In the wake of the Toronto Raptors‘ second consecutive sweep at the hands of LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dwane Casey has come under question with regards to his future role.
When a team falls short of its goal in dispiriting ways two years in a row the coach is often the first scapegoat. There were certainly moments in the playoffs where adjustments didn’t quite work and his team could have been more prepared — the defensive miscues during James’ buzzer-beater in Game 3 comes to mind — but Casey, who was first hired in 2011 and is the longest-tenured coach in franchise history, also helped orchestrate stylistic changes that led to a 59-win season and top seed in the Eastern Conference. He and his staff have been successful developing a host of young talent like Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, who exceeded expectations and fast-tracked their way to a meaningful role on an NBA roster.
Does Casey deserve both praise for his successes and a brunt of the blame for the Raptors’ recent failures? Or does that blame lie heavily on the players and star-level talent who didn’t produce when it mattered most?
On Wednesday, a mere few hours after being named the 2017-18 coach of the year by his peers in the NBA’s Coaching Association, Casey met with the media to offer his thoughts on what went wrong versus Cleveland, the direction of the club, and the current state of his job security.
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Casey prefaced his media availability by thanking the organization and mentioning the challenge of advancing past James, calling the Cavs the “gauntlet we have to get over, the mountain we have to climb.” He also mentioned that he has already met with team president Masai Ujiri to discuss strategies to improve the team next season.
Still, when it came time for questions, the biggest one on everybody’s mind was the one asked first: Will Casey remain the Raptors head coach next season?
“Nobody has told me differently,” he answered matter-of-factly. “Until then I’m here still fighting. I’m still here.
“I don’t expect a vote of confidence [from Ujiri],” he added “… I’ve read all the articles, texts, all this stuff. I understand what’s been said. I’m not in the dark, but I’m not looking for a vote of confidence because I haven’t heard anything different.”
Casey maintained that his team’s offensive and defensive philosophies are “sound” and has proven to be successful in the NBA this season, adding that “if you want to change a voice just to change a voice to say the same thing, you can do that.”
He recognized the criticism that has fallen on him in the wake of the Cleveland series.
“It’s part of the business,” Casey said. “I’m a big boy. I’ve been through it. I know what we’ve accomplished and how the basketball world respects what we’re doing. It’s part of the territory. I accept it. I’m not running from it. … I’m an easy target … I don’t feel sorry for myself, let’s put it that way.
“I think consistency and continuity is lost in translation sometimes,” he said when asked about the notion of bringing in a new voice to lead the Raptors. “You look at successful teams and programs — and I’m not sitting here begging or pleading because the sun still rises tomorrow — but continuity and consistency is huge.”
Casey also spoke to both the achievements and challenges of coaching one of the youngest rosters in the NBA, one that he sees continuing to develop in Toronto.
“We had the second-youngest roster in the league, and a lot of times youth comes into factor in reading situations in the playoffs. … Mental toughness comes from experience.
“We forget how young they are and how important they were to us winning,” he added. “I think this step will help close that gap. You’ll see a different Pascal Siakam. Maturity, physicality they’ll gain this summer. … That’s part of our job. Unless you go out and sign Larry Bird or Michael Jordan to come here, it takes time. … We all want it yesterday. I want it yesterday. But it doesn’t happen like that.”
Casey mentioned that since the season wrapped he has met one-on-one with all of his players except Serge Ibaka to this point.
Under Casey, the Raptors have had the fourth-best winning percentage in the NBA since 2013-14 and has eclipsed franchise records year after year.
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