Is there proof that Nick Nurse is a legit good coach or did he get lucky like how Doc Rivers did.

[DLoMor]

Raptors won the championship in 2019 with Nick Nurse as the coach. But did he fall into a factor on being lucky with Kawhi bailing him out or did he actually coach well cause a lot of people wanted him fired if they lost in the playoffs.

People say Doc Rivers was lucky in 2008 and I feel like Nurse was lucky in 2019. Nurse did do ok next 2 years minus Leonard as he had some good young players developing and improving like Siakam for example. But the last 2 years on the Raptors he had pretty much same teams and they started declining and struggling to the point that I don’t think that he was coaching well. He’s doing ok on the 76ers now but will see how far he goes.

What do you guys think? Just a genuine question, that In my opinion I feel like Nurse has gotten lucky and hasn’t proved how he is a great coach like how everyone says, cause no one else is saying that Doc is a great coach cause how he was given a championship with hall of fame players.

[XTC]

I'd refer you to rewatch the Raptors vs Celtics in 2020... Aka Stevens vs Nurse.

That series was a coaching clinic if I've ever seen one. Both guys where making adjustments game by game, quarter by quarter.

Back to Nurse, as a Raptors fan in my eyes he's a top 5 coach in the league. His ability to implement a system and make adjustments on the fly are top tier. He's also fantastic at drawing up plays. I do think he's a type of coach who player will tune out eventually as his system is quite taxing. I can't imagine too many stars wanting to play for him. Thats what made Kawhi and the 2019 Raptors so special, everyone bought it. If the 76ers(and Embiid) buy into his system, they can go very far, if not all the way.

[Kingdibs19]

The Raptors are worse this year than last year.
The Sixers are better this year than last year.

[Raptor_Guy]

I feel like he became more recognized as a great coach the year after Kawhi left when they won the second most games in the NBA, so no, I don't think he just got lucky.

[rapstarter]

Hard to say because you can't just separate luck and players from the coaches. Look at Popovich and Belichick now. The consensus for a very long time had been that, at the very least, they were the best of their generation, but their reputations have taken a massive hit in recent years after losing great players. In that sense, I feel the easiest thing to say about these coaches is they were "good" because at least they didn't cost their teams championships when they had the chance to win.

[DLoMor]

The Raptors are worse this year than last year.
The Sixers are better this year than last year.

The Raptors have kept getting worse each year since their championship run honestly.

[PistolPeteJR]

The Raptors are worse this year than last year.
The Sixers are better this year than last year.

The Raptors have kept getting worse each year since their championship run honestly.

Did you notice their roster getting worse each year since their championship run as well?

[DLoMor]

The Raptors are worse this year than last year.
The Sixers are better this year than last year.

The Raptors have kept getting worse each year since their championship run honestly.

Did you notice their roster getting worse each year since their championship run as well?

Since 2021 their roster has mostly stayed the same and not much improvement, unless I forgot exactly what was had changed in the roster.

[PistolPeteJR]

Nurse is a top-10 coach in the league at absolute, absolute worst. The guy is hard-nosed, isn't afraid to make wild adjustments, but that fearlessness is coupled by intelligence and an understanding of modern schemes and how to play chess on that front.

Almost any team would take him on in a heartbeat if given the chance, minus teams like MIA, SA, IND, GS, LAC, SAC, BOS, DEN, and maybe 1-2 more, but a significant number of those teams would most likely not hire him right now not simply because their coach is elite, but also because of things like team chemistry and continuity, a coach being a player's coach, etc.

[Chanel Bomber]

Doc Rivers wasn't lucky in 2008. He was one of the very best coaches in the league at the time.

[PistolPeteJR]

The Raptors have kept getting worse each year since their championship run honestly.

Did you notice their roster getting worse each year since their championship run as well?

Since 2021 their roster has mostly stayed the same and not much improvement, unless I forgot exactly what was had changed in the roster.

In 2021, they played in Tampa, and that was a brutal year for them. Their leader in Lowry left at the end of that Tampa season, Barnes was a rookie in 2022, FVV regressed every year starting from the Tampa year, GTJr regressed significantly since coming over from Portland, they went from a savvy, veteran frontcourt of Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol (albeit both on their last legs) to a frontcourt having a rookie as well as guys like Achiuwa and Boucher all playing signficant minutes the last few years. And finally, they went from having one of the best benches in the league to a horrible bench the last few years.

It's unfortunate, but all of those variables have largely contributed.

[165bows]

Fall into a factor?

[Karate Diop]

If he can win with Embiid he'd be an all-time great coach in Karate Diop's book.

[spanishninja]

Nurse is a top-10 coach in the league at absolute, absolute worst. The guy is hard-nosed, isn't afraid to make wild adjustments, but that fearlessness is coupled by intelligence and an understanding of modern schemes and how to play chess on that front.

Almost any team would take him on in a heartbeat if given the chance, minus teams like MIA, SA, IND, GS, LAC, SAC, BOS, DEN, and maybe 1-2 more, but a significant number of those teams would most likely not hire him right now not simply because their coach is elite, but also because of things like team chemistry and continuity, a coach being a player's coach, etc.

yeah, wish the Suns would have offered him enough to come here. And then we waited too long to act and Philly scooped him, leaving us to sign Vogel as consolation.

[Johnny Bball]

The Raptors are worse this year than last year.
The Sixers are better this year than last year.

Raptors are a completely different team after losing FVV and playing their youth instead.

The Sixers are not better, they are the same.

The Raptors however have had few injuries for once, meanwhile the Sixers are awash in them. Its not solid proof that Nurse is part of the cause, but it adds more the the pile.

[Meeksology]

The Raptors have kept getting worse each year since their championship run honestly.

Did you notice their roster getting worse each year since their championship run as well?

Since 2021 their roster has mostly stayed the same and not much improvement, unless I forgot exactly what was had changed in the roster.

You said it yourself my man, not much improvement.

Nurse is great. Ive been saying it and will keep saying it (if it's relevant to the topic), Raps letting him go is/was one of the worst decisions in franchise history. A championship level coach who wanted to stay. We should have locked him up for as long as he wanted. Could have been our Popovich. Raptors may never get another coach of that level for decades. I mean, look at what he's doing with Philly in only his first year there. That can't be luck. However, it's still phuck philly =)

[PistolPeteJR]

The Raptors are worse this year than last year.
The Sixers are better this year than last year.

Raptors are a completely different team after losing FVV and playing their youth instead.

The Sixers are not better, they are the same.

The raptors however have had few injuries for once, meanwhule the Sixers are awash in them. Its not solid proof, but it just adds more the the pile.

The Sixers will be better in the playoffs, I think.
Also, it's too early to say whether they are better or not as we haven't seen them in the playoffs with Nurse yet. In any case, losing Harden also hurts, but that has nothing to do with coaching.

[Johnny Bball]

The Raptors are worse this year than last year.
The Sixers are better this year than last year.

Raptors are a completely different team after losing FVV and playing their youth instead.

The Sixers are not better, they are the same.

The raptors however have had few injuries for once, meanwhule the Sixers are awash in them. Its not solid proof, but it just adds more the the pile.

The Sixers will be better in the playoffs, I think.
Also, it's too early to say whether they are better or not as we haven't seen them in the playoffs with Nurse yet. In any case, losing Harden also hurts, but that has nothing to do with coaching.

I not even very postitive about the Sixers having home court in the first round. And I think the depth helped them more than the way Doc was using Harden.

[PistolPeteJR]

Raptors are a completely different team after losing FVV and playing their youth instead.

The Sixers are not better, they are the same.

The raptors however have had few injuries for once, meanwhule the Sixers are awash in them. Its not solid proof, but it just adds more the the pile.

The Sixers will be better in the playoffs, I think.
Also, it's too early to say whether they are better or not as we haven't seen them in the playoffs with Nurse yet. In any case, losing Harden also hurts, but that has nothing to do with coaching.

I not even very postitive about the Sixers having home court in the first round.

It's possible, but I don't see Embiid missing many more games given he'll want to preserve end-of-season award eligiblity.
On the other hand, the Magic, Celtics and Cavs have the easiest schedules remaining as of today, not that Boston's matters in this case. The Sixers are at 10th with the Knicks at 11th.

Also, let's see if they swing any trades. Obviously that changes everything here, but worth noting.

[lobosloboslobos]

A big reason for the Raptors championship was Nurse deploying the 'wall' of 4 defenders against Giannis and then using the box and 1 against Steph, neither of which those guys had ever faced before, and both of which were very effective. So yeah, he took risks and made bold choices. He would also develop and practice an actual defensive game plan for each regular season game, which apparently is something very few teams do, usually rolling out their default defense for every game. He has flaws like anyone but he is definitely a quality coach.