine. Now, about my freshly stained deck and the best pubs in every NBA city..."

I'm down for the article on the best pubs....