Raptors riding out storm with Casey at top of his game
DeMar DeRozan is having a wonderful year for the Raptors, and Kyle Lowry was so good before wrist surgery that fans voted him in to start the all-star game. His play has been exemplary all season long.
Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker were vital trade deadline acquisitions, invaluable pieces providing a style and a presence that has turned the Raptors into one of the most accomplished defensive teams in the NBA over the last month. Team president Masai Ujiri pulled off some magic to get them at precious little cost.
But for all that the players and management have done, there is one somewhat unheralded member of the organization who deserve a boatload of credit for the Raptors being where they are today. Coach Dwane Casey. The Raptors are not going to win as many games this season as they did last year — Casey’s streak of wintotal improvement will come to a halt at four years — but there is a strong case to be made that this is his best season at the helm.
Avoiding a variety of potential season-ruining events, maintaining a single-minded focus on day-to-day improvement and accepting no ex- cuses when many could have been offered, the 59-year-old head coach has done a masterful job.
He had no access to injured freeagent pickup Jared Sullinger, and had to start raw rookie power forward Pascal Siakam for 38 games and survived.
He used either a rookie (Jakob Poeltl) or an unproven quantity (Lucas Nogueira) as his backup centre and survived.
Patrick Patterson was out16 games with injuries? The Raptors got by.
DeRozan sat out seven games? They managed.
Lowry’s been out for 16 games and counting? They won the day he rested and were 10-5 in the 15 games Lowry’s been out after knee surgery.
Move Ibaka immediately into the starting lineup and make Tucker the team’s sixth man? Seamless transition.
Can’t play DeMarre Carroll on back-to-back nights until two months into the season? They figured it out.
The Raptors have used 15 different starting lineups and managed to get solid production out of undrafted rookie point guard Fred VanVleet and almost-as-raw teammate Delon Wright, both of them playing major roles late in a season out of injuryinduced necessity.
And through it all, not a public word of discontent or disappointment from the coach.
“It’s been good. Everything has been positive,” Casey said Saturday morning, before the Raptors clinched a playoff spot with a 94-86 win over the Dallas Mavericks. “But trying to integrate different rotations in? Last year, I thought we were spoiled as far as our rotations were concerned because they were consistent, boring. But this year, unfor- tunately because of injuries we had to be a little more innovative and be more flexible.”
That Casey has milked a 44-29 record out of his team is a testament to that innovation and flexibility.
No one should be disappointed that the Raptors may not reach 50 wins. They should be surprised that they’re anywhere near that total and closer to first place in the East than fifth, headed to the post-season with home-court advantage in the first round for the fourth season in a row.
And as he has all season, regardless of the circumstances, Casey is focused on the biggest prize. A franchise-record four straight playoff appearances is a nice first step, but that’s all it is.
“You have to get in there to do it. That’s our goal, to play for a championship,” Casey said. “That’s our goal in Toronto, and the last few year we’ve been taking those steps, taking those steps. It’s been a bit rockier this year just because of injuries, but we still need to continue to take those steps.”