The McCaw paradigm | Nick COY? | Raptors vs Warriors
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i_Neds9hjQ
The Patrick McCaw conundrum: rotational role for Raptors minus supporting stats – The Athletic
By this point in the season, Nick Nurse knows. He’s too aware not to. And so when Patrick McCaw has an outsized role in a game, Nurse is ready to answer questions, sometimes even getting the jump on the matter and bringing it up himself.
On Tuesday, Nurse went so far as to start McCaw in a smaller lineup against the Phoenix Suns. That decision game closer to game time, preempting a pregame explanation. Had things gone poorly – and they did for the bulk of the first quarter – Nurse surely would have been asked to justify the decision. Instead, his choice mostly paid off. McCaw did not light up the box score, but he played one of his better games of the season, closing out the victory, coming up with a key basket and, save for a couple of blowbys from Ricky Rubio, providing stellar defence.
Toronto Temperature: Injuries continue to take their toll on the Toronto Raptors – Raptors HQ
This Very Much Is The New Norm
Since coming back from an injured finger, Norman Powell has put up lines of 22, 24, and 26 points. Now, if we were to step back and look at the Raptors roster as it is right now, those totals would make some sense — someone has to score for this injured squad. What’s telling here, however, is not that Norm is gunning for points, it’s that he’s doing it under control; in fact, he’s been downright smart about how and when he scores for Toronto.
This is no small thing. For almost the entirety of his career the knock on Norm has been that he plays with reckless abandon. From time to time that’s meant a huge offensive explosion; but it’s also led to some disastrous games from Powell. What’s happening now is considerably different. Powell is shooting well from the field (49 percent over the last three games) and also picking his spots carefully. That doesn’t mean he’s not ferociously attacking the basket anymore, it just means he’s doing it now with a Plan A, B, and C in mind — and it’s working quite well for Toronto.
Could Giannis join the Raptors in 2021? Altidore wants to know – Video – TSN
Pascal Siakam broke out of his recent slump with a strong 33-point performance against the Suns on Tuesday, ending Toronto’s three-game losing skid. Jozy Altidore asked Jack Armstrong what Siakam did differently to get back on track, and another question that every Raps fan has had on their mind.
Presence of Wiggins spices up Raptors-Warriors NBA Finals rematch | Toronto Sun
Wiggins, who notched his first triple-double against Toronto earlier this season while still with Minnesota, handed out 10 assists on Tuesday, one off the career mark he set against the Raptors, and has scored at least 22 points in five of his nine games with the Warriors. The short-handed team might stink (the Warriors have the worst record in the NBA), with losses in seven of those outings, but Wiggins has looked good, shooting 46.5% from the field, while averaging 1.7 steals and 1.6 blocks. Kerr was singing his praises after the 10-assist outing, speculating wistfully about a day when Wiggins is handling the ball creating opportunities for Curry and Thompson.
Wiggins gets knocked a lot for being on losing teams and not always playing hard enough, but he has a fan in Nurse, who is hoping Wiggins will be playing for him for Canada this summer.
“I don’t know. He’s putting up 20-plus every night, and sometimes those 20 points scorers get lost in the shuffle a little bit for some reason,” Nurse said.
“But putting 20 up in this league is hard to do. Hard to do every night in this league.
“He’s playing really good this year. He’s become a lot harder to guard,” Nurse said.
“I mean I even talked to him, really briefly after the game (in Minneapolis). I said, ‘Man, we were changing so many coverages to try to stop you. It was hard work you know you’re really like developing a lot of offensive game.’”
So much has changed since last June. But that doesn’t mean Thursday’s Toronto-Golden State reunion won’t be a fun one.
Times, they change.
The Warriors, wracked by injuries that ruined their season almost from the start, are playing for next year, when they may be a formidable NBA force once again.
They are 14-48 after an upset win in Denver on Tuesday and have played all season without Klay Thompson, and the last 57 games without Stephen Curry. They deployed their 32nd different starting five this week against the Nuggets, and are looking for bits that might add to their depth next season.
The Raptors, meanwhile, rocked by injuries of their own that they have managed to overcome, seem poised for another long playoff run and have their sights set on a second Larry O’Brien Trophy, not the ping-pong balls of the draft lottery.
At 43-18, they are headed for a fifth straight 50-win season. They have overcome extended absences by just about all of their top seven players, yet they are second in the Eastern Conference and already prepping for the playoffs.
Even the venue has changed since they last met. The Raptors and Warriors closed out raucous old Oracle Arena in Oakland on that June night, and Thursday’s game will be Toronto’s first in the palatial Chase Center: a gorgeous new playpen on the San Francisco waterfront that’s as opulent as Oracle was folksy and grimy.
Times, they change.
Toronto Raptors: Nick Nurse is running away with Coach of the Year award – Hoops Habit
So that leaves Nurse, the one stand-alone candidate who has never won Coach of the Year, has a slightly above average roster and has far exceeded expectations. That’s a recipe to win Coach of the Year if you ask me.
Even if you look further down the standings at coaches like Erik Spoelstra, Nate McMillan, Brett Brown, Mike D’Antoni, Quinn Snyder or Billy Donovan, the only coach that really meets all those criteria is Billy Donovan. However, the Oklahoma City Thunder are only on pace to win 49 games. The last coach to win Coach of the Year without having a 50-win season was, ironically, Sam Mitchell of the Toronto Raptors in 2007 who went 47-35.
I think if the season ended today, the nominees for Coach of the Year would probably be the aforementioned Billy Donovan, Mike Budenholzer and of course, Nick Nurse. If that is the case, I believe Nick Nurse will most likely walk away as the much-deserved winner of the 2019-2020 NBA Coach of the Year award.
Although the last time a Raptors coach won Coach of the Year it didn’t end too well… let’s hope that doesn’t happen again.
Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images
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