Breakfasth with Coach Casey ... Surprise visit from Massai

[TicaL0]

Hey guys, I hope things are well. I haven't posted in some time but as per my previous posts, I usually get invited to many personal meet/greet events on a small scale within MLSE and and my alter ego - Raptorfan(dotcom).

This morning I had the opportunity to share a few pastries and cup of coffee with our head coach (and yes, looks like he's here for the year) Dwayne Casey.

In most of these settings, I usually do my best to ask questions rather than 'sit and listen'. He was really receptive and forth coming with his answers. To make the reading experience a bit easier, I'll just outline the Q's/A's and my thoughts.

Enjoy!

Coach starts off with talking about how he's STILL HERE, his badge still works and intends to make the PUSH that any team in 'YEAR 3' should have.

- last year was a series of events that went sideways and in turn took them out of the playoffs
- 4 and 19 start was just horrific; were there BUT lost many games they should've won
- During that time, dealt with injuries with JV, KLOW and managing minutes
- Says if we take away the 4 letters from the league regarding missed calls, all of a sudden, maybe the playoffs are a reality or they're NOT in the situation they were towards the end of the year scraping and hoping for every win/loss....
- Says tho they received the letters, it doesn't mean anything more than the paper it's written on. It's nice that it was acknowledged, but it really ends there.
- JV is a beast and is the right guy for this program; teams early in the year would game plan to go 'AT THE ROOK' and often resulted in him getting cheap early fouls; towards the end of the year, teams like ATL and BOSTON were doubling teaming him and forcing him to kick it out...he has the attention of opposing teams now
- mentioned that during the year, people questioned his substitution patterns and who was on the court when it mattered. Alot of it was feeling out who they had and what their guys could do. Admits that alot of the time, there were guys on the court who shouldn't have been and hadn't earned the right to be...


SORRY GUYS...I had to take out the MEAT AND POTATOES here as per the request of a few folks in upper management. Some of the material might have been 'too much'. For THOSE that read it, I hope you guys got a good feel, for those that didn't, I will definately be checking back in with some other insights.



Wrapped up by saying keep with us and the team, big things are in the works and this is the year that everything comes to fruition. He spoke highly of Massai saying he brings a new element of FRESHNESS To this team by looking at our roster FULL CIRCLE ( a slight at BC) and knows where our strengths and weaknesses are. We are not looking to bring a playoff team to this city but a top seeded franchise that'll be competitive night in and night out.

Thank you ~


That pretty much wraps up the breakfast this morning. I think i covered most of it (From what I could recall of memory). Looks good, things are in the right direction. DEFINITELY looks like Casey is here for another year. What was news to me was the few (unofficial) jabs that he took at BC at his inclination/love for Bargnani. Tho Casey always defended the guy last year, I think it was all under the BC umbrella. It was pretty evident to me that Casey ALSO wants Bargnani gone. He mentioned that maybe swapping him out for a veteran player that fills a NEED is an option. I think they're willing to lose their shirts just to trade him out and get a serviceable piece back. That'd be a HUGE Slap in BC's face if they tossed him for nothing.

In terms of tanking...doesn't look like it all all, so put it to rest WIGGINS LOVERS...it'd be GREAT, but won't happen. Not with our pick anyway.

Hope that gave you guys some good insight for what the thought process is early this offseason.

Keep tabs on us at RAPTORFAN.COM for more 'personal' blogs, contents, meet and greets, merchandise and AS ALWAYS, your most cost effective option for your Raptor's tickets this season.

Best Regards,

Burhan Ehsan
Pres. Raptorfan.com

[22haytham22]

Thanks!

[[SJJ]]

Thank you - this is great!

[djsunyc]

thanks. fantastic informative post.

[DreamTeam09]

That's pretty sick, good job to you OP. I'll check your site for tickets next yr.

[Basketball_Jones]

That was great, and confirmed what I thought. They were basically so freakin worried about Andrea they tried everything with him. He was still a very core piece of the team at the time, and even after he didn't deserve it they threw him back into the starting lineup anyways just to make him happy. And a very telling thing is MU saying he's not looking to just make the playoffs, which is what all the anti-tank people are hoping is the direction he goes in. We won't know until he starts making moves, but everything he says is kind of the opposite of just "retooling".

[edgehead411]

Awesome information. I'm open to giving Casey another year without the old management staff breathing down his neck. Glad to hear the tone is that the Raptors and Bargnani are going to part ways

[djsunyc]

casey said:

- need vets that play extended minutes
- him and masai are on the same page
- big things are in the works
- this is where year 3 fruition comes in

does that sound like tanking?

[RaptorReloaded]

I loved everything I heard. BIG thank you for sharing this.

[Los Manos]

thanks a lot for posting.

[Patman]

casey said:

- need vets that play extended minutes
- him and masai are on the same page
- big things are in the works
- this is where year 3 fruition comes in

does that sound like tanking?

Doesn't sound like it, but there was no way Casey was going to support a tank in the final year of the contract.

I don't think MU has made up his mind yet whether we are buyers or sellers. The most likely scenario is that we start out the season with playoffs in mind, and Masai makes moves based off the results. His summer priority will be unloading Bargnani. After that is getting some useful vets. I don't think anything "big" happens before the season.

[yk24]

Post of the summer right there OP.

[West Rouge]

Awesome information. I'm open to giving Casey another year without the old management staff breathing down his neck. Glad to hear the tone is that the Raptors and Bargnani are going to part ways

If management was forcing him to play AA for all those minutes. I feel sorry for him & can forgive. If that was his choice. God help us

[Patman]

PS awesome interview. Heads and shoulders above what our local "journalists" come up with. Everyone should And1 that.

[theonlyeastcoastrapsfan]

Thanks OP

[pbj]

"I've been texting Kyle alot, and he's already lost 15 lbs."

My favourite part.

[djsunyc]

so last year was fat lowry. that's inexcusable. i thought alvin was his mentor - what's up with that?

surprise surprise, get fit in contract year. that's not out of the ordinary.

[Reignman]

so last year was fat lowry. that's inexcusable. i thought alvin was his mentor - what's up with that?

surprise surprise, get fit in contract year. that's not out of the ordinary.

Coming off injury in training camp and then another injury during the year. At least that's what I got out of why he was out of shape.

[djsunyc]

so last year was fat lowry. that's inexcusable. i thought alvin was his mentor - what's up with that?

surprise surprise, get fit in contract year. that's not out of the ordinary.

Coming off injury in training camp and then another injury during the year. At least that's what I got out of why he was out of shape.

he said he was the worst shape in his career coming into the season. so i think that predates the injuries.

[theonlyeastcoastrapsfan]

so last year was fat lowry. that's inexcusable. i thought alvin was his mentor - what's up with that?

surprise surprise, get fit in contract year. that's not out of the ordinary.

His Ab injury was pretty serious, if I recall. the infection is nothing to scoff at. They are not all the same, sometimes those mofo's can really set you back.