#FireCasey

[Axel]

I want Casey gone as much as the next guy, but he seems like he's willing to change. Maybe Masai is on to something here, guess we'll have to wait and see idk.

Curious as to why you think that?

I haven't seen anything that makes me believe he is capable or willing to run anything differently.

[slaw]

Curious as to why you think that?

I haven't seen anything that makes me believe he is capable or willing to run anything differently.

Casey will do whatever it takes to keep his job. That is what he has done so far. That is what he will do going forward. For both good and bad, Casey is a company man. If Ujiri told him to leave one guy at the other end of the floor and play defense with 4 guys he would do it. If Masai told him to coach standing on his head he would learn how.

Casey ran the same defense for years until Greer came in and Casey was told to run a different defense. He did. If he's told to run a new offense he will.

The question isn't whether Casey can oversee implementing a new offense. The question is will the players buy in, get aligned with it all (mainly Lowry) and when things go bad and the offense doesn't work, is everyone prepared to stick with it and take a step back to take two steps forward. I don't know the answers to any of those questions but they are the ones that matter....

[Axel]

Casey will do whatever it takes to keep his job. That is what he has done so far. That is what he will do going forward. For both good and bad, Casey is a company man. If Ujiri told him to leave one guy at the other end of the floor and play defense with 4 guys he would do it. If Masai told him to coach standing on his head he would learn how.

Casey ran the same defense for years until Greer came in and Casey was told to run a different defense. He did. If he's told to run a new offense he will.

The question isn't whether Casey can oversee implementing a new offense. The question is will the players buy in, get aligned with it all (mainly Lowry) and when things go bad and the offense doesn't work, is everyone prepared to stick with it and take a step back to take two steps forward. I don't know the answers to any of those questions but they are the ones that matter....

Well it's not as simple as a new offence, it's a new culture; much harder to implement.

Greer was given reign to run the defence, and it worked well that year. So well that we reverted back as soon as Greer and his expertise went elsewhere - questioning whether Casey has a diverse enough technical knowledge/skillset to run anything other than what he knows.

So with limited experience actually spearheading new systems, and the much bigger challenge of creating a new culture (that Casey was a big part of creating in the first place) is no small feat; hence the question: what does it seem to some that he's willing to change?

[LJ2]

Well it's not as simple as a new offence, it's a new culture; much harder to implement.

Greer was given reign to run the defence, and it worked well that year. So well that we reverted back as soon as Greer and his expertise went elsewhere - questioning whether Casey has a diverse enough technical knowledge/skillset to run anything other than what he knows.

So with limited experience actually spearheading new systems, and the much bigger challenge of creating a new culture (that Casey was a big part of creating in the first place) is no small feat; hence the question: what does it seem to some that he's willing to change?

I can see Casey being will, but don't know if he is able.

It's like hiring Mike D'Antoni to teach defence. This is why I question some of what MU said at his press conference and whether he is really behind a change to the offence.

[Axel]

I can see Casey being will, but don't know if he is able.

It's like hiring Mike D'Antoni to teach defence. This is why I question some of what MU said at his press conference and whether he is really behind a change to the offence.

Ok, since you answered, is there any particular reason why you think he's willing?

I haven't seen anything to really justify that position so if unless it's just faith/hope, then I don't get it.

[golden]

Casey will do whatever it takes to keep his job. That is what he has done so far. That is what he will do going forward. For both good and bad, Casey is a company man. If Ujiri told him to leave one guy at the other end of the floor and play defense with 4 guys he would do it. If Masai told him to coach standing on his head he would learn how.

Casey ran the same defense for years until Greer came in and Casey was told to run a different defense. He did. If he's told to run a new offense he will.

The question isn't whether Casey can oversee implementing a new offense. The question is will the players buy in, get aligned with it all (mainly Lowry) and when things go bad and the offense doesn't work, is everyone prepared to stick with it and take a step back to take two steps forward. I don't know the answers to any of those questions but they are the ones that matter....

I agree with what you said, but if you are correct, then Masai appears to be setting up Casey to fail this season. The biggest question is not if Casey can implement a ball movement offense, but rather, will the players have respect for him now? If Lowry comes back, that seems like a dysfunctional situation right from the get-go.

It's just an awkward situation all-around. You don't normally fire a coach after a 50-win regular season, but Casey's ceiling as a coach with this group seems capped in the playoffs. I suspect next off-season will be the year of real change.

[LJ2]

Ok, since you answered, is there any particular reason why you think he's willing?

I haven't seen anything to really justify that position so if unless it's just faith/hope, then I don't get it.

Simply, it's his job to do as he is asked to do. Why in the world do you think he would refuse to do as his employer asks?

[JimiCliff]

Casey will do whatever it takes to keep his job. That is what he has done so far. That is what he will do going forward. For both good and bad, Casey is a company man. If Ujiri told him to leave one guy at the other end of the floor and play defense with 4 guys he would do it. If Masai told him to coach standing on his head he would learn how.

Casey ran the same defense for years until Greer came in and Casey was told to run a different defense. He did. If he's told to run a new offense he will.

The question isn't whether Casey can oversee implementing a new offense. The question is will the players buy in, get aligned with it all (mainly Lowry) and when things go bad and the offense doesn't work, is everyone prepared to stick with it and take a step back to take two steps forward. I don't know the answers to any of those questions but they are the ones that matter....

People have mentioned this recently, but way back when, Colangelo asked Casey for more passing in the offence...and he got it. (And he also got Lowry sulking his way through the rest of the season while giving less-than-maximum effort. Which is, I'm sure, one of the main reasons that style of play was abandoned.)

[Axel]

Simply, it's his job to do as he is asked to do. Why in the world do you think he would refuse to do as his employer asks?

So there isn't any particular reason, just faith; which is what I was trying to determine.

[LJ2]

So there isn't any particular reason, just faith; which is what I was trying to determine.

Any answer would be based on faith until it actually happens wouldn't it? I could say that he has shown he is capable of change as we've seen his improvements in calling out time outs and game to game adjustments in the playoffs, etc., but again until he does change the offence you can always question whether he is willing.

[LJ2]

People have mentioned this recently, but way back when, Colangelo asked Casey for more passing in the offence...and he got it. (And he also got Lowry sulking his way through the rest of the season while giving less-than-maximum effort. Which is, I'm sure, one of the main reasons that style of play was abandoned.)

Keeping Lowry happy and focused might be one of Casey's best attributes.

[golden]

Simply, it's his job to do as he is asked to do. Why in the world do you think he would refuse to do as his employer asks?

If you listen to the PT Sports interview, Damien Cox actually challenged Masai directly on this point, i.e., that it was not typical for the GM to tell a coach specifically how to coach. Masai really backed down from the "culture reset" comments responded weakly with stuff like "...well what we've been doing hasn't been working, which is the definition of insanity.... it will just be a few tweaks...etc... ". I felt like Masai got dinged a bit by the question and didn't really have a good answer.

And what if Casey really does believe in his system (less passing, attack aggressively, ...)? Perhaps Casey thinks that it just needs a little more persistence & patience (aka, pound the rock), before we see results in the playoffs. It would be kind of like telling Phil Jackson when he was a coach, not to use the triangle. He'd probably quit on the spot.

[slaw]

If you listen to the PT Sports interview, Damien Cox actually challenged Masai directly on this point, i.e., that it was not typical for the GM to tell a coach specifically how to coach. Masai really backed down from the "culture reset" comments responded weakly with stuff like "...well what we've been doing hasn't been working, which is the definition of insanity.... it will just be a few tweaks...etc... ". I felt like Masai got dinged a bit by the question and didn't really have a good answer.

And what if Casey really does believe in his system (less passing, attack aggressively, ...)? Perhaps Casey thinks that it just needs a little more persistence & patience (aka, pound the rock), before we see results in the playoffs. It would be kind of like telling Phil Jackson when he was a coach, not to use the triangle. He'd probably quit on the spot.

One underlying assumption here is that this is "Casey's system" and he's wedded to it. Is he? Really? Or has he simply been committed to it because it's seen them into the playoffs 4 years straight, including a conference finals? Is it because he has seen it as successful (because it has been)?

Phil Jackson was, and is, married to the triangle. Is Casey so married to a dribble-drive offense he'd quit? I don't know for certain, he hasn't mentioned it to me, but if I was a betting man I'd bet on Casey putting in a new offense over quitting or getting fired cause he refused....

[slaw]

So there isn't any particular reason, just faith; which is what I was trying to determine.

There's lots of reasons that have been presented.

1. Job security. Money. Contract.
2. He's a good company man.
3. He replaced his defensive system.
4. Less material changes regarding young players, ATOs, EOG management, etc.

I'll ask the opposite: why in the world do you think he wouldn't be agreeable to change?

[LJ2]

If you listen to the PT Sports interview, Damien Cox actually challenged Masai directly on this point, i.e., that it was not typical for the GM to tell a coach specifically how to coach. Masai really backed down from the "culture reset" comments responded weakly with stuff like "...well what we've been doing hasn't been working, which is the definition of insanity.... it will just be a few tweaks...etc... ". I felt like Masai got dinged a bit by the question and didn't really have a good answer.

And what if Casey really does believe in his system (less passing, attack aggressively, ...)? Perhaps Casey thinks that it just needs a little more persistence & patience (aka, pound the rock), before we see results in the playoffs. It would be kind of like telling Phil Jackson when he was a coach, not to use the triangle. He'd probably quit on the spot.

I question Ujiri's commitment to a change in the offence as well. Ball movement sounds great, but what personnel do we have to pull it off? Any knock down shooters? Nobody I would call automatic. Any above average distributors? We're consistently among the teams with fewest assists which would indicate we do not. And the player we've made the largest commitment to on the roster is best in iso situations, not in a ball movement offence. So yeah what I hope we get and what I think we will likely get are two different things.

I'm with Slaw, and believe Casey will do as he is asked to. He's hardly a Popovich or Phil, where he's got the kind of sway to do as he likes.