Raptors blame game: Who gets most blame for recent struggles?
By Mike Luciano
2. Nick Nurse
For as much of a tinkerer as Nurse can be, he’s certainly seemed to be committed to his concept of a positionless style of basketball. The flaws inherent in this style of play are starting to sprout up in concerning fashion, as opposing teams have not had tons of trouble exploiting them.
Why is Birch still starting when Achiuwa surpasses him in every fashion? Why does Thad Young go from closing games to barely playing at all despite the lack of frontcourt depth? Is Yuta Watanabe or Svi Mykhailiuk is the ninth man in the rotation? These questions need to be answered before he hits the floor against the Spurs.
Nick Nurse hasn’t been at his best for the Toronto Raptors.
While partially due to the constraints of the league’s worst bench, Nurse has been slightly criticized for giving his starters an unreal diet of minutes. VanVleet leads the league in minutes per game, with Siakam right behind him. If it holds, VanVleet’s minutes per game would be the highest for one player since Jimmy Butler in 2014-15.
Is that wear and tear starting to catch up to them?
Nurse might not have 2019 levels of depth on this roster, but is unreasonable to expect even an injured Raptors team to beat two of the worst teams in the league and not get blown out by potential playoff opponents? The championship coach hasn’t been as sharp in the last two weeks.