Toronto Raptors name Dwane Casey new head coach
Posted June 21, 2011 2:40 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Dwane Casey is the new head coach of the Toronto Raptors, promising to bring a hard-nosed hockey style of defence to the struggling NBA team.
The hiring of the Dallas assistant coach comes nine days after he helped the Mavericks win the NBA title.
“This is the right fit for Dwane Casey and it’s the right fit for the Toronto Raptors’ organization,” Toronto GM Bryan Colangelo told a news conference Tuesday.
Casey said his No. 1 goal is to give the Raptors a “defensive identity.” He also promised to establish “an atmosphere of hard play.”
In Dallas, the Mavericks even used hockey footage to set the defensive tone during the NBA finals, he said.
“Because we felt we were playing too soft against Miami to start the series,” he said. “And it really set the tone.
“I don’t know a lot about of hockey. I know I’ll learn about it. But we spliced in (footage of) those guys checking players up into the window (glass), into the boards and that type of thing and that’s the way we want to play.
“We want to make sure people feel us when they cut through the lane. And that’s a mindset, and that’s having a disposition — a bad disposition — when people come through your paint.”
The 54-year-old Casey succeeds Canadian Jay Triano, who was shuffled into the role of a consultant after the season.
“I intend to use Jay as a resource,” Casey said.
Casey takes over a team coming off a disappointing 22-60 campaign, with the fifth overall pick in Thursday’s NBA draft.
Casey said the Raptors had a core of excellent young talent.
“Defensively I’m going to be a hands-on control freak, so to speak,” he said. “Offensively I’m going to trust and give them freedom.”
He promised a free-flowing playoff-style of basketball on attack.
Casey has been a head coach before in the NBA. He was coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves from June 2005 to January 2007, compiling a 43-59 record.
He becomes the eighth coach in Raptor history.
Colangelo told reporters how he got a call from Dallas coach Rick Carlisle in the wee hours after the Mavericks won the championship.
“Rick Carlisle said ‘Bryan, I want to know what it’s going to take to get Dwane that job in Toronto. It’s right for him, it’s right for you, it’s right for the situation. You need to strongly consider it,'” related Colangelo
“He comes with exceptional support from people in very high places … There’s a lot of people that are rooting for Dwane to do well here. They think it’s the right time,” Colangelo added.
