Raptors announce 3-year extension for Dwane Casey | Raptors Republic
In the time since the news came down, the Raptors have reportedly picked up their options on Andy Greer and Rex Kalamian, keeping Casey’s staff in tact unless a head coaching offer comes their way (Nick Nurse is also under contract for next year). This is all good news, as we talked about last week.
The organization has very clearly valued the culture Casey has helped build, as well as the continuity that’s come with having the fourth-longest tenured head coach in the league. It’s something that’s difficult to quantify and maybe even hard to see from the outside, but it can have a very real impact.
“When we try to build a program,” Ujiri said. “We wanted to establish a culture here that we feel will provide players, coaches, our organization, an opportunity to win a championship one day. That’s the ultimate goal and winning has always been what we talk to, culture has always been what we talk about. Coach Casey has been a big leader for us. A good teacher. Just a great teammate for us to have in this organization. We’re extremely, extremely happy we’re moving forward with this.”
Casey, himself, sees value in that, which is why he’s installed rules and norms that may not seem all that important at the micro level but set the tone for the larger-scale vibe of how this team will operate.
“They key word is consistent,” Casey said. “Guys know what to expect every day they come to work.”
That doesn’t mean Casey being retained has always been a slam dunk, obviously. His job security has been a talking point ever since Ujiri took over, and this is the first firm vote of confidence that Casey is “Ujiri’s guy,” despite earlier options being picked up. They’ve worked hand-in-hand, and now Ujiri’s put a major stake in a coach he inherited, with their contracts now running the same length of time.
Casey brought Raptors identity, continuity after 20 years | Sportsnet.ca
It’s an about-face from a year ago, when Casey’s fate was still up in the air following the Raptors’ flame out against the Washington Wizards. There was a need to find blame and Casey seemed the likely target.
Ujiri didn’t fire him, instead choosing to find him free agents – DeMarre Carroll, Cory Joseph, Bismack Biyombo and Luis Scola – that fit with his philosophy, which basically boils down to: Compete hard, be consistent and be professional.
The Raptors weren’t all that far into their record-setting 56-win season when Ujiri’s decision began to pay dividends. Regardless of the schedule, the opponent or who was available to play on a given night, the Raptors were the same team. They didn’t have a ‘hot’ month. They never had a ‘cold’ month. They just won more games than they lost every month of the long NBA season.
They competed, were consistent and professional.
“That’s what you want to build and that’s what I think we’ve done,” said Casey after the Raptors’ playoff run came to an end. “Build a culture first. Here’s what kind of team we want to be or we are. This is what we stand for. These are our rules and regulations.
Raptors Announce Casey Extension, Excited To Keep Building | Toronto Raptors
During Casey’s year-end interview with the media, he spoke about the importance of establishing a culture and creating an identity over his four seasons with the team. When asked about his own future, he said when he sat down with Ujiri for his own year-end interview, he would be talking about how to make the team better, instead of worrying about his own situation.
Putting the success of the team first and diverting attention away from himself isn’t anything new for Casey. In a recent SLAM Magazine cover story, DeRozan said of Casey: “It’s just great to have a coach like that, knowing that he’s gonna give you the freedom to be yourself, as long as you just go out there and play hard. It’s rare to find coaches of that calibre. And with the success that he’s had with us, I just always wanna see him succeed. With that, everything Casey gets — if it’s Coach of the Month, whatever — he thanks us. And we’re playing for him.”
Players not only enjoy playing for Casey, they have also enjoyed increased success in each of the five seasons he’s been in charge. Casey became the all-time winningest coach in franchise history on Nov 1, and in January he also became the longest-tenured coach in team history. In addition to the franchise-best 56 wins in 2015-16, the team also set franchise marks for home wins (32), road wins (23), wins versus Eastern Conference opponents (39), wins versus Western Conference opponents (17), and longest winning streak (11 games). Casey’s commitment to consistency has paid off as the team’s identity continues to form.
“When we try to build a program, we wanted to establish a culture here that we feel will provide players, coaches [and] our organization an opportunity to win a championship one day,” Ujiri said. “That’s the ultimate goal and winning has always been what we talk to. Culture has always been what we talk about. Coach Casey has been a big leader for us. A good teacher. Just a great teammate for us to have in this organization. We’re extremely, extremely happy we’re moving forward with this.”
Raptors’ Casey and Ujiri remain focussed on the ultimate goal | Toronto Star
They may not achieve the ultimate success but they are hell-bent on pursuing it together in Toronto. It is the enduring part of their relationship, the growth both seek.
“There’s no coach I’ve worked with that has all the answers, we’re continually learning,” Casey said. “Once you stop learning, you might as well retire because there is always something new.”
If Casey coaches out the term of his new deal, he will have spent eight years as the Raptors head coach, an astonishing run not only for the franchise but in an NBA where coaches are often fired willy-nilly, where a “fresh voice” is often mistakenly coveted over much needed consistency.
It is that constant message, constant delivery, constant “culture-building” that Ujiri seeks, even knowing there will be creative differences that pop up.
“Continuity is very, very important because you get to know people’s tendencies, and trust me, it’s not all holding hands and hugs,” Ujiri said. “We argue, we disagree. But you walk out of that thing and you know you are one team, and no matter how big the disagreement, no matter how it is, for me (it is) what’s the goal? We all seem to have that goal, along with the players.”
The goal is simple: ultimate success.
New extension for Raptors’ Casey an easy decision for Ujiri | Toronto Sun
“We’ve had some tough times,” Casey conceded. “But to get to where you want to go you’re going to go through those times to get to that championship level. And every program that has gotten there has gone through what we’re going through. But continuity is huge. Our system, the players that’ve been here, Masai and his staff, the key word is consistent. Guys know what to expect every day they come to work, they know the terminology, I know what Masai and his staff expect, so the continuity of that makes everything. . . not easy, I don’t want to use the word easy. But it makes it consistent as far as going forward, and I think each year it’s two or three games where continuity wins for you. Guys are familiar with each other, they’re where they should be in the defensive rotations, offensive rotations, just through continuity. That’s important for us.”
The to-do list for Raptors head coach Dwane Casey | Toronto Star
Don’t forget the kids
It remains to be seen precisely what kind of roster president Masai Ujiri will put together for Casey but a chunk of it will comprise young players. As he did with rookie Norm Powell last season, finding minutes here and there for young players will only enhance the long-term development of the program — not minutes for minutes’ sake but providing time for players who earn it.
Dwane Casey signs 3-year extension, says Toronto Raptors ‘closer’ to title | ESPN
As Ujiri, who called Casey “one of the most wonderful persons you can meet,” said, “It’s not all holding hands and hugs. We argue, we disagree, but you walk out and you’re one team.”
Casey, who won a championship in Dallas Mavericks in 2011 as an assistant coach, said it was important for the Raptors to go through the postseason in order to gain valuable experience, making adjustments and handling playoff pressure.
“I’ve got to learn as far as how to combat small lineups, how to defend small lineups and how to find a way to utilize Jonas Valanciunas as a big against small lineups,” Casey said.
It’s official: Raptors announce Dwane Casey’s 3-year contract extension | CBSSports.com
“It’s work. It’s not easy. We’ve had some tough times, but to get where you want you want to go, you’re going to go through those times to get to that championship level,” Casey said. “And every program that’s gotten there has gone through what we’re going through. But continuity is huge: our system, the players that have been here, Masai and his staff. The key word is ‘consistent.’ Guys know what to expect every day they come to work.”
Casey loves to say that Toronto is not a finished product. He also loves to say that the hardest step to take is from a good team to an elite one. That’s what the Raptors are trying to do, and they have elected to go with the guy that brought them there, the guy who has survived losing seasons, a front-office shakeup and an embarrassing sweep. With almost every other team in the league on a coaching carousel, it looks like this is the rare case where stability and incremental growth count for something.
Raptors Player Review: Patrick Patterson, Defensive Stopper? | Raptors HQ
While Patterson will surely have a place on the team next year, his role won’t be decided until Masai Ujiri’s off-season work is complete. A lot has been made of Patterson’s perceived struggles as a starter compared to when he comes off the bench, but the starting lineups he was featured in were fine — it was more the gaping hole he left on the bench unit that crippled the Raptors.
If the Raptors want to move forward with Patterson as the starting four, they’ll probably be okay. But Ujiri will need to add a player that can offer more than Jason Thompson, James Johnson or late-season Luis Scola to soak up those reserve minutes in the front court. As of right now, consider Patterson the favourite to join the Raptors four mainstays to open games next year, until further notice.
Looking at which top-10 picks are likely to be dealt in NBA Draft | CBSSports.com
The Raptors have cap space and a team that made the conference finals. The best value for them is a player on a rookie contract they can look at long-term. Keeping this pick makes the most sense. You have to think it would take a major upgrade for them to consider moving it.
The Toronto Raptors Off-season Solved In 4 “Simple” Moves | TRAP’D Since 95
Why The Raptors Do The Deal:
First and foremost they secure a young, talented, tenacious, hyper-athletic, defensively gifted, starting calibre power forward in Nerlens Noel that would make for a wonderful compliment to the offensive minded Jonas Valanciunas (not to mention, the insurance he provides should Move 4 somehow hit a snag), with whom they can also offer an extension or just have him play out the year and re-sign him next off-season.
They bring in another hometown hero in Nik Stauskas who not only could prove to become a huge fan favourite in the same way Cory Joesph was last season, but also would help replace the spot up and off the dribble perimeter shooting that would be lost by the departure of Ross.
They bring in two guys on the cheap, in Robert Covington and Jerami Grant, that are long, athletic defensive minded wing players who, more so in the case of Covington, can knock down the three ball consistently thereby providing the requisite spacing our All-Stars and Jonas need to operate effectively in the paint.
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