Info On Dwayne Casey

[nitetrain8603]

Hello, I'm a Bulls fan and I didn't come here to troll. I just wanted some information on Dwayne Casey as a head coach since apparently, he is in the running for the Bulls job. So I'm hoping you guys could help out a little bit on learning about him.

Why was he fired in Minny? He seemed to have a poop team and had them at .500 in the Western Conference. Why did he get canned in that season?

What are his offensive philosophies?

How about defensive philosophies?

Is he a player's coach or a disciplinarian?

Was he decent at player development?

Pro's/Strengths?

Negatives?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[invno1]

I am not sure bro but the games i saw his rotations were crazy, He might have some geat ideas and philosophies but putting them into the game he was lost. Bro a question for you, seems like you are really in touch will the Bulls...Is Noah untouchable?

[deeney0]

Casey is going to be part of Carlisle's staff in Dallas. I don't know where you heard he was in the running for the Bulls job.

Casey is known as a defensive coach, and he was good at that aspect of the game. His rotations were wacky, he sucked out of timeouts, he never seemed to have the respect of the players or the organization.

20-20 was definitely overachieving with that group of players, but nonetheless it wasn't nearly enough for a team in win-now mode with KG.

Can't say anything about his ability to develop players. He wasn't hear long enough, and Wolves were a veteran team during his stint.

[Basti]

Hello, I'm a Bulls fan and I didn't come here to troll. I just wanted some information on Dwayne Casey as a head coach since apparently, he is in the running for the Bulls job. So I'm hoping you guys could help out a little bit on learning about him.

Why was he fired in Minny? He seemed to have a poop team and had them at .500 in the Western Conference. Why did he get canned in that season?

What are his offensive philosophies?

How about defensive philosophies?

Is he a player's coach or a disciplinarian?

Was he decent at player development?

Pro's/Strengths?

Negatives?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

from what I've seen (it wasn't a lot in that season) and read he was a disciplinarian who emphasized defense. but as the poster above me said his rotations were more than often flat out horrible but in casey's defence I'd say it was rather a thing of inexperience than a lack of ability. I think the best job for him would be the same role as thiboudo (typo?) has in boston. let him be the man preaching D but someone else should do the Xs and Os. I think if Casey gains some more experience (how old is he? in the mid 40s probably) he could be a decent coach some day. he definitely has the potential because in his 2nd season here he did quite well with the (lack of) talent he had.

the reason why he was fired is not that obvious to me. just before he got fired we had a great january before facing some bad luck (ejection and suspens of KG vs Detroit/phoenix and losing vs Detroit in the other game by 3 iirc and losing a few games by conceding buzzerbeaters). we just had a bad stretch for like 5-7 games and all of a sudden he got canned. at the time he was fired most of us were happy but later on it turned out he was better than wittman. at least I think casey would do a better job with the young squad.

oh and before I forget it, he had a nice way to bring rookies and youngsters along. they HAD to earn their right to start. if you didn't play D as a youngster you only saw playing time in garbage time or someone was in foul trouble

[cpfsf]

The real problem was the wolves just had a ton of contract disputes (sprewell and cassell) and the wolves were still looking for quick fixes believing they were still contenders (really they were just pretending like the Miami Heat did last offseason).

Once upon a time we could have had Roy, Allen, Billups, a first round draft pick we gave to LAC....but no, it is Casey's fault we can't win (and KG's fault too because he "tanked it")

[delux55]

Casey is a class act and this organization messed up huge in firing him. hope he does get some looks as a head coach again.

I still believe the real reason he got canned is he was to vocal in how much he wanted Roy over Foye he was the only one smart enough in the organization to see it and he let it be known that he wanted ROY.

[nitetrain8603]

I am not sure bro but the games i saw his rotations were crazy, He might have some geat ideas and philosophies but putting them into the game he was lost. Bro a question for you, seems like you are really in touch will the Bulls...Is Noah untouchable?

Depends on what you are offering. I would say right now, no one on the roster is untouchable. Heck, Deng and Hinrich who are seen as Paxson's golden boys could be had for the right price. And when I say that, I absolutely mean it.

[nitetrain8603]

Casey is going to be part of Carlisle's staff in Dallas. I don't know where you heard he was in the running for the Bulls job.

Casey is known as a defensive coach, and he was good at that aspect of the game. His rotations were wacky, he sucked out of timeouts, he never seemed to have the respect of the players or the organization.

20-20 was definitely overachieving with that group of players, but nonetheless it wasn't nearly enough for a team in win-now mode with KG.

Can't say anything about his ability to develop players. He wasn't hear long enough, and Wolves were a veteran team during his stint.

Marc Stein stated we are turning over our attention to Thibodeau, Casey and Avery Johnson.

Where will the Bulls turn now?

They will interview recently dismissed Dallas coach Avery Johnson after moving away from Johnson this week to focus on D'Antoni.


They will continue to consider former Minnesota coach Dwane Casey, who has already interviewed once with the Bulls and is bound for Dallas as an assistant to Rick Carlisle if he can't get the Bulls' job.


And they will request permission to speak with Boston Celtics assistant coach Tom Thibodeau, architect of the defense that's giving LeBron James so much trouble in the playoffs.

The Bulls will almost certainly hire one of those three -- odds favor the less experienced (but less expensive) Thibodeau -- and then start working on boosting the morale of players like Luol Deng, Ben Gordon and Joakim Noah, who were hoping so much to play for D'Antoni.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/s ... FAQ-080511

[Calinks]

I think Casey can be a good head coach. I think he needed to be on a squad that was rebuilding where he could grow with the squad and really make his mark. He is a disciplinarian but he is also a player's coach, he seemed to genuinely care about players and get hands on.

His offense seemed pretty poor but then again we did have a crap squad. He did bring defense though and at times we looked like one of the better defensive teams in the NBA. He even got Ricky D. to play some solid defense at times.

His rotations were crazy at times I don't know what he was trying to do there. Still he had a garbage team fighting for the playoffs and that can't be underestimated. He also was unfairly put under the microscope in season two with Glen Taylor sitting right behind him watching him like a hawk. It seems like he kind of got treated like crap towards the end.

I think the organization thought he was too soft. KG had his clique and Casey kid of got ran over by them. Supposedly the players that were in good with KG got away with crap that was inexcusable and they didn't listen to Case. I think Taylor wanted a coach that wouldn't allow that kind of atmosphere to fester.

They begged Witt to take the job and at first he didn't want to because the didn't want to deal with the attitudes but after they informed him that they were willing to blow the team up and get those guys out of here Witt decided to stay.

Casey wasn't perfect but I think he is a talented guy. He works incredibly hard, often times sleeping at he office. McHale said he was a hard man to fire because you don't want to axe somebody who puts in hat kind of effort but Taylor wanted him gone. He has a lot of head coach learning to do and I think he would be best suited for a young team. He will bring the defense though, that's for sure.

[horaceworthy]

Why was he fired in Minny? He seemed to have a poop team and had them at .500 in the Western Conference. Why did he get canned in that season?

He was fired because he wasn't part of the inner circle in Minnesota. Before his final season, Taylor forced him to take on Wittman (whom Taylor had had interest in hiring before the Casey hiring, and had been an assistant in Minnesota under Saunders) as his assistant, which effectively submarined any authority Casey could hope to have. By the time he was fired it seemed as if he had lost the team, Ricky Davis in particular (there were whispers that Casey asked for Davis to be traded numerous times).

If you can't tell, I think Casey got an incredibly raw deal here in Minnesota. He had possibly the toughest job in the NBA. One superstar with his clock ticking, a bunch of overpriced, veteran malcontents, a group of younger players not ready to contribute, an incredibly guard heavy roster, and unrealistic expectations from management. He exceeded any realistic expectation for the roster, but got canned in favor of a guy that's never won more than 39% of the games he coached in a given season, but that was an old friend of those running the organization.

What are his offensive philosophies?

It was tough to tell. He seemed to favor a jump shooting approach, but a lot of that had to do with the roster he had on his hands. The Wolves typically had good spacing, and at times had terrific ball movement. He liked to make every defender on the other team work, and would give isos to guys like Trenton Hassell a fair amount. Aside from a couple nice designed alley-oops, there was never anything too special coming out of timeouts.

How about defensive philosophies?

He didn't seem to like to foul, and played preferred man-to-man over zones. He was fairly similar to Nate McMillan on this side of the floor (and the offensive side as well, but he's not as adept as McMillan on that end), which makes sense, since they spent a lot of time together in Seattle.

Is he a player's coach or a disciplinarian?

He had a bit of a reputation as a disciplinarian, but it's tough to tell because he was classy enough to handle everything in house and not use the media to try and get his point across. Absolutely a stand up guy by all accounts, along with being a hard worker.

Was he decent at player development?

McCants made some nice strides under his watch, as did Marcus Banks, Justin Reed, Trenton Hassell, Ricky Davis and Mark Blount. Wally Z was playing the best basketball of his career under Casey when he was traded as well. Mike James fell off big time under Casey, but how much of that can be put on Casey is unknown. He got a lot of credit as a player development guy in Seattle (you should make this post on that board as well), namely with Rashard Lewis.

Pro's/Strengths?

Great character guy, accountable, hasn't said a bad word about the Wolves since they screwed him over, had a team full of career bad defenders (outside of KG) playing very good defense, spaced the floor well, hard worker.

Negatives?

Not a great game coach (although he had shown incremental improvement in his game management), tendency to get wacky with his rotations and try to work in too many players, not overly creative on the offensive end, eventually lost the team (I don't put a lot of that on him, he had a nearly impossible roster to manage).


I really hope the guy gets another shot, he got a raw deal here, and was showing improvement in areas of weakness before he got the axe.

[kandiking]

I KG had his clique and Casey kid of got ran over by them. Supposedly the players that were in good with KG got away with crap that was inexcusable and they didn't listen to Case.

who was that other than mccants and hudson?

[Calinks]

Mainly Trenton Hassell, and Troy Hudson from what was reported. They didn't say anything about McCants acting up but that may be because he is still on the roster.

From what I understand there were times where Hassell would sell out on a play or something in order to make Ricky Davis or Mike James look bad. Guys were acting stupid, playing games. Supposedly this stemmed from KG's guys who thought they could get away with murder.

[benshizzle]

I think it was a mistake that Casey was fired. i don't know why someone said he does not get respect from players or the organaztion but i am sure the players respected him as a coach. They played d because of case and when witt took over the team went on a losing streak. Wolves had opponents averaging 90 ppg or something when case took over. That is really good for most teams these days. I think Casey got fired for unfair reasons... and they replace him with wittman who has much less respect in the nba.

[Calinks]

I don't think it was like every player was rolling over the guy. I think it was just the clique players and mainly the thing with Ricky Davis. When Ricky D. walked out on Casey it was like a dagger. I agree with Kenny Smith when he said that if a player does that that players has to go, not the coach. Smith and Barkley were pissed about the Casey situation.

I liked Casey but I wasn't all that upset to see him go because I thought we would be bringing in a proven coach. When we permanently appointed Wittman I was pissed. I also think the timing of the firing was bad. Why fire him mid-season when he had us in the playoffs? Sure we probably wouldn't have finished in the playoffs but still, give the man his season. He made something out of nothing.

[Calinks]

LOL here is the NBA on TNT's take right here.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DEYzi92h2ns

[Tommy Udo 6]

I am not sure bro but the games i saw his rotations were crazy, He might have some geat ideas and philosophies but putting them into the game he was lost. Bro a question for you, seems like you are really in touch will the Bulls...Is Noah untouchable?

No one on Bulls is untouchable - but my opinion is that Noah, Tyrus, and Thabo are the LEAST LIKELY to be traded.

[Basti]

LOL here is the NBA on TNT's take right here.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DEYzi92h2ns

yeah I pretty much agree with chuck.

[MN Die Hard]

When Ricky D. walked out on Casey it was like a dagger. I agree with Kenny Smith when he said that if a player does that that players has to go, not the coach. Smith and Barkley were pissed about the Casey situation.

Totally agree. Imagine if something like that happened in Utah or San Antonio? That player would probably be cut befor the game ended.

[TrentTuckerForever]

LOL here is the NBA on TNT's take right here.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DEYzi92h2ns

Ha!! Thanks for posting that, Calinks. "I'm gay and I'm going to rehab." Only Barkley can get away with that...

As far as Casey goes, I think he'd be a good fit for the Bulls. He'd come cheaper than Avery Johnson, which is important to the Bulls since they paid Scott Skiles $5 million to go away.

The whole player's coach/lack of respect thing is BS, IMO. Casey didn't have the backing of management (as Kenny Smith points out, Taylor felt it was appropriate to sit closer to the bench so he could hear what Casey said during timeouts. Talk about micromanaging.) Casey isn't perfect, but if the biggest criticism of him was the rotation on a team whose second and third best players were Ricky Davis and Mark Blount... well, I'll just say he deserves another shot and leave it at that.

[the_bruce]

I liked Casey!