On the occasion of the first practice of another training camp, Raptors head coach Nick Nurse preferred there be no ambiguity about the nature of the bedrock on which he will be building his team. It will be about defence, from the first day to the last.
“(We’re) almost totally ignoring any offensive things and plays, just to reinforce that that’s who we are,” Nurse was saying from Tampa, Fla., after camp opened Sunday.
Nurse was talking about installing on-court schemes, of course. But in this strangest of new beginnings, he might as well have been discussing the importance of keeping at bay the global menace that, along with disrupting the planet for most of a grim year, threatens to mar the NBA’s attempt at having a season outside the confines of its successful Orlando-based bubble.