Right now Jonathan Allen Jersey Redskins , that’s all Casey can say for certain after meeting with Toronto President Masai Ujiri Wednesday morning, with little else clear about the coach’s outlook with the organization.
Ujiri said Casey has been ”unbelievable for our organization” but declined to make a firm commitment about Casey’s future, saying he needed more time to evaluate the entire team.
”We’re evaluating everything and that’s how we’re going to leave it,” Ujiri said. ”It’s my responsibility as a leader to do that and we’ll go from there.”
It was the first time Casey and Ujiri spoke to reporters since Toronto was swept out of the second round of the playoffs for the second straight season. Ujiri talked about his uncertainty regarding Casey’s future the same day Casey was named coach of the year by the National Basketball Coaches Association . The award is voted on by NBA head coaches. A media panel voted separately for the NBA’s coach of the year award, which will be announced June 25.
Ujiri’s wait-and-see approach didn’t appear to bother Casey, who said he was aware of the questions about his job but didn’t need Ujiri to provide a public backing.
”I haven’t gone looking for a vote of confidence or anything like that because no one is saying anything different,” Casey said. ”Until they do, I’m still here, still fighting, still scratching, still meeting with players. That’s all I can do. Nobody has changed my key card, the door still opens. I’ve had some meetings with Masai talking about what we can do better next year to get over the hump.”
It’s not uncommon for Ujiri to withhold definitive support for a head coach – he also declined to address Casey’s status after last year’s sweep.
Ujiri said the Raptors are ”absolutely disappointed” at their playoff exit after a franchise-record 59 wins in the regular season gave Toronto the top seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time in franchise history. That came after Ujiri demanded a ”culture reset” last spring, leading a greater emphasis on ball movement Youth Jerome Baker Jersey , depth, and 3-point shooting.
”In the regular season there was good success,” Ujiri said. ”Going from last year to this year, we’re happy with the jump we made, with some of the things we said we wanted to do. We got stuck at a certain point.”
While playoff results may suggest otherwise, Casey insisted ”the gap is closing” between the Raptors and Cavaliers, who ousted Toronto form the postseason for the third year in a row.
”A lot of folks have run up against Cleveland in the last few years and had the same challenge and it went down the same way,” Casey said. ”That’s the mountain this organization has to climb.”
Ujiri bristled about the Raptors being the butt of jokes about their long-running struggles with the Cavs, who have won 10 straight postseason games against Toronto.
”We believe in what we’re doing here,” Ujiri said. ”We believe in the growth. We’re relevant now in the NBA. And when you get relevant, now you have to meet the challenges, every day, of expectations and growing Los Angeles Rams Jerseys Womens , getting bigger, and winning. And that’s what we’re going to try and do.”
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Derrick Johnson has been the enemy in Oakland for 13 years, tormenting the Raiders while wearing red for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Johnson has traded sides in the fierce AFC West rivalry, joining the Raiders as the veteran anchor at middle linebacker in a defense that is being rebuilt this offseason.
"It was different, I don't want to say weird, but it's different to put on the silver and black 鈥?even shirt 鈥?because we haven't put on jerseys and helmets and all of that stuff yet," Johnson said Wednesday. "Even to put on the shirt, it was different for me. But you know what, when we got in the middle of the field, when you talk ball and you start running around, tossing the football around and calling plays and going over backs, I'm very familiar to that. So, that went out of my mind really fast."
Johnson has been one of the better linebackers in the league during his career but was allowed to leave Kansas City earlier this offseason as the team tried to get younger. The 35-year-old Johnson is a four-time Pro Bowler and the career tackles leader for the Chiefs.
He had options about where to play this year but ultimately opted to join the Raiders Ronald Jones II Jersey , where he will take over the spot at middle linebacker that NaVorro Bowman held after joining Oakland midway through last season.
Johnson said the enthusiasm of coach Jon Gruden and the linebacker-friendly scheme of coordinator Paul Guenther were what made his decision to sign with the Raiders.
"The main reason I'm still playing ball and chasing a championship ring just because I believe I have a lot left in the tank," he said. "That's the only reason I'm back. When I get to a point where I'm like, man, I'm hanging on, I'll get out, I'll get out of the NFL. But right now, and I expressed this to Coach Gruden, I wasn't interested in some type of rebuilding atmosphere. As soon as I said that, he had that look in his eye like, you're talking about the sense of urgency to win. That's exactly right."
Johnson has appeared in 182 games with 169 starts since being drafted in the first round in 2005. He piled up 1,262 tackles to easily shatter the Chiefs franchise record, had 27陆 sacks and picked off 14 passes, returning four of them for touchdowns.
He had a career-best 179 tackles in 2011 Youth Jonathan Allen Jersey , when he was voted the Chiefs' team MVP.
Johnson accumulated his impressive stats despite missing part of two seasons with ruptured Achilles tendons. He returned from the first one as good as ever, earning his most recent Pro Bowl trip in 2015, but the second seemed to finally take a step out of his legs last season.
Johnson said he feels much healthier now than he did at this time a year ago.
"This offseason I was working out and I was like, man, it's a lot different from last year coming off an injury," he said. "My burst is back, it's better than ever and it's a good feeling because it's going to help me make plays, it's going to help me be explosive, and the longer you're out from your season-ending injury, it usually gets better and it helps you out mentally. This will be my second season out from my last Achilles injury. I was healthy last year. I'm even better this year because I got a really good offseason training that I really didn't get to do last year because I was coming off of the injury."
The Raiders need an anchor in the middle of their defense. Bowman fared well in that role after being signed last October following his release by San Francisco. There was interest in bringing him back for a second season but the two sides couldn't agree on a price.
Oakland didn't address that need at linebacker in this year's draft until the sixth round with the pick of Washington linebacker Azeem Victor.
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