#FireCasey

[JimiCliff]

One foot in the dark side. Not yet there though.

Don't think of it as the dark side. Think of it as bathing in the light.

[hotfuzz]

Oct.29-Dec.29 (pre-Portland) team FG% was 46.4, good for 7th in the league. Dec.30th (Portland) to today they've been shooting 44.1, good for 18th in the league.

Interestingly, only three playoff teams have shot worse than them since the Portland game - the Spurs, Portland, and Chicago.

The Spurs have had a ton of injuries, Derrick Rose is taking 17 shots per game and shooting 40% in Chicago (sound familiar?), but what's wrong with Portland? I think they're on a similar arc to the Raptors, with some significant flaws that were glossed over by a hot start and nice W/L totals.

Regarding Portland, Aldridge takes some tough midrange shots, whereas lillard takes a lot of heat check 3s. Sound familiar?

[Letter N]

When you play the Raptors, they what? try and run you out of the building?

What are you talking about, everyone knows when you play the Raptors they'll try to run the same style of offense that you're running.

Playing a slow team that utilizes bigs? Let's play a slow game utilizing our bigs!
Playing a fast team that wants to get out and run all the time? Let's speed up our tempo and try to outrun them!
Opponents are going with a small lineup? Take out your bigs and let's match them with a small lineup!!

[Chr1s1anL]

JV was gassed !!! I blame Casey for not getting him ready.

JV is an All Star, maybe a Super Star potential, I don't think he was gassed at all.

Lets face it, MU has brought in all these talents and Casey is just mismanaging them.

We win because of the brilliant of our GM and players and lose because of Casey.

This is so obvious now.

Lol yes this team has more talent than the Bulls, Cavs and Wizards. That's exactly why were ahead of all those three teams in the standings. You hit it right on the money.

[psrs1]

Wanna know why this thread was started?

Go watch the Pelican games 1 and 2

I agree. If we beat the Mavs tonight all will seem well but those of that follow closely know we continue to have recurrent issues related to coaching , minutes, rotations and shot selection. I'm pretty sure MU sees it. I think Casey could get fired if we lose in the first round though most likely not. Casey for all his faults may be better than bringing in someone new and watching the team regress further and then everyone will say how could we have let Casey go--what a mistake.

[Primer]

I agree. If we beat the Mavs tonight all will seem well but those of that follow closely know we continue to have recurrent issues related to coaching , minutes, rotations and shot selection. I'm pretty sure MU sees it. I think Casey could get fired if we lose in the first round though most likely not. Casey for all his faults may be better than bringing in someone new and watching the team regress further and then everyone will say how could we have let Casey go--what a mistake.

Luckily we have an option on the 3rd year for Casey, so we don't need to give him an extension this summer if we want to keep him. Seems like it will all come down to the playoffs and how much pressure there is on Masai to keep Casey or let him go. Casey seems very Lionel Hollins to me, he got a talented team as far as he could, and a new coach was needed to get them to the next level. I'm just so positive that Casey isn't a championship level coach that my enthusiasm for the Raps would take a serious hit if we brought him back. I'm not even a fan of watching us play due to all the hair pulling moments (encouraging poor iso play from our guards, benching our young stud center when he's having a great game, etc..).

[raptors999]

I agree. If we beat the Mavs tonight all will seem well but those of that follow closely know we continue to have recurrent issues related to coaching , minutes, rotations and shot selection. I'm pretty sure MU sees it. I think Casey could get fired if we lose in the first round though most likely not. Casey for all his faults may be better than bringing in someone new and watching the team regress further and then everyone will say how could we have let Casey go--what a mistake.

Nobody will regret firing Casey. He isn't very good. Just like losing Salmons wasn't crippling. Team isn't playing defense, taking good shots or passing. Everything that a coach that gets players to play does. He is a non-strategic coach who can't get players to buy into a system

[Cody73]

I feel we pass the ball when we are playing actual teams Casey thinks are threats. When we don't face a team that is ahead of us or close to us in the standings, he makes the team go ISO.

[tDotted]

Nobody will regret firing Casey. He isn't very good. Just like losing Salmons wasn't crippling. Team isn't playing defense, taking good shots or passing. Everything that a coach that gets players to play does. He is a non-strategic coach who can't get players to buy into a system

If the team cleans up their offense and uses JV more on the defensive end as our anchor, then a new coach will be worth it. I don't care about W/L (& neither should Masai).

[golden]

I feel we pass the ball when we are playing actual teams Casey thinks are threats. When we don't face a team that is ahead of us or close to us in the standings, he makes the team go ISO.

I don't think that it is Casey "calling ISO", so much as DD/Lou/Lowry/GV have been given an abnormally high degree of freedom to call plays on the fly, as they see fit. With the guidelines being: (a) limit turnovers, (b) drive the ball when possible & (c) get to the foul line. I believe this is what we're seeing, which would naturally lead to the main ball handlers calling their own number a lot.

[Cody73]

I don't think that it is Casey "calling ISO", so much as DD/Lou/Lowry/GV have been given an abnormally high degree of freedom to call plays on the fly, as they see fit. With the guidelines being: (a) limit turnovers, (b) drive the ball when possible & (c) get to the foul line. I believe this is what we're seeing, which would naturally lead to the main ball handlers calling their own number a lot.

Not that may be the best post in this thread. That's probably what's gong on..... so is Casey to blame?

[Primer]

I don't think that it is Casey "calling ISO", so much as DD/Lou/Lowry/GV have been given an abnormally high degree of freedom to call plays on the fly, as they see fit. With the guidelines being: (a) limit turnovers, (b) drive the ball when possible & (c) get to the foul line. I believe this is what we're seeing, which would naturally lead to the main ball handlers calling their own number a lot.

This is how I coach my under 10 YMCA team with only 2 good players. It's not how an NBA team should be run. We have uber efficient scorers at PF and C (JV, Amir, PPat), they should not be ignored because Casey doesn't feel like using an offensive system.

[OldSkoolCool]

What are you talking about, everyone knows when you play the Raptors they'll try to run the same style of offense that you're running.

Playing a slow team that utilizes bigs? Let's play a slow game utilizing our bigs!
Playing a fast team that wants to get out and run all the time? Let's speed up our tempo and try to outrun them!
Opponents are going with a small lineup? Take out your bigs and let's match them with a small lineup!!

Bi-product of no system?

If the team cleans up their offense and uses JV more on the defensive end as our anchor, then a new coach will be worth it. I don't care about W/L (& neither should Masai).

Agreed. If we have a defined system, the wins will come

[golden]

This is how I coach my under 10 YMCA team with only 2 good players. It's not how an NBA team should be run. We have uber efficient scorers at PF and C (JV, Amir, PPat), they should not be ignored because Casey doesn't feel like using an offensive system.

LOL. Actually, this how NBA offenses were run, like 10-20 years ago. Even in the early days of Wade and Lebron in Miami, they tried the your-turn/my-turn type of thing. The last time it worked was with Shaq & Kobe, but those guys are first-ballot HoFs, top 15 greatest of all-time, arguably. We've got 2 all-stars (Lowry & DD), who probably wouldn't be all-stars in any other offensive system, so yeah, I totally agree, Casey needs to reign in these guys on their decision making.

On the flip side, although the offense is predictable from the point of view that you know who is going to be handling the ball, it is largely un-predictable because our ball-handlers are pretty erratic decision makers. That's probably why we're seeing some crazy turnovers, alternating with great ball movement, and ridiculous shot-making. It all depends on how DD/Lou/GV/Lowry feel that day. Lou is probably the most predictable, because he passes the least, but he is easily the best shot creator. For Lou, Casey's offense is like handing out crack to an addict.

[Other Scott]

LOL. Actually, this how NBA offenses were run, like 10-20 years ago. Even in the early days of Wade and Lebron in Miami, they tried the your-turn/my-turn type of thing. The last time it worked was with Shaq & Kobe, but those guys are first-ballot HoFs, top 15 greatest of all-time, arguably. We've got 2 all-stars (Lowry & DD), who probably wouldn't be all-stars in any other offensive system, so yeah, I totally agree, Casey needs to reign in these guys on their decision making.

On the flip side, although the offense is predictable from the point of view that you know who is going to be handling the ball, it is largely un-predictable because our ball-handlers are pretty erratic decision makers. That's probably why we're seeing some crazy turnovers, alternating with great ball movement, and ridiculous shot-making. It all depends on how DD/Lou/GV/Lowry feel that day. Lou is probably the most predictable, because he passes the least, but he is easily the best shot creator. For Lou, Casey's offense is like handing out crack to an addict.

I think that's the reason the offense is so successful, though. It's nearly impossible to game plan for. You don't know if it's suddenly going to be ISO-heavy, pass-crazy, lots of post ups, Lou Williams making crazy shots, JJ jamming the ball down the defenders throats. The Raptors have so many competent pieces that they can basically run any style they want offensively and it will work out OK.

That's why I'm not as big a proponent of "we need an offensive system." The offense works fine for the most part. Yes, there's some games lost here and there where no one gets hot and the Raptors end up just bricking it (like last night), but most games someone gets into a groove. I think the difference between now and earlier in the season is that "someone" has not been Kyle Lowry for a very long time.