Nick Nurse is a teacher at heart and entering his fifth year as Toronto Raptors head coach, that hasn’t changed.
Nurse’s dedication to his craft was clear when describing his evolution as a coach during an appearance on The Raptors Show with Will Lou ahead of the new Raptors season.
For example, how did he get the players to buy in on his radical zone-defensive schemes in the early days?
“First of all we ask (our players) to be open-minded at the start of the season,” Nurse said. “We were down 17 in Memphis when we went to the zone early in my first year and I think we ended up winning by about 17. It totally turned the game around and (suddenly) you have some success with it, and it helps the buy-in.”
Years on from that night in Memphis, Nurse’s reputation as one of the league’s best coaches is secure. The latest NBA GM survey featured the Caroll, Iowa native several times, highlighting his in-game adjustments as well as Nurse’s creative offensive and defensive schemes. It’s the latter which seems to intrigue Nurse more these days.
“I really like coaching defence,” he told Lou. “I was kind of known as an offence guy, but each year that goes by I get more intrigued with how to stop people than [coming up with] tricky plays.”
The Raptors’ ability to develop talent in-house remains one of the organization’s strongest pillars. Stocked with a bevy of athletic wings that can play multiple positions, questions regarding the half-court offence remain. Nurse, however, can point to players that have already taken the leap under his tutelage as proof of his process.
“Our roster isn’t necessarily loaded with a whole bunch of guys that are dead-eye shooters or marksmen from three,” said Nurse. “They probably lean the other way, they’re long and athletic and play hard. It’s up to us to try and figure it out from there.”
Pascal Siakam’s long-range prowess from the floor after early struggles is evidence Nurse can facilitate positive individual change.
“Literally day after (that) season ended, we said ‘we’re going to completely re-do this thing’ and (Siakam) just went to work on it. He went from a total non-shooter to a pretty good shooter, which isn’t an easy thing to do.”
The Raptors host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday to begin their 2022-23 campaign.