Everyone connected with the NBA watches games when they can, and the reasons are myriad.

Players watch to see what their buddies are doing or what their old teams are looking like, or because it’s a particularly compelling matchup. In many ways it is mindless entertainment, and because they get so immersed in a season as it goes on, watching becomes the normal off-night lifestyle.

Coaches tend to watch with a more discerning eye. They look for plays and player rotations and out-of-timeout or end-of-game situations they can tuck away to either steal for their own use or be prepared to defend if a similar situation arises.

It’s work, and it’s fun. They watch to see how teams are coached and how they play.

“I do both,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse was saying not too long ago. “Part of my job is to know my counterpart … what are they? If you give me a name, I should be able to give you five sentences on who they are. That plays an important part in our scouting.”

It also feeds perfectly into Nurse’s willingness to, and love of, experimentation as he detailed this week.

He has watched a ton of Milwaukee Bucks games over the course of the season, as a rival and a fan of the game. He’s seen some things — groups of players, sets the Bucks might run with this or that group on the floor — and it got him thinking of how to defend or attack it.

He was ready to spring a few things on them this week, in experimental mode.

“I would tend to probably try a few things (Tuesday) that may go sideways or may not work, that I may not try in a playoff game,” he said before facing the Bucks.

“I might (try them in the playoffs) anyway, too — who knows — but you know what I mean? I’ve got a couple ideas I think I want to look at, and I don’t have any idea if they’re good or not. So I think I’ll throw them out there, and maybe if it was a playoff game I wouldn’t. Since it’s not, hopefully I’ll give ’em a shot.”

When Tuesday’s game was over, Nurse was of course disappointed that his team lost, 108-97, but he was just as upset that he never got the opportunity to try something really different.

The Bucks wouldn’t play along.

“Next game up, maybe I’ll do a few more things,” he said, sounding a bit disappointed. “I didn’t get the lineup I thought I was going to get to do some of this stuff, so it’ll be the next game.”

It could be as simple as if this team plays this group of guys, we’ll counter with this and make them adapt to us. It could be a subtle as if they’re running this pick-and-roll on this side of the court with these two guys, we’ll do this to force them to the other side.

It helps immensely that Nurse has a veteran, smart team willing to put up with his ideas, mostly because they work.

Box-and-one defence? Yeah, we did it in high school and it’s not too hard to remember.

Press and trap all over the floor? OK, our legs are sore and our bodies are rebelling, but if it gets us three easy baskets and amps up the crowd, let’s do it for a few minutes.

Change basic defences four or five or six times a game? OK, let’s see what works.

And then Nurse can go back to his videos and come up with ideas, and then he can go back to his television on a night off and watch games with a uniquely discerning eye.

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“If I’m just watching a game casually, I think (what) stands out to me is that the team is bought in, the team is organized,” he said. “I think you can see those things. That’s the main point. If you don’t have a bought-in, organized team, then you’re just kind of out there playing.”

And if you’re just kind of out there playing, he’ll find a way to make you pay for it.

As long as he gets the chance to do it.