Nurse Intro Presser Thread (UPDATE: Stream link/2:30 PM EST)

[SHFT]

If terrible fan = being rational and taking off the homer goggles, then sure.

see: when you think you're being rational, and noone agrees with you, how can it rational?

Masai is not a terrible GM. He's probably top 10 in the league. There is no way I would rank him lower than that.

A good GM is proactive. Something Masai isn't.

He's been riding out BC's core and coach for 5 years. He's been handing out bad contracts like candy. The only thing he's done well is draft. I've always maintained that he has a great eye for talent, but that's all he's good for. He's not GM material as he doesn't do the other tasks required of a GM very well.

He comes out of trades on top far more often than not.

He seems to have a good eye out for staff (a number of our assistants have had 0 issues getting jobs elsewhere)

The second he got here he moved Bargnani and Gay AND he tried to move Lowry. It blew up (not his fault) and we started winning. Of course he was going to ride it as long as possible.

He is well respected by everyone in the league (except BCs wife lol)

He has also had his fan moments (**** Brooklyn)

His biggest flaw are some of the contracts he has handed out BUT overall he is definitely a good GM.


Sent from my LG-H915 using RealGM mobile app

[Joker]

We need to exploit JV's strengths, obviously...but JV's current ability on covering the pick and roll isn't acceptable. Get him doing agility drills all summer -- whatever it takes.

[mirrornick]

If the Raptors won a championship, people here would still find a way to be unhappy.

[WuTang_CMB]

nurse on 1050 right now

[gojoorange]

If the Raptors won a championship, people here would still find a way to be unhappy.

Fake championship.

[junot111]

If the Raptors won a championship, people here would still find a way to be unhappy.

Seriously, the negativity on this board is getting unbearable.

[WuTang_CMB]

https://www.tsn.ca/nba/video/ujiri-nick-is-determined-to-help-us-grow~1417501

[WuTang_CMB]

https://www.tsn.ca/nba/video/armstrong-nurse-has-stage-presence-leadership-ability-of-a-head-coach~1417615

[Johnny Bball]

VanVleet leaving means we lose him for nothing in return, plus it makes our bench so much worse and increases old man Lowry's minutes as a result.

I hope ML$E doesn't interfere with resigning VanVleet. We need this man.

Biyombo was awesome for 3 million. Biyombo sucks for 17 million. FVV is the same. We don't need him at a high cost.

Biyombo was only ever good under Casey's "much garbage-man centre" defensive system and playing next to two All-Stars who could hide the fact that he was a total offensive liability. Centre version of Marcus Smart. I kind of miss Biyombo, but he's been garbage everywhere else he's been.

FVV is not Biyombo. FVV elevates the team on both ends of the floor, mostly on offense. Give this man his money.

What are you talking about, Biyombo was the same player this year. The same principle applies that you can overpay a bench player, whether you want to admit it or not.

[WuTang_CMB]

https://www.tsn.ca/nba/video/rautins-nurse-s-innovation-will-push-raptors-forward~1417502

[WuTang_CMB]

https://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/nurses-tough-coaching-journey-set-get-harder-new-raptors-gig/

[Jef]

Nurse is like the 3/10 your buddy set you up on a double date with, who becomes a 7/10 after chatting with her a bit.

Now we're totally hoping she puts out.

[Morse Code]

https://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2018/06/14/nick-nurse-introductory-press-conference-notes-quotes/


Followup stuff that was not in the press conference:

On implementing innovation:

I think if you’re going to be a little bit innovative or risk taking sometimes you’re going to be wrong and it’s going to look bad. I understand that…I’m not saying it’s a hundred things a game but there are some things, some ideas that I have that I want to try and do and we gotta try them. If they don’t work, I’ll stand in front of you guys, take the heat. I’ve already talked to some players about being more open-minded about things we want to do and we’ll go from there.

On Kyle Lowry:

First of all I love him. I’ve never seen a guy compete the way he competes. There is a lot to love about the way he plays and what he’s brought us all, me, the organization, the team. I’ve had guys similar to him in my coaching past. I thought he had a really good year, he shaved his minutes way down, we saved him about 12 games, just by saving the four or five minutes a game. He had a good playoff run, he shot the ball well. I just met with him two nights ago and I think he’s excited to have a better year. Now that he’s got a grasp of his offense a little more now – I know that sounds a little funny – but we changed a lot, offensively, last year, but I’m going to put the ball in his stomach a little bit more and have him run the offense. I look forward to him. I think he’s an unbelievably competitive time and a helluva player.

On Jonas Valanciunas:

I think he had a good year last year. The biggest key for me is that you’ve got to put these guys in positions where they can be successful. And I think we’ve learned a lot more about Jonas and what he can do and not try to expect him to do things he can’t. We’ve either (got to) work on the things he can’t do a lot more, or we’ve just got to build our schemes around doing what he can do really well. And I’m looking forward to this. I’ve got some defensive schemes in my mind that aren’t quite ready to be talked about, but along the lines of that…That’s the biggest thing for him. I think his offense is going to continue to expand. We started in about three years ago when I first went to Lithuania to start working him out. I didn’t do any post moves for like two weeks. I went over there, we were running the floor, bringing the ball up the floor, driving to the basket, doing all these things. And shooting threes. I think we got him handling the ball more this year. He had more fun. I think his knowledge of the game increased a lot more incrementally then it had in years past because he just wasn’t involved. I don’t know. You guys know I like him. He’s out there working every night. He truly, truly cares. Truly, truly wants to win. And he keeps getting a little better.

On Norman Powell:

Well, he first of all needs to get a little bit back in the fold and we’re doing this now with what we’re doing offensively. It was a bit of a player development issue. And I told Masai and those guys in the interviews that I take responsibility a little bit for this because a lot of times I saw him sitting outside working kind of on his own game and then the second unit was over there working as a unit together and they all of a sudden developed a rhythm. It wasn’t that Norm wasn’t working hard because he’s a super hard worker, he’s always one of the first guys in there, does all his work. But that group kind of melded together because of all the rhythm they developed. We’ve got him into that thing and he understands that now. Certainly I’d like him to get a little dirtier, as far as getting on the floor and taking charges, just being a little bit more of a factor defensively because he’s strong and athletic and you’ve got to use that strength and athleticism at the defensive end.

On late-game strategy:

It’s a really super-important part of the game. There’s so many close games that it’s one of the first things that was the biggest difference for me when I came back from Europe to go into the G League – all of a sudden every game seemed close. And after a year in the G League my assistant at the time, we spent the whole summer going through every scenario and pulling film and doing all this stuff, and putting the answers in, what we thought were the right answers. They were our answers, so they were right. And that’s one of the things I tried to sell, is that we may not run the right play. We may not call the right guy’s number, but we’re going to leave that huddle on the same page. And that, to me, is the most important thing. It gives them some confidence, etcetera. It’s the most important thing. It’s very difficult. It’s also very fun. It’s fun to try and X and O at the end of a late game, and you’ve got to approach it that way.

Thanks for posting this. Excited to see what these schemes are.

[jamesd]

Read on Twitter

more evaluating trash

Are you bored with your life? Why sit on a message board just to troll? You should get a hobby.

This is his hobby. His sad, lonely hobby.

[WuTang_CMB]

https://www.tsn.ca/video/nurse-looking-to-get-more-out-of-lowry-and-derozan~1417609

[Mikistan]

If the Raptors won a championship, people here would still find a way to be unhappy.

Fake championship.

you gotta be a dynasty, whats the point of flash in the pan?

[WuTang_CMB]

https://www.sportsnet.ca/590/prime-time-sports/nick-nurse-dwane-casey-firing-caught-off-guard/

[Double Bubble]

Guy is clearly not media savvy

[___Rand___]

Nick also needs Raptors' media team to coach him with media sessions. I'm shocked he looks as uncomfortable as he did.

That was a tough spot though. Trying to sell yourself as an upgrade without throwing Casey under the bus.

He is no NCAA player. he gets paid big money to be in tough spot. Get some media coaching. Those answers won't get you future coaching jobs.

[WuTang_CMB]

I thought his interviews were fine. He was professional and I think under-selling himself a lot here.

Masai and co. dont care about winning the press conferences they just want the results on the court.

Nurse is going to change a lot of things. Speaking with Bob McCowan, we are going to be a high paced team, with 3's and lots of movement especially off the ball.

We found our Brad Stevens.