Aaron Gray entering the game in overtime against the Miami Heat will definitely raise some questions, especially with Ed Davis riding the bench down the stretch. Davis must be just as confused as I am because I can’t find a single reason why Davis is never used down the stretch.
As a starter, Davis has been averaging 13 points and 8 rebounds at an extremely efficient rate, and is shaping into a stud. Yet no matter how well he plays, he seems to hit the bench at the wrong times. It has to be demoralizing for the third year forward as it appears he will have to be an all-star before Dwane Casey trusts him.
Another point that had me absolutely stunned was John Lucas III entering the game- are you kidding me? The fact that Casey reverted to the two point guard line-up was bad enough, but Lucas over Kyle Lowry is beyond comprehensible.
And this goes beyond last nights game, as Casey seems to go with the exact same rotation, night in, night out. He subs in his players at a very specific point in time, and rarely adjusts to the situation at hand. He probably figures that this rotation has gotten them out of the rock bottom position they were in so he shouldn’t mess with it, but that’s rookie coaching at its finest.
Now I may not know my x’s and o’s, however it doesn’t take an genius to see that this is still a learning experience for Casey.
All Raptors fans can hope for at this point is to see Casey start to improve his rotations; particularly down the stretch. Casey tends to lean more on his veterans down the stretch, rather than his talent. This is the problem, and he needs to start having more trust in his younger players.
Hopefully he sees this sooner rather than later, and by soon I mean before Andrea Bargnani comes back and takes Davis’ starting spot, because come hell or high water…
Credit to David Richard-USA TODAY Sports for the photo.
