Nick Nurse: The Spread Offense + Counters, Reads, Adjustments and More!

with Nick Nurse,
Philadelphia 76ers (NBA) Head Coach;
Toronto Raptors (NBA) Head Coach from 2018 to 2023;
2019 NBA Champions;
2020 NBA Coach of the Year;
2020 NBA All-Star Game Head Coach;
Toronto Raptors Assistant Coach from 2013 to 2018;
Rio Grande Valley Vipers (NBA D-League) Head Coach from 2011 to 2013;
2013 NBA (D-League) Champions;
Iowa Energy (NBA D-League) Head Coach from 2007 to 2011;
2011 NBA (D-League) Champions;
2011 NBA G-League Dennis Johnson Coach of the Year;
head coach in the British Basketball League (BBL) for the Manchester Giants, London Towers and Brighton Bears between 1995 and 2006;
2x BBL Champions;
2x BBL Coach of the Year;
2003 English Cup;
1999 Uni-Ball Trophy;
Head coach for Telindus Oostende (Belgium) in 1998;
1998 Belgian Cup & Super Cup;
played collegiately for Northern Iowa

Offensive concepts from the NBA are becoming more common in lower levels of basketball. While many might think that these concepts are difficult to comprehend, Nick Nurse of the Toronto Raptors makes the complex understandable by providing the basics of offensive basketball played at the professional level. The concepts presented in this video make it easy to understand for coaches and players at any level of the game.

Offensive Overview

Unlike most traditional 4-out, 1-in offenses, Coach Nurse's spread offense is designed to spread the floor to create driving opportunities. With perimeter players spread around the 3-point line and a fifth player in the "dunker spot", the offense is designed to create space and facilitate any player looking to attack the basket.

Coach Nurse talks about the two main objectives of this offensive approach: creating space and attacking the paint. He discusses how offense is about creating space, which allows teams to become harder to guard. Additionally, Nurse explains why points per possession increase when the ball gets into the paint, especially when drive-and-kick scenarios develop, thanks to the setup of the offense.

Attack Phase

Regardless of how the ball was collected, attacking in transition is key for creating space and opening up opportunities to attack the paint. In Coach Nurse's system, wings sprint to the corners as the point guard advances the ball. Whenever the point guard gets the basketball, they must push and attack before the defense can get set.

Another way to attack the paint is to execute Pitch with the trailer. The point guard drives to the middle of the floor and works a hand-off to the trailer, who looks to attack the basket. On the drive, the trailer looks to get to the free throw line, finish at the rim, or kick out for a 3-point shot opportunity for a perimeter player.

The last aspect of Coach Nurse's attack phase is to incorporate the dunker spot. In transition, the first post player down the floor looks to rim run and get a layup. If they don't get a transition layup, they fill one of the two dunker spots and stay on that side for the duration of the possession. The rim runner then fills the dunker spot and plays for dump-off passes on drives and rebounds.

Pick & Roll and Counters

Like many NBA coaches, Coach Nurse incorporates the pick & roll into his offense. In transition, he likes to execute Swing, Drag, and Double Drag as ways to generate drives going to the basket. Additionally, the post in the dunker spot can be used as a ball screener to get more drives going downhill and set up high-percentage shots.

If the trailer gets too far out in front of the point guard during attack phase, the trailer has the option to run Pindown, a counter where the wing opposite the ball receives a pindown screen. Off the pindown, the cutter can either get a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer or curl into the paint, among other options. Nurse also shows the Pindown Exchange counter that works well off this action.

This video from Coach Nurse does an outstanding job of taking what many people would find to be a complex system and making it understandable to anyone interested in running an NBA-style offense.

125 minutes. 2021.