Should have Nurse used the bench?

[Pooh_Jeter]

You have 16 game players and you have 82 game players. This team is full of one dimensional players and it has led to regular season success, but it never actually shows up in the playoffs. Nurse had to go to a 7 man rotation and play his starters HEAVY minutes just to stay afloat. The best player in the league wasn't here to keep things afloat anymore.

It's funny how Masai gets labelled as a messiah when he constantly gives his coaches garbage depth and fake star players. First DeRozan now Siakam.

Going from an average coach to an elite one can only do so much.

[ratul]

I love this ‘you have to stick with a tight rotation bs.’ We literally lost a game because our guys were tired. Against a team with a nine man rotation.

[Johnny Bball]

I think back to every other year that we didn't play our best unit together enough and only played them in the 4th quarter. Nah...I'm not going to say that using the bench would be better. We would have lost in less games.

And who in their right mind would think our bench players are less one dimensional than our starters, minus arguably Ibaka. It's the very reason they come off the bench.

[mdenny]

Serge shouldve played the fourth in place of Pascal.

I wanted this too but I think the counter-argument was that playing serge would have given them more open 3s.

My impression was that the whole idea of going small was to take away the 3 and make them score inside which makes sense. I think it worked for the most part.

[tradejosehesux]

In a tight series you stick with a tight rotation. Would have liked to see a lot less Gasol and Pascal should have been benched at points. Casey benched Demar in the playoffs.

I'm willing to give Nurse the benefit of the doubt this year, he's still one the best coaches in the league.

I dont like equalizing Demar and Pascal here.

Casey rightfully benched DD (once tbh) but still because he was actively hurting us on both ends.

Siakam was awful on offense but his ability to rapidly cover huge amounts of space is essential to our defense thus there was 0 chance of Pascal getting benched.

Handing the ball over to the other team on wasted offensive possessions negates the defensive effort.

[vulture]

It’s difficult to play Thomas unless you play zone because he can’t Guard any of the Celtics perimeter players. Also it’s very hard for him to get his shot off against their length.

TD played in games 1-2 and he put the Celtics in the bonus early both games so you can’t play him in a series like this.

Boucher is not good enough to play over gasol and serge.

RHJ would never get guarded in this series.

[ItsDanger]

A 9 man rotation would be better. It pays dividends in the 4th quarters. Especially with some not playing well.

[SocialistHipHop]

Serge shouldve played the fourth in place of Pascal.

I wanted this too but I think the counter-argument was that playing serge would have given them more open 3s.

My impression was that the whole idea of going small was to take away the 3 and make them score inside which makes sense. I think it woriked for the most part.

I'm a Nurse stan. But he shouldve made adjustments in the fouth quarter.

[JJWong17]

I think Matt Thomas played very well in that series and probably should have seen a few more minutes. His gravitational pull around the court was pretty evident.

Maybe Davis or Boucher for the raw energy? Though neither did much in their limited minutes.

Yeah, was coming in here to mention Thomas specifically. His defense is clearly not the same as OG or even Norm but it wasn't bad even though Boston tried go at him whenever he was on the floor. That meant his effect on the offensive end was more than worth it as he drew attention even when he wasn't having a play run for him. Just by standing in a good spot, he forced Boston to put a good defender on him, which meant less pressure on the rest of the team. At the very least I would've thought he'd come in for the last possession just to provide another option and to create some space

[Ell Curry]

I wanted to see more RHJ when the Celtics did not have Williams on the court since I think his ability to get to the rim while switching on defence would have made him a decent offensive option and a good defensive option.

Similarly, more Davis would have been nice just to increase our speed against a faster, younger team.

And overall, Siakam and Van Vleet struggled to create so might have been worth it to just give Norm more touches in specific late game situations since he's bouncy and big enough to get off shots (sorta like a discount Mitchell) off the dribble in a way Van Vleet isn't.

But overall, Masai probably needed to make a small deal for a Joe Johnson type who could score in isolation like Utah did a few years back, or have traded one of our 3 centers for that type of player I guess. I would not have wanted a Melo signing but based on his playoffs he might have gotten us over the hump with some mid-range isos, we only needed 95 points to win game 7. There really aren't as many 8th-9th forwards who can get buckets anymore now though that those spots go to 3 and D guys instead of weird Michael Beasley types or aging veterans, like Caron Butler in his mid 30s and dudes like that.

[mdenny]

It’s difficult to play Thomas unless you play zone because he can’t Guard any of the Celtics perimeter players. Also it’s very hard for him to get his shot off against their length.

TD played in games 1-2 and he put the Celtics in the bonus early both games so you can’t play him in a series like this.

Boucher is not good enough to play over gasol and serge.

RHJ would never get guarded in this series.

Yah. I considered RHJ too but he would have just exacerbated the offensive problems.

[Metallikid]

I said Serge Ibaka was our third best player before the playoffs and against the Celtics he was maybe our second best player, and if not certainly our third. I wish he had played more.

[LBJKB24MJ23]

should have seen TD3, Matt Thomas more.

RHJ move for energy as Siakam wasn't get it done, might as well play a pure energy guy to bring that effort level on the offensive end (in terms of offensive rebounding and cuts - and even passing).

play Serge Ibaka more but its not like he got to play in the final quarter anyways as the small ball lineup worked against the Celtics lineup. (game 7 Siakam kept chucking and Lowry fouling out did not help the cause.)

but resting FVV, Lowry, Siakam was key. if we minimized their exposure to overshooting and having terrible possessions, Raptors could have been in the ECF, imho. no exact science to this ofc.

[TorontoBaller]

I really wanted Serge in for Pascal for the last 5 mins.
Pascal was clearly cutting it.

And when we were behind for the last 2 mins, we needed a veteran on the floor.

I was defending Nurse the whole series playing him, but when it was winning time... Pascal wasn't ready.

Serge was even sitting there...ready to go.

Duffman, we’ve both been around these parts for a long time and I truly respect your opinion.

Tell me...
It was clear Siakam wasn’t mentally ready or “In the moment”. He was making many errors and other than a few great help moments on d, was blowing it.

It was game 7.

I can only assume Nick Nurse and the team thought that we just gave this guy a max contract and if we pull him out at ANY point, the next five years could be in jeopardy. Believing in him and letting him lose or win means he’s still building toward something.

Serge is a vet. He would not have been asked to handle the ball like Siakam, but I think he’s proven to be a big game player. That’s why you have him.