Everything Nick Nurse

[The Great One]

Nurse did it again last night. I don't remember teams guarding Kawhi the way the Raptors did lsat night. They completely shut him down lol. It got me thinking, what if Nurse was their coach back in those LeBronto years?

I'm looking forward to the game against the Mavs. It's gonna be interesting to see how they defend Luka who like I predicted is having an MVP type season.

[golden]

Nurse did it again last night. I don't remember teams guarding Kawhi the way the Raptors did lsat night. They completely shut him down lol. It got me thinking, what if Nurse was their coach back in those LeBronto years?

I'm looking forward to the game against the Mavs. It's gonna be interesting to see how they defend Luka who like I predicted is having an MVP type season.

That was one thing (among many) that always pissed me off about Casey. Year afte year, you would have other teams aggressively trapping Lowry and DeRozan at half-court, forcing them into bonehead passes to role players, who just passed the ball back to KL/DD to start that cycle all over again. And we would never try to trap their best players..... even a guy like PG, who was the only threat in the Pacers series.

I do remember Casey doing the exact opposite one year, when we tried to overplay their hot 3-point shooters. The Cavs figured that out almost immediately and waltzed straight to the rim in a game 1 blowout.

[MixxAOR]

That was one thing (among many) that always pissed me off about Casey. Year afte year, you would have other teams aggressively trapping Lowry and DeRozan at half-court, forcing them into bonehead passes to role players, who just passed the ball back to KL/DD to start that cycle all over again. And we would never try to trap their best players..... even a guy like PG, who was the only threat in the Pacers series.

I do remember Casey doing the exact opposite one year, when we tried to overplay their hot 3-point shooters. The Cavs figured that out almost immediately and waltzed straight to the rim in a game 1 blowout.

Casey failed in every defensive scheme he employed. I don't know if it's the roster issue or fit square peg into round hole issue. I remember before 2016 he was employing very aggressive hedge in pick and roll defense. But when they would trap the opposing guards it went into scramble defense and rotations were not consistent and we were giving up threes after threes. This team knows the opposing personnel much better. Who to help off of and Nurse plays match ups better

[The Great One]

That was one thing (among many) that always pissed me off about Casey. Year afte year, you would have other teams aggressively trapping Lowry and DeRozan at half-court, forcing them into bonehead passes to role players, who just passed the ball back to KL/DD to start that cycle all over again. And we would never try to trap their best players..... even a guy like PG, who was the only threat in the Pacers series.

I do remember Casey doing the exact opposite one year, when we tried to overplay their hot 3-point shooters. The Cavs figured that out almost immediately and waltzed straight to the rim in a game 1 blowout.

The Raps played the Cavs 3 straight years in the playoffs. They defended LeBron the same EXACT way. LeBron ate them alive every year.

[golden]

The Raps played the Cavs 3 straight years in the playoffs. They defended LeBron the same EXACT way. LeBron ate them alive every year.

The irony here is that Casey got hired because of his reputation as "the Lebron Stopper" coach and as the defensive mastermind behind the mavs championship playoff run. He even called himself a "defensive coach", and he definitely was pretty defensive about defending his reputation on that.

[JawsGT]

Nurse is awesome...he s a keeper. And I feel he deserves the same level of respect from the fan base that we give masai. We got one of best execs in the league, clearly one of the best coaches, now we just need one of best players. Can siakam be that guy? Or can we lure giannis? Or is it possible that nurse cwn produce a chip with a 2 or 3 all star level players and a solid supporting cast?

[The Great One]

[Scraptor]

Too early to start COTY campaign?

If the season ended today he would and should win it in a landslide. What he's done despite our injuries and lack of lottery talent is nothing short of incredible.

People used to say "oh the fans always complain about coaches", particularly in defense of Smitch and Casey.... We have NEVER had a coach extract this kind of effort and execution from a team. We have never had a team that plays this kind of beautiful basketball.

Obviously I don't want to get too carried away but it's very reminiscent of what Pop does with the Spurs. One guy goes down and the next guy gets plugged in and executes the system to a T.

Unbelievable.

[DanH]

Yeah I have specific complaints about offensive usage and overall workload on some players, but the defensive performance of the team has been awesome, and he's finally using that depth even if his hand is forced. And the early season message about defence and no easy spot in the rotation appears to have paid dividends in RHJ at least.

Overall Nurse has done a great job.

[golden]

If the season ended today he would and should win it in a landslide. What he's done despite our injuries and lack of lottery talent is nothing short of incredible.

People used to say "oh the fans always complain about coaches", particularly in defense of Smitch and Casey.... We have NEVER had a coach extract this kind of effort and execution from a team. We have never had a team that plays this kind of beautiful basketball.

Obviously I don't want to get too carried away but it's very reminiscent of what Pop does with the Spurs. One guy goes down and the next guy gets plugged in and executes the system to a T.

Unbelievable.

Pundits are also taking notice of the culture & coaching. Raps jumped to #2 in the CBS Sports NBA power rankings last week. This blurb nicely sums up our "Next Man Up" mentality.

Hey, remember when losing Kawhi Leonard was supposed to mean a huge step backwards for Toronto? Yeah, that's not happening. The Raptors are now tied for the league lead in wins after a 3-0 week capped off by a gigantic road win over the Lakers without Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka. Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby have been fantastic this season, and the "next man up" mentality has trickled all the way down to the likes of Chris Boucher and Terence Davis with the recent injuries. Nick Nurse and the Raptors are for real, and are dangerous no matter who they put on the court.

In a talent driven league, the Raps are dangerous "no matter who they put on the court"? Say what? That's Spursian, for sure.

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/powerrankings/

[The Great One]

[Bendit]

Nurse coached his 100th game as HC of Raptors ...record: 72W - 28L ... pretty damn good.

[G__Deane]

Nurse coached his 100th game as HC of Raptors ...record: 72W - 28L ... pretty damn good.

Sounds like a touch over .700 ball to me
Pretty damn good indeed

[Bendit]

Sounds like a touch over .700 ball to me
Pretty damn good indeed

I forgot the capper .... and 1 NBA championship. How effing good that does look on a plaque!

[Gonzz]

Nurse coached his 100th game as HC of Raptors ...record: 72W - 28L ... pretty damn good.

This is very close to Kawhi lifetime win percentage. He played most of last year. The fact that they keep this pace up without him is astounding.