Jerry Stackhouse Has Characteristics Nick Nurse Didn't As Raptors' Coaching Search Continues
There’s an old cliché in sports that suggests the Toronto Raptors' next head coach is going to be the exact opposite of Nick Nurse.
It’s almost a tradition to zigzag between coaching philosophies. If the last coach had certain strengths and certain weaknesses, as they all do, the next one will be the inverse. For Toronto, that’s what makes former Raptors 905 head coach and current Vanderbilt head coach Jerry Stackhouse such an interesting head coaching candidate for the Raptors this summer.
If Nurse was an NBA outsider when he first joined the Raptors in 2018, Stackhouse is the inverse. The 48-year-old was the third pick in the 1995 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers and played in 17 seasons, twice earning All-Star recognition.
Following his retirement in 2015, Stackhouse joined the Raptors as an assistant coach under Dwane Casey. He spent two seasons coaching the 905, leading a loaded 2016-17 roster with Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, and Jakob Poeltl to the 2016-17 G League championship. He later joined the Memphis Grizzlies’ staff for a season before heading to the college ranks to take over Vanderbilt.
“Stackhouse is widely known as an elite coach when it comes to X's and O's,” said 247Sports’ Vanderbilt reporter Robbie Weinstein. “His offensive sets are among the best in college basketball, and his defensive scheme — while difficult to learn — has produced great results at times as well.”
Like Nurse, Stackhouse is well-attuned to modern basketball analytics and has fully embraced hyper-efficient offense. Only Alabama and Missouri attempted more three-pointers than Vanderbilt this season in the Southeastern Conference and the Commodores ranked among college basketball’s best offenses in terms of shot quality, per ShotQuality.com.
Where Stackhouse differs from Nurse, is his willingness to play his bench. Toronto ranked last in the NBA last season in bench minutes per game, an issue Raptors president and vice-chairman Masai Ujiri noted led to a lack of development within the organization.
Stackhouse’s problem is the opposite.
“Tactically, Stackhouse seems to leave meat on the bone as it relates to his rotations — specifically using too many bench-heavy units in key parts of games,” Weinstein added. “Perhaps that would be less of an issue at the NBA level, where bench players are more polished.”
Then there’s Stackhouse’s hardcore coaching style. While Nurse was often quick to publicly criticize his players, at times there was a sense he wouldn’t coach his players hard enough. That, as Sportsnet’s Michael Grange reported, was occasionally left for Ujiri to do. Stackhouse doesn’t suffer that same issue.
“Stackhouse is difficult to play for. He coaches his players hard,” Weinstein said. “Vanderbilt has lost scores of players to the NCAA transfer portal during his tenure. His intense personality would be an issue in the NBA if he cannot reign it in, but he is also a smart man and likely understands to some extent that he would need to throttle back if he wants to succeed in the pros.
“In terms of development, Vanderbilt's players generally have improved a lot over multiple years and he has had good results recently considering that the Commodores recruit at a lower level than that of their SEC opponents.”
That will be the make-or-break characteristic for Stackhouse as an NBA coach if he’s hired by Toronto. It’s one thing to be tough on mostly unpaid college players, it’s another to bring that same fire to the highest level.
Stackhouse has had success in the Raptors organization before and has a connection with many of the players still on the roster, but this would be his first NBA head coaching gig and he’s far from a sure thing.
Further Reading
With Dame Lillard to the Raptors rumors underway, Toronto faces same old problem
Masai Ujiri provides some clarity on Raptors' Jeff Dowtin Jr. decision
Nick Nurse just the first of "big changes" ahead for the Raptors, Masai Ujiri says
