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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: RAPTORS v CAVALIERSMay 17, 2016Dwane CaseyCleveland, Ohio: Game One Q. What does [Bismack] Biyombo's approach have to be when he's defending an offensive rebounder? How does he approach rim protection and defending the attack when he's got [Tristan] Thompson sort of behind him and waiting to crash? DWANE CASEY: I'll tell you what, it's a tough job because his instincts are saying go protect the rim, but the other instincts, here comes Tristan Thompson, who's an elite offensive rebounder, averaging about five per game, and then on the other side, you've got Kevin Love, who's also an elite offensive rebounder. His instincts are going to have to be disciplined when he can go for shots, and when he can't, because he's got two jobs to do, one, protect the rim, and the other, look over his shoulder and here comes that freight train behind him. He can do it. He's done it against other elite defenders, and he's probably got the best second bounce, going and helping in, getting back in position, there is. So he can do it, but it's very difficult. Q. Are you calling for the guards to be more involved on the defensive glass? DWANE CASEY: They have to be. They have to come back and sandwich. They're averaging, what, 36 three-point shots per game, so there's a lot of long rebounds, and so they have to come and participate and sandwich rebound. Get involved. Q. How close in the summer did you come to hiring Tyronn Lue, and what was it about him that interested you so much? DWANE CASEY: Was it last summer or two summers ago? It's been a while ago. Q. My memory doesn't work so well anymore. DWANE CASEY: We talked, and he made a good decision. He was a good young coach, a good person. The guy you've admired from afar just by his relationship with other players, as a player, one of those guys who was a journeyman that you always respected from afar, but he's a guy that I talked to -- I don't think it was last summer, it was two summers ago. My memory is about like yours; it's not very good. But whatever it was, we talked, and he made the decision to come to Cleveland. It was a good decision. Q. J.R. Smith seemingly played good defense the first couple rounds and has been a better defender. What was his reputation as a defender prior to Cleveland? What did you think of him as a defender, and is he noticeably different now that he's here? DWANE CASEY: Who's that? Q. J.R. Smith. DWANE CASEY: I'll tell you what, he's bought in. I mean, he wasn't always known as a good defender, but his attention to detail and what his job is, I thought he did a magnificent job against Kyle Korver. It's almost like looking at himself. The guy is running around for shots and getting shots off, difficult shots, but his defensive focus has been -- he's always had the athletic ability, but I think he's been tied in as much as he has been in his career. Q. How would you describe going into this game, heavy underdogs, similar to -- I would guess it was similar to Dallas, Miami. Is that a similar -- DWANE CASEY: Well, it was the whole series. All 2000 of it. I don't know what series we were favored in all those. It's the same thing. We respect the team -- I got in trouble by saying how much we -- how great this team is. Yeah, they're a good team. There's no question about that. But I don't know of a team that we went into this year that we feared. I have trust in our players. I know they're competitors. We've lost to some teams throughout the year that we probably shouldn't have lost to, and we've won some games against some of the top teams in the league. They're a very good team. They're at the top of their game. But we're both here for a reason. So we've got to go out and compete. That's why they play the game. Nobody gives us a chance. So there shouldn't be any pressure on our guys. I thought in the last couple series we were a little tight, especially in the first series, but right now it's just coming out and playing basketball against a very good team. Q. For all the talk of the rest that Cleveland has coming in, is there an advantage for guys like Kyle [Lowry] and DeMar [DeRozan] who are finally in rhythm to having that quick turnaround? DWANE CASEY: Yeah, it is. You always take rest, guys. That's something you can't get, especially when you're playing, flying, playing, flying, and they've been resting, and they may have a little rhythm issue for a little bit, but again, sooner or later that rest is going to kick in. So you take that, but again, it's no excuse. I'm glad to be here. We're glad to have gone seven games and won two seven-game series. We'll take that. But you would always take rest over anything else, especially at this time of year. Q. Cavaliers have had a lot of success with the drive-and-dish. It seems like especially a lot of those threes are coming up weak side. I was wondering if that's something you're paying special attention to? DWANE CASEY: No question. Most of them are coming from [LeBron] James and his penetration. He's such a willing and excellent passer. You know, he's averaging, what, like seven assists a game or something like that in the postseason, and most of those are finding people on the weak side, and if you're not disciplined, your instincts are telling you to, hey, come help, and we've done a decent job of doing that in the last couple of series, but with that said, you've got to understand the animal -- not the animal, but the monster you're going against, and understand what he's looking to do and be disciplined. Again, he's going to score some at the basket, but again, you've got to understand where he's looking and what he's looking for. Q. Has DeMarre Carroll do you think during these playoffs as he's come back from the knee surgery, is he at a point now where you can not leave him one-on-one with LeBron but most of the time leave him one-on-one? DWANE CASEY: No, you can't play a player like Paul George, LeBron James, a guy like that one-on-one. You've got to have some team help. You've got to have body help start in and protect the game. But again, he'll have that chore, that job to do. That's why we signed him. He'll have that primarily. But we have other players that are going to have to guard him, also, so it won't be just DeMarre versus LeBron. Q. How close is DeMarre do you think to his kind of early season peak defense? DWANE CASEY: I don't know. You'd have to ask him about his body. I think he has good days and bad days. It's not an excuse or anything, but coming back from that surgery you can't expect to be 100 percent every day or not feel it. You know, he's pushing through it, playing through it, but it's that time of year there's nobody I think that's 100 percent, but he's coming back from something that's pretty substantial. Q. I want to know your observations on the way Cleveland is executing offensively and what are the biggest differences in how they're executing right now compared to how they were mid-season or before the coaching change? DWANE CASEY: Well, we played them this year, I don't know if Tyronn was the coach or -- I can't remember exactly, but at that time, I don't know if they were shooting the three ball as great as they're shooting it now. I think that's the biggest difference. They're making a lot of those shots. Their offense is similar to what they were doing earlier, but again, they're making plays. I think they're used to each other. Their rhythm is there offensively. You know, again, like most teams at this time of year, you're pretty tied together, but it comes down to making shots, and they're doing that. You know, shooting, what, like 46 percent from the three, shooting almost better from the three than they are from the two. It sounds simplistic, but I think that's the major thing. Those guys are making shots. I think Kevin Love is shooting some crazy amount from three and 29 percent from two, so that tells you -- in the postseason, so that tells you right there how well they're shooting the ball from the three. Q. Given the scoreboard impact, given the emotional impact of those three balls, particularly in front of the home crowd, how willing are you to sort of sacrifice other things if they start to get momentum out there to just get them off that line and not give that up? DWANE CASEY: Well, this team historically, even when they first started rolling, their first quarters are unbelievable. They come out and try to run you into the ground, and you've got to first sustain that. You've got to fight through that, and we've done a decent job in the three times we've played them this year doing that because that's when they first come and punch you pretty hard. But again, you've got to -- they're going to make some tough shots. They make a lot of challenged threes, tough threes, so you've got to sustain your effort, your will. You can't let that break your will, and that's difficult to do, but it can be done. They have the next-play mentality when guys are hitting shots like that, and we've got to come down and make it tough on them on the other end. You know, that's why they play the game. We've got a job to do to cut it down. You're not going to stop all their threes, but we want to make it as difficult as possible to get those threes off. Q. Coach, I know this isn't at the top of your mind right now, but you'll receive a top-12 pick at the draft lottery tonight. What can you say about the job Masai [Ujiri] has done not only in building for the present but looking ahead to the future? DWANE CASEY: He's done a heck of a job. He's developed a culture. I would say this, Bryan Colangelo started it, and Masai just came in and enhanced it. His style of leadership style is off the charts. He's great with people. You know, he's sneakily good at like he got the 12th pick, and just excellent negotiator. He's done an excellent job of developing a culture, not only building for right now, and our expectations are high now, but we still are a relatively young team, stockpiling some young talent, and we've got some young kids that are going to be pretty good, and they just don't have the opportunity right now to step in and play, Delon Wright, Lucas Nogueira is going to be a good player, and Norm Powell has had his opportunities with us, and now we have the 12th pick. So Masai has done a definitely -- a good job of putting all that together, not only building for right now but also having some potential for the future for this franchise, and so he's done a heck of a job. Q. The talent coming out of Canada has increased recently, including players like Tristan Thompson. What can this series mean for the youth of Canada who haven't seen a hometown team go this far before? DWANE CASEY: It's unbelievable. Again, it started with Vince Carter, but now it's going to be DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, Tristan Thompson, Andrew Wiggins. I'm happy to be a part of seeing the growth of basketball in Canada, talking to high school coaches, college coaches, seeing these young players develop the way they have, playing in the summertime. No disrespect to hockey, but it's always been hockey for young kids growing up, and now you see guys on the playground playing hoops, and being a purist, that's been great to see. So a kid like Tristan being successful, a kid like [Andrew] Wiggins being successful, our guy Cory Joseph being successful, it's unbelievable for the growth and the continuation of the growth of basketball in Canada, and I don't think -- I know the college coaches, all the calls I get from college coaches that are up there recruiting all the time, they know it. So I think it's just great for basketball in the country of Canada. Q. I recognize that Kyrie and Kevin Love have played very well in these first two rounds, but LeBron is averaging a career low scoring-wise in the postseason. Do you feel like teams have taken something away from him, or is it more just how the other guys are operating? DWANE CASEY: I think it's because he's doing other things. Look at his assists. I think he's had like 20 points on his assists. You talk about those threes, he's creating a lot of those threes. Yeah, his scoring is down, but he's giving it back in other areas. So no, I wouldn't discount that whatsoever about his scoring being down. We understand that. We see that. We're going to try to combat that. But you know, I wouldn't put a lot of credence in seeing his number go down because it's adding to quality in other areas. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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