Everyone is an All-Star during the preseason. Every player improved their jump shot, has lost or gained 15 pounds of weight, and enters the season feeling better than ever before. Coaches typically love to hype their players up by talking of improvements they expect to see this season. Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse decided to go another route.
When asked about the play of Stanley Johnson and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Nurse didn’t sugar coat anything, calling out both players for a lack of effort and focus on the defensive end of the floor:
“Those guys have not understood A) how hard we play [and], B) our schemes [and] that defence is a priority for them, etc.