Posts Tagged ‘Dwane Casey’

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Raptors’ GM Search Nudges Colangelo Aside

May 21, 2013  ·  5:14PM

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No, this won’t be awkward. Not at all.

Bryan Colangelo is going to stick around as the Toronto Raptors president but will no longer hold the title of general manager. That job, hierarchically the lesser of Colangelo’s two roles over the past seven years, will go to a person still to be hired by Tim Leiweke, the new CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.

A person who will have autonomy over basketball decisions and not be beholden to Colangelo, we are told, no matter how much he strains at the leash.

“It’s a unique situation for me to be in, but not an ideal one,” said Colangelo, whose roots and passion for NBA front office work have sprung from basketball operations, given his GM job with the Phoenix Suns for 11 seasons before signing on with the Raptors in February 2006.

In a teleconference call with reporters, Colangelo also said: “It’s being portrayed as a non-basketball job, but we’re in the basketball business.”

Well, there’s always the possibility that it could become a non-job.

Leiweke made that pretty clear when delineating the respective spheres of influence for the semi-defrocked Colangelo in his new role on the business side of the franchise and whoever it is — Denver’s newly minted Executive of the Year winner Masai Ujiri is reported to be a leading candidate, if the Nuggets allow Leiweke to woo him — winds up making the basketball calls.

After all, Colangelo, 47, has been doing that for the past seven seasons and all Toronto has to show for it are two first-round eliminations (2007, ’08) and, since then, a record 90 games under .500 and three different coaches in five years.

Leiweke was unflinching in telling the media in a separate media call prior to Colangelo’s that there will be no blurring of the lines, in terms of duties, responsibilities and authority. Colangelo can suggest, but he can no longer decide. All the big stuff, all the basketball stuff, will be the new GM’s domain, from Dwane Casey‘s future as coach to scouting priorities.

“Bryan’s going to have to occasionally take a deep breath and understand now that a GM is going to have a direct report [to me] and final say-so on all basketball decisions,” Leiweke said. “He’s going to have to live with that. And I hope he can. Because if he can’t, I’m fairly certain we’re not going to fire the Toronto Raptors.”

There also was a question about Colangelo being free to pursue another basketball job. Leiweke’s stance was evident in the quick and simple way he said: “Yes.”

Because Leiweke – a longtime executive with sports and entertainment conglomerate AEG — has his roots in the business and marketing side of pro sports, it’s not likely Colangelo will get his brain picked on branding and sponsorship decisions, either.

Now, as someone to send to Flin Flon or Labrador City to raise the Raptors’ profile as “Canada’s NBA team” on an offseason promotional caravan, sure. But it didn’t take much reading-between-the-lines of Leiweke’s platitudes about Colangelo’s performance in his dual role to see this as a warehousing.

Good soldier. Good citizen of Toronto. Ugh. Was this a redeployment or a eulogy?

“I don’t believe I’m being pushed off into a corner somewhere,” Colangelo said. “I think I’m going to be used in a fashion that my 18 years of experience is going to be tapped into, not just by Tim but by the new GM.”

Good for Colangelo. But odds are, MLSE has just turned “team president” into one of those “assistant to the assistant manager” positions fit for Dunder-Mifflin, a job from which one seeks one’s next job.

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Who’s Sitting On A Hot Seat Now?

December 27, 2012  ·  6:11PM


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HANG TIME, Texas — Every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings.

In the NBA that familiar line from the holiday classic “It’s A Wonderful Life” has a different twist.

Every time the bell rings a head coach gets his walking papers and a handful of others start looking over their shoulders.

It’s a tenuous life.

Of course, this season has already been quite unusual with Mike Brown fired by the Lakers after just five games. But now that the schedule has reached the one-third mark and claimed Avery Johnson, it’s time to look at some others down around the bottom of the standings.

Randy Wittman, Wizards (3-23) – No, he hasn’t had John Wall all season. Yes, he’s had to play at times without Nene and Trevor Ariza and Bradley Beal. But the Wizards are the only group in Washington that makes Congress look competent by comparison. After a recent 100-68 thumping by the almost-as-hapless Pistons, even Wittman seemed to have enough. “That was an embarrassment, and I apologize to our ownership and to our fans,” he said. “I especially apologize to anyone who watched that entire game. I would have turned it off after the first five minutes.” It would seem to be a matter of when, not if.

Monty Williams, Hornets (6-22) – It’s hard to see the Hornets turning right around and cutting Williams loose just months after giving him a four-year contract extension. There has been the matter of Eric Gordon’s injury and the fact that No. 1 draft pick Anthony Davis was on the shelf for 13 games. But there are rumblings in New Orleans about his constantly changing rotations and collapse of his defense, which ranks 29th.

Byron Scott, Cavaliers (7-23) — The Cavs are likely headed to their third straight trip to the lottery under Scott, but that doesn’t mean that he’s headed to the exit. The key to his previous success at New Jersey and New Orleans was having a top-notch point guard and Scott has an excellent relationship with maybe the next great thing in Kyrie Irving. This was always a long, heavy lift from the moment LeBron James bolted and that has not changed.

Mike Dunlap, Bobcats (7-21) – What a difference a month makes. After beating the Wizards on Nov. 24, the Bobcats were 7-5, had matched their win total from last season and their rookie coach was getting praised. Now 16 straight losses later, Dunlap is preaching patience with his young core of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kemba Walker, Byron Mullens and Jeffery Taylor. He has earned that. A dozen of Charlotte’s 21 losses have come by 10 points or less, a dramatic change from the historically horrible last season when the Bobcats were rolled in one-third of their games by 20 points or more.

Lawrence Frank, Pistons (9-22) — Frank insists that his Pistons are a better team than they were a year ago. The record — identical then and now — does not back that up. He says that his club now is more competitive, but just doesn’t know how to finish games. Some of the players have grumbled that there is also a failure of coach to make the right calls and adjustments when games get late. When push comes to shove, it’s the coach that gets nudged out the door.

Dwane Casey, Raptors (9-20)– Another one of those seasons when the Raptors were supposed to turn things around and make a push for the playoffs in the lesser Eastern Conference has gone south. Injuries to Andrea Bargnani, Kyle Lowry and Linas Kleiza. Amir Johnson gets suspended for throwing his mouthguard at a referee. G.M. Bryan Colangelo says the talent is there, but the Raptors lack focus and attention to detail. The Raps’ offense is mediocre (ranked 17th) and their defense just bad (27th). Even in Canada during the winter, that all puts Casey on thin ice.

Keith Smart, Kings (9-19) – Smart got the job to replace Paul Westphal specifically because of what was perceived as an ability to work with the mercurial DeMarcus Cousins. So he turned Cousins loose last season, let him do just about anything he pleased and got enough results to earn a contract extension. Now that Cousins has abused his free-rein relationship with his coach and another season is sinking fast, it would be easy to just blame Smart, which the Kings eventually will do. But this is a bad team with a knucklehead as its centerpiece and ownership that can’t tell you where they’ll be playing in two years.

Alvin Gentry, Suns (11-18) — It was at the end of a seven-game losing streak when Suns owner Robert Sarver told ESPN.com that Gentry’s job was safe. “We’ve got confidence in our coaching staff and we’re not considering making changes,” he said. Of course, that usually means start packing your bags. It was all about starting over in this first season post-Nash in the desert. He’s changed lineups more than his ties and the result is usually the same. Gentry is a good bet to last out the season, but it’s probably going to take a big finishing kick to return next year.

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Did Bargnani Really Say That?

December 15, 2012  ·  2:26PM

HANGTIME SOUTHWEST – We all know athletes love to pull the “taken-out-of-context” card when something they say hits print or cyberspace and causes a stir.

And that’s when they’re English-speaking Americans.

So did Toronto Raptors 7-footer Andrea Bargnani really say this to an Italian publication?: “We are pretty much the worst team in the NBA.”

UPDATE: On Saturday, Bargnani claimed that he was misquoted. However, the Italian journalist who interviewed Bargnani said that is not the case.

Apparently, Bargnani hasn’t watched the Washington Wizards.

OK, so that was an unnecessary potshot. There’s nothing funny about how hot the seat of Raptors coach Dwane Casey has become in the early stages of his second season. Casey, by nature, is a calm soul and he immediately told everyone to settle down, that the Bargnani quotes just might be a case of language-barrier word tricks that foul up the translation.

“When I read it, it doesn’t sound like some of the words are Andrea’s English, first of all, so I’m sure some of it was lost in translation,” Casey told reporters. “I’ll ask him about it. Every guy has his right to his own opinion, I don’t monitor guys’ opinions or what they say.

“Me personally, I would be very careful how I would interpret that, because we’ve all traveled and I’ve seen some crazy articles come out. A lot of it’s lost in translation. I don’t know what his intentions are or what he meant by his statement, but I’ll ask him.”

It wouldn’t be the first time an overseas newspaper, perhaps unintentionally, exaggerated a story or delivered in translation some variance on the subject’s actual meaning or context.

Here’s how the newspaper, La Gazetta dello Sport, translated Bargnani’s statements about his club:

“Nothing has worked from the beginning of the season. We are pretty much the worst team in the NBA. This summer’s moves in the market were made to build a winning team, but we are not winning.

“We are below all of the expectations. No one is used to playing with anyone. We have won four games: it’s a tragic thing. Whatever way you look at it, it is a desperate situation. Since four years ago, we have kept losing. To improve, the only thing we can do is to win, and for now, we have not.”

Bargnani, 27, has taken plenty of grief in Toronto as a scapegoat for the team’s ongoing struggles, and the former No. 1 draft pick is a frequent trending topic on the rumor mill. He wasn’t on the floor Friday night for the Raptors’ resounding 95-74 victory over the visiting Dallas Mavericks because of a torn ligament in his right elbow and a strained right wrist sustained Monday night at Portland. He could be out for more than a month.

The win snapped Toronto’s six-game losing skid and got the Raps just their fifth win in 24 games.

Casey’s beleaguered club will continue to try to turn things around, to string together some wins and make their perimeter-shooting big man eat his words.

If, indeed, they really were his.

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Rockets Pay Tribute To Sasha McHale

November 27, 2012  ·  8:36PM





The Rockets honored the memory of Sasha McHale at Tuesday night’s game against Toronto, first with a moment of silence prior to the introduction of the starting lineups and then by wearing a green band on the left shoulder of their jerseys.

Green was the favorite color of the 23-year-old daughter of Rockets coach Kevin McHale, who died on Saturday following a long battle with lupus, an auto-immune disease.

McHale has been on a leave of absence to be with his daughter and his family in Minneapolis since Nov. 10 and this was the first game the Rockets have played since her passing.

Roughly 40 members of the Rockets’ team, coaches and staff were scheduled to fly to Minneapolis to attend the funeral. The team will then travel on later in the day, scheduled to arrive in Oklahoma City at 3:30 p.m. for a 7 p.m. game against the Thunder.

“We’re trying to support him and be there for him as much as possible,” said guard James Harden. “It means a lot, knowing our schedule, knowing we have a game the same day. Obviously, it doesn’t take away the pain from what he lost. We’re just trying to be there to offer support as much as we can.”

The Raptors took the court knowing that they would be facing an opponent full of emotion.

“I’m just as close to Kevin as anybody with the two years in Minnesota,” said Raptors coach Dwane Casey. “I got to know his family, his wife and Sasha and the rest. Still we have to go out and compete and play with our emotion, play with our edge. You have a sympathetic understanding of what this organization is going through, but at the same time we’ve got work to do in an unfortunate situation for them.

“All you can do is think of the entire McHale family.”

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Raptors Betting DeRozan Ready to Become the Total Package

November 8, 2012  ·  2:54AM


DALLAS – If DeMar DeRozan is ultimately going to quiet his hometown critics and earn the $40 million he’ll be paid over the next four seasons, he’ll need to learn to become more ruthless on the floor and more demanding of his teammates when they need pushing the most.

The roster-depleted Dallas Mavericks were everything that DeRozan and his sluggish teammates, playing the second game of a back-to-back and fourth game in five nights, were not in the first quarter of the Raptors’ eventual 109-104 defeat. They led exactly once, 2-0, on DeRozan’s opening jumper. Toronto trailed by as many as 16 and by double digits nearly throughout until a late, futile comeback attempt.

By the end of the first quarter, Dallas — playing without Dirk Nowitzki, Shawn Marion, Elton Brand and Roddy Beaubois — led 36-24, shooting 60 percent, and kept the Raptors at arm’s length the rest of the way. It was Toronto’s fourth loss in five games, hardly the start preferred by a franchise seeking a resurgence under second-year coach Dwane Casey.

No, it didn’t help that a sprained ankle sustained the night before in the blowout loss at Oklahoma City sidelined streaking point guard and leading scorer Kyle Lowry. But, don’t talk to the Mavericks about injuries. This game was determined by hustle and one of Mavs coach Rick Carlisle‘s favorite words — disposition. Just peek at the halftime rebounding totals to see which team brought it: Dallas, near the bottom of the league in every rebounding category, 31, Toronto 13.

On a night made for DeRozan to pull up his teammates from the opening tip, to will his tired club to compete on the road, it just wasn’t there. At the half, DeRozan had 10 points on 2-for-5 shooting while being guarded mostly by Mavs rookie forward Jae Crowder.

“I thought they did a good job,” Casey said of the Mavs’ defense. “We didn’t have a heavy dose of going to him in the first half as much as we did the second half. We tried to get the ball moving from side to side a little bit more in the first half and I thought he got it going in the second half. I don’t know if it was Crowder or just DeMar.”

DeRozan finished with 24 points, getting to the free-throw line 10 times, with seven assists and six rebounds. He missed all three of his 3-point attempts.

Just 23 years old and in his fourth NBA season, DeRozan beat the Halloween deadline and happily signed a four-year, $40 million extension with the franchise that drafted him ninth overall in 2009 after one season at USC.

“It’s definitely big because this is where I want to be at the end of the day,” DeRozan said. “I’ve been here through the tough times and I definitely want to be here when things turn around so that’s my big picture, how I look at it. And for them to keep me here, it’s definitely a blessing.”

The franchise, general manager Byran Colangelo and Casey could have waited until after this season, but they rolled the dice on an extension, believing DeRozan is on the cusp of transforming his off-the-charts athleticism into the total package.

“He’s a core of our youth movement,” Casey said. “We’re banking on him, we’re betting on him and I see nothing but good things. He’s made strides this year from last year so we’re banking on him continuing to make those strides going into the future.”

The belief is that Lowry will make DeRozan better and there’s already early proof of that. Other pieces such as Landry Fields, who has disappointed, rookie center Jonas Valanciunas, Andrea Bargnani and Amir Johnson can be blocks around their young wing.

“They’re coming along well,” DeRozan said of the pieces around him. “We had a tough couple games, close games … but but we’re learning. I think it can’t do nothing but help us; in the long run I think we’re going to be just fine.”

But in the short-term, if the Raptors continue to struggle, DeRozan and his new extension will get the scrutiny.

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Whoa, Canada! Raptors ‘Lose’ Nash

July 5, 2012  ·  10:02AM





So now the Canadians can’t even recruit “Captain Canada.”

If it helps at all on what otherwise will rank as one of the darkest, kicked-in-the-groin days in Toronto Raptors’ history, followers of that franchise should know that Steve Nash never seriously has considered playing for Cape Town, Soweto, Egoli or any of the other teams in the Premier Inland League in South Africa. Remember, the guy was born in Johannesburg, so if any basketball teams should feel snubbed by a native son, it’s the folks down there.

Not helping? Yeah, didn’t think so.

Nash grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, attended and played at St. Michaels University School there before heading to Santa Clara (Calif.) University. As a player, he helped Canada advance within one victory of the medal round of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. In May, Nash agreed to become general manager of the men’s senior team for Canada Basketball.

The news conference for that move was held in Toronto, and it will remain the lone news conference for Nash in that city this offseason. The aging-but-still-incredibly-fit point guard won’t be playing for the Raptors in 2012-13, instead working out a sign-and-trade deal that delivers him to the Los Angeles Lakers. He won’t be doing a “Wayne Gretzky in reverse” by bringing his skills, fame and knack for public relations to the Great White North the way the Great One re-planted the NHL’s flag in the U.S.

Lots of fans and those close to the Raptors are awfully upset by this turnabout. Some even have accused Nash of “using” Toronto and the New York Knicks as leverage, as if landing a deal worth $25 million over three years rather than $36 million (Toronto’s offer) demonstrates any boardroom ruthlessness. Knicks fans feel snubbed, too, though at least their team isn’t the one (yet) locked into a $20 million offer sheet to Landry Fields, an ill-advised Raptors move to entice Nash.

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Hump Day Morning Trade Chatter

February 29, 2012  ·  9:55AM





HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – Brook Lopez is definitely back. He put on an offensive show for the Nets last night in their win over the Mavericks.

A trade deadline cynic would argue that he was being showcased as well. He’s long been rumored to be the piece the Nets would have to deliver to the Magic in a potential blockbuster deal for Dwight Howard.

The broken right foot that cost Lopez 32 games this season appears to be in fine shape, he dropped 38 points and the go-ahead free throw to power the Nets over the Mavericks last night. His every move will be analyzed as the perfect bait for the Magic, who have to make a decision to either deal or not deal Howard before the March 15 deadline.

Deron Williams gushed about his current big man after the win over the Mavs, telling reporters:

“He was a monster tonight. He carried us from the start of the game and it makes a difference, I’ve said it all season. … He knows how to play the game and we’re glad to have him back.”

Williams has to be measured in his praise. And the Nets have to be careful with Lopez, who outside of his ability score, isn’t in Howard’s category in any way. If they see him play at a high level for long enough, they might start to rethink this notion of moving him for Howard or anyone else.

Still, you can’t argue that Lopez has great timing. The Nets have won three of their last five games, and that includes wins over the Bulls, Knicks and now, the reigning champs.

BEASLEY BEING SHOWCASED, TOO?

Go ahead and add Timberwolves’ forward Michael Beasley to the list of players being showcased as the trade deadline draws near. So what if he’s still coming off the bench.

Rookie Derrick Williams and Beasley dropped 27 points a piece as the Timberwolves knocked off the Clippers in Los Angeles. They’ve both been overshadowed this season by All-Star power forward Kevin Love and rookie sensation Ricky Rubio. But with rumors swirling about the Timerbwolves hoping to get involved in a potential deal for Lakers forward Pau Gasol, Beasley would have to be a part of that deal.

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DeRozan Puts History Behind Him

January 3, 2012  ·  11:08AM

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NEW YORK – There was no worse 3-point shooter in the league last season than DeMar DeRozan. Of the 200 players who attempted at least 50 threes, DeRozan shot them at, by far, the worst percentage. In fact, nobody in NBA history has shot threes worse than DeRozan did last season.

Lowest season 3-point percentage, minimum 50 attempts, NBA history

Player Season Team 3PM 3PA 3P%
DeMar DeRozan 2010-11 TOR 5 52 9.6%
Dennis Johnson 1986-87 BOS 7 62 11.3%
Michael Jordan 1987-88 CHI 7 53 13.2%
Dennis Johnson 1988-89 BOS 7 50 14.0%
Greg Anthony 1991-92 NYK 8 55 14.5%

But DeRozan put in his work in the extended postseason, and through five games, he’s already hit as many threes as he did last year. DeRozan hit both of his threes Monday night in New York, putting him at 5-for-8 on the season. And unless he misses his next 44 attempts, that 5-for-52 season will be a distant memory.

“I think last year, I wasn’t comfortable with it,” DeRozan said after his Raptors held off the Knicks for their second win of the season. “I was timid about shooting it. When I shoot it now, I shoot it with confidence, like I know it’s going in.”

That confidence is the result of a ton of work in Los Angeles this summer. DeRozan said that, five or six days a week in the offseason, he’d follow up his weight and skill work with a night session where he’d make 250 mid-range jumpers and 250 threes.

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Rating The Coaching Picks

July 24, 2011  ·  11:08AM

HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – Spend 20 minutes talking basketball with Lawrence Frank and I promise you, it’s impossible not to be both impressed with his knowledge of the game and won over by his straight-shooter personality.

Spend the same amount of time with former Hawks coach Mike Woodson and I guarantee you’d come away feeling the same way. When the Detroit Pistons’ coaching search came down to Frank and Woodson as their final two candidates, there was no way they could lose, right?

Try telling that to Pistons fans (I’m Michigan born and bred, so I’ve got more than a few Pistons diehards dangling from the family tree), who from what we could gather didn’t seem particularly enthused about any of the options they were presented.

Still, for a franchise in need of a strong personality in that head coach’s chair, after several years of misses, Frank offers offer the qualities needed to deal with a young roster that needs shaping.

His selection over Woodson, an offer is coming soon as first reported by Yahoo! Sports, signals more than just an apparent shift in philosophy — the Pistons’ last three coaches have all had some connection to the organization, either player or assistant coach, prior to taking over the top bench job. It’s also a sign of the influence the new ownership group is placing in the hands of Dave Checketts, hired as a consultant by new owner Tom Gores to advise and assist alongside Pistons president Joe Dumars.

Franchises wish the process was as simple the brain trust coming together and choosing between two worthy candidates that also happen to be ideal fits.

But we all know that the only thing tougher than lucking into a transcendent talent at the top of a draft is finding the right coach for the right team at just the right time.

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Raptors coach Casey completes staff

June 28, 2011  ·  9:26PM

New Toronto Raptors coach Dwane Casey has completed the bulk of his coaching staff, with former Raptors assistant and 76ers and Magic head coach Johnny Davis agreeing to join his staff as lead assistant coach.

Davis coached Allen Iverson in his rookie season in Philadelphia, but was fired after one season. He spent parts of two seasons as Orlando’s head coach, and was interim head coach in Memphis after Marc Iavaroni was fired two years ago, before the Grizzlies named Lionel Hollins head coach. Davis, a former teammate of Hollins’ on Portland’s world championship team in 1976, remained on Hollins’s staff.

Davis will join assistant Scott Roth, who had interviewed for an assistant’s job with the Lakers under new head coach Mike Brown, but will remain in Toronto. Roth had been at Golden State, Memphis and Dallas before joining the Raptors in 2009, and also has extensive international coaching experience. Assistants Eric Hughes and Micah Nori will also remain as holdovers from Jay Triano‘s staff. Triano was fired at the beginning of the month and Casey was officially hired to replace him last week. Toronto is also hiring longtime assistant coach and scout Tom Sterner to the staff. Sterner was with the 76ers last season and has been with the Warriors, Magic and Mavericks in almost three decades as an NBA coach.

The Grizzlies might lose another assistant coach. Dave Joerger was interviewed earlier this month to join Kevin McHale‘s staff in Houston, but a final decision has not yet been made.

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