TORONTO-Nick Nurse was never afraid to send a message to his players or bosses, and on Wednesday he did both.
For the second game in a row, the Raptors faced an elite opponent on the road. They were highly competitive competitions with a total of 44 head changes and two exciting finals, but both ended in the same way, in a narrow defeat for the Nurse team.
In each game, losses to Dallas and Miami, Toronto chose to remain head coach to a tight rotation of seven players, while relying mainly on six.
The statement was clear. To compete with the best in the league, Nurse believes that he can only rely on the guys from his trusted circle, and with more than half of the season on the books, this remains an EXCLUSIVE club. The implication is that his team needs help, if not underperforming players who have looked and waited on the bench, then from the front office.
There are no easy answers. With two key turning parts from training and a lack of depth behind them, Nurse can risk overloading his regulars or throwing the dice on untried players who have not produced in their limited minutes.
It’s a no-win situation, hence Nurse’s frustration after Wednesday’s 102-98 loss to the Red-hot Mavericks. He praised his team’s efforts, but seemed exasperated by the narrative that was beginning to unfold.
It’s fair to acknowledge the heavy workload that some of these guys are doing on both ends of the floor, or even question them and point out that this could be devastating. The Raptors played four games in six days, all on the road and with a shortened bench. During this period, Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam played 167 out of 192 minutes possible, OG Anunoby by adding 153. These three players combined to shoot 5 in 23 to three points against Dallas, including 1 in 9 in the fourth quarter, while it seemed that they were out of gas.
“They saw the game, I’ll let them do whatever they want,” VanVleet said after a rare shot outside the night. “I definitely won’t find any excuses here. I need to be better, and if I make a few more strokes, we will probably come out of here with a victory.”
But instead of pointing out that the Raptors lost because they outscored their best players, you can look at it and ask: would you have even had a chance to compete with one of the hottest teams in the league and steal an unlikely victory if you hadn’t ridden these guys?
It’s not that alternatives generate a lot of trust. Since the beginning of the month, the Raptors are 35 points ahead of Yuta Watanabe in 39 minutes. They were outscored by 14 points in 18 minutes with Dalano Banton on the floor and by 13 points in 14 minutes with Malachi Flynn. These three, along with Svi Mykhailiuk, teamed up to shoot on the field on January 5 in 35.
They did not play well, but in their defense it is difficult for the players – especially the boys – to stay in rhythm, to feel comfortable in their roles and to produce consistently when they are used so sporadically. It’s a chicken and egg scenario. These guys won’t play if they don’t produce, but they can’t produce if they don’t play. In general, the time for players who are not part of the rotation to gain the trust of a coach is in practice, but the Raptors haven’t had much of it lately.
This is where the nurse’s dilemma comes into play. Will you benefit more from the starters running on the fumes, or from the guys standing on cool legs? If it were so simple, the answer would be relatively simple. The seven guys who are playing at the moment – VanVleet, Siakam, Anunoby, Scottie Barnes, Precious Achiuwa, Chris Metzger and Justin Champagnie – are playing for a reason. They make mistakes here and there and have their nights off, but for the most part they bring effort and energy every time they walk on the floor, that’s all you can ask.
