Nurse dealing with growing pains

New coach has plenty of lineup options, looks to put his stamp on team

VANCOUVER— One of the games Toronto Raptors fans have been playing since July is the “who starts, who comes off the bench” contest, trying to figure out which players new coach Nick Nurse will play, and with who.

Anyone who has it figured it out might want to get in touch with Nurse, because even he’s not sure at the moment, and it doesn’t sound like resolution is coming any time soon.

“I think I kind of look at this whole pre-season and training camp as us trying to search for some different combinations just for the sake of it,” Nurse said after the team’s first full, official workout Tuesday morning.

“We’ve got to get to know them. They’ve got to get to know me a little bit, and we’ll see a lot of learning and a lot of growth going on here that I’m looking forward to it.”

There’s no question team president Masai Ujiri and general manager Bobby Webster have given Nurse a versatile roster that could create any number of possibilities.

That’s particularly true for the defence, which has more athleticism and length than a year ago, more experience for the younger players and more players capable of guarding different positions. In today’s NBA, switching on defence is the invogue style and Toronto should be able to do that.

“We have a lot of length,” said big man Pascal Siakam.

“We’re just excited about just getting stops and running and that’s better, especially for me, because I am going to be the first down the floor. But the more stops we can get the more we can score and the better we will look. So yeah, it’s exciting.”

“I think we can be a top-two team defensively, we got a lot of guys who know where the ball is and have a great defensive awareness,” he said.

“We’re long and athletic and guys that get after it, so I think we have many different looks and lineups that can give teams problems defensively for sure.” CIRCLE OF TRUST: The little things a new coach puts into place puts his stamp on things. For Nurse, it’s a new way to end practices.

Instead of having the players mill about in some kind of huddle, he’s got them in a full circle at midcourt.

“Instead of a huddle we do a big circle and everyone looks at each other in the face,” said Siakam. Is that okay with everyone? “Yeah, I guess.” EARLY DAYS: A new coach, a couple of key new teammates, likely some new responsibilities on offence and defence. Siakam knows all days are not necessarily going to be good days in the early going for the Raptors.

“We don’t know how long it will take,” he said. “We might come in (Wednesday) and look like the best team ever or we might show up and look like we’ve never played together before. It’s going to take time. We just have to come in with an open mind.”

“We’ve got to get to know them. They’ve got to get to know me a little bit.” NICK NURSE RAPTORS COACH