anotherhomer wrote:That's pretty amazing how Rick literally pull out one or two wins
by literally winning on the smallest of margins
- Definitely noticed how they pull Kawhi away from Luka on defense
- the first one, is amazing how they were able to take game 5 that way, with the passing lanes and 2-3 zones
Would be very interesting to see how Rick and Nurse stack up against each other in a playoff series.
Would actually think it's equal, though Rick does seem more stubborn towards younger players while Nurse literally overplays his favorite players.
whoops I edited your post instead of quoting it to reply. I've sort of fixed it here. My bad!!
It's always interesting to watch coaches who love to make bold adjustments play each other in the playoffs. Nurse vs. Stevens last year was incredible, and despite Boston winning that series, I think Nurse won the coaching battles. Boston was just a terrible matchup for Toronto, as they were so well equipped to guard Siakam and bother Toronto's small backcourt.
Nurse vs. Carlisle would be a coaching fan's wet dream, no doubt.
It's funny though, sometimes excellent coaching with defensive rosters can make for very ugly basketball. When you're best way to win is to find ways to muck up the other teams offense it turns into a brutal slog sometimes. For years, Carlisle has had poor defensive personnel and had to win with offense. Dirk's corpse and JJ Barea dribble handoffs, Monta Ellis/Jose Calderon backcourt etc. So it's more fun to watch Carlisle's overachieving teams than it is to watch Nurse's, who play mind-bending-ly good defense, but are squeezing blood from a stone for every bucket. I think that would be the quintessential way to watch them. Give Carlisle interesting offensive pieces and no defense, give Nurse some high-motor switch defenders but no dependable scoring options. Play ball!
