Nick Nurse Quotes

The triangle offense is more for slashers and people who like to take the ball to the basket.

Basketball is a simple game. Your goal is penetration, get the ball close to the basket, and there are three ways to do that. Pass, dribble and offensive rebound.

It's tough for a jump shooter, especially in a triangle offense.

I don't like isolation play, unless you're in the low post.

The triangle is a foundation to an offense.

You don't cut anywhere, don't pick down anywhere, don't double screen, no weak side picking. All these things that should happen in a game of basketball don't happen anymore.

Basketball is a team game. But that doesn't mean all five players should have the same amount of shots.

Charles Barkley taught me a lot when I played against him. How he would use his body or use his dribble to get people in there and all that stuff.

I always thought the objective of basketball was to get the maximum amount of movement to get the easiest shot, closest to the basket. With the three-point rule, the whole strategy changes, and you make a move and then throw it 30 feet out, where somebody takes a standing jump shot.

I don't love playing zone all the time, because it does have an effect on your offense.

In Indiana, I knew the offense in and out. I knew spacing; I knew personnel. I knew the offense, how coach wanted to play me. So when I just wanted to take over and control the game, I could.

I got used to throwing a lot of lobs, got used to finding shooters, finding cutters. Each year at Duke I have had to score in different spots. I think that has helped me so much.

I think in Toronto my job was to score just based on the system that we had. We played a lot of iso basketball - a lot of one-on-one basketball.

Teams that just play on one side of the floor are going to struggle against defenses that load up on that side.

I'm one of those players who loves to dribble the ball, to run at people.

I play basketball; I actually like the triangle. It opens things up if you know how to move without the ball and know how to cut. That's the game you learn in high school and younger - pass, cut - basically the fundamentals of basketball, which makes it extremely difficult to guard.

Golden State was basically a guard-oriented offense so I didn't use it that much.

I try to take whatever the defense gives me, have a sense of urgency, know who's guarding me and pick my spots, get my teammates involved and also attack the rim.

I'm always open. As soon as I cross the half-court line, I'm open.

You know, pass now to pinch post, cut, shoot the shot. Do things to facilitate the offense. That's what I did in Alabama.

It's easy to draw up isolation basketball - it's not easy to draw up great motion offense with passing and cutting.

I love fast breaks, and I love playing full-court basketball, but offensively in the half court, I kind of take my time, let guys cut, and let the defense move. Then, if I have a move, I'll go. If not, I'll just hand it off to a teammate.

It starts the fast-break a lot easier when I get the ball. I don't have to wait for big men to give me it. Just get it and go.

I'm just saying if one team out of 30 goes small, that don't mean everybody else is doing it.

We were super successful under Mark Sampson because teams didn't expect us to play the way we played. We were so direct and played to people's strengths.