Duane Casey's coaching ability..

[wallz]

Is he really that bad? I feel like the consensus here is that he can't manage substitutions and late game situations, making him a terrible coach...

BUT...

is it possible to say that this team, with this current roster, isn't well coached? (considering their over-achieving record and improvement of young players)

I feel like I'll get ripped apart for saying this, but Casey has been a good coach this year. He managed to coach this team to relevancy for the first time in years, and is in the running for COY. Rip apart his coaching schemes all you want, but they have made this team the best 4th quarter team in the league (which means they execute when it matters), and a record well above .500 with a very young core group of players

and he STILL gets all the blame for MOST losses. Obviously some of his decisions frustrate me as well (e.g., Lowry not getting last shot in Cleveland), but is it really fair to blame the guy that arguably is one of the biggest reasons the Raptors are where they are now?


EDIT: Misspelt his name in the title, please fix mods lol

[psrs1]

Casey is good until the last 2 minutes. Unfortunately so many games are decided in the last 2 minutes.

[wallz]

Casey is good until the last 2 minutes. Unfortunately so many games are decided in the last 2 minutes.

Good point to bring up. I'd like to see some sort of stat that shows how well the team executes in the last 2 minutes compared to the overall 4th quarter

[ceez]

He's a good motivator and knows his defense but i wish he did more during the first 3 quarters to get the guys to play harder and just stepped back and let Nurse handle the last 2 minutes. dude is a total putz when it comes to rotations and his love affair with Novak is absolutely infuriating.

[Bandit]

I feel like DC is a lot like JV.

Could be great at what he does, if he could improve on consistency, versatility, and decision making.

Can be having a great game, until he completely flops... We just can't bench him.

Needs to be reminded to focus on what the team needs of him and what he's good at (i.e focus on motivation and the defensive end, let Bayno and the others focus on player development, offense, and late game sets)

[GLF]

He's a good motivator and knows his defense but i wish he did more during the first 3 quarters to get the guys to play harder and just stepped back and let Nurse handle the last 2 minutes. dude is a total putz when it comes to rotations and his love affair with Novak is absolutely infuriating.

If he used Novak correctly I wouldn't might his love for him. But he runs NO plays to get Novak open and expects Novak to produce for us in a positive way. People get at me for calling him an idiot but he does a lot of things that just make absolutely NO sense that that's the only word that comes to my head. It's shocking at how much lack of common sense he has.

[jacobdr4]

I feel like casey is a good out of game coach. He can run sets in practice and get the guys to know how to play and how to get ready. Seems like when things go bad he can't adjust very well.

He also struggles with in game plays and lineups. Seems like the type of coach who is a great guy to have a practice but you don't want running the show during the game. Probably why he makes such a great assistant.

[slaw]

Casey got way too much credit his first year. He got way too much blame last year. And he takes too much heat for the end-of-game stuff.

The play last night for example was clearly run for Lowry. It's the same type of play the Spurs often use to get the ball to Parker late in games. The problem isn't the play call rather the execution of the play. Vasquez panicked instead of waiting for Lowry and then he got himself in huge trouble trying to be the hero. Every late game scenario where they have pulled the Keystone Cops routine has been more about execution than play call.

Casey has improved his game management immensely since last season and he deserves credit for that. He can't be blamed for having poor options on the bench and he can't be blamed for Derozan and Ross dribbling balls off their feet or for Vasquez going rougue.

EDIT: Casey has cost them two games this year: the Charlotte game where they inexplicably didn't foul and there was a subsequent game where the same type of issue arose.

You can always say the coach should have ran 'x' or 'y' but if the players do their job....

[psrs1]

If he used Novak correctly I wouldn't might his love for him. But he runs NO plays to get Novak open and expects Novak to produce for us in a positive way. People get at me for calling him an idiot but he does a lot of things that just make absolutely NO sense that that's the only word that comes to my head. It's shocking at how much lack of common sense he has.

Common sense often is not that common.

[JawsGT]

The Cleveland loss had absolutely nothing to do with Casey's coaching ability...it was all on the players for shitting the bed through 2-1/2 Q's.

[psrs1]

The Cleveland loss had absolutely nothing to do with Casey's coaching ability...it was all on the players for shitting the bed through 2-1/2 Q's.

The players are to blame for not showing up but Casey failed to put players in the best position to be successful when it was 96-95 onwards.

[psrs1]

I feel like casey is a good out of game coach. He can run sets in practice and get the guys to know how to play and how to get ready. Seems like when things go bad he can't adjust very well.

He also struggles with in game plays and lineups. Seems like the type of coach who is a great guy to have a practice but you don't want running the show during the game. Probably why he makes such a great assistant.

Good assessment.

[MACK11]

The one thing about Casey that makes me extremely angry is his infatuation with veteran players. He will always play the vet for no reason at all and that in itself has cost of some games

[MACK11]

The one thing about Casey that makes me extremely angry is his infatuation with veteran players. He will always play the vet for no reason at all and that in itself has cost of some games

an example of this was yesterday's game against the Cavs

He subbed in Steve Novak for Terrence Ross which made no sense because both a great shooters. Terrence was 4-9 from 3 in the game and Novak was 1-5

So why sub in Novak for someone who was already warm and making 3's during the game?

Novak came off the bench and he was cold so the only reason the substitution happened was because Novak is a Vet and Terrence is a second year player.

I just don't understand Casey's love for Vets when they are not gonna help us win more than the younger guy will

[JimiCliff]

Is he really that bad? I feel like the consensus here is that he can't manage substitutions and late game situations, making him a terrible coach...

BUT...

is it possible to say that this team, with this current roster, isn't well coached? (considering their over-achieving record and improvement of young players)

I feel like I'll get ripped apart for saying this, but Casey has been a good coach this year. He managed to coach this team to relevancy for the first time in years, and is in the running for COY. Rip apart his coaching schemes all you want, but they have made this team the best 4th quarter team in the league (which means they execute when it matters), and a record well above .500 with a very young core group of players

and he STILL gets all the blame for MOST losses. Obviously some of his decisions frustrate me as well (e.g., Lowry not getting last shot in Cleveland), but is it really fair to blame the guy that arguably is one of the biggest reasons the Raptors are where they are now?


EDIT: Misspelt his name in the title, please fix mods lol

Everything in bold is a really interesting issue. I remember hearing Chuck Klosterman on a Simmons podcast bringing up an excellent point along the same lines as what you're talking about. The point was:

How much is coaching about what the players are being taught when they aren't playing games, and how much is about in-game strategy?

All we ever see is in-game strategy, so that's what we make our assessments on. But there's definitely more going on.

I get the feeling that Casey's an excellent coach away from the games. However, it seems clear to me that he's severely limited as an in-game coach.

And that, to me, suggests he's better suited to being a lead assistant.