Dwane Casey seems like a great fit for the Toronto Raptors
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He is the 8th head coach in franchise history, and like others before him he is preaching a defence first mentality. Will he succeed where so many others have failed?
"I’m passionate about what I do," said the 54 year-old Casey as he was formally introduced on Tuesday.
"When we first started in Dallas three years ago we had a veteran team and I’m getting on the guys, passionate about things, calling out direction, calling out guys during the game and in practice.
"That’s who I am, and players respect that I would never do it in a way to embarrass players, but they know how I feel. I wear my feelings on my shirt sleeves. I bring that energy every day. I’m a hard worker.
"There isn’t a coach in this league who’ll outwork me or our staff."
But can Casey - who was a head coach for a year and a half with the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2005- 2007 (career record of 53-69) really make THIS Raptors team - one of the worst in defence in the NBA a season ago- all that much better?
"I refuse to be a part of the choir that says, ‘Andrea cannot play defence.’ I refuse to be a part of the choir that says, ‘Jose can’t keep guys in front of him.’ Or, ‘This team is 30th in the league in defence.’ Because I know they can be better than 30th in the league defensively."
Casey added: "Defensively, I'm going to be a hands on control freak. Offensively I'm going to trust and give them freedom. The players will know how important defence is. I want defence to be fun."
Yup - he said that - playing defence is fun.
"Dwane embodies a lot of the characteristics we were looking for, if not every one, to a T," said Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo.
Casey was an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks for the last 3 seasons, and was instrumental in leading the Mavs to the NBA title earlier this month. His systems shut down the likes of Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and the big 3 with the Heat.
In fact hours after the Mavericks won the title, head coach Rick Carlisle called Colangelo selling him on Casey.
"Rick Carlisle said 'Bryan, I want to know what it's going to take to get Dwane that job in Toronto. It's right for him. It's right for you. It's right for the situation. You need to strongly considerate it. I said Rick, first of all congratulations you should be enjoying yourself and not promoting your guys."
"During the playoffs we spliced in some hockey video with our game because we felt like we were playing too soft against Miami to start the series," said Casey. "Got guys checking guys up into the window (glass) and the board and that type of thing. It really set the tone. I don't know a lot about hockey but I know I will learn about it. That's the way we want to play. We want people to feel us when they cut through the lane."
"The key to defence is effort," added Casey. "It's hard play and effort. Once we establish that, that is who we are and that's part of our identify, the defence will come. Are we going to lock down and stop LeBron James each and every night? No it's not going to happen. But we will develop a defensive mentality."
Good luck to Casey who has been a head coach, associate head coach and assistant coach in the NBA in 16 of the last 17 years.
