#FireCasey

[white men can't jump]

If we are talking about how much an idiot Casey is wrt JJ there is one scenario that sums it all up

Vasquez guarding Tyreke to end the game

Casey is a stupid head coach. End of discussion. He deserves no more chances, this shit has been happening for years

I feel like it needs to be emphasized again for anyone who might've forgot, this was entirely deliberate and by design. Casey wanted Greivis Vasquez guarding the Tyreke Evans. This was the strategy he thought would lead to the most positive outcome. It wasn't because of a switch through a screen or in transition...it was fully on purpose....sigh....

[planetmars]

I was at that game.. entire row I was on was shaking their head.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

If we are talking about how much an idiot Casey is wrt JJ there is one scenario that sums it all up

Vasquez guarding Tyreke to end the game

Casey is a stupid head coach. End of discussion. He deserves no more chances, this shit has been happening for years

Between that call and the fact that he drew the final play from game-7 - easily the most important play for the Raptors since VC's jumper clanked off iron against AI's 76ers - on the wrong side of the court, I'm not sure how/why anybody would defend DC as a head coach.

Aside from the fact that the Raptors had their best regular season records over the past few seasons while he was coaching, he's done nothing to validate himself. The records alone don't indicate a positive influence/impact he's had on the team. It's also not as though there's been any real competition within the Atlantic division, and the EC was at historic levels of futility the season before last.

Last offseason, following that heart-breaking game-7 loss, MU stated that next season (last season) the team (players and coaching staff) would instead be evaluated based on their playoff performance. Given that the team got swept in an uninspiring series, I have no idea how anybody could defend DC or claim that last season was anything less than a stunning failure, based on MU's publically stated expectations.

[Wild-ling#1]

Even Sam Mitchell gets it.


Here we are going in to year 4 of JV and he still hasn't had an opportunity to play when the game matters most.


But the rallying cry has always been the Raptors have to win. Bullshit. What difference would 44 or 45 wins versus 48 or 49 wins make - especially when they lose 1st round of playoffs?


The only excuse I'm willing to entertain is Casey was trying to limit JV's future contract value. Anything else questions his intelligence.

Maybe you've seen this. Jack Armstrong interview on Jonas around the time he was extended (Aug 18, 2015. 10 mins).

http://www.tsn.ca/radio/toronto-1050...entre-1.347146

In summary:

Jonas may or may not become an elite center, but should become, at least, a very good center. With the exits of Lou, Greivis and Amir, the Raptors may struggle out of the gate, and even to make the playoffs because, though, their defence should be improved, they may struggle to score. Stay tuned. They may be better built for the playoffs however.

With a major commitment to JV, and the foregoing, the team will likely need Jonas to show more than he has thus far ... though with the current style of NBA play, he'll never be quick enough to be a very good rim protector or defender. So his ability to contribute will depend on the teams willingness to feature Jonas as a scorer, in all 4 quarters, in a system that plays to his strengths - i.e. doesn't require him to defend the perimeter.

Sounds like a lot of what I've read here lately on this subject. Cool. (Though I'm not signing off on the Casey is a dope stuff - not that anyone cares ... or should)

(I re-read what Jack had to say at the end of the last season ... he nailed a lot of what has happened in the off-season, I think. But I guess his view would be that we need more than we might get from the four ... and the "fit" is still a mystery. An old article, of course.

http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2015/...ack-armstrong/

[Wild-ling#1]

Aside from the fact that the Raptors had their best regular season records over the past few seasons while he was coaching, he's done nothing to validate himself.

Yeah, but you can't really put that aside can you ...

No one is disputing that he's "brain-cramped" and is imperfect. Still. You can't put that aside. You can try. You can opine.

But you can't (just set it aside ... as insufficiently relevant to this discussion).

[CalgaryRapsFan]

Yeah, but you can't really put that aside can you ...

No one is disputing that he's "brain-cramped" and is imperfect. Still. You can't put that aside. You can try. You can opine.

But you can't (just set it aside ... as insufficiently relevant to this discussion).

I can put it aside quite easily, actually.

Brad Stevens 'coached' a terrible Celtics team into the playoffs last season.

The Raptors were both talented and deep enough to make the playoffs (and basically win the division) on their own, without needing any of DC's coaching.

I honestly do believe that the Raptors would have made the playoffs and quite likely won their division, with any of their assistant coaches (ie: Nurse, Bayno, Mermuys, etc...) at the helm.

In the playoffs, I honestly do believe that DC's coaching was a detriment to the team. From his overreliance on ISO ball (ie: DeRozan, Lowry, Lou, Vasquez), to him minimal use of the defensive stopper MU acquired specifically to defend the likes of Pierce/Joe Johnson (JJ), to his inability to dictate flow/matchups, etc... his 'coaching' doomed the Raptors against the Wizards.

The Raptors' regular season records over the past two seasons, in the dreadful Atlantic Division and historically bad Eastern Conference, are about the biggest red herrings I could imagine when it comes to evaluating the positive impact of a head coach.

[Primer]

Yeah, but you can't really put that aside can you ...

No one is disputing that he's "brain-cramped" and is imperfect. Still. You can't put that aside. You can try. You can opine.

But you can't (just set it aside ... as insufficiently relevant to this discussion).

Larry Drew. Mic drop. That's how you put it aside. Another classic example of a team winning despite how shitty their coach is. Larry got fired after a 44 win season with the Hawks (44 and 40 wins the two prior), and quickly proved he was one of the worst coaches in the NBA the next season with Milwaukee (a talented squad with playoff aspirations), getting them to a miserable 15 wins and promptly getting fired. Milwaukee hired Kidd and have been on the upswing ever since. Atlanta hired Budenholzer and won the East regular season and made the ECF. A bad coach can really limit how far your team can go, and Casey has proven that limit is the first round of the playoffs.

[MACK11]

I feel like it needs to be emphasized again for anyone who might've forgot, this was entirely deliberate and by design. Casey wanted Greivis Vasquez guarding the Tyreke Evans. This was the strategy he thought would lead to the most positive outcome. It wasn't because of a switch through a screen or in transition...it was fully on purpose....sigh....

I've been waiting for any Casey apologist's to somehow explain to me how is made any sense to put Vasquez on Tyreke.

Anyone of you have any possible explanation?

[Superjudge]

Maybe you've seen this. Jack Armstrong interview on Jonas around the time he was extended (Aug 18, 2015. 10 mins).

http://www.tsn.ca/radio/toronto-1050...entre-1.347146

In summary:

Jonas may or may not become an elite center, but should become, at least, a very good center. With the exits of Lou, Greivis and Amir, the Raptors may struggle out of the gate, and even to make the playoffs because, though, their defence should be improved, they may struggle to score. Stay tuned. They may be better built for the playoffs however.

With a major commitment to JV, and the foregoing, the team will likely need Jonas to show more than he has thus far ... though with the current style of NBA play, he'll never be quick enough to be a very good rim protector or defender. So his ability to contribute will depend on the teams willingness to feature Jonas as a scorer, in all 4 quarters, in a system that plays to his strengths - i.e. doesn't require him to defend the perimeter.

Sounds like a lot of what I've read here lately on this subject. Cool. (Though I'm not signing off on the Casey is a dope stuff - not that anyone cares ... or should)

(I re-read what Jack had to say at the end of the last season ... he nailed a lot of what has happened in the off-season, I think. But I guess his view would be that we need more than we might get from the four ... and the "fit" is still a mystery. An old article, of course.

http://www.raptorsrepublic.com/2015/...ack-armstrong/

I've spoken to jack a few times, we are kindred souls when it comes to hoops. He's right, he always is really.

[Superjudge]

I can put it aside quite easily, actually.

Brad Stevens 'coached' a terrible Celtics team into the playoffs last season.

The Raptors were both talented and deep enough to make the playoffs (and basically win the division) on their own, without needing any of DC's coaching.

I honestly do believe that the Raptors would have made the playoffs and quite likely won their division, with any of their assistant coaches (ie: Nurse, Bayno, Mermuys, etc...) at the helm.

In the playoffs, I honestly do believe that DC's coaching was a detriment to the team. From his overreliance on ISO ball (ie: DeRozan, Lowry, Lou, Vasquez), to him minimal use of the defensive stopper MU acquired specifically to defend the likes of Pierce/Joe Johnson (JJ), to his inability to dictate flow/matchups, etc... his 'coaching' doomed the Raptors against the Wizards.

The Raptors' regular season records over the past two seasons, in the dreadful Atlantic Division and historically bad Eastern Conference, are about the biggest red herrings I could imagine when it comes to evaluating the positive impact of a head coach.

I think you over estimate the quality of player son the toronto raptors.

[CalgaryRapsFan]

I think you over estimate the quality of player son the toronto raptors.

I'm usually accused of the opposite, and for being too hard on 'our' players. lol

As far as last season is concerned, I think the Raptors were the class of the Atlantic division by a country mile, which guaranteed them a top-4 seed going into the playoffs. I really don't think the team won because of DC (I also won't go so far as to say they won in spite of him, as I'm sure at least a few other posters would), which to me is reason enough to part ways with him when his contract is done after this season (or earlier if the team struggles early this season).

[Wild-ling#1]

I've been waiting for any Casey apologist's to somehow explain to me how is made any sense to put Vasquez on Tyreke.

Anyone of you have any possible explanation?

No clue. I'll give you that it was absolutely a monstrous brain-cramp. Actual, temporary clinical depression. Whatever. It happens. But there is evidence to the contrary, as far as Casey being either (intellectually) stupid or useless. There is.

You don't have to find it persuasive. But there is. And back-to-back record setting win seasons are the freaking mother-lode of relevant evidence. Even if you think it's somehow an accident, who fires a coach after that?

(***Warning - hockey example). And the Grezky-Messier (etc., etc., etc.) Oilers got swept in the first-round of the playoffs immediately before winning four cups. We're not them. But if it can happen to them ... well, shit happens. The older you get, the better a sports fan should know. Note - "better-er", not "bitter-er" )

[Axel]

I've been waiting for any Casey apologist's to somehow explain to me how is made any sense to put Vasquez on Tyreke.

Anyone of you have any possible explanation?

The magic 8-ball told him it would lead to great success.

[Axel]

I think you over estimate the quality of player son the toronto raptors.

Considering the state of the East the last two years, a playoff record of 3-8 should be enough to get anyone fired.

The Raptors weren't world beaters but they should still have won at least 1 series.

[Wild-ling#1]

The magic 8-ball told him it would lead to great success.

Maybe.