Now's your chance: Tell Coach Casey EXACTLY what he needs to hear! Quickly! While there's STILL TIME! :)

[white men can't jump]

Well yes, like most things our success hinges on the coaches, in this case inserting an offence.

I don't think Cojo is any less capable of creating than GV. GV might be a more naturally gifted passer but in terms of pure scoring, don't see a downgrade here.

Other than Lou, we didn't lose anything that we haven't replaced.

Scola adds a new element that we haven't had, a PF who can take the ball on the block and score/create.

I disagree about Cojo. He lost minutes to Mills in San Antonio, a guy whose game is like a poor man's Lou Williams, because Mills was a better shooter and streakier scorer who could make tough shots for himself. Cojo was a very good system player for them, who hadn't really shown that level of ability to create for himself. Very efficient though, but will we run a system strong enough for him to be maximized? He's a great finisher, but a lot of that was being able to cut/drive with the D out of position because of the ball movement. I think Cojo's a better all around player than GV and can be more valuable offensively if used properly...he plays under control and is very efficient. But our style of play, our offensive culture if you will, has to be an even better version of the horns system we ran a couple of years ago (since I assume that will still probably be what they try to implement).

I hope we use Scola, but I hope our playbook isn't too obvious. Like, since he's our best "iso" bench player, our bench offence isn't just try to get Scola in the post while everyone stands and watches.

Anyway, I feel like we lost a lot of perimeter creativity that it seems pretty unclear if we can replace. If we see an offence that's largely the same as last year, it's not hard to think it'll be worse.

[SkywalkerAC]

I disagree about Cojo. He lost minutes to Mills in San Antonio, a guy whose game is like a poor man's Lou Williams, because Mills was a better shooter and streakier scorer who could make tough shots for himself. Cojo was a very good system player for them, who hadn't really shown that level of ability to create for himself. Very efficient though, but will we run a system strong enough for him to be maximized? He's a great finisher, but a lot of that was being able to cut/drive with the D out of position because of the ball movement. I think Cojo's a better all around player than GV and can be more valuable offensively if used properly...he plays under control and is very efficient. But our style of play, our offensive culture if you will, has to be an even better version of the horns system we ran a couple of years ago (since I assume that will still probably be what they try to implement).

I hope we use Scola, but I hope our playbook isn't too obvious. Like, since he's our best "iso" bench player, our bench offence isn't just try to get Scola in the post while everyone stands and watches.

Anyway, I feel like we lost a lot of perimeter creativity that it seems pretty unclear if we can replace. If we see an offence that's largely the same as last year, it's not hard to think it'll be worse.

We should see a lot of transition attack with our second unit, turning defense into offense. Then setting up into horns or high pick and roll with Scola, or flash him into the post. We have one of the most athletic benches in the league now, but can then slow it down and make easy plays, which Cory seems pretty adept at.

Again, I'm not worried. I wouldn't be surprised if we maintained our by getting better shots. We might miss Lou's ability to draw fouls, but we've also got DeMar and Lowry for that.

[slaw]

Well yes, like most things our success hinges on the coaches.

Don't be ridiculous.

[Wild-ling#1]

I'm of the opinion that we have less fire power this season than last. We lose a big time scorer in Lou and GV for his shaky shooting was still capable of creating his own offence. Unless Wright or Powell, are capable impact players on offence you have to expect the scoring to take a dip. At that point your hand is sort of forced and you have to slow the tempo and feed JV the ball in the post. This team may resemble something closer to the Spurs this year than the Warriors or Heat.

Exactly. You and Armstrong related in some way?

[DanH]

The bench scoring seems fine to me. Biyombo won't do much, but neither did Hansbrough or Hayes. Scola is an improvement over Patterson in terms of generating scoring. Ross is a fine floor spacer. JJ was one of the most efficient drive/post players in the league as well as a fantastic PnR option. And CoJo is clearly capable of both scoring and running an offence. And with the dramatic upgrade defensively over last year's bench (honestly, could there be any bigger a difference there?), they won't need to score as much as they did last year. And that all assumes Casey doesn't clue in to leaving a top option on the floor with the bench (DD, KL, or JV to run the offence through) for stretches.

[Axel]

Don't be ridiculous.

How so? Masai has done well to add talent to the team. It's now up to the coaches and players. The coaches are to put the players in the best position to succeed and the players need to perform. Need both aspects to be really successful.

[steve]

First and foremost Coach CASEY you are a TEACHER!!! This is the KEY to the future of the RAPTORS organization because this is a young team with at least 9 players with 4 or fewer years experience!!! A few more wins or losses are totally irrelevant compared to the ultimate goal : maximize the speed of the learning curve for each player . Each player will learn will learn in a different way and at a different speed, responding to criticism and praise differently for every player. After 31 years of coaching B Ball and teaching I had 1 rule summed up in 1 word: RESPECT !!! It's crucial to treat each player or student with EQUAL RESPECT. Once the players realize that you have their best interests at heart and will be treated fairly and equally irregardless of your team rank number 1 or number 15. Throw many of your old, rigid beliefs and practices out the window. They DON'T work and this much younger generation ( there is a new generation about every 5 yes 5 years because of the rapid rate of change ) have shown this to you in the last few years. To learn and progress the young players must get playing time and be allowed to MAKE MISTAKES which is a crucial part of the learning process. DO NOT yank them off the floor as soon a they make the inevitable MISTAKES that they must make in order to learn. After at least a couple of minutes when you take them off calmly, explain to them what they did wrong and explain to them what they should do !!! DO NOT EVER bench them for the rest of the game because of a mistake, or take them off immediately after making the mistake since that will erode their confidence, when as a young player they are already somewhat insecure. TEACH and treat every player EQUALLY and with RESPECT and these 9 young players will progress much more quickly and become increasingly productive so that in the latter part of the season and playoffs your core players will be much better rested and probably healthier! The Raps then enter the playoffs as a deeper and more skilled team much more likely to WIN !!! PS older players also make mistakes and need to be TAUGHT and be treated with equal RESPECT as the rookie. Otherwise a double standard will destroy team chemistry and cause divisions similar to what happened the last couple of years!!! GO RAPS GO!!!

[Wild-ling#1]

First and foremost Coach CASEY you are a TEACHER!!! This is the KEY to the future of the RAPTORS organization because this is a young team with at least 9 players with 4 or fewer years experience!!! A few more wins or losses are totally irrelevant compared to the ultimate goal : maximize the speed of the learning curve for each player . Each player will learn will learn in a different way and at a different speed, responding to criticism and praise differently for every player. After 31 years of coaching B Ball and teaching I had 1 rule summed up in 1 word: RESPECT !!! It's crucial to treat each player or student with EQUAL RESPECT. Once the players realize that you have their best interests at heart and will be treated fairly and equally irregardless of your team rank number 1 or number 15. Throw many of your old, rigid beliefs and practices out the window. They DON'T work and this much younger generation ( there is a new generation about every 5 yes 5 years because of the rapid rate of change ) have shown this to you in the last few years. To learn and progress the young players must get playing time and be allowed to MAKE MISTAKES which is a crucial part of the learning process. DO NOT yank them off the floor as soon a they make the inevitable MISTAKES that they must make in order to learn. After at least a couple of minutes when you take them off calmly, explain to them what they did wrong and explain to them what they should do !!! DO NOT EVER bench them for the rest of the game because of a mistake, or take them off immediately after making the mistake since that will erode their confidence, when as a young player they are already somewhat insecure. TEACH and treat every player EQUALLY and with RESPECT and these 9 young players will progress much more quickly and become increasingly productive so that in the latter part of the season and playoffs your core players will be much better rested and probably healthier! The Raps then enter the playoffs as a deeper and more skilled team much more likely to WIN !!! PS older players also make mistakes and need to be TAUGHT and be treated with equal RESPECT as the rookie. Otherwise a double standard will destroy team chemistry and cause divisions similar to what happened the last couple of years!!! GO RAPS GO!!!

Hey, Steve!

Welcome to Raptors Republic!

Your Passion for the sport is obvious.

Your willingness to (meaningfully) contribute is appreciated!

Just one more thing ...

"Prepare to be boarded!"

[LJ2]

This depends a lot on our offence though.

We have less guys who are capable of creating their own shot. Even Vasquez, with all his flaws, was still surprisingly capable at doing so, possibly more so than anyone we've added. And Lou obviously was.

Which new guys have such ability? It's not part of Carroll's game. Cojo really hasn't shown that at the NBA level either. Young guys are all unknowns, especially since we don't know if/how much they'll play, but iso scorer really doesn't seem like a good label for any of them. For other bench guys...Ross hasn't yet ever been that good in such a role, and has always been better as a catch and shoot guy for much of his offence. Biyombo has no offence. Scola can be iso'd in the post, and with the bench unit that's something we're maybe going to see a lot of if the system isn't different.

Our team has a lot less guys who can function effectively (forget efficiently as our iso-oriented players couldn't even do that) in a "my turn, your turn" game.

*I'll also add none of the new guys are particularly good creators for others as passers in iso situations. Not necessarily bad passers, but system guys and guys who aren't hugely creative, even Joseph. Wright and JJ might have the most promise there in terms of breaking down the D and opening opportunities for others.

I agree completely. No matter what sort of offence you instill there are always points of the game when for example the game breaks down or the clock is running down and you revert to one on one situation. There is always a need for ball handlers whom can create for themselves on the floor to keep the offence from getting stagnant. If there is no threat of a guy getting past you and to the rim then you you just have to defend his shot etc...

This might be the break JV has been waiting for. If you don't have the personnel to go iso, you gotta feed the post right? right?

[LJ2]

The roster has shifted, and the coaching staff has shifted. There's no reason to assume we'll be nearly so dependent on iso this season. They're already talking about the ball movement that's been occurring naturally in informal practices.

Normally I would be skeptical that a mindset/offence can be changed so drastically to move from iso to ball movement oriented, but when you reflect how quickly Atlanta was able to make the change you get excited about us being able to do the same.

[Machine]

First and foremost Coach CASEY you are a TEACHER!!! This is the KEY to the future of the RAPTORS organization because this is a young team with at least 9 players with 4 or fewer years experience!!! A few more wins or losses are totally irrelevant compared to the ultimate goal : maximize the speed of the learning curve for each player . Each player will learn will learn in a different way and at a different speed, responding to criticism and praise differently for every player. After 31 years of coaching B Ball and teaching I had 1 rule summed up in 1 word: RESPECT !!! It's crucial to treat each player or student with EQUAL RESPECT. Once the players realize that you have their best interests at heart and will be treated fairly and equally irregardless of your team rank number 1 or number 15. Throw many of your old, rigid beliefs and practices out the window. They DON'T work and this much younger generation ( there is a new generation about every 5 yes 5 years because of the rapid rate of change ) have shown this to you in the last few years. To learn and progress the young players must get playing time and be allowed to MAKE MISTAKES which is a crucial part of the learning process. DO NOT yank them off the floor as soon a they make the inevitable MISTAKES that they must make in order to learn. After at least a couple of minutes when you take them off calmly, explain to them what they did wrong and explain to them what they should do !!! DO NOT EVER bench them for the rest of the game because of a mistake, or take them off immediately after making the mistake since that will erode their confidence, when as a young player they are already somewhat insecure. TEACH and treat every player EQUALLY and with RESPECT and these 9 young players will progress much more quickly and become increasingly productive so that in the latter part of the season and playoffs your core players will be much better rested and probably healthier! The Raps then enter the playoffs as a deeper and more skilled team much more likely to WIN !!! PS older players also make mistakes and need to be TAUGHT and be treated with equal RESPECT as the rookie. Otherwise a double standard will destroy team chemistry and cause divisions similar to what happened the last couple of years!!! GO RAPS GO!!!

Honestly I just read all the capitalized words and skipped the rest but I think I PRETTY MUCH got the JIST of it.

[SkywalkerAC]

Hey, Steve!

Welcome to Raptors Republic!

Your Passion for the sport is obvious.

Your willingness to (meaningfully) contribute is appreciated!

Just one more thing ...

"Prepare to be boarded!"

How about:

"Paragraphs are your friend!"

[distorsun]

Casey is 75yrs old. He ain't changing. Ross and JV still look like rookies (thanks Dwayne); it was worthed to stun our growth for 2 1st round exit.

First and foremost Coach CASEY you are a TEACHER!!! This is the KEY to the future of the RAPTORS organization because this is a young team with at least 9 players with 4 or fewer years experience!!! A few more wins or losses are totally irrelevant compared to the ultimate goal : maximize the speed of the learning curve for each player . Each player will learn will learn in a different way and at a different speed, responding to criticism and praise differently for every player. After 31 years of coaching B Ball and teaching I had 1 rule summed up in 1 word: RESPECT !!! It's crucial to treat each player or student with EQUAL RESPECT. Once the players realize that you have their best interests at heart and will be treated fairly and equally irregardless of your team rank number 1 or number 15. Throw many of your old, rigid beliefs and practices out the window. They DON'T work and this much younger generation ( there is a new generation about every 5 yes 5 years because of the rapid rate of change ) have shown this to you in the last few years. To learn and progress the young players must get playing time and be allowed to MAKE MISTAKES which is a crucial part of the learning process. DO NOT yank them off the floor as soon a they make the inevitable MISTAKES that they must make in order to learn. After at least a couple of minutes when you take them off calmly, explain to them what they did wrong and explain to them what they should do !!! DO NOT EVER bench them for the rest of the game because of a mistake, or take them off immediately after making the mistake since that will erode their confidence, when as a young player they are already somewhat insecure. TEACH and treat every player EQUALLY and with RESPECT and these 9 young players will progress much more quickly and become increasingly productive so that in the latter part of the season and playoffs your core players will be much better rested and probably healthier! The Raps then enter the playoffs as a deeper and more skilled team much more likely to WIN !!! PS older players also make mistakes and need to be TAUGHT and be treated with equal RESPECT as the rookie. Otherwise a double standard will destroy team chemistry and cause divisions similar to what happened the last couple of years!!! GO RAPS GO!!!