Dwane Casey has seen the pre-season predictions and was paying attention to the scaled down hype surrounding the Toronto Raptors.
But the head coach doesn’t care and is making sure his players don’t either.
“Use it for fuel,” Casey said Wednesday morning during an appearance on The Starting Lineup on Sportsnet 590 The FAN. “Everybody has anointed Golden State and Cleveland as far as the cream of the crop. But we all have to play 82 games. That’s what I challenge our players with. … The predictions can say one thing. We are a different team than last year.”
The Raptors, who went 51-31 last season before suffering a sweep at the hands of the Cavaliers in the second round of the playoffs, plan to play a different offensive style with more focus on three-pointers. Their second unit is markedly younger than years past, but Casey is excited about the talented collective that includes Delon Wright, Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam and Jakob Poeltl.
“That young group is really going to be a big part of what we do,” he said. “How they come in and change the game by sustaining leads [will be big].”
The Raptors open the 2017-18 season at home against the Chicago Bulls on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Listen to Casey’s full interview in the audio player below.
[relatedlinks]
