Another 4th quarter collapse. Coaching is a major problem.

[hateslosing]

I said yes, though I'm not going to be mad if he's still here next season. The teams defensive regression this season is enough of a reason.

[mike, prague]

If the Raps weren't to get a VG or Sloan ... No

[GoldenBaller]

Not really fire him, but just move him to assistant, I still like him he just doesn't know how to manage line ups, subs and minutes. Not sure if this means fire or not but Ill just leave it as it is ahaha .

[thead]

I think next year should be the bench mark for Casey.

[TRex]

I'd like to see them both gone. Colangelo has had his chance. Casey has been given a flawed product to work with, but his rotations and lack of an offense are bizarre. Plus, all our defensive progress from last year has gone down the drain.

+1

Promote Stefanski and make him the GM of the team. Hire an EXPERIENCED coach in the summer like a SVG or Nate McMillan or Doug Collins if the Sixers let him go.

[Michel G]

So, we're supposed to start all over again. Brilliant idea.

MLSE are going to pick up BC's option and both him and Casey will be back next year. The coach has done a fine job.

[YYZ]

Fire him? wonder how the players would feel about that.

[[email protected]]

Not really fire him, but just move him to assistant, I still like him he just doesn't know how to manage line ups, subs and minutes. Not sure if this means fire or not but Ill just leave it as it is ahaha .

How would you feel if you were a CEO and then told by the board that you had been demoted to regional manager of the Scranton Branch? My point is that it will never happen.

[grindhouse]

How many open dunks do we get off set plays or open shots player have to make the right choices inside the offense sets are amazing.

In the first quarter of he laker game we shot 73%.

[ceez]

Colangelo blows at building a team and Casey blows at running a team so I dunno it all seems pretty cut and dry to me.

[Eric Akshinthala]

I'm totally in favour of firing Casey. He was hired to change the culture which he did but was not able to sustain. Not only did the team lose it's short lived defensive identity but it seems lost offensively too. After his stint with Minnesota and now TO, it's clear he's better suited and actually excellent at asst. Coaching.

[Eric Akshinthala]

Fire him? wonder how the players would feel about that.

It hasn't been long enough that an attachment could have developed. It was not talked about much then but I think Mitchell's departure did cause some players to be disheartened.

[Rapstor4Life]

The identity is very much there without Calderon and less Bargnani. Numbers don't lie with Bargnani we are pretty awful.

[ezz_bee]

I don't care whether coangelo's option gets picked up or not, but I do think that Casey should get to coach next season. Fire him next january if we're not meeting expectations.

[j bean]

I voted to keep him but if he starts Bargnani over Amir again I'm changing my mind.

[ebrian]

I still don't agree with firing Casey when we're meeting expectations. We still have a flawed roster that needs to be fixed. If you fire Casey and you don't address the real issues, the next guy we hire will be fired within 2 seasons. We can't just keep replacing the coach and thinking this roster will suddenly turn into a winning team.

JV not playing the 4th quarter, or Anderson getting too many minutes -- those are the least of our worries. Let's build a solid lineup first and then worry about who deserves more minutes than others. I'd much rather be in a situation where you look at the roster and predict a 45-win season and we go on to win 30. That's easy -- when that happens you replace the coach. Right now we have a roster that should win 35 games and we're going to win ~32. To get better, firing the coach is not the answer.

In terms of losing games in the 4th quarter, a friend of mine gave me a great analogy:

NBA players are like any one of us -- nobody goes into the office saying "Today I'm going to mail it in." But some days you just kinda do. It's helpful if what you're doing is routine, even banal. Humans are naturally going to be high strung when they're facing a challenge, and not when they're not.

Playing the Toronto Raptors is the equivalent of filling out blank spots in a spreadsheet, I guess is what I'm saying. If your boss needs it by the end of the day, some days you'll find yourself farting around, staring out the window, staying too long for lunch, browsing RR forums and wondering why you can't focus... and then hurry up and finish it before 5pm.

[Checkines]

You have to give a coach three years and see where the team development is at. There has been so much turnover these past two seasons. He needs to now create an identity with Rudy Gay entrenched and Val in his 2nd year

[JStockton]

This is a very good analogy and hits home really hard.

In terms of losing games in the 4th quarter, a friend of mine gave me a great analogy:

NBA players are like any one of us -- nobody goes into the office saying "Today I'm going to mail it in." But some days you just kinda do. It's helpful if what you're doing is routine, even banal. Humans are naturally going to be high strung when they're facing a challenge, and not when they're not.

Playing the Toronto Raptors is the equivalent of filling out blank spots in a spreadsheet, I guess is what I'm saying. If your boss needs it by the end of the day, some days you'll find yourself farting around, staring out the window, staying too long for lunch, browsing RR forums and wondering why you can't focus... and then hurry up and finish it before 5pm.

This on the other hand is really bad. Clearly this guy does not know basketball hierarchy, nor corporate hierarchy for that matter.

How would you feel if you were a CEO and then told by the board that you had been demoted to regional manager of the Scranton Branch? My point is that it will never happen.

[Craiger]

Last offseason Coach Casey was above all criticism. Everything he touched turned to gold, he was one of the key reasons the team would improve and HE was the team's culture.

Now the Raptors world has swung upside down. Casey shouldn't be a head coach, he can't coach certain aspects of the game, his decisions are the reason the Raptors lost games X, Y and Z, and its time he's replaced.

Haven't we heard this story before? I don't know, say twice previously in the last 7 seasons?

Unfortunately for Casey (and fans), he's had a GM who has done a poor job identifying talent and building a team in general. Leaving Coach Casey in a terribly ackward spot - building certain individuals trade value, using players to justify intended purposes even if its not in the teams best interest, while also winning games, while also trying to build for the future, while playing a style of game that does not at all mesh with his.

That this discussion is even taking place should be yet another enourmous smack in the face for Colangelo.

Casey is nothing more than a symptom of Colangelo's short sighted, bait and switch, "I'll sell you gelato but give you luke warm cream" method of ego preserving team building.

Casey was brought in because Colangelo was building around Bargnani, thought to imitate the Dallas Mavericks, and wanted to convince a sour fan base that yes he knew and cared about defense. Going into this season Colangelo had not only convinced himself he had accomplished much of the above (which was ridiculous given the small sample of 1) Bargnani 2) a single shortened season 3) how poor Toronto's real results were) but he could add a Casey unfriendly Phoenix north edge to the team. All this while no longer being able to contain his waiting under the surface 'I'll prove it was me and not daddy' old self.

The result - this team was trying to simultaneously be (through management, coaches, and players)

-the championship Dallas Mavericks (Colangelo's pseudo-plan)
-the run and gun Suns (Colangelo's prefered style)
-the 2005x dynansty Detroit Pistons (Casey's prefered style)

without the personnel or talent to do any of them. Now this team is sitting on a 2007 Washington Wizards-esq roster. A rather random mix of overpayed young and veteran talent (and untalented alike) trying to be all things at once but have problems being anything at once.


Ok so that may be a bit ranty and confusing but I'll try and sum up.

Colangelo (or hopefully a new GM) needs to make a decision. Do they want to win now or do they want to rebuild?

If the plan is to win now, and are willing to trade away guys like Val and Ross to add quality veterans, with a slow paced defensive focus - Casey is the man for the job

If the plan is to do pretty much anything else (rebuild, high octane offense etc) - Casey is not the man for the job

If the plan is to do continue down the path the team has, with an ever shifting focus, quick reaction moves, and ego driven decisions - it doesn't matter who the coach is.

[Eric Akshinthala]

Fire him next january if we're not meeting expectations.

It could cost us making the play-offs. Off season Coaching change is better 'cause there's more time for familiarity.