Fred VanVleet is backing Nick Nurse to the hilt when it comes to the Toronto Raptors’ strategy of crashing the offensive glass.
Advertisement
It comes as no surprise that the Toronto Raptors are now being considered as one of the NBA’s better teams. Despite losing Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry and the likes of Norman Powell, the lone Canadian NBA team has stamped its authority as one of the best-run organizations in sports.
Masai Ujiri aside, their coaching staff and strategies have been resounding successes in the recent past. While Dwane Casey got the team to the brink of championship success, Nick Nurse got them over the hump in 2019.
Since then, the Raps have had to undergo a mini-rebuild, mainly due to Kawhi Leonard’s departure. Even so, they only missed the playoffs and the play-in tournament last year because they were actively tanking.
Also Read – Skip Bayless delivers one of his safer takes as news on Nets star’s return continues to pour on.
Having drafted Scottie Barnes and acquired Gary Trent Jr through a big trade, Toronto now looks set for another series of deep playoff runs. But none of this would be possible without their best player – Fred VanVleet – leading the charge.
Fred VanVleet backs Nick Nurse and their offensive strategy to the hilt ahead of playoffs
Fred VanVleet recently spoke to Josh Lewenberg – a beat writer for TSN Sports assigned to the Raptors. In this short exchange, the duo expressed their vote of confidence for their head coach Nick Nurse.
Both VanVleet as well as fellow G-League graduate Chris Boucher only had good things to say about their head coach. Boucher vouched heavily for Nurse’s strategy of crashing the offensive glass, as well as his defensive strategies. This is what he said about Nurse’s strategies:
“We’ve gone from box-and-1 to zone to man-to-man to (things) I didn’t even know were in the book… It’s the playoffs so who knows what else he has in his book but it’s gonna come out and y’all gonna see it and we’re all gonna learn (about) it at the same time.”
VanVleet, asked if the Raptors have a Plan B or if they’ve got to play to their identity (crashing offensive glass) in order to win games: “Yeah, c’mon, it’s Nicky Nurse baby.”
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) April 14, 2022
Also Read – John Stockton believes Michael Jordan pushed off on his iconic Game 6 jumper in 1998 NBA Finals.
VanVleet also showed that Nick Nurse is way ahead of the game when it comes to outmaneuvering his opposing head coaches. His words indicate how well-prepared the British coaching maverick is, ahead of their playoff showdowns.
