Raptors Loss Not Because of Covid-19

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It's not breaking news that Toronto Raptors are not in the playoffs. It was clear at the beginning of the season that Nick Nurse, despite a competent coaching staff, did not want to be in the playoffs, and blaming COVID-19 is a cop-out. 

Throwback to September 2020, when Raptors, an NBA team with the best bench at the time, was hammered by Boston Celtics. Reason? Nick Nurse the coach ran the main squad ragged and refused to tap into the bench for help. Reason? He was in a hurry to get out of the ‘bubble’ and rush off somewhere for reasons best known to himself.

Same strategy to start this lost season. He did not use that same bench, although it’s now minus three/four men. We won’t count Norman Powell because he left for the Blazers only yesterday, in March when the damage had set in.

New players joined the fold. Nurse decided not to use players like Chris Boucher, Stanley Johnson and Paul Watson, but experimented with new men like Aron Baynes.

It was obvious that Baynes was a bad fit, but Nurse turned a blind eye,  the same way he ignored the obvious, that Marc Gasol was not supposed to be in the line-up against Boston Celtics last year. Nobody knows this better than team players who worked extra hard to hide Gasol’s deficiency.

What Nick Nurse wants, Nick Nurse gets, so players and the country called Canada knew Raptors were not not going to smell playoffs.  We mention Canada because Toronto Raptors is a team that is joined at the hip with a country. U.S. fans can support more than one NBA team. Canada has one.

So, when the pandemic sneaked in, all countries devised strategies of preventing outsiders from bringing it in. Canada came up with the 14 day quarantine. You must stay in a hotel as soon as your plane touches down. No exception.

This includes Toronto Raptors, who keep passports next to head phones in their bags, because they are in and out for home and off-shore games. MLSE, which owns Raptors had to comply so, the best solution was to move to Tampa to avoid the 14 day quarantine.

But to totally blame Covid-19 for the playoffs' no-show will not solve Raptors' problem, which is Nick Nurse and his other commitments. 

This is another ‘written podcast’ by Nonqaba waka Msimang.

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