[HobbyOGParticipant]

 I read that he’s on the hot seat, do you think he should be fired? And if so who should replace him? 

 

If they fire him they’ll still be in the same position next year if Lebron is still in the East. They have no one that can guard him. They gave Serge and Powell big contracts and those guys are not diffrent makers. I think the GM has to take accountability in this as well. 

 

[sweaterflexParticipant]

Casey did a good job during the regular season but his lineups were garbage in the playoffs. He never even played Ibaka + Siakam + Anunoby, which would have been his best defensive lineup, and he never went super small with their lineups with Delon Wright at the 3. He also took out Jonas when he was dominating  on the block and dusted off Bebe for reasons unbenownst to anyone. Poetl was great all year and was completely shelved. Ujiri has done a great job stocking the team with depth at every position, and while they may not beat LeBron next year even with Casey gone, they also might not disgrace themselves. 

[RUDEBOY-Participant]

 During his Press Conference after the game Derozan said Lebron & the Cavs just have their number. He sounded a lot like The Red Sox Pedro Martinez when the Yankees kept putting them out of the playoffs. No way would I want a teammate that would react that way. Lowry is a good player, but he haven’t elevated his game. He was that way in Houston good regular seasons, but didn’t show up in playoffs. Everyone was talking about how great their bench was. And even they those guys were efficient, but collectively as individuals they were overrated. To beat Cleveland u have to have better ball movement. That’s Y I feel if they have a easier chance to reach the Finals if they face Philly than if they go against Boston.

[OneAndDoneParticipant]

I know this isn’t what this thread is about but Philly was easily one of the best teams in the league moving the ball. Their unselfishness and great ball movement is the prime reason they won 52 games. With Boston’s injuries, they have basically become a team that uses their extremely athletic players in ISO situations or kick it out to Baynes for a corner three. Fortunately for them everyone has been incredible in those situations. Horford has been awesome too, he just knows how to get his. Philly also beat the Cavs a couple weeks ago without Embiid. I hope they shock the world.

[RUDEBOY-Participant]

 That’s true. But sometimes Simmons can be predictable when he’s trying to set up. Boston found a way to slow him down a little.

[Lebron’s HairlineParticipant]

 No Derozan and/or Lowry just have to go imo, being a Raps fan I love this duo in the regular season but come playoff time they flat out stink. I think a roster shakeup is needed and we should give Casey one more go with a changed roster.

[kobyzParticipant]

 he’s not worse than popovitc, very similar coaching style and level… 

[MachettiParticipant]

I find it kinda ridiculous that they would fire him. It’s like okay Casey you’re gone, but who’s currently out there that would be a better option? Just to fire someone just for the sake of firing. It’s like when fans call in and say Bill Bilichick should be fired for benching Malcolm Butler. Seriously Pat fans who else would you want! Not comparing Dwayne Casey to Bilichick, just an example.

This is how the nba is you have an all time great player controling a conference like jordan did it in the 90s. A lot of good teams in 90s got the jordan effect. Now Lebron is doing it in this era.

 

 

 

[WetalkinboutpracticeParticipant]

 In the post season your stars (consistently) have to perform or your team will struggle. The windows & margin for error for your role players & bench are smaller, that’s were the greats have to step up and overcompensate. That’s where Lowry & Derozan have failed and this is where I believe their ceiling is unless Either of them has another level to their game (possibly Derozan considering he’s gotten better in some way every season). Nonetheless if the primary strength of your team is your bench that won’t take you very far in the postseason especially against Lebron James.

All being said I can’t blame Casey for this one. He did the best he could with the cards he was dealt. Now if Boston comes out and sweeps Cleveland. Then you could make the case that Casey could’ve pushed this series to six games.

[Lebron’s HairlineParticipant]

 Coaches don’t play, it comes down to the players at the end of the day and our star players choked like usual.

[HitsterParticipant]

 One bad play off series after having the best record out East would be very harsh for Dwane to lose his job. The Raps team is locked into the current line up and can be a force for the next couple of years. However if they were going to get to the Conference Finals again or even a first NBA Final this was probably the year.

Regardless of what LBJ does, next season the 76ers will likely push on even more and may even teach Fultz to shoot! Boston with Hayward and Kyrie back plus upside of Tatum and Brown will likely be stonger too. Even the Pacers could be a top 4 contending team, plus if LBJ does stay whilst they can still be a 50 plus win team the Raps may never have a better chance for a number of years to make a Final as Eastern Conference Champs.

I think Dwane stays for another year or two until this team needs to be rebuilt. He’d be about 63 then so may decide to step back then as he’d have had over 40 years in the game.

 

 

[Andv1 WaitingParticipant]

 As most have said above: They are really just unluck that they are in the same conference as Lebron…

Also the Roster Cassey has is a bit meh as you are building your franchise around two chuckers..

So me personally I would let cassey stick around for the duration of lowry’s contract(which I think is 2 more years). Because there aren’t any options left on the Coaching market that would be a major upgrade.

Well unless you give Stan V the job and hit reset on the roster and go a completely different direction.

After that period though I would either hit reset with a better roster/fire the Gm if the roster isn’t better by then…

 

[OhCanada-Participant]

 The thing is Stackhouse would be the best option available and would likely be the best option for years to come but its hard to believe he would change things to the point where Toronto’s team defence and overall fear of Lebron James (which is defenitely real) would change. I dont think the negative tendencies of Derozan and Lowry would change by dropping Casey and the Raptors may see a huge drop in morale, focus and work ethic by losing Casey. He really does keep his guys engaged 82 games of the year and the lack of effort at times against Cleveland is not his fault. Lebron just has them in some jedi mind trick trance they cant break. 

Problem is Stackhouse is going to want his oppurtunity and the NBA has been calling so if Toronto doesnt go with him now they wont be able to go with him in 2 or 3 years either for when they are ready to rebuild. Dwayne Casey is one of the best coaches in the league (top 10) but its not working.

Three options.

1.Continue with Casey and lose Stackhouse just to be a 50-60 win team that loses in the 2nd or 3rd round unless something abnormal happens like Lebron losing in the playoffs or getting hurt.

2.Fire Casey and go with Stackhouse. See if he can get a different response from Derozan and Lowry and get the team to play intense against Cleveland. If that doesnt work rebuild with Stackhouse and sell Derozan and Lowry for assets.

3.Fire Casey and go with Stackhouse. Do a complete rebuild trade everyone and tank for RJ Barrett which would be great for marketing.

They honestly might as well just ride out with Casey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[HobbyOGParticipant]

 I think the GM should be looked at..has some very questionable draft picks and gave out massive contracts. 

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Ujiri has done an amazing job since he’s been here. He built and suistained this team and from a personnel perspective put together a team that should be able to contend for a championship. He cant be responsible for the guys choking when they step on the same court as Lebron. His bad contracts are Carroll and Powell. Carroll was supposed to be a difference maker but he just missed all his shots and stopped playing defence its not Ujiri. Powell showed great upside and just stopped playing well and improving when he got paid. Poeltl was a difference maker throughout the season and was a decent pick in a bad draft he just needs to get stronger so he can rebound.

[HobbyOGParticipant]

Sabonis has been better then Poetl, espically in today’s game. You already have a slow center why not draft a PF That you need instead of another slow center??  How about that 2014 draft??? He drafted Bruno the bust over Rodney Hood, Clint Capela and a hand full of other guys contributing right now…And you give Serge Ikba whose been on a decline year after year that huge contract. I think he’s overrated. 

[cominup7Participant]

 There’s this ongoing storyline that Masai is such a great GM bu tI dont see it. Yea for a franchise like Toronto getting to the playoffs every yr is good, but you can’t keep having the same problems every yr and not make changes. That falls on the GM.

 If Lowry and Derozan have shown to be bad playoff performers, why continue to trot out the same core every yr. Valanciunas is a better version of Gortat who is just rotting away year after year, Ibaka was a terrible signing and should probably be coming off of the bench at this point. The young players are good but don’t have star quality.

Yea LeBron is dominating the conference but you put up a fight, like Boston is doing, and try to challenge the Cavs as much as you can. 

[cohenbc1Participant]

I have no reason to doubt he’s a smart guy, but it seems really weird to me that people talk about Stackhouse as this great coach when he was such an inefficient chucker as a player. 

Casey is a really good coach. Budenholzer is the best coach on the market, but I don’t think he’s in another league than Casey. So unless Phil Jackson or Don Nelson want to come out of retirement, no, they shouldn’t fire Casey.

 

 

[cohenbc1Participant]

 After I wrote that I asked myself, Is Don Nelson still alive?

I looked him up on wikipedia and not only is he alive, his life is pretty much like what you would imagine.

"As of April 2018, Nelson lives in Maui, where he has a farm to grow flowers, coffee, and cannabis.^[21] He hosts local poker games with celebrities such as Willie Nelson, Woody Harrelson, and Owen Wilson.^[21]"

 

 

 

[220Participant]

 There are no easy answers for the Raptors at this point. Simply getting rid of Dwane Casey likely won’t make the Raptors a better team. Honestly looking at the state of the East the best choice is likely to trade Lowry, DeRozan, or both of them. The Raptors are a good, but not good enough team in a conference that is only getting tougher. It’s always hard to start over, but the Raptors are largely like the Hawks were a few years ago. A team that overachieved in the regular season, but couldn’t get it done in the playoffs.

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

 Both Lowry and Derozan’s deals will be very hard to move without attaching other assets or taking back unwanted salary. Lowry is in his 30s and while he’s a very good pg he has clearly shown he’s a tier below elite. There’s a reason he wasn’t that highly coveted on the free agent market last summer. DeRozan is a guy that needs the ball in his hands to a lot to be worth the investment and hasn’t proven himself to be someone that you can build a championship level offense around. Neither is the type of player that is highly coveted around the league right now and the return for trading either might not be great. Toronto is probably stuck with these guys for at least another season, for better or worse.

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Make two lists. First name the players you can build a championship level offense around and then name the players you can build an offense more potent then Toronto’s Derozan led team. Theres like 3-5 players in the league more qaulified then Derozan. Say what you want but even guys like Westbrook, Cousins, Davis who are widely considered much better offensive players have not had as much team success. Although I truly do believe when he sleeps he has nightmares where Lebron James plays the role of Freddy Kruger.

[cohenbc1Participant]

 Wright-Van Vleet-Miles-Siakam-Poeltl was the best lineup in the league in terms of plus-minus (yes, they were mostly playing against other teams’ benches). 

But every one of those guys besides Miles should be better next year.

That improvement may be all the difference the Raps need. 

 

 

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

There are several different directions they could go if they fire Casey. Possibly the most logical option would just be to promote nick nurse, who is widely viewed as one of the best assistants in the league and is also the one largely responsible for overhauling their offense this season.

Stackhouse is likely to get a job in the nba regardless, but he already has some familiarity with the raptors from being in the d-league system and it would give him the chance to get into a winning situation right away rather than dealing with rebuild somewhere else.

If they want to look for a more established coach, buddenholzer could be a fit. He generally seems to get the most out of his teams in the regular season, although it hasn’t translated to much playoff success (although this is kind of the same problem Casey seems to run into every year.)

I agree that it’s probably time for a change though. Casey just seems to consistently get out coached in every postseason and fails to make the proper adjustments. Whether this team has the talent or not to break through is another story altogether, but if they do I’m just not sure Casey is the guy to lead them there.

 

 

 

 

[kikikikiParticipant]

 Well we know the answer to that question! Yes he’s fired. Should he have been? debatable maybe I think he should have been kept. But apparently they have other plans due not getting over the Hump! ( Clevelend).

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