Dwane Casey was on TSN radio (pre-Scola signing) and gave a hint to how he sees James Johnson and Patrick Patterson next season:
“We still have Patrick Patterson who I feel is better coming off the bench, he gives us that firepower off the bench, the three-point shooting off the bench, the energy. Also, we’re going to move James Johnson over to the four more this year. That’ll help us pad that position a little bit more because he can guard those fours. James, right now, can probably guard some of the fives in the league. [It’s] probably a better position for [Johnson] offensively and defensively which will give him an advantage. Especially, the way the league is going, James is a better matchup for guys who switch over to the four [sometimes like LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Paul George].”
He also spoke about how the team has improved:
“We’re a better defensive team just by personnel…skill-wise, athletically, quickness, defensive mentality, and also defensive IQ we’re much better. We’ve added DeMarre Carroll…he’s a guy that allows us to guard guys like James, Anthony, Paul George…guys who can play the three and the four…it takes away from us having to play DeMar at the three, who gets out-manned at the position by 25-30 lbs, and he gives us more rebounding.”
On whether his team is better suited for the playoffs:
The team we’re putting together now is more suited for [the playoffs], size-wise, physicality, defensive mentality. We were third or fourth in the league in scoring 100+ in the regular season, but it’s a totally different game [in the playoffs]. Size at certain position matters, physical matters, physical mentality matters in playoff basketball, and you got to have those types of guys on your roster to do that. And we added that. Cory’s been battle-tested at San Antonio, he’s been there, he knows the pressure and the physicality of playoff basketball, and so does DeMarre. So those two additions alone will help us with playoff mentality. Now, will we score 103, 104 as we did this year every night? Probably not. We did have an offensive-minded roster. Lou Williams was a huge part of our offense last year, and it gave us more of an offensive personality and as we saw it doesn’t really translate [to the playoffs] as much as you try. Guys we brought in will really be more conducive to a playoff style of game, than a regular season style of game.
He also commented on Terrence Ross taking over Lou Williams’ scorer role off the bench:
Terrence Ross will be kind of taking that Lou Williams role off the bench as the scorer. We got to get him back healthy. He had surgery about a month ago and won’t be able to get back on the court till the first of August. He had [bone spurs removed], which stunted his game a little last year. Look forward to getting him healthy.
Terrence Ross taking the Lou Williams role just sounds like a bad idea. One can actually create his own shot and get fouled, and the other likes to dribble it off his feet. Though I’m sure Casey didn’t mean exactly in that role, and more that the shots Williams would get might go to Ross as a spot-up shooter, etc. I certainly am not looking forward to Ross dribbling 22 seconds off the clock and launching a fadeaway three every quarter.
