Congrats to coach Casey, who guided his team to a 13-4 start to the season.
Toronto Raptors head coach Dwane Casey has been named as the Eastern Conference coach of the month for November, as elucidated by Raptors Media Relations on Monday.
@Raptors head coach Dwane Casey named Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for November after guiding team to a 13-4 start.
— RaptorsMR (@RaptorsMR) December 1, 2014
Casey is the first @Raptors coach to win the award twice. He won for Dec. '13. Lenny Wilkens won for Apr. '02 and Sam Mitchell for Jan. '07
— RaptorsMR (@RaptorsMR) December 1, 2014
As noted above, the distinction puts Casey into rarefied territory as far as Toronto Raptors head coaches go. Casey also picked up a coach of the month award last season. Grizzlies head coach Dave Joerger picked up the award in the Western Conference.
Given that the Raptors sit somewhat unexpectedly atop the East, the honor is a fitting one for Casey and his assistants. We gripe about his rotations quite a bit on these here parts, but guiding the team to so many early-season wins is no simple task. He maintained the team’s gritty identity from last season, and found ways to introduce new wrinkles in Lou Williams and James Johnson to great effect.
The task at hand will not be to manage the squad in the absence of DeMar DeRozan, who seems likely to miss a month after suffering a groin tear. The Raptors have dropped their last two contests, and Casey has his hands full in trying to keep the team afloat without its leading scorer.
Congratulations, once again, to coach Casey and his staff!
