Well, this isn’t going to start any kind of argument or anything.
Following an 11-7 month that has his Toronto Raptors atop the Atlantic Division, in a similar playoff position to last year, and on pace for a franchise-record 50 wins, head coach Dwane Casey was given an honorable mention in Coach of the Month voting for November. David Blatt and Luke Walton won the awards in their respective conferences, with Casey ranking as one of eight other coaches nominated.
So for anyone who’s going to get too riled up about this, consider that all this means is that Casey was considered to be worthy of acknowledgment by some number of people. He’s one of 10 coaches in the same boat, a third of the league.
Still, this is almost guaranteed to fire up discussion. Raptors Republic readers and tweeters seem largely polarized on the issue of Casey’s performance, and I’ve had to answer plenty of questions about his job security. It’s enough that we did an RR roundtable on the matter last week, and like the readers, are writers are mostly split.
Here are the facts: The Raptors are 11-7, on pace for the franchise’s best season, despite having endured one of the toughest schedules when travel is accounted for. They’re much improved on defense and the offense hasn’t slid quite as expected. They’re one of four teams in the top ten on both sides of the ball (seventh in offense, ninth in defense) as a result. The team is doing well, and that much can’t really be argued.
Here’s the kicker: There are parts of Casey’s performance, namely late-game execution, that remain unrelentingly frustrating, especially in his fifth year at the helm.
Despite being of the belief a mid-season coaching change would make no sense (and generally believing more than most that Casey’s a solid coach in the non-Xs&Os departments), I’ve always understood why fans get upset with him. I think claims that he alone has cost the team multiple games are too simplistic and ignore the very important role of players, and I think believing there’s some coach out there who can swoop in and fix the end-game management and free James Johnson and whatever else needs doing without losing anything on the defensive end or in the locker room (where we have no idea what does and does not disrupt or galvanize) is perhaps naive. No coach would represent a panacea, especially one brought in mid-season without the benefit of an offseason to make tangible changes. But I understand the frustration, for sure.
What Tuesday’s news tells us is that at least a few other people out there close to the game believe that with a road-heavy schedule, injuries to three rotation players, and four new faces in the nine-man rotation, Casey is deserving of some dap. I can’t say I disagree.
