What does Nick Nurse have up his sleeve this time around?
Nick Nurse has jumped into the conversation of best coach in the league quite quickly. Winning a championship in your first year certainly helps, but the recognition he has received is typically unheard of after one-and-a-half seasons.
After a season which saw the Raptors post the third best record in the league up to the suspension, which included the majority of their important players missing significant time, Nurse is odds-on favourite to win coach of the year.
Nurse is recognized around the league is a daring, open-minded, creative coach. After busting out a “janky” box-and-one to guard Steph Curry in the NBA finals last year, the affection for Nurse league-wide began to grow.
Nurse is also a coach who doesn’t succumb to opposing teams decisions, but makes adjustments quickly, and ones that he thinks are best; from game-to-game, and quarter-to-quarter, something his predecessor, Dwane Casey often failed to do.
We saw Toronto go extra big against the Philadelphia 76ers to match their size, and we saw the move to start Fred VanVleet in second halves against Golden State. Partially due to VanVleet’s back, but also his unprecedented success guarding Curry.
Coach Nurse typically enjoys experiment throughout the regular season, something he hasn’t had the luxury to do this season due to the vast number of injuries the Raptors have experienced.
We did see a diamond-and-one press implemented, however. A press which traps the ball in the corners, while two players roam free to intercept passes, and one player stays back to protect the basket.
Full court traps usually don’t work in the NBA due to the ball handling, and decision making strengths of NBA players, but Nurse’s has done nothing but work.
It could be his strategy of trapping a little closer to half, giving the offense less court to work with, it could be the insane length and athleticism the Raptors have, or it could also simply have just caught opposing teams off guard.
I have to believe it would be difficult to see this work in the playoffs, as teams will likely game plan, and be prepared for it, but it brings up the intriguing question: What else does Nick Nurse have in his bag?
The Raptors are so fun to watch, and a lot of that is due to the creativity of Nick Nurse. It is almost impossible to guess what the Raptors will roll out with next, offensively or defensively.
With Kawhi Leonard gone, Nurse will be forced to explore even deeper levels of creativity, especially if the Raptors want to make another run at the title.
