You probably didn’t realize that Toronto Raptors coach Dwane Casey, 57, is the fourth-oldest head coach in the NBA. There’s Gregg Popovich (65), Lionel Hollins (61), Flip Saunders (59), then Casey. It’s worth noting that Popovich and Hollins squared off in the Western Conference finals just last year, an indication that age can be an asset in coaching, particularly that mid-50s to mid-60s range. It’s enough time to accumulate a wealth of experience, not too old to be impaired by physical ailments.
Casey’s age is relevant right now because he’ll need to draw on everything he’s learned over the course of 35 years of coaching from Kentucky to Japan to all of the compass points in the NBA. After the Toronto Raptors got off to the best start in the Eastern Conference, they’ll have to move forward for the foreseeable future without leading scorer DeMar DeRozan, who’s out indefinitely with a torn adductor muscle.
It’s interesting that the memory that popped up in Casey’s mind was the one year he won a championship, as an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks in 2010-11. Dirk Nowitzki missed nine games in December and January; the Mavericks lost seven of them.
“Everybody thought the world had gone to hell,” Casey said. “But…it didn’t. Guys stuck together, bonded. We developed confidence in the guys who had an opportunity to play.”
For this story to have the same ending would require DeRozan to return and attain the level of play Nowitzki reached when he beat Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and LeBron James in the playoffs. That’s too much to ask. The flip side is that the Raptors don’t have to replace the irreplaceable.
The Raptors are the second-highest scoring team in the NBA even though DeRozan isn’t among the top 19 individual scorers (he averages 19.4 points per game). And he accounts for the lowest percentage of his team’s points – 18 percent – out of the leading scorers on the five best teams in the league. Here’s how much of the point production the other top scorers among the teams with the five best records provide:
Memphis: Marc Gasol, 20%
Golden State: Stephen Curry, 23%
Houston: James Harden, 26%
Portland: LaMarcus Aldridge, 20%
Scoring wasn’t the issue for the Raptors Sunday night, when they posted 122 points in an overtime loss to the Lakers. And they had three fewer turnovers than their average of 11, one of the best in the league. It gets down to rhythm and roles, to discerning just how much the right of changes in play and rotation are right. Can't do too much.Early in the third quarter, Kyle Lowry had attempted three times as many shots as Kobe Bryant (12-4), and he finished with 28 shots to get his 29 points. (He averages 19 points on 15 shots).
Greivis Vasquez started in DeRozan’s place and scored 19 points in 33 minutes, but also missed a late open three-pointer off a nice setup by Lowry. Lou Williams scored 19 points off the bench and was the only Raptor who played major minutes to log a positive plus/minus (plus-6). Williams has been a great asset to the Raptors, but it’s evident that Casey wants to keep him coming off the bench for now.
The Raptors tried running some of DeRozan’s plays for Lowry with mixed results.
They’ll have to maintain the characteristics Casey has instilled in them, a disciplined team that doesn’t beat itself. Casey said he’ll tinker with lineup combinations until he finds “Something that fits that will last.” He wants to keep DeRozan connected with the team, and said he’ll invite him to sit in on the coaches’ meetings. But Casey’s job requires him to move forward without DeRozan.
“I’m concerned about him as a person,” Casey said. “I care about him. His teammates care about him. But also as a coach, I understand that we have 14 other young men in that locker room that we have to push and motivate and get going.”
He has three and a half decades of experience to utilize.