Is Nick Nurse Overrated?

[ChipotleWest]

I think the NBA coach is overrated because no coach is lifting bad teams into contention, that just doesn't happen. Phil Jackson one of the greatest, won with MJ Pippen Shaq and Kobe. Pop had Duncan etc.. you can just go down the list. Nurse obviously benefited from having Kawhi.

However I think a bad coach can make a good team worse. Kidd did it to the Mavs yesterday by benching both of his 7 foot rim protectors and he was easily exploited by Harden, because he's just not very smart.

[cgf]

hes getting outcoached by thibs, if that means anything.

we made tremendous adjustments to our offense and defense in this series. i dont rly see that for the sixers.

and i know i might get flag for this again, but the raptors chip is most likely one of the luckiest chips in history.
That bounce from kawhi in game 7 of the ECF and injured players on the GSW team, made it possible. Yes the team played great but what if kawhi doesnt get that bounce, do we talk about nurse like we do now?

i havent really watched any of the nurse coached teams a lot. so i cannot judge based on his x and o's and stuff. im just making an observation on how he got his reputation

I mean they've made significant adjustments, it's just that those adjustments have backfired because they've allowed Brunson to get rolling and we're still killing them on the glass.

[TinmanZBoy]

honestly, this Knicks team reminds me a lot of the Lawry, Fred Van Vleet, OG raptor teams while Nurse was coaching... say whatever you want, Nick Nurse is a great coach... might not be as great as some people think about ...but he is a great coach

By saying he is a great coach just shows you don't know much about it. Joel wants Doc back if he can right now.

[Mikistan]

Nick isn't a bad coach, but he has issues with personality management and comes off like he thinks he's smarter than the rest.

He had some novel concepts he brought in that helped with the 2019 run, janky defensive schemes etc. But it worked because he had all time talent defenders and offensive guys around...

Since then the league has caught up and especially the last couple raptor years he wasn't developing anyone, overpaying starters and overusing gimmick offense to "succeed" in the regular season. He wasn't changing defensive sets and running overhelping with no rim protectors on the roster. Made no sense and he didn't adjust.

He on paper is good at adjusting in a 7 game series. But he's not as novel as he used to be in this league

[Ice Man]

Nick isn't a bad coach, but he has issues with personality management and comes off like he thinks he's smarter than the rest.

He had some novel concepts he brought in that helped with the 2019 run, janky defensive schemes etc. But it worked because he had all time talent defenders and offensive guys around...

Spot on. Under the right circumstances, with the right player mix, coaches *can* add incremental value. Thibs has this year because he has a lunch-pail group that responds to his strengths (energy, intensity, discipline) and that isn't bothered by his weaknesses (repetitious, micro manager, sometimes tactically inflexible). But those instances occur less often than fans think, and they are always circumstance dependent. There are plenty of NBA teams where swapping out their current coach for Thibs or Nurse wouldn't budge the needle.

[ForeverTFC]

Nurse is one of the best coaches in the league tactically. I’m positive you’ll see adjustments today that will bother the Knicks, Brunson soecifically

[The Rainmaker]

Nurse had the better available roster than Knicks and still lost to the hospital Knicks who is just Jalen Brunson and roleplayers. This is just as bad as Doc.

[FarBeyondDriven]

all of these coaches are overrated. You either have the players or you don't. Period. You could take a random dude off this message board and make him coach of the Sixers and armed with Embiid, Maxey and in the Eastern Conference, they'd also be able to "coach" them to a first round exit in the playoffs.

[Jabroni Lames]

Y’all can get down on your knees, apologize and beg forgiveness now.

Or just go back to the OP and give it a 100 likes. The takes on the first 3 pages look absolutely shameful now.

Either that, or the mental gymnastics to defend Nurse are going to be epic.

[Jabroni Lames]

all of these coaches are overrated. You either have the players or you don't. Period. You could take a random dude off this message board and make him coach of the Sixers and armed with Embiid, Maxey and in the Eastern Conference, they'd also be able to "coach" them to a first round exit in the playoffs.

Nick Nurse is the most overrated, bro. Let’s get that straight.

[Ray Donovan]

I've been big Nic Nurse fan but maybe I need to reevaluate Coach Nurse .Last,few,years,I n Toronto have,not been successful & now just Lost in 1st tound to knicks,smh

[Jabroni Lames]

Nurse is one of the best coaches in the league tactically. I’m positive you’ll see adjustments today that will bother the Knicks, Brunson soecifically

lol. Your messiah let you down.

Brunson just got better and better as the series went on. And Knicks have no second option. Genius superstar stopper, Nick Nurse, couldn’t even design a defensive scheme to stop a 5’ 10” unathletic second round pick.

I hope everyone is seeing the light on Nurse now. He’s not that brilliant, elite coach that you all were believing he was. He’s had the benefit of MVP players, talented rosters and massive luck. He’s even sucked coaching good rosters.

[greekman]

I've been big Nic Nurse fan but maybe I need to reevaluate Coach Nurse .Last,few,years,I n Toronto have,not been successful & now just Lost in 1st tound to knicks,smh

and a championship in 2019

[PlatinumState]

He's definitely gonna ride that Toronto ring for the next 20 years in the league like Doc does his Boston ring. "He's a great coach because he won a ring once ya know"

[nikster]

Y’all can get down on your knees, apologize and beg forgiveness now.

Or just go back to the OP and give it a 100 likes. The takes on the first 3 pages look absolutely shameful now.

Either that, or the mental gymnastics to defend Nurse are going to be epic.

What do you think Nurse could have done differently?

[shi-woo]

Y’all can get down on your knees, apologize and beg forgiveness now.

Or just go back to the OP and give it a 100 likes. The takes on the first 3 pages look absolutely shameful now.

Either that, or the mental gymnastics to defend Nurse are going to be epic.

What do you think Nurse could have done differently?

Found ways to incorporate Buddy and Tobias more, as they are the only people on the roster that can score outside of Joel and Maxey.

His role players played scared, mainly becaue they aren't used to playing, let alone being asked to give solid minutes. You saw Cam and Buddy play great and provide energy last night when their backs were against the wall. Oubre actually impressed this series.

He got nothing from anyone on the roster not named Joel and Maxey, because that was their team all year. What he should have done takes place during the season, not so much what he didn't do in this series. His team was vastly under prepared, which is saying something considering they were the veteran group out there.

[nikster]

Y’all can get down on your knees, apologize and beg forgiveness now.

Or just go back to the OP and give it a 100 likes. The takes on the first 3 pages look absolutely shameful now.

Either that, or the mental gymnastics to defend Nurse are going to be epic.

What do you think Nurse could have done differently?

Found ways to incorporate Buddy and Tobias more, as they are the only people on the roster that can score outside of Joel and Maxey.

His role players played scared, mainly becaue they aren't used to playing, let alone being asked to give solid minutes. You saw Cam and Buddy play great and provide energy last night when their backs were against the wall. Oubre actually impressed this series.

He got nothing from anyone on the roster not named Joel and Maxey, because that was their team all year. What he should have done takes place during the season, not so much what he didn't do in this series. His team was vastly under prepared, which is saying something considering they were the veteran group out there.

You say his role players weren't used to playing so they played poorly....but buddy played great coming off 2 straight DNPs.

Embiid missed more than half the season and didn't have a high minute load in the games he did play....he only played 1300 minutes. How were their role players not used to playing?

[Jabroni Lames]

Nick Nurse's playoff record since Kawhi left Toronto:

2020: Won 1st round vs. Brooklyn Nets minus 3 starters + rotation players who didn't want to go the bubble.
2021: Missed playoffs
2022: Lost in first round.
2023: Missed playoffs
2024: Lost in first round

I keep hearing "great coach" attached repeatedly to Nurse's name. This is not the resume of a great coach. Heck, Darvin Ham made WCF last year and he just got fired. Budenholzer has a championship, and multiple conference finals appearances with different franchises, and he's never mentioned in the same rarified air as Nurse.

[DLTGWH]

I don’t know if he’s overrated but he sure is a f$cking whiny crybaby. Guy never stops. Games the sixers won. Not a peep about the refs from Nurse. Games they lost? Cry cry cry. . Meanwhile he’s got a center who averages 10+ free throws a game and Thibs didn’t even mention fouls or the refs once. It’s a culture thing and morey and Nurse are the head of the crybaby sixers snake