Is Dwane Casey the best head coach for the Toronto Raptors?

Dwane Casey was born in Morganfield Kentucky, and graduated from Union County High School in 1975. During his university years at the University of Kentucky he was a vital member of his school’s basketball team as he served as the team captain in his senior year and held a career average of 12.3 points and 6.1 assists per game. Casey was never able to make the NBA as a player but instead became an assistant coach for the same school he was a part of right after he graduated. After his time came to an end with Kentucky Dwane Casey was hired on as an assistant coach for the once Seattle SuperSonics.  Casey was able to serve as the Japanese National Basketball Teams head coach over the summers and in 1998 was able to take the team to the FIBA World Championship basketball tournament which was that teams first appearance back there in more than 30 years.

Casey first official position as a head coach in the NBA was with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2005-2006 season. His career was soon ended the next year though as he was fired in halfway through the next season in 2007. The following year Casey was lucky to receive a spot as an assistant coach for the Dallas Mavericks in the 2008-2009 season. The Mavs went on the next year to win their division title and then the following year they were victorious and won their first ever NBA championship in 2011. After this, Casey was signed to the Toronto Raptors in June 2011. This was a gain for the raptors as we were in need of a new head coach.
There are some who like Casey as the Raptors coach and then there are those who believe that the raptors would be better off with someone else. I believe that Casey and Toronto is indeed a good pair and they go hand in hand. Although the Raptors did not make the playoffs last season with Casey as head coach and it seems as though it is safe to say that they will not make it this year either, the one positive is that Casey along with the rest of the coaching and management staff of Toronto are trying to recreate the Raptors as a team that won’t be overlooked and will one day make it to the playoffs and possibly win a title.
So is Dwane Casey the best head coach for the Toronto Raptors? all I can say is that I believe Casey will continue to be beneficial for Toronto and we should let him do what he’s doing as our team continues to grow.

Loses, win for bench

With four consecutive losses in a row and two back to back losses against the New York Knicks it would seem as the Toronto Raptors have given all they can for this season and are struggling just to simply be able to keep the games close enough to be interesting. After the raptors had that up and down seven day win and then lose pattern, they went on to lose the last four games in a row; a loss of 108-91 against the Heat, 107-101 against the Bobcats, and 99-94 followed by 110-84 against the Knicks. Sadly Rudy Gay was not able to play in the second game against New York due to his reoccurring back spasms, This might be one of the reasons why the score was so widely spread out at the end of the game.
The only positive outcome that one might be able to draw from the way that the Toronto Raptors have been playing recently and how the rest of the season is looking for them is the fact that their usual bench players are able to receive a lot more playing time than they ever would have if the tables were turned. Players that are receiving more playing time are players like Terrence Ross, Landry Fields, John Lucass III, Alan Anderson, and Sebastian Telfair. As you can see this is the Majority of the bench that I have just listed. Although their playing time is still nothing compared to the amount of minutes our starters receive it is still well needed minutes that they are happy to go in for. In times like these where a team is losing and it might seem as though there is no hope to catch up in a specific game, the bench players cannot let this affect them and when they get the chance to go on the court they need to make sure that they show everything that they are capable of doing.  By doing so they allow the coaches and everyone to see that they might one day be able to go into the game under more serious circumstances and maybe one day even become a starter if they continue to improve and support their team.Their are two players that i believe should be a focus for the Raptors and they are Terrance Ross and Jonas Valanciunas. I believe that everyone should keep an eye on these two because they have will go far and they have not yet come close to their overall potential.

Raptors

Lately it seems as though are Raptors team just cant seem to keep it together. The last seven games that the Toronto Raptors have played have gone back and forth every night with wins and loses. After the Loss against the Warriors, the much needed win against the Phoenix Suns end our terrible losing streak, but then seemed to have started us on these up and down games. After the Suns we had a close game but ended up losing to the Lakers, we then were able to beat the Cavaliers at home but unfortunately lost to the Celtics the following game. After the Celtics loss, we triumphed over the Bobcats but then fell short once again to the Miami Heat.

If these past seven games have been any prediction of future games then we should indeed be able to pull off another victory against Charlotte. Hopefully two back to back wins against the same team will stop the win lose pattern and give our guys the boost to beat the knicks in their following game. They’re aren’t many games left in the 2012-2013 NBA season and it would seem almost as though all the surprises and amazements have gone. Are Raptors can only hope to continue playing their best and try to finish off the season the best they can. We must always keep in mind our position for draft picks next year and that we are always building stronger as a team.

Are the playoffs out of sight?

It seems as though playoff hopes for the Raptors are always a mere dream that they are trying to make into a reality. After the Raptors had had such a horrible starting to this season no one would have ever even suggested the idea that they might have had a shot at the playoffs. But with the huge headlining news that was the Rudy Gay trade, things started to look up for the Raptors. When Gay had first arrived the Raptors were playing like never before and had achieved a record of 7 wins out of 10 games. However the past six games have been more of a nightmare for the raptors as they have lost every one except the most recent against the Phoenix Suns; and now sit at 8-7 with Rudy gay (8-8) if you include the game he did not play because of injury. This could lead to the argument that the only reason why the Raptors were winning was because of the adrenaline and the hype that they had received when gay first arrived. Now that everything is settling down and the Raptors are no longer on the tip of everyone’s tongue, their drive has slowed down and their game has equally weakened. One of the most crucial games that the Raptors have lost was the one against the Milwaukee Bucks. This game was nothing short of exciting as it was sent into overtime thanks to Alan Anderson who tied it up at 104 in the final seconds. In the end however, the Raptors still ended up losing 122-114. The Raptors needed to win this game if they wanted a real shot at their playoff dreams. The Bucks are in the 8th and final position for the eastern conference playoffs and the raptors are currently in the 10th position sitting at about 7.5 games behind them. With only 20 guaranteed games left in this regular season it would appear as though the Raptors chances have left them. Some would argue that after their horrible start, there was never really a chance and that Raptors and fans were merely flirting with the idea of any playoff hopes seeing as how they would now have to not only win the majority of their remaining games but they would also need the Bucks and other teams ahead of them to do poorly. One can only hope that it wasn’t just for the moment and that the Rudy Gay trade really was for the best and better things are still ahead for the Toronto Raptors.