Dwane Casey has company in the Toronto Raptors organization when it comes to hardware recognizing good coaching in December.
Raptors 905 head coach Jerry Stackhouse has been named D-League Coach of the Month for December, too, after leading the 905 to a 9-3 record and the league’s best defense, on a points per-game basis, during the month. The 905 also railed off a seven-game win streak and continued their road dominance, playing to a 5-0 record away from Hershey Centre.
https://twitter.com/Raptors905MR/status/817102878892507136
A three-game losing streak has dropped the 905 to 12-7 on the year, but Stackhouse is keeping an even keel and using the adversity as an opportunity for the team to learn and grow. The former All-Star has been impressive in his first season behind the bench, leveraging his team’s depth and versatility well, commanding high effort on defense from everyone, with fair treatment of the assignment players relative to the others, and he’s handled the differences between the parent club roster and the D-League roster well, tweaking the organization’s schemes in creative ways to suit this group. The result is the 905 ranking fifth in net rating, ninth in offense, and fourth in defense.
He’s also been doing this without the benefit of many assignment players. Bruno Caboclo has appeared in 11 games, Fred VanVleet in 10, and Jakob Poeltl in just one, and the 905 have had to lean on their regulars (who, it should be noted, are among the best and deepest in the league).
It’s been a really encouraging start to the year for Stackhouse and the organization, making the transition from Jesse Mermuys seamless.
