Will DC cost us the series?

[feet85]

No, he's (Casey) not. He has had a couple of turnovers, but who hasn't? NOBODY is perfect. Call me crazy, but I'd say the right move regarding Casey is extending him for one more year, see where the team ends up in the standings when the whole conference isn't in tank mode and see how far he gets in the playoffs. Depending on the outcome either extend him long term or dump him. I'm not totally sold on him, but he is the man who brought us this far, he has a lot to bring to the table and so far I am satisfied.

Th Bobcats

[special1]

It's DC's fault for not playing aggressively enough, relying far too much on horrendously inefficient long-range shooting. Attack the basket, be it off dribble-penetration, post-ups, P&R, whatever... stop playing into the defensive game-plan. Play inside-out. Simple. It forces the defense to tighten up and will open up the lanes for the perimeter play, be it ISO's, handoffs or passing lanes. They have to play inside-out.

Sounds great in theory! But even you have to admit that this team is not blessed with such types of players (post-up, back to the basket types). JV is not reliable unless he makes his moves quickly... If he takes a few dribbles he gets stripped. Other than Demar, there's really no one else that can effectively work and pass out of the post. So.....Is that on Casey?

[iblastoff]

Sounds great in theory! But even you have to admit that this team is not blessed with such types of players (post-up, back to the basket types). JV is not reliable unless he makes his moves quickly... If he takes a few dribbles he gets stripped. Other than Demar, there's really no one else that can effectively work and pass out of the post. So.....Is that on Casey?

Totally agree. Sounds all fine and dandy when you realize we don't ANY legit post up players etc. And anyone watching the games can tell brooklyns main goal is to stop our pick and rolls completely. With amir being incredibly sloppy who else can we go to?

[Balls of Steel]

If Fields doesn't start over Ross, yea he will. I think starting Anderson over Livingston was pure brilliance. Shocked that Casey can't wrap his head around changes. Ross doesn't even space the floor. Fields is more mobile and can rebound. His STUBBORNESS with this will cost this team this round.

[YoungGunRaptor]

Ross vs Lillrad ....

This is the cost of wining some extra meaningless games at the end of the season to satisfy the short sighted fans who think their home boy scrubs are top 10 PFs in the league and stars ...

Lets see what will be the cost of the 1st round exit from Play offs this year going to be

This type of rhetorical optimism and negativity is what I cannot stand. We can say something along the lines of that for every draft pick. The Raptors have already blown everyone's expectations out of the water by coming this far. This team's most experienced player in the playoffs is Hansbrough. KG has more experience than the entire Raptors roster combined. They all have to grow, and they all have to learn.

Should the Raptors lose tomorrow, they will not have lost anything more by doing so. They get a chance tomorrow to test their mental will against some of the most clutch players in NBA history. Babies versus Veterans. Whatever happens, we can be assured that they will come back stronger, better, and hungrier next season.

But, that is true only if we lose. If we win, the postseason continues, and the Raptors will have to dig deeper within themselves to overcome their fatigue and face off against the well-rested Heat.


So, to sum it up. If we lose, we win. If we win, we win more.

Its a win/win situation.

[Lark Benson]

That depends on how much of the blame for poor execution lies with the coach and how much lies with the players. Just as one example, I have a really, really hard time believing that the coaching staff hasn't pointed out how insanely wide open a lot of shooters (and, often, the roll man too) have been when Lowry or DD get doubled up high, so I tend to believe that the players simply aren't comfortable making those passes (especially across the body swing passes). Same goes for just about everything the Raps have faced; it's hard to tell whether it's lack of scouting or lack of player execution. I'd tend toward the latter.

Unfortunately nothing DC can do will overcome the fact that the Raps have no answer for Johnson and that the team's inability to pass the ball effectively under pressure is killing their offense.

[Primer]

No, he's (Casey) not. He has had a couple of turnovers, but who hasn't? NOBODY is perfect. Call me crazy, but I'd say the right move regarding Casey is extending him for one more year, see where the team ends up in the standings when the whole conference isn't in tank mode and see how far he gets in the playoffs. Depending on the outcome either extend him long term or dump him. I'm not totally sold on him, but he is the man who brought us this far, he has a lot to bring to the table and so far I am satisfied.

Yes, lets just keep Casey as a lame duck coach forever. Shows the vast confidence the franchise has in him. I find it hilarious that the people arguing to keep Casey only want to keep him for 1 or 2 year deals. That in and of itself shows that you don't think he's a very good coach. If he was good you'd want to lock him up for 4+ years.

[Primer]

No, DC is not costing us the series. It is our GM, MU who did not get enough talent to win this series. When your starting PF is Amir Johnson, then you will not go far in the play offs even in a disastrous Eastern Conference this year. When your SF starter in Ross, then you can not expect much from your coach.

This whole post is just absurd. The Nets play heavy minutes to Alan fucking Anderson, Shaun D-League Livingston, and Mason fucking Plumlee. Deron Williams has looked like a shit sandwich all year. KG and Pierce are 1,000 years old. But we're the untalented team. Kidd is making adjustments and Casey is getting befuddled, because he's not smart enough to make counter adjustments. He always just lets the other team dictate the game and hopes Lowry and Derozan will save the day.

[Jamshid]

This whole post is just absurd. The Nets play heavy minutes to Alan fucking Anderson, Shaun D-League Livingston, and Mason fucking Plumlee. Deron Williams has looked like a shit sandwich all year. KG and Pierce are 1,000 years old. But we're the untalented team. Kidd is making adjustments and Casey is getting befuddled, because he's not smart enough to make counter adjustments. He always just lets the other team dictate the game and hopes Lowry and Derozan will save the day.

Or we are so low on talent that we can not even beat a SHIT team like Nets ... Not everything is on the coach. Ross is shooting the ball like SHIT ... Amir Johnson is lost and ... East was SHIT this year and we are still struggling against NETS

[Primer]

Or we are so low on talent that we can not even beat a SHIT team like Nets ... Not everything is on the coach. Ross is shooting the ball like SHIT ... Amir Johnson is lost and ... East was SHIT this year and we are still struggling against NETS

East was AVERAGE this year. Look at the standings of the 5 years prior and the records are almost identical. The East started shitty (only 2 teams above .500) but ended average (only one playoff team below .500).

Also, seems like you aren't willing to blame anything on Casey, just the players.

[brothersteve]

Casey is doing what's he's been told to do

“I think (Ross) is soaking up some minutes,” Casey said. “Both of (Ross and Valanciunas) are soaking up big minutes. Probably, if they weren’t young guys, they probably wouldn’t be. If it wasn’t our future, our direction, (they) probably wouldn’t be in there with some of the mistakes they are making.

“They are our guys. They got to learn, this is their first playoff. I expect a lot of their mistakes, so we are going to ride with them in those situations.”

Raptors Terrence Ross Is Learning From The Playoff Grind

Everybody should know by now that Casey's instructions are to develop the young guys and let the chips fall where they may. This is going to create some "shit" rotations and substitutions that aren't always in the best interests of winning games - and its allowed JV to have some monster games in the playoffs.
This isn't an NBA Championship team - not yet anyway

[Stahmenah_Vybz]

No, DC is not costing us the series. It is our GM, MU who did not get enough talent to win this series. When your starting PF is Amir Johnson, then you will not go far in the play offs even in a disastrous Eastern Conference this year. When your SF starter in Ross, then you can not expect much from your coach.

I disagree here. You seem to forget that MU didn't expect things to turn out the way it did. And he said over and over again that he wanted to evaluate what we have. And we have already reached higher than anyone expected us to and one more game win or lose / have showed that either we are better than everyone think or Brooklyn are just plain out bad!

[Jamshid]

I disagree here. You seem to forget that MU didn't expect things to turn out the way it did. And he said over and over again that he wanted to evaluate what we have. And we have already reached higher than anyone expected us to and one more game win or lose / have showed that either we are better than everyone think or Brooklyn are just plain out bad!

I think we are basically saying the same thing. We are not wining, because we do not have enough talent. Why don't we have enough talent? because what you said up there ... Our GM wanted to evaluate the team ... in his mind , we have already reached higher than expectation ... After the success of this team started, MU was content with keeping the team as it is and NOT really trying to get talent to be relevant in the play offs.

Now fans want us to win ... in the eyes of MU, we have already WON

[Jamshid]

Raptors Terrence Ross Is Learning From The Playoff Grind

Everybody should know by now that Casey's instructions are to develop the young guys and let the chips fall where they may. This is going to create some "shit" rotations and substitutions that aren't always in the best interests of winning games - and its allowed JV to have some monster games in the playoffs.
This isn't an NBA Championship team - not yet anyway

Well Said. People need to stop blaming this coach and thinking with better coach we would be in NBA finals with this team. Ross, Amir, Vasquez, Patterson, Novak, Fileds, ... these are not guys who can seriously compete in the play offs. They are role players and not difference makers.

[yabadabayolo]

This type of rhetorical optimism and negativity is what I cannot stand. We can say something along the lines of that for every draft pick. The Raptors have already blown everyone's expectations out of the water by coming this far. This team's most experienced player in the playoffs is Hansbrough. KG has more experience than the entire Raptors roster combined. They all have to grow, and they all have to learn.

Should the Raptors lose tomorrow, they will not have lost anything more by doing so. They get a chance tomorrow to test their mental will against some of the most clutch players in NBA history. Babies versus Veterans. Whatever happens, we can be assured that they will come back stronger, better, and hungrier next season.

But, that is true only if we lose. If we win, the postseason continues, and the Raptors will have to dig deeper within themselves to overcome their fatigue and face off against the well-rested Heat.


So, to sum it up. If we lose, we win. If we win, we win more.

Its a win/win situation.

Nooooo we are not gonna start settling in as sympathy fans. When we Winn. We will win. But if we lose, that shit ain't gon happen