With a new coach and a new roster, the Toronto Raptors came into the preseason with more questions than recent seasons. What did we find out from the five exhibition contests?
The preseason is officially over! The Toronto Raptors finished with a record of 4-1, not that it matters much. What matters more is the small tidbits of information we gathered from the five exhibition contests.
And there was plenty to learn. With a new head coach, a new roster, and a new playing style, Toronto looked significantly different from the previous iterations of this team. Toronto looked smaller, quicker, and more modern than last year’s squad.
During the preseason the Raptors posted the 9th ranked offense and the 4th ranked defense. Numbers similar too or slightly worse than last year’s regular season. A notable difference the Raptors experienced as a team was an increased pace which ranked 8th among NBA teams.
Individual statistics should be taken with a grain of salt. A great or terrible performance during the preseason means virtually nothing towards a players regular season outlook. Still, when watching each contest, it’s easy to see which players have made significant improvements.
Mostly, the preseason gives us an opportunity to see Nick Nurse as a head coach for the first time. Unless you were a follower of the Iowa Energy or the Rio Grande Vipers (I’ll admit I missed a few games), it’s unlikely you have seen Nurse in action.
After five games, even if they are exhibition games, we now at least have an idea of what Nick Nurse wants the Raptors to look like.
So who took the next step? What have we learned about Nick Nurse? Here are our five big takeaways