to carry this

laiyongcai92 · Verfasst am: 19.09.2018, 08:55 Titel: **to carry this**

Dwane Casey lost his job in Toronto because the Raptors wanted to advance further in the playoffs.

In Detroit Ryan Ramczyk Jersey , it would be an accomplishment if Casey can simply get the Pistons into the playoffs.

The Pistons hired the NBA coach of the year finalist Monday, hoping he can help the three-time NBA championship franchise regularly reach the postseason and eventually compete again for titles.

”Dwane is one of the most successful and highly respected coaches in our league,” Pistons owner Tom Gores said. ”He’s a great communicator and a leader who will connect with our players and accelerate their growth. Having spent many hours with Dwane over the last few weeks, I’m confident he is the right person to get us to the next level.”

A month after being fired by the Raptors , Casey agreed to a five-year deal to become head coach of the Pistons, two people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Monday. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the team had not announced the move, which was first reported by ESPN.

Casey led Toronto to a team-record 59 wins this year and helped the franchise earn the top seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time, a performance that won him coach of the year honors from his peers at the National Basketball Coaches Association. He had one year remaining on a three-year, $18 million dollar extension when he was fired shortly after Toronto was swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was 320-238 in seven seasons and is Toronto’s winningest coach.

The Pistons said Casey has already started work, including meetings with players, and will be introduced at a news conference next week.

Detroit had been looking for a coach for more than month since firing Stan Van Gundy Trevor Williams Jersey , who was also its president of basketball operations. Michigan coach John Beilein was a finalist for the job before withdrawing his name from consideration last week and San Antonio Spurs assistant Ime Udoka also was a candidate.

”I’m confident that this team has the pieces in place to compete at a very high level,” Casey said. ”There is a lot of talent, a solid core and some exciting young players eager to get better. We’re getting to work right away on the things that will make us all successful.”

Casey certainly has work to do.

The Pistons have made the playoffs only once in nine years after advancing at least to the Eastern Conference finals six straight years, winning the 2004 NBA title and falling a victory short of repeating as champions in 2005. They do not appear to have much flexibility to make significant changes this offseason.

Detroit acquired Blake Griffin in a blockbuster trade this past season and that wasn’t enough to push Detroit into the playoffs. An injury to point guard Reggie Jackson derailed what looked like a promising season. If healthy, the Pistons do potentially have an intriguing nucleus with Griffin, Jackson and Andre Drummond.

”In our meetings he displayed great insight into what this roster can accomplish, and great passion about our city and the team’s role in bringing people together,” Gores said. ”He’s an outstanding man with impressive character. He embodies our culture and will be a great representative for our franchise.”

The 61-year-old Casey is getting his third shot to lead an NBA team.

He coached the Minnesota Timberwolves for a little more than one season, going 53-69. He also has experience in the league as an assistant with Dallas and Seattle.

Casey, who is from Morganfield, Kentucky Lance Alworth Jersey , played for the Wildcats and helped them win the 1978 NCAA title and began his coaching career the next year as a graduate assistant under Joe B. Hall. He later back to campus to work as an assistant for Eddie Sutton. He has five years of coaching experience in Japan and has spent time around the game in Europe.

Under Casey, the Raptors won four Atlantic Division titles and advanced to the playoffs in five consecutive seasons. But Toronto couldn’t get past Cleveland, losing to LeBron James and the Cavs in each of the past three playoffs, getting swept this year and last year.

Detroit moved into a new downtown arena last season, but with the exception of some brief success after trading for Griffin, the team didn’t create much buzz. The Pistons are still looking to hire someone to head basketball operation. They did bring in Ed Stefanski as a senior executive.

—

AP Sports Writer Noah Trister contributed to this report.

—

LeBron James defied belief with another brilliant playoff performance and was in utter disbelief at the officials and a play by teammate J.R. Smith down the stretch that sent the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 124-114 overtime loss to Golden State in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night.

James posted the first 50-point game in the finals since Michael Jordan did it 25 years ago and had the Cavaliers in position to stun the heavily favored Warriors in the opener before a disputed replay overturn and Smith’s blunder turned the tide in Golden State’s favor.

”Tonight we played as well as we’ve played all postseason, and we gave ourselves a chance possession after possession after possession,” James said. ”There were just some plays that were kind of taken away from us. Simple as that.”

James finished with 51 points in the highest scoring finals game in a losing effort and had the Cavaliers in position to win when his pass down low to George Hill drew a foul on Klay Thompson with 4.6 seconds left and Cleveland trailing 107-106. Hill hit the first shot to tie the game but missed the second.

Smith secured the rebound but dribbled to half court, a play usually made with the lead. James was calling for the ball that entire time and could only hold his arms out in shock before walking back to the huddle for overtime.

While coach Tyronn Lue said Smith thought the Cavs were up by a point, Smith insisted he knew the score.

”I knew it was tied,” he said. ”I thought we were going to take a timeout because I got the rebound. I’m pretty sure everybody didn’t think I was going to shoot it over KD right there. … I tried to bring it out and get enough space to maybe get a shot off. I looked over at LeBron and he looked like he was trying to get a timeout. So I stopped Logan Thomas Jersey , and the game was over.”

James said he didn’t know what Smith was thinking and walked out of the postgame news conference after growing tired of repeated questioning about whether Smith knew the score.

”I don’t know what J.R. was thinking,” James said, refusing to speculate on Smith’s thought process. ”I don’t know the question you’re trying to ask.”

The Cavaliers were not able to recover from Smith’s blunder.

The Warriors scored on their first possession of overtime when Durant drew a foul from Hill that upset James once again and never looked back, outscoring Cleveland 17-7 in the extra session.

The game ended with James jawing with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson and then teammate Tristan Thompson getting ejected for a flagrant foul after he got upset when Shaun Livingston attempted a shot when the game was already in hand instead of taking a shot-clock violation.

There were several calls down the stretch that angered James, with the biggest coming after James drove past Stephen Curry for a three-point play that put Cleveland up 104-102 with 50 seconds left.

James appeared to draw a charge on Durant. But officials went to the replay to see if James was in the restricted area which would make it a block. While James was clearly outside the restricted area, officials also had the chance to review whether James was in legal guarding position and changed the call to a block.

”I thought I read that play just as well as I read any play in my career, defensively,” James said. ”I saw the drive, I was outside the charge line, I stepped in, took the contact. It’s a huge play. It’s a huge play.”

James answered with an impressive drive Anthony Barr Jersey , changing hands in midair before scoring to give the Cavs the lead. But it wasn’t enough when Curry answered with a three-point play followed by Smith’s miscue.

The opener of the fourth straight finals between these teams followed a familiar script with the deeper Warriors overcoming a sensational individually effort by James the way they did in winning the past two titles.

James had his highest-scoring playoff game ever, tied Jerry West for the most 40-point games in a single postseason with eight and almost single-handedly led the Cavs to the win.

He made 19 of 32 shots, added eight rebounds and eight assists and played nearly 48 minutes for a third straight game.

But the lasting image of this game will be of James calling for the ball behind the 3-point line as Smith dribbled out the clock in a play reminiscent of one made by Dallas’ Derek Harper in a playoff loss to the Lakers 34 years ago.

”It was epic,” Lue said ”He did enough to carry this team to a victory. We just came up short. But this is LeBron James, that’s who he is. That’s why he’s the best player in the world. He’s been doing it for us all season.

”To do what he did tonight and come out robbed, it’s just not right.”

—

Authentic Womens Nathan Shepherd Jersey