The Toronto Raptors will host Nick Nurse, now the head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, for the first time as an enemy after a five-year run that is more successful than any other in franchise history. Because of Nurse, Toronto can look at its own Larry O’Brien Trophy.
Nurse’s tenure ended on a rotten note. He failed to win a non-bubble playoff series in any of his final four campaigns in charge of Toronto, missed the playoffs twice, and played a big part in some behind-the-scenes friction that ultimately led to Darko Rajakovic coming in as a replacement.
While it may have been time for both parties to move on for greener pastures, it’s still sad to see the best coach Toronto ever knew wearing 76ers blue and helping Joel Embiid try to defend his MVP trophy. Nurse did so much good for this franchise, and it would be unfair to remember him in a poor light.
While Nurse wasn’t perfect, as every Raptors fan had their pain points with him, the overwhelming consensus on his tenure in Toronto was that of respect and admiration. No matter how well Rajakovic does, Nurse will be missed dearly north of the border.
2 things Toronto Raptors fans will miss about Nick Nurse, 1 they won’t
Will Miss: Playing well against the best
While Nurse didn’t have the deepest rosters during the last few seasons of his Toronto tenure, that never stopped him from getting the troops rallied and motivated to take on some of the best teams in the league and come out of these matchups smelling like a rose.
While Nurse’s more recent Raptors teams had a problem with playing down to their competition, they could take down teams like Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Bucks and Jimmy Butler’s Heat with some regularity. Nurse’s wild style of coaching likely had something to do with that.
Nick Nurse helped the Toronto Raptors pull off upsets.
Organized chaos was the name of the game, and that philosophy forced Antetokounmpo into some odd turnovers and helped grind those elite teams into submission. It’s that style that helped make him such an effective and long-lasting (for this franchise, at least) coach.
It remains to be seen if Rajakovic, who had some clumsy late-game execution in a loss against the Bulls, will have the same success when punching up alongside many of the same players Nurse had. It’s not an indictment on Rajakovic if he isn’t as skilled here, as Nurse was uncommonly good as an underdog in Toronto.
Won’t Miss: The Half-Court offense
The main on-court reason Nurse is no longer the coach in Toronto is the stagnation that happened on the offensive side of the ball. Nurse’s system can be very freeing for stars like Embiid and Pascal Siakam, but it often leads to slowed-down paces, lots of missed 3-pointers from poor shooters, and general ugliness.
Nurse may claim he was handicapped by a lack of personnel, thus leaving him unable to executive his vision. That may have some truth to it, but that doesn’t explain Fred VanVleet’s efficiency going into the toilet or the wonderful Scottie Barnes struggling in his second season.
Nick Nurse’s offense for the Toronto Raptors was hit-and-miss.
Rajakovic made his name as a top offensive assistant with the Memphis Grizzlies, and he is expected to install those same principles in the Raptors. While the results have been largely unimpressive, it is still quite early, and the increased ball movement is looking much more effective.
Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry are future Hall of Fame members, and both of them covered up a ton during Nurse’s tenure with the Raptors. Once Leonard left, and Lowry saw his effectiveness start to drop with age, all of the problems with Nurse’s offense popped up.
Will Miss: The crazy defense
One of the hallmarks of Nurse’s stint up north was a ferocious defensive squad that prioritized turnovers and switching above all else. This was a perfect match for a Masai Ujiri-assembled roster that placed as much of a premium on length and perimeter mobility as any in the league.
What better way to slow down a player like Antetokounmpo or Embiid than by throwing two or three of your biggest guys at him every play and trying to confuse them? This scheme allowed Toronto to punch above their weight with poor rosters and cement themselves as elite when they had deeper units.
Nick Nurse built the Toronto Raptors into a defensive juggernaut.
While Rajakovic will bring his own defensive schemes to town, many of Nurse’s hand-picker personnel are still in town. Their baseline talent alone, which was identified and developed by Nurse and his staff, will give Toronto one of the toughest units in the league to face off with.
Rajakovic can build a defense that gets fans excited and wins accumulated, but there’s something so fun to watch about a Nurse-led scheme that only his mind can execute. Even when Toronto was at its lowest, they were still able to cause havoc against the best of the best.