Dwane Casey named NBA's Eastern Conference coach of the month

[url]http://sports.nationalpost.com/2014/01/02/toronto-raptors-dwane-casey-named-nbas-coach-of-the-month-after-december-turnaround/[/url]

[QUOTE]For the majority of the last calendar year, Dwane Casey has had to endure speculation about his head coaching credentials. There have been many cases made against his continuing to lead the Toronto Raptors.

No mid-season mirage: Raptors prove themselves in win over Pacers

In that sense, 2013 ended about as well, and perhaps as improbably, as Casey could have hoped for. The NBA named Casey its Eastern Conference coach of the month for December, after the Raptors went 8-6 in the month. The Raptors went 8-3 in December after trading Rudy Gay on Dec. 8, and managed another surprising win on Wednesday, a 95-82 victory over the conference-leading Indiana Pacers. The Raptors also won games in Oklahoma City and Dallas in the month.

I feel like it's been beneficial to Casey not being forced to have one "go-to-guy" anymore. Now we can actually move the ball around instead of giving it to ball-stopper-Gay and letting him chuck to his hearts content.

Kinda funny that Masai is in the same situation with Casey as Colangelo was with Sam Mitchell when he took over.

Both in there final year and the team is going(possibly) to win the division.

Maybe Casey improved somewhat as a coach, but it seems the players he has in front of him now that BC is out of office are a much better blend. It feels more like a case of the perfect storm for him. I don't buy that 3 years in the guys suddenly bought into his concepts. He has a pretty good team in front of him now with a blend of youth and vets and guys who are hungry for wins.

[QUOTE=bokes15]Maybe Casey improved somewhat as a coach, but it seems the players he has in front of him now that BC is out of office are a much better blend. It feels more like a case of the perfect storm for him. I don't buy that 3 years in the guys suddenly bought into his concepts. He has a pretty good team in front of him now with a blend of youth and vets and guys who are hungry for wins.[/QUOTE]

What's interesting is that the 5 guys getting primary minutes are all "Colangelo guys" right now. It's clear that BC would never have shuttled Gay out of town (Or even Bargnani, perhaps), though.

[QUOTE=RaininThrees]What's interesting is that the 5 guys getting primary minutes are all "Colangelo guys" right now. It's clear that BC would never have shuttled Gay out of town (Or even Bargnani, perhaps), though.[/QUOTE]

It helps that we have a bench that Masai almost entirely assembled and isn't comprised of D-League scrubs who give away every lead we get. Also, Casey appears to finally trust Ross and Val with minutes (I guess enough arbitrary time has passed).

Agree on the whole though this team has a last year's Leafs squad feel to it with Masai, like Nonis, reaping some of the rewards of his predecessor.

The cap and draft pick situation however and what it will mean in terms of sustaining a winning team, is like night and day.

Getting rid of Bargs and Gay were huge moves. And as DJ Mason said, getting a balanced bench. Not every move BC made was bad, but it just seemed he had tunnel vision a lot of the time.