Toronto Raptors: Media Day and season predictions

Nick Nurse on Media Day

Raptors’ coach Nick Nurse was another member of the Raptors’ leadership whose thoughts and feelings on the coming season are much the same as the previous. The very first question Nurse was asked was what was different going into the season defending a championship.

The answer?

Not much.

In fact, Nurse said, via CBC:

"I feel almost exactly the same as I felt a year ago and expectations are the same that I had."

Nick Nurse not only has the creativity and ability to draw up a lot of different plays but he enjoys doing so. To me, this was a huge factor in the Raptors’ success last year and will be on display once again in the upcoming season.

Summing up his goal for the season Nurse said he would:

"…try to get these guys that are here to play, A. to their capabilities and B. extraordinary basketball."

Nurse also feels the same in terms of who will be the go-to guys going into the season. He mentioned that last year at this time that the team didn’t know where they were heading. Many options needed to be tried to make it work last season and Nurse sees the same challenge ahead this year, especially with the absence of Leonard and Green from the starting lineup.

There are of course ideas of who will fill those roles. OG Anunoby and Norman Powell come to mind immediately as those who have the opportunity to really establish themselves as key contributors this coming season. And Pascal Siakam will almost undoubtedly be the number one option on the floor.

Also, expect to see a fluid lineup from Nick Nurse and his coaching staff throughout the season. Tinkering was the word Nurse used to define the coaching style that led the Raptors to the second-best regular-season record last year with the use of 22 different starting lineups due to a combination of personnel availability and load management.

This is a part of the upcoming season that I’m really excited to see. It was done a lot on the fly last year and it obviously worked out really well. Now, though, the Raptors are going to be able to use the knowledge they’ve already gained and have the opportunity to fine-tune it.

I don’t think there are many NBA teams with this level of flexibility in their lineups on a night to night basis paired with a coach with the creativity and willingness to make that fluidity a part of the team’s overall strategy. I have no doubt that it will not only make for really interesting basketball but also serve the team very very well.