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Raptors coach Nick Nurse says team needs more energy

The Raptors weren’t competitive yesterday in their Game 5 loss to the Celtics. Here’s the Toronto Star reporting what head coach Nick Nurse had to say:

“I think a lot of this game, in general, has to do with … energy and rhythm,” coach Nick Nurse said Tuesday. “It’s kind of hard to explain how we don’t have a little bit more energy (in Monday’s 111-89 loss), and it’s even probably harder to explain how we don’t have it in Game 1 of the series.

“The energy has got to be there. I think when we do bring the energy, we’re right there, we’re supercompetitive for sure, and look great.”

Strategically, it’s easy to pinpoint what the Raptors need. They could use more offence from Marc Gasol — “It’s not like we need 25 from him, but we need him to chip in with some, just because there’s opportunities there for him,” said Nurse — and a huge offensive game from Pascal Siakam would be a blessing.

The Raptors got off to a shockingly miserable start yesterday, falling behind 25-11 after one quarter and then getting outscored by seven points in the second quarter. Their play in the second half was solid, but no big comeback was launched, and then lost by a final score of 111-89.

The big winner in the game was Boston’s defense. Toronto shot horribly, both in two-point and three-point range.

We’ll see if the team can come out of the gates hot at the start of Game 6 tomorrow.

Celtics coach Brad Stevens praises great pass made by Raptors guard Kyle Lowry

Yesterday’s Raptors vs. Celtics game came down to the final seconds as Kemba Walker made a perfect pass, and then even more final seconds as Kyle Lowry did the same, leading to an OG Anunoby game-winning jumpshot at the buzzer. Here’s the Boston Herald reporting:

Jaylen Brown, always earnest and rational, was angered enough to drop an F-bomb or three in his post-game presser. Marcus Smart spent a few extra moments on the bench after OG Anunoby’s walk-off corner 3-pointer, running it all back, contemplating the team-wide breakdown that led to an open shot off an inbounds play with half a second on the clock.

By Friday, with the Celtics’ second round lead over Toronto cut to 2-1, those emotions had returned to a calmer boil. Brad Stevens certainly doesn’t want his players re-living a play he admits was equal parts defensive miscommunication and terrific execution by the Raptors.

For starters, Kyle Lowry had to loop his cross-court inbounds pass over an extended Tacko Fall to find Anunoby, who, yes, had gone invisible in the Celtics’ zone coverage scheme, leaving Brown too far down the baseline to contest the shot.

“We could’ve guarded it better, but that should be on the whole team and where the whole team has something happen, then that’s on me. So, I’ve moved on from it,” the Celtics coach said after Friday’s practice. “We talked about it this morning. We also have to realize that Lowry made a perfect pass over a 7-foot-6 guy all the way across the court, and a guy caught it in .4 seconds and shot it in.

Raptors news: guard Kyle Lowry diagnosed with ankle sprain

As the Toronto Raptors prepare to meet their second-round playoff opponent, the Boston Celtics, their star point guard will be on the mend.

Raptors guard Kyle Lowry has been diagnosed with a left ankle sprain, the team announced today.

Lowry underwent an MRI on the NBA Campus in Orlando after the injury, which occurred in the first quarter of Sunday evening’s game. His condition will be updated as appropriate.

Lowry averaged 19.4 points, a team-high 7.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 36.2 minutes in 58 games with the Raptors this season. In six games during the NBA restart at Disney, he averaged 16.7 points, 5.7 assists, 6.8 rebounds and 32.9 minutes.

In the first round of the NBA Playoffs vs. Brooklyn, Lowry posted averages of 12.5 points, 4.8 assists and 7.0 rebounds in 29.9 minutes. He scored in double figures three times, including 21 points in Game 2, and had one double-double against the Nets. The Raptors swept the series, winning 4-0.

Raptors coach Nick Nurse wins 2019-20 NBA Coach of Year

The Toronto Raptors announced Saturday that Nick Nurse has been named the NBA’s Coach of the Year for the 2019-20 season. Nurse guided the Raptors to a 53-19 record during the regular season (second best in the NBA) and set a franchise-record with a .736 winning percentage.

“When you see Nick on the sidelines, that’s who he is as a person. Relaxed, but so hard-working. Creative and dynamic. Always setting the tone for our team – attacking our next championship, rather than defending our last,” Raptors President Masai Ujiri said. “That is who Nick is, that is why we believe in him. His journey to this tremendous honour has been a long one – we are so happy to see him recognized this way.”

Highlighting Toronto’s season was a franchise-record 15 straight victories (Jan. 15 – Feb. 10). During this stretch, the Raptors averaged 121.2 points and shot .504 (672-1333) from the field. The winning streak was the longest in Canadian sports history (NBA, NHL, MLB, MLS and CFL).

Nurse earned Eastern Conference Coach of the Month honours twice during the 2019-20 campaign – January and games played in October/November – and coached Team Giannis at the NBA All-Star Game in Chicago.

The Raptors finished the regular season leading the NBA in points allowed (106.5 ppg) and opponent three-point field goal percentage (.337) and ranked second in opponent field goal percentage (.428). Toronto also held its opponent to fewer than 100 points in 22 games – most in the NBA.

On the offensive end, the Raptors averaged 112.8 points (second most in team history) and a franchise-record 13.8 three-point field goals per game. This despite their top five leading scorers all missing at least 10 games due to injury or illness. Toronto had three players average at least six more points this season than they did in 2018–19: Norman Powell (+7.4 ppg, 8.6 to 16.0), Fred VanVleet (+6.6 ppg, 11.0 to 17.6) and Pascal Siakam (+ 6.0 ppg, 16.9 to 22.9).

After finishing the season restart in Orlando with a 7-1 record, Toronto also extended its streak to 24 consecutive calendar months with a winning record (Feb. 2017 – Aug. 2020). The streak is the longest in franchise history and the longest current streak in the NBA.

A graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, Nurse was named the ninth head coach in Raptors history on June 14, 2018, taking the job after five years as an assistant coach with the team. On June 13, 2019, he became just the ninth rookie head coach in league history to win an NBA Championship. Nurse has led the club to a 111-43 (.721) regular season record in two seasons.

Coach of the Year voting from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters was based on games played from the start of the regular season through March 11 and did not include “seeding games,” which took place July 30 – Aug. 14 for the 22 teams participating in the season restart.

Nurse is the third coach in franchise history to win the award, joining Dwane Casey (2017-18) and Sam Mitchell (2006-07).

Examining the virtual Raptor fan situation at Disney NBA bubble

At the NBA restart at Disney Wide World of Sports, fans aren’t in attendance at the game, except virtually, by use of video screens that show their faces at the game while they sit at home. It’s a cool thing. Here’s the Toronto Star talking about the virtual Raptor fan situation:

There are about 320 “seats” occupied by the visages of fans that, in the case of the Raptors, will be chosen from the team’s season-ticket base of about 15,000 when the playoffs begin later this month.

For now, team employees are working through the inevitable wrinkles in a process that’s brand new. But they expect to see regular “fans” at post-season games, meaning the likes of Superfan Nav Bhatia and global ambassador Drake might be there — so to speak.

“We’re seeing familiar faces on those screens, and who knows what it’ll evolve to here two months from now” when the Raptors may be playing for their second straight championship, Nurse said. “So I don’t want to discount the home-court thing quite yet.”

The fans have become a quirky sidebar to the actual games as the NBA tries different ways to guarantee spectator involvement.

I thought about suggesting adding more video screens and more fans, but the whole fun of being a virtual fan is that the virtual fan gets to see his or her face on the actual broadcast. If the video screens are high up in the air, away from the court, those fans won’t be visible on the TV broadcast, and that’s not as fun for them.

In other words, the NBA is doing this correctly.

Raptors coach Nick Nurse pondering alternate ‘jumbo’ lineup

Alternate lineups can often come in handy when the situation calls for some innovation. And it’s always best to work such things out before the playoffs begin. Here’s the Toronto Star reporting on Raptors head coach Nick Nurse and possible lineup experiments that we may see once NBA play resumes July 30:

Nurse isn’t going to get into specifics but it’s pretty certain there will be different looks. Even before this portion of training began he was intrigued by a “jumbo” lineup that would include OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam, Serge Ibaka and Marc Gasol with one of Kyle Lowry or Fred VanVleet. And he’ll toy with tweaks to existing plays, all done with plenty of practice time to get them ingrained into the players.

“We are certainly going to add some things,” he said. “I would say our late-game special situations, we will look at some additions there. A lot of it is just kind of building from what’s there. Doing stuff that looks similar but there’s a counter to it or maybe an addition or maybe moving the pieces around a little bit … Your set looks like something is coming and it changes from what maybe they thought was coming and you get an open look.”

The Raptors were an Eastern conference second-best 47-18 when play was put on hold back in March. They’re the reigning NBA champions. And have no plans to go out without a fight.

Kyle Lowry was one of key players involved with NBA restart plan

It took a great number of people to put the NBA restart together. Here’s the Toronto Sun reporting on Raptors guard Kyle Lowry:

Kyle Lowry, in fact, wound up having a rather large say in how this NBA re-start would go.

Initially, he was a member of the competition committee, but that role morphed into a working group consisting of Player’s Association president Chris Paul along with Lowry, Russell Westbrook, Jayson Tatum and Toronto native Dwight Powell, who worked hand-in-hand with commissioner Adam Silver in developing the health and safety protocols for the recently opened NBA campus at Walt Disney World in Orlando.

“It kind of fell into my lap a little bit with how it happened,” Lowry admitted. “But it was interesting to come up with some of the concepts and to talk that over, and understand (not just) what we’re trying to do but how we’re trying to do it, and make sure that it’s done the right way for all the players, coaches, and it’s safe and in the most healthiest way we possibly can do it.

“I think that we’ve done a good job so far with the safety aspects, the health aspects. I think there’s definitely going to be some adjustments that need to be made, but that’s the one thing about our league and our professionals, is that we make adjustments on the fly and we’re able to.”

Raptors will restart the 2019-20 NBA season August 1 vs Lakers

The Toronto Raptors will restart the 2019-20 season Saturday, August 1 against the Los Angeles Lakers, the team announced Friday. Under the competitive format for the restart, the 22 participating teams will have eight “seeding games,” as selected from its remaining regular-season matchups.

The National Basketball Association and the National Basketball Players Association announced yesterday that they have finalized a comprehensive plan for a July 30 restart to the 2019-20 season, which includes stringent health and safety protocols, a single-site campus at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and the goal of taking collective action to combat systemic racism and promote social justice.

In addition, the NBA and Disney have reached an agreement that makes the Arena, the HP Field House and Visa Athletic Center at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex the venues for all games for the remainder of the season, with no fans in attendance.

The NBA and the NBPA confirmed today an agreement on health and safety protocols that will govern the resumption of the season. The rigorous program, which addresses risks related to COVID-19 and focuses on the well-being of players, coaches, officials and staff, was developed in consultation with public health experts, infectious disease specialists and government officials.

RAPTORS RESTART SCHEDULE

Saturday, Aug. 1 vs. LA Lakers
Monday, Aug. 3 at Miami
Wednesday, Aug. 5 at Orlando
Friday, Aug. 7 vs. Boston
Sunday, Aug. 9 vs. Memphis
Monday, Aug. 10 at Milwaukee
Wednesday, Aug. 12 at Philadelphia
Friday, Aug. 14 vs. Denver

Atlanta Hawks statement on the retirement of Vince Carter

“Over the last two years, Vince Carter has been a committed leader, respected mentor and influential example on the court, in the locker room and in the Atlanta community. Throughout his historic 22-year journey covering an unprecedented four different decades, his evolving career arc was perhaps like none other in league history – from Top 5 Draft Pick to Rookie of the Year to Slam Dunk Champion to superstar and eight-time All-Star to Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year and valuable role player. It’s an honor to the Hawks organization that he completed his Hall-of-Fame career wearing Atlanta across his chest and representing our city.” — Atlanta Hawks

Raptors preparing to resume NBA season

The Toronto Raptors announced Monday that they will prepare for a resumption to the 2019-20 NBA season in Fort Myers, Florida.

The Raptors are one of 22 teams the NBA is including in their plans to play a handful of regular season games leading into what will hopefully be a full 2020 playoffs.

Select players and staff will depart from Toronto today. The Raptors will remain in the Fort Myers area until entering the NBA Campus at Disney, near Orlando, in early July for the remainder of the season.

In keeping with NBA and team safety protocols, there will be no group workouts during this phase of return to play, and strict protocols have been designed to ensure this initial level of access will take place in a safe, controlled, and healthy way.

Group workouts will only begin once teams have reported to the NBA Campus at Disney.