Nick Nurse still has an eye on Canadian players | NBA

For the first time since starting his tenure at the Raptors as head coach, Nick Nurse will not be leading the Canadian right in the playoffs. But the coach already has something else in mind: the Canadian choice.

The US technician will lead the exercise as part of the Olympic qualifiers in Victoria (Canada) at the end of June, where he will face Greece, China, Uruguay, the Czech Republic and Turkey.

In the past two weeks, Nick has been able to attend two meetings on Nurse Zoom, in which a majority of 40 players will be selected. In addition to these direct contacts, The coach says he gets emails Every day with statistics of Canadian players from around the world, including the NBA, Europe or the University.

« I watch a lot of NBA games, Explains Nick Nurse. I get stuck for a while in a game that doesn’t fit my work with raptors. For example last night, I saw the end of the Memphis game (for Brandon Clark). Stopping me in front of a Euro League match happens from time to time. ‘Hey, (Canadian point guard Kevin) If someone tells me that Bangos had a big game last night, I ask my team to stream it on my TV in my office. »

The idea is to follow the performance of everyone considering the final selection for the pre-Olympics competition. ” There are many players and situations, injuries, contracts, NBA playoffs. Can they still play? », He is already surprised.

The latter is well aware that it is necessary to win this competition to go to the Olympics in Tokyo. But the list of players available is still very uncertain. Injured Jamal Murray, Shay Kilgius-Alexander and Chris Pacher are unlikely to be there. This week, Kem Birch pointed out that he will be present, but in good health.