Nick Nurse: 'Canada ready for second NBA team'

Nick Nurse was bullish about the growth of basketball in Canada and suggested the country is in a much better position now to sustain a second NBA franchise. Toronto's head coach was speaking after the Raptors played a full-squad scrimmage game in front of a sell-out crowd in Victoria, BC.

Video Transcript

- What'd you think of the officiating?

[LAUGHTER]

NICK NURSE: Really solid. Those guys have been solid all week. And they came out and continued it tonight, yeah.

- All the guys agree? No. But I think most of them. I saw a couple guys complaining.

- What stood out for you tonight?

NICK NURSE: Well, it was kind of inter-- the interesting thing, for me, was is that the starters had their hands full all week, right? And then, they weren't scoring very well or making very many shots all week. And, of course, they come out tonight and made all of them. And that stood out to me because they were creating pretty good shots for each other, making extra passes, moving the ball. I thought that was pretty good. But I would say the white didn't give a whole lot of resistance there at the start of the game, where we're ready to go.

- First period?

NICK NURSE: First period, yep.

- Was it just a rest night for the two vets?

NICK NURSE: No, they're got-- there's some issues there. I mean, Thad is- Thad's day to day, just got a little bump on the knee, but is OK. Otto does have a little hamstring issue that's been evaluated, MRIed. It's gonna be a bit for him, I think. Those are always tricky. So we won't see him here, probably, playing for a little bit. But both Thad and Khem are day to day and could go-- their day to day.

- [INAUDIBLE]

NICK NURSE: Their day to day. Their day to day. No, I'm just k-- [LAUGHS]

- Otto happened in camp?

NICK NURSE: Yes, yes.

- And has Khem been able to do anything?

NICK NURSE: Khem's been in all the way till right now.

- Oh, OK.

NICK NURSE: Yep, he was in all the way. I don't think he missed any-- anything. I'm just trying to think for a second if he maybe missed a night session once or something. But I don't think so. I think he's been in everything, all the way, and just out today.

- Obviously, I would imagine, in a format like that, you're kind of looking a little bit at the lower end of your roster. You talked about the competition for those spots. Do you want guys to be, like, showing out in a scrimmage like that? Or do you want them just showing that they're executing and they're kind of--

NICK NURSE: Yeah, I mean, it would be great if they could do both, right? I mean, I mean, I think that a lot of it comes to are they not letting you down, or they're not making mistakes, or they're not turning it over, or they're not having breakdowns on defense, right? That's really important, I think. And then it always helps if you do you know, be able to catch fire a little bit offensively, or make your shots, whatever.

Don't think it was a great night, from an evaluation standpoint, for a lot of those guys. I didn't think many of those g-- I thought each and every one of the starters did some things that showed really well. And after that, I'm not sure, to be honest with you, that anybody else did a whole lot to wow any of us that were there watching tonight.

- Any idea how Koloko's doing?

NICK NURSE: He's OK, yeah. He just-- he's OK. He did get a shot in the face and drew some blood, but nothing, I think-- I just bumped into doc. And he said he'll be fine. He did take a hit in the face but, you know, should be OK.

- Hi, Nick, it's the [INAUDIBLE], Detroit--

NICK NURSE: Yeah.

- --Edmonton--

NICK NURSE: Yeah.

- --Montreal. Can you speak about the national following?

NICK NURSE: Yeah. Yeah, it's something, right? I think it's pretty special, again, out here. We've been out here a few times now. And it just-- it seems like that it's growing, which is great to see, right? Again, I mentioned the tremendous support they gave us for the Argentina game. That was pretty fun in there for our guys. I think it helps, you know. I think it helps to get the guys in front of a lot of people. Obviously, we'll get a chance Sunday. It'll probably be a lot more fun for us to play against somebody else, right? And I think the guys are looking forward to that.

But, I mean, it's a great thing that the organization has decided to do to kind of to move around the country. And we get repaid very well with the great support, Right? And, again, it's something special to be-- have a whole country behind you, as you all know, it is. And it's nice to see it in person again.

- [INAUDIBLE] see the support for the Canada game last night. Do you think there's a chance-- or would you like to see an NBA team back in Vancouver or even Seattle?

NICK NURSE: I mean, I certainly would. And I think that, I mean, I wasn't really that in touch with it when Vancouver was here the first time, right? [LAUGHS] Sorry, I don't know who's knocking out there, but they really want to in, don't they? [LAUGHS]

But I think that, again, the growth of the game in Canada, I mean, I really think it would be-- it would certainly probably work a lot better now, just because of the general growth of basketball and the general support that the whole country seems to give basketball now.