+Before you react to the headline, here’s what I want you to do: Think of nobody in particular.
Now think of a person. This person is a basketball coach at the NBA level. Their team entered the season with a new defensive system, four new players in the nine-man rotation, and eyes on home-court advantage in the first-round of the playoffs. The unstated expectation was roughly 50 wins, the goal decidedly a first-round playoff series victory.
Two months into the season, the team this person coaches is 21-14, on pace for 49 or 50 wins. Were the season to end today, they would have home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs and be in a decent, if uncertain place to win a playoff series. Their conference is incredibly tight, after all, with no clear pecking order after the top team, and the playoffs will come down to matchups. In that regard, this person has their team playing a style that’s more match-up proof than before – they rank 11th in defense and fifth in offense, a much more two-way approach than this franchise’s recent custom. On top of that, said offense is decried for it’s late-game effectiveness, yet the team ranks sixth in fourth-quarter offense and 10th in what the league defines as “clutch time” offense.
For all of that, this head coach was given an honorable mention in the Coach of the Month voting for November.
The month of December saw this team go 9-6 and rank 10th in offense and eighth in defense. This, despite the absence of their best interior scorer for 13 of those games, a center who is at the same time a post-up threat, an excellent dive-man in the pick-and-roll, and an adequate and improving defender. And this, despite the absence of their top free-agent acquisition for nine of those games, a forward who ranks as the team’s best perimeter defender and best option against the league’s best scorers, as well as a 3-point threat. When both were sidelined, the team went 6-3.
For all of that, they’ve now been given an honorable in the Coach of the Month voting for December.
Without the benefit of name or team context, it sure sounds like that coach is doing a fine job. And for all of that, there are going to be 40 comments on this article complaining about Dwane Casey’s performance, saying he doesn’t hold guys accountable, or that he doesn’t adjust well, or that the team’s offense sucks, or that the team’s defense sucks, or that James Johnson should play more, or that Bismack Biyombo should start, or any number of other perceived shortcomings he has. He’s not perfect, to be sure, but perception doesn’t seem to even come close to meeting reality in the comments and mentions so far this year.
Here is the reality: Casey has done a good job, especially given the circumstances. The Raptors are playing exactly to expectations despite two key injuries, a third of the roster dedicated to longer-term prospects (not Casey’s fault), and a front-heavy schedule, and they’re winning at both ends of the floor. He’s shown improvement and increased flexibility, and while there are obvious things he could be better at, that’s the truth for probably 25 coaches, and there are probably 20 fanbases that think they’d be better off with a new bench boss. The Raptors wouldn’t be, at least not right now. Casey has probably earned his option year unless Masai Ujiri has a specific candidate in mind. He’s not the best coach in the world, but the league’s teams have thought he was a top-five coach in the Eastern Conference in back-to-back months.
Whatever you think the Raptors’ problem may be – I’m of the mind there isn’t one, if you’re being realistic about who and what this team is and where they are on the building curve – it’s not Casey. He’s not holding this non-championship team back from a championship, and he’s helped keep them solid through early adversity. He’s been fine, probably even good.
DeMar DeRozan, by the way, did not win Player of the Month. He probably should have.
