NoDopeOnSundays wrote:CoachD wrote:NoDopeOnSundays wrote:
I haven't been impressed by Stevens offense in the least bit, to me he seems like an excellent defensive coach that can draw up some great out of bounds plays but his actual offensive sets aren't anything to write home about.
Nurse is a great coach, doesn't change the fact that the roster is in flux with multiple expirings coming up, don't see how they'd be able to compete with the Sixers inside of a 3 year window in the hypothetical universe where the NBA adopts the Fiba rules this year.
The Raps will be #1 or very close to it in passes per game this year. They were last year when Kawhi wasn't on the floor - and now they have a full year of Gasol. Their roster this season is very good. Going forward, who the hell knows - but I watched Nurse run BEAUTIFUL actions with a bunch of schlubs on Team Canada last month, so I have a LOT of faith in him
Eh, I think they'll make the playoffs but the roster isn't that great and it's completely dependent on Siakam taking the next step as a scorer. You lost your two best wing defenders, top scorer and top 3 point shooter, that's not something you recover from easily, especially not if you think they will be able to compete with the Sixers.
Kawhi is an excellent defender (obviously) but during the regular season he was barely a net positive. He coasted.
Danny was a great net rating guy, but he didn't lock anyone down. He essentially funneled guys into doubles a lot. That's all Nurse.
Stanley Johnson is an above average wing defender. Hollis Jefferson is a solid defender.
Lowry, OG, Van Vleet, Powell, McCaw and Siakam are all excellent wing defenders
Toronto will have a top 5 defense.
All of the advanced metrics suggest they will be very, very good