Everything Nick Nurse

[MixxAOR]

In both instances he did the right thing. If there was even a slim chance to nab a top 5 player then he had to take it.

Sure but I'm just saying he had no real idea what they were thinking

[G__Deane]

So what happened then? Masai knew but didn't do anything or he didn't know because he had no inside source or he got lied to by Giannis's people?

Who knows the truth but Masai either got led on or he misjudged the situation or The Alphabet played him intentionally or unintentionally or Giannis got cold feet and decided to grab the easy cash in a good situation or some combination of the above or ....

It just seems like if Masai got the feeling that Giannis wasn't coming here in a year or else was going to sign long term this season....we'd have had a chance to have a better team this year. No one would have faulted Masai if Giannis hadn't opted into the Super Max but still re-signed there a year from now. Then you'd more understand keeping our options open. We kept our options open for nothing ....

[JawsGT]

Maybe Giannis wasnt sure either, until the deadline drew near and he just signed. I mean, its a no lose situation for him, he just nabbed 200M + and he can request a trade damn well anytime he wants. He is under no obligation to make his decision quickly, nor does he owe anyone anything. The idea that masai and the raps got played, like actually screwed with on purpose is absurd. And considering the supposed relationship that masai has with giannis, do you really think that giannis would conspire to screw the very man that helped get him out of africa and in a better position to further his basketball career?

[golden]

Masai not committing to the Raptors might have influenced Giannis' decision too. That would be a shame.

[slaw]

Who knows the truth but Masai either got led on or he misjudged the situation or The Alphabet played him intentionally or unintentionally or Giannis got cold feet and decided to grab the easy cash in a good situation or some combination of the above or ....

It just seems like if Masai got the feeling that Giannis wasn't coming here in a year or else was going to sign long term this season....we'd have had a chance to have a better team this year. No one would have faulted Masai if Giannis hadn't opted into the Super Max but still re-signed there a year from now. Then you'd more understand keeping our options open. We kept our options open for nothing ....

They've been lining up contracts for 2020 cap space for years (since Derozan signed in 2016 and Lowry signed in 2017), which was predicated on the competitive window for the Derozan/Lowry timeline that got blown up when Leonard became available. This team was always going to be re-worked in the 2020-2021 seasons no matter what. It's just that the Raps got a championship along the way....

No one has played anyone or misjudged anything but it's the reality of working in a cap league that you have to line this stuff for years and you may very well wind up missing your targets.

[GOLDBLUM]

The whole premise that Giannis waited "til the very last second" is so ridiculous if only for the fact that he signed an extension ***a full week*** before his deadline. He would've been well within his rights to wait another 7 days if he wished and he could've taken it to the very last day / very last minute if he wanted to throw a wrench in our OG extension options, (though plenty here already question that move... so .... maybe it was reverse-tampering for Giannis to diabolicallly sign early and walk us into overpaying OG?? .... yeah, no.)

Hate to tell you guys, but it needs to be said...
Giannis doesn't think about you.
Giannis doesn't care about you.
He doesn't plan around you.
Sad but true.
You think he held off on signing his quarter-billion-dollar deal cause IBAKA MIGHT LEAVE THE RAPTORS ​​​
Or cause the Raps would lose the near-corpse-of-a-professional-basketball-player, Marc Gasol?? ​​​
(Much love and respect to Marc, but as Vince once said "It's over.")

Get a grip.

[can't teach wingspan]

The whole premise that Giannis waited "til the very last second" is so ridiculous if only for the fact that he signed an extension ***a full week*** before his deadline. He would've been well within his rights to wait another 7 days if he wished and he could've taken it to the very last day / very last minute if he wanted to throw a wrench in our OG extension options, (though plenty here already question that move... so .... maybe it was reverse-tampering for Giannis to diabolicallly sign early and walk us into overpaying OG?? .... yeah, no.)

Hate to tell you guys, but it needs to be said...
Giannis doesn't think about you.
Giannis doesn't care about you.
He doesn't plan around you.
Sad but true.
You think he held off on signing his quarter-billion-dollar deal cause IBAKA MIGHT LEAVE THE RAPTORS ​​​
Or cause the Raps would lose the near-corpse-of-a-professional-basketball-player, Marc Gasol?? ​​​
(Much love and respect to Marc, but as Vince once said "It's over.")

Get a grip.

Wish I could like this more than once.

There are too many people who believe that if something they are devoted to fails, it must always be because of a mustache-twirling villain who plans our demise. It's a narcissistic mental jump that's more comforting than just accepting the loss.

Most times, a failure is just a failure. We failed to get Giannis and that sucks. That's all. No cosmic reason, no conspiracy theories. He's not out to "get us."

[Jclaw]

I won't get on The Ringer because they're actually pretty good to the Raps but in this case. right after an article focused on "can the Bucks and C*&^tics get back on top in the East?" (where they use footage of the Raptors exploiting the Bucks defence to show the Bucks defence can be exploited), there is an article on Finch's hire in Minny

"If Finch can become the next Nick Nurse, then the Towns era in Minnesota might be salvageable."

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2021/2...-anthony-towns

Isn't insane to think that Nick Nurse as a head coach didn't even exist 3 years ago (this being his third season)? Between him and the front office, we are truly lucky. Nick did the work and then got this sort of fanfare instead of the other way around (cough, cough...certain Boston coach)

[S.R.]

His coaching is so much fun as a fan. Not only is he really good, constantly trying out different things and defending other teams/stars differently makes the reg season so much more interesting. Always fun to see what the Raptors do vs the best teams.

[golden]

His coaching is so much fun as a fan. Not only is he really good, constantly trying out different things and defending other teams/stars differently makes the reg season so much more interesting. Always fun to see what the Raptors do vs the best teams.

Nurse is the polar opposite of "stay in your lane" coaches like Casey and Bud, whose basic systems probably have the advantage of more consistent regular seasons and the ability to quickly integrate lower BBIQ players. Baynes, for example, looked utterly bewildered on defense for those first 10 games. Now, he looks pretty solid. Nurse's systems seem to take more time and intelligence to grasp but, in theory, should be more robust for the playoffs.

[S.R.]

Nurse is the polar opposite of "stay in your lane" coaches like Casey and Bud, whose basic systems probably have the advantage of more consistent regular seasons and the ability to quickly integrate lower BBIQ players. Baynes, for example, looked utterly bewildered on defense for those first 10 games. Now, he looks pretty solid. Nurse's systems seem to take more time and intelligence to grasp but, in theory, should be more robust for the playoffs.

I think the team defence has come around partly because guys are communicating a lot better. Losing Ibaka and Gasol off the back line was probably a pretty big shock to the system in that regard. We got Boucher yelling at guys and pointing around now, which he should be doing. OG clearly improves the team D, too. They have a few new guys who are figuring out the system but also the existing guys had to step into leadership roles and that took a couple months to come around. Team play at both ends has gotten so much better, fun to watch.

[planetmars]

Nurse is the polar opposite of "stay in your lane" coaches like Casey and Bud, whose basic systems probably have the advantage of more consistent regular seasons and the ability to quickly integrate lower BBIQ players. Baynes, for example, looked utterly bewildered on defense for those first 10 games. Now, he looks pretty solid. Nurse's systems seem to take more time and intelligence to grasp but, in theory, should be more robust for the playoffs.

If we had a proper training camp I bet Baynes would have figured things out a lot quicker as well. Most of the Raptors' training camp was used up by them moving to Tampa and settling in.

[Jclaw]

I like the fact that he's also willing to experiment and not have such pride to say "this is the way we play". The reality is that every opponent is a little different. Do what it takes to expose each of their flaws. One time in might be Yuta and another time it's Thomas, or Terence. Fun to watch

[DogeLover1234]

I won't get on The Ringer because they're actually pretty good to the Raps but in this case. right after an article focused on "can the Bucks and C*&^tics get back on top in the East?" (where they use footage of the Raptors exploiting the Bucks defence to show the Bucks defence can be exploited), there is an article on Finch's hire in Minny

"If Finch can become the next Nick Nurse, then the Towns era in Minnesota might be salvageable."

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2021/2...-anthony-towns

Isn't insane to think that Nick Nurse as a head coach didn't even exist 3 years ago (this being his third season)? Between him and the front office, we are truly lucky. Nick did the work and then got this sort of fanfare instead of the other way around (cough, cough...certain Boston coach)

Yeah the rapid rise of Nurse is insane. Wild that Finch and Nurse coached together overseas too - makes you wonder how many guys have gotten passed over for established “NBA” guys. Think the Dleague will help expose those types of guys going forward.

Finch is a huge loss imo. He really revamped out offense using off ball cuts to maintain spacing and keep the offense flowing. Its been super fun to watch - think a lot of teams missed on him. Players often get blamed, and they deserve some, but you watch some of these teams play and the offenses/defense are just a mess. Like part of the reason the Lukas, Dames, Beals of the world are so valuable is that they are coach proof, give them a screener and some shooting and a spread pick and roll offense is top 10. Not to take a shot at Carlisle or Stotts (who are both premier coaches) but like Finch was with New Orleans for a while and they passed him over for SVG, like why? That team is a bit of a dumpster fire masked by so much individual talent.

[The Claw Reborn]

Nurse is the polar opposite of "stay in your lane" coaches like Casey and Bud, whose basic systems probably have the advantage of more consistent regular seasons and the ability to quickly integrate lower BBIQ players. Baynes, for example, looked utterly bewildered on defense for those first 10 games. Now, he looks pretty solid. Nurse's systems seem to take more time and intelligence to grasp but, in theory, should be more robust for the playoffs.

If your theory is right then McCaw is beyond help especially with all the baby sitting and special consideration given by Nurse.

the player is utterly awful with the poorest court awareness yet Nurse continue to give him a chance over players that are more deserving and requires development

the 3 rings justification is B.S.