Raptors coach likes his Precious new asset
Achiuwa fits mould of Nurse’s kind of player
When it comes to the ideal basketball player, Nick Nurse is a guy who would have a pretty definitive set of characteristics.
We won’t sit here and pretend like we know exactly what an ideal player would look like for the Toronto Raptors head coach. There are too many variables and certainly not enough length in this column to do so, but over a few years we have come to make a few observations in this regard.
Nurse likes his basketball players tough. He likes physical players who aren’t above making an opponent think twice about a particular drive or move. He likes a player willing to do the hard things in the game.
He also likes his basketball players smart. The high IQ guys who can read a play and react in a fraction of a moment because often that is all that stands between a good play and a poor one.
Obviously, he prefers a guy who can shoot, but that’s not the be all and the end all. Nurse is pretty confident in his abilities to refine a guy’s mechanics and make him a better shooter.
He likes his players to have a solid work ethic and an ability to digest information and make the appropriate change or move.
Which is all a nice drawnout way of getting to the topic at hand — that being newcomer Precious Achiuwa, who just turned 22 a few days ago.
Achiuwa, who was born in Nigeria, came to Toronto after a lot of watching and learning in his rookie year in Miami as part of the sign-and-trade deal that sent Kyle Lowry south which also brought Goran Dragic north.
But make no mistake, the Toronto end of the return was primarily about securing Achiuwa. Dragic, who may not even be a Raptor past the trade deadline, was a necessity in the deal to make the financials work.
Achiuwa passes the Nurse eye test immediately. He stands 6-foot-8, weighs in at a sculpted 225 pounds and has that look about him that ensures nobody would ever cut in front of him in a line.
Nurse does a better job of describing Achiuwa.
“He’s a really personable guy, easy to talk to and very coachable. But he plays with a little bit of snarl on his face on the floor, which also we like. No, he’s been good. He’s very, very talented.”
Achiuwa was drafted 20th overall by the Heat a year ago. The Raptors got Malachi Flynn nine picks later.
Playing behind Bam Adebayo, Achiuwa didn’t see a lot of action in his rookie year. Playing behind both Kyle Lowry and Fred Vanvleet, Flynn got almost seven minutes a game more than his fellow draftclassman.
“I don’t put a ceiling on what I could accomplish,” Achiuwa said in response to a question about what he learned in his rookie year. “I believe if I put my mind on something, I could learn it if I put in the time, if I work hard to achieving that goal. For me, everything comes down to hard work and how bad I want it and how much I’m willing to put into it. I don’t want to put myself into a box or say this is my ceiling or I can’t go past this. It’s all about time and work.”
Nurse wasn’t in the room when Achiuwa made that statement but had he been, we all probably would have seen the coach’s face light up.
In a year in which the Raptors have basically filled the roster with as many 6-8, 6-9 guys with length, versatility and strength, Achiuwa might very well be the poster player for that part of the roster.
Rather than worry about filling the roles of point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward and centre, the Raptors are focused on building a team with equal parts talent, size and switchability and forcing teams to adapt to them.
Again, Achiuwa is new to the team, but that became obvious to him right away.
“What they’re trying to accomplish is positionless basketball,” Achiuwa said. “The drawing is on the wall. They’re just going for guys that are athletic, long, can guard multiple positions on defence. That’s what the roster consists of and if you have those guys on the roster, it’s going to be positionless.
“I don’t have to worry about what position I’m playing, it’s just read and react, back to being a pro, you know, ‘he’s at that spot, I’m going to go fill up the next spot,’” Achiuwa said. “It’s just read and react and I think it’s a great thing because if we can all get our offence to where we think we can get it to our defence is going to be a problem and I think that’s amazing.”