Nick Nurse spoke after the Raptors blew out the Hornets on a variety of topics – the video is below, and here are some of the main quotes:
On being impressed with the defense more than the offense tonight:
They’re getting there a little bit [on offense], but I think we created a lot out of our defense tonight, which I was probably more happy with. It was a high-scoring, free-shooting team coming in here, and we asked [the players] to get out and contest, and disrupt some of their rhythm stuff, and we did a pretty good job of it. Eight block shots, got our hands on a lot of balls, and capitalized on a lot of it.
Some reporter asked him why they defended the three-point line better tonight:
You got to run really fast and you got to jump a little higher. I’m joking a little bit, but when these teams coming in there and scoring a lot from three, we make a point of anticipating the kick-out just a split-second sooner, and throwing it in high gear speed-wise, and if they’re already loaded up, then make a good job to contest it.
On his decision-making behind Serge Ibaka pairing with Jonas Valanciunas at the five:
I think they’re both playing well at the five. It was an idea I had when I got the job to look at Serge playing more five, and that obviously affected Jonas. Couple reasons, it helps both of them, they’re getting comfortable with that, but it also frees up a lot of minutes for Kawhi, OG, Pascal and those guys at the four. It’s kind of a double-effect there.
On his varied lineups:
We’re hoping we can interchange people in either unit, and they can still do a similar job.
On how he approaches games from a tactical perspective:
I think some more of the nitty gritty stuff would be game plan execution. What are we taking away that we know they’re going to come in and try to run over and over, that we can – again I keep saying the same word – that we can disrupt their rhythm. And that takes a lot of communication and energy, to continually get out and get up high and get into it.
On his strategy to defend Kemba Walker:
We did a great job on Walker tonight, we were trying to press up into him, and get into his body, and chase him hard over the screen, and force him inside the line a little bit as well, and then leave it down to our bigs to make a decision. Pretty good physicality and pretty good communication.
Overall, I love how he addressed the questions with specifics. You can tell he’s a detail-oriented guy that is backing up practice with strategy.
