The Raptors no longer have championship-level talent.
They still have championship-level expectations for effort and attention to detail.
Newcomers Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Stanley Johnson are learning that the hard way.
Josh Lewenberg of TSN:
I asked Nick Nurse about how the new guys are fitting in, namely Stanley Johnson and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. This was not exactly a ringing endorsement: pic.twitter.com/GqAsHTCISc
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) October 16, 2019
That is HARSH.
But the last time he was coaching, Nick Nurse was overseeing a dominant defense deep in the playoffs. It must be a dramatic adjustment going to preseason intensity and sans Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green.
Nurse might also be trying to motivate Hollis-Jefferson and Johnson, who have the tools to be more effective.
This aren’t new issue for these forwards, though. They were available so cheap for a reason.