You’ll get a mixed response from Wolves fans about Casey. There are basically 2 1/2 camps of thought about the guy:

1- He was an overmatched coach who did very well in practice and game preparation but who was absolutely destroyed by opposing coaches thanks to poor in game management, play calling, and questionable rotations.

2- He was a young and inexperienced coach who showed a lot of promise and deft personnel touch by taking a garbage team to a .500 record before he was fired, Wittman took over, and the bottom fell out.

2a- He was a good and promising coach who was screwed over by McHale and the country club.

I myself subscribe to more of a 2a position. I’d even go so far to say that there may have been some racial elements involved in his being let go. I’m not saying that McHale is a racist, but merely that Casey wasn’t a part of the country club of 600 First Avenue (Wolves front office) and he was fired for an affirmative action country club boy: Wittman.

Coaching wise, he had his flaws. He was a disciplinarian but not an authoritarian. Some believe that he lost control of the locker room towards the end but that may have had a lot to do with KG winding down and with Ricky Davis and Marc Blount. Who knows? I certainly don’t as I wasn’t there. He focused more on defense than he did on offense and he was very good about bringing along young and developing players like McCants and Foye. He did have some questionable rotations but I don’t know whether or not this was due to not being comfortable in in-game situations or for something behind the scenes.

Casey got a lot out of nothing as a 2nd year (relatively) inexperienced head coach. He was fired because McHale and Glen Taylor (the owner) are completely unaccountable for their extremely poor personnel decisions. I think he is a very promising head coach who will have a long career in this league. However, there are other Wolves fans who think he’s every bit as bad as Witt and that the only reason why he got the team to .500 was because KG was still playing for a playoff spot.

I will tell you this: I think he’s miles better than Avery Johnson. He didn’t overcoach and he’s much more laid back (but still intense…if that makes any sense).

...if most of the development problem had to do with babysitting idiots like Ricky Davis or Blount or if it was an inability to work with young talent. I think he did a good job developing the talent and it’s kind of funny to hear folks complain about Casey’s lack of in-game rotations, etc with Witt at the head of the bench. That being said, I’ve heard good things about former Wolf Ty Corbin…who is an assistant with the jazz. It sounds like the Bulls are looking at him. He was a solid player with the Wolves.

Very interesting information. I do not know how McHale is still around. You should get a good player at #3. I have a feeling that Riley will take Mayo over Beasley. Either way you should do good at three unless McHale finds a way to screw it up. Again, thanks for the Casey info!