To catch the Heat, Raps plan to push tempo
Dwane Casey wants to exploit his team’s advantages in athleticism and depth
The shot goes up and, as the Toronto Raptors grab a defensive rebound or take the ball out after a made basket, Dwane Casey is on his feet in front of the bench, windmilling his arm in a “let’s go” motion, exhorting whoever has the ball to move it as fast as possible.
He knows that one of the advantages the Raptors have over the Miami Heat is team speed and he wants to exploit it at every chance in the NBA Eastern Conference semifinal.
It’s why he changed starting lineups for Game 1 of the series, why he ran Terrence Ross out for an extended time; small and fast is the mantra of the times.
“We want to have a pace,” Casey said Wednesday. “Against this team, they’re so good in the half-court with (Hassan) Whiteside back there waiting for you . . . We want to get the pace up the floor, push the ball up the floor, pass it up early and take the shots that are your shots.”
It’s not that the Heat are a collection of plough horses and the Raptors a group of gazelles but there is a difference in age, in athleticism and in the number of players Casey can call on. Dwyane Wade, Joe Johnson and Luol Deng are smart, seasoned veterans but they’d prefer a more sedate pace to a game rather than to continually pursue the likes of DeMar DeRozan, Norm Powell or DeMarre Carroll.
The Raptors bring Cory Joseph, Ross, Patrick Patterson and Bismack Biyombo off the bench, a group that can keep up the pace set by the starters; the Heat use Josh Richardson, Justise Winlow, Gerald Green and Amar’e Stoudemire, at least a tie from Toronto’s perspective.
The cumulative impact can’t be discounted, either. With a game every other night, older legs and bodies feel it more, another factor that went into Casey’s thinking. “They wanted more of a deliberate half-court, where they can load up and that type of thing, so we want to make sure we get some more movement,” the coach said. “I didn’t think we moved well (in Game 1) once we did get in the half-court. We’ve got to get our bodies moving and the ball moving a little bit more to the weak side.”
The drawback, of course, is if the Heat can stifle Toronto’s desire to create a quick tempo and get into a slower game, it creates interesting defensive matchups for the Raptors, to say the least.
Patterson, for instance, may find himself far out of his comfort zone.
“In these playoffs, going against those veterans, with more guys like Joe Johnson at the four — sometimes I even had to guard Dwyane Wade — and just the variety of guys I have to guard . . . I have to get into the ball, I have to force my man to drive to the basket,” he said.
“I have to trust my feet, trust my teammates. If my man does go by me, just trust my teammates are going to be there and trust that our defence is going to pull through, whether it’s a big helping out or whether it’s a switch, whatever it may be.”
But the benefit, as Casey sees it, is at the offensive end. He figures this group has more discipline than the shot-happy, fast-paced group that crashed and burned last season.
“We want to get the ball in the paint, kick it out then for a three but we want to keep the pace going,” he said.
“But the best way to do that is to get stops. A smarter pace than last year, a smarter pace than coming out and just jack up a quick shot, no-pass three and the-ball-doesn’t-attack-the-paint three. We want to keep that pace and hopefully that plays to our advantage.”