And, then, there were two …
According to Raptors beat reporter Doug Smith:
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Casey or Frank next Raptors coach
According to multiple NBA sources, the Raptors have narrowed the search for a new coach to two men: Dallas Mavericks assistant Dwane Casey and Boston Celtic assistant Lawrence Frank.
Sources say president and general manager Bryan Colangelo has a strong desire to have a new coach in place as long before the June 23 NBA draft as possible but he cannot even begin interviewing Casey until the Mavericks are finished their NBA final series against the Miami Heat.
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Despite what Mr. Smith suggests are the ”strengths and weaknesses” of these two respective candidates, Raptors fans should also be made aware of the following biographical information concerning these two men, as prospective future head coaches in Toronto:
| YR | SEASON | TEAM | HEAD COACH | W-L REC | WIN% | LOST | CHANGE |
| 2 | 06-07 | Minnesota | Dwayne Casey | 33-49 | .402 | DNQ | Fired |
| 1 | 05-06 | Minnesota | Dwayne Casey | 20-20 | .500 | DNQ | |
| LEGEND: DNQ – Did not qualify for the playoffs. | |||||||
| YR | SEASON | TEAM | HEAD COACH | W-L REC | WIN% | LOST | CHANGE |
| 7 | 09-10 | New Jersey | Lawrence Frank | 0-16 | .000 | DNQ | Fired |
| 6 | 08-09 | New Jersey | Lawrence Frank | 34-48 | .415 | DNQ | |
| 5 | 07-08 | New Jersey | Lawrence Frank | 34-48 | .415 | DNQ | |
| 4 | 06-07 | New Jersey | Lawrence Frank | 41-41 | .500 | 2nd Rd | |
| 3 | 05-06 | New Jersey | Lawrence Frank | 49-33 | .598 | 2nd Rd | |
| 2 | 04-05 | New Jersey | Lawrence Frank | 42-40 | .512 | 1st Rd | |
| 1 | 03-04 | New Jersey | Lawrence Frank | 25-15 | .625 | 2nd Rd | |
| LEGEND: DNQ – Did not qualify for the playoffs. | |||||||
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Although neither Lawrence Frank nor Dwayne Casey is actually the type of Transformational Coach that the Raptors will need to eventually take their franchise to the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference … if you examine the track record of Bryan Colangelo:
| YR | SEASON | TEAM | HEAD COACH | W-L REC | WIN% | LOST | CHANGE |
| 18 | 11-12 | Toronto | ? | ?-? | ? | ? | ? |
| 17 | 10-11 | Toronto | Jay Triano * | 22-60 | .268 | DNQ | #7 |
| 16 | 09-10 | Toronto | Jay Triano | 40-42 | .488 | DNQ | |
| 15 | 08-09 | Toronto | Sam Mitchell * | 8-9 | .471 | #6 | |
| Jay Triano | 25-40 | .385 | DNQ | ||||
| 14 | 07-08 | Toronto | Sam Mitchell | 41-41 | .500 | 1st Rd | |
| 13 | 06-07 | Toronto | Sam Mitchell | 47-35 | .573 | 1st Rd | |
| 12 | 05-06 | Phoenix | Mike D’Antoni | 38-17 | .691 | 3rd Rd | |
| Toronto | Sam Mitchell | 7-19 | .269 | DNQ | |||
| 11 | 04-05 | Phoenix | Mike D’Antoni | 62-20 | .756 | 3rd Rd | |
| 10 | 03-04 | Phoenix | Frank Johnson * | 8-13 | .381 | #5 | |
| Mike D’Antoni | 21-40 | .344 | DNQ | ||||
| 9 | 02-03 | Phoenix | Frank Johnson | 44-38 | .537 | 1st Rd | |
| 8 | 01-02 | Phoenix | Scott Skiles * | 25-26 | .490 | #4 | |
| Frank Johnson | 11-20 | .355 | DNQ | ||||
| 7 | 00-01 | Phoenix | Scott Skiles | 51-31 | .622 | 1st Rd | |
| 6 | 99-00 | Phoenix | Danny Ainge * | 13-7 | .650 | #3 | |
| Scott Skiles | 40-22 | .645 | 2nd Rd | ||||
| 5 | 98-99 | Phoenix | Danny Ainge | 27-23 | .540 | 1st Rd | |
| 4 | 97-98 | Phoenix | Danny Ainge | 56-26 | .683 | 1st Rd | |
| 3 | 96-97 | Phoenix | Cotton Fitzsimmons * | 0-8 | .000 | #2 | |
| Danny Ainge | 40-34 | .541 | 1st Rd | ||||
| 2 | 95-96 | Phoenix | Paul Westphal * | 14-19 | .424 | #1 | |
| Cotton Fitzsimmons | 27-22 | .551 | 1st Rd | ||||
| 1 | 94-95 | Phoenix | Paul Westphal | 59-23 | .720 | 2nd Rd | |
| LEGEND: DNQ – Did not qualify for the playoffs; * – Replaced as head coach. | |||||||
each at least has some of the necessary ingredients to improve the team’s on-court performance next season – including the ability to prioritize rebounding and team defense – which is actually what is most important right now to the team’s GM, since he just signed only a 2-year contract extension with MLSE.
Tags: Bryan Colangelo, Doug Smith, Dwayne Casey, Lawrence Frank, Toronto Raptors