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Raptors head coach Dwane Casey knows this much about his future in Toronto: his key to the gym still works.

Right now Quenton Nelson Jersey , 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, depth Brian O'Neill Color Rush Jersey , 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, getting bigger, and winning. And that’s what we’re going to try and do.”

Two miserable seasons. One measly win.

Still Cheap Jimmy Garoppolo Jersey , Cleveland coach Hue Jackson continues to have the "unwavering" support of owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam, who believe his third year will bring out the best in him 鈥?and the Browns.

"I think we will see the real Hue Jackson," Jimmy Haslam said Saturday before practice.

Jackson has lost 31 of 32 games since taking over a Cleveland franchise that has undergone numerous coaching changes and front-office upheaval since the team's NFL expansion return in 1999. However, the Haslams feel the worst is over, and thanks to a roster overhaul directed by general manager John Dorsey, Jackson has the pieces to win.

"He has good quarterbacks, he has some skill players, he has a veteran offensive lineman 鈥?now, we have to figure out left tackle 鈥?and three really good (running) backs and a good defense."

Jackson has also been helped by not also handling offensive coordinator duties. With some urging and the blessing of the Haslams, he turned his offense over to Todd Haley, who was fired after six seasons with Pittsburgh.

"You have to give Hue credit for bringing in Todd Haley, which I think will allow Hue to be the head coach," Haslam said. "I think this will be the first opportunity Hue will have to do what we know he can do as head coach as a leader. Even though Todd will be calling all of the shots on offense, I think Hue will obviously have some impact there like he will defense. We are excited to see it."

The Browns went 0-16 last season Authentic Kerryon Johnson Jersey , matching the 2008 Detroit Lions as the only teams in NFL history to lose all 16 games. But while there were many Cleveland fans calling for Jackson's firing, his players remained united behind him and the Haslams decided to bring him back for another year.

That doesn't mean Jackson's job is permanently safe, but Haslam refused to say there was a mandate on wins this season.

"No, we're excited about Hue Jackson," Haslam said. "I think our commitment to him has been unwavering and still is."

Jackson is grateful for the Haslams' backing.

"I said all last year, I felt like I had their full support," he said following the Browns' first practice in pads. "They were always in communication with me, and I thank them for that. I'm glad they feel that way. My job is to go out and coach this football team and get them better and we've got to do it better than we've ever done it since I've been here. We have some players that I think are going to help make the difference, but at the same time, it's just all talk right now.

"We have to go do it. So we've just got to keep working, but I do thank them for that."

As the 2017 season unraveled, the Haslams chose to fire head of football operations Sashi Brown, whose analytics-heavy approach yielded mixed results and not enough wins. Dorsey, who guided Kansas City's turnaround from 2013 to 2016 Roquan Smith Jersey Youth , replaced Brown and spent this past offseason acquiring talent.

Haslam felt it was fair to assess Jackson's upcoming third season as his first.

"I think in some ways you could say because of the talent he's had, particularly at quarterback, particularly last year, it could view it as his first year, but we don't look at that," Haslam said. "I know everybody's saying Hue has to win this many games or he has to win that many games. We don't look at it (like that)."

"We're really excited about the relationship that Hue and John have and not just that they have but their staffs have, how the building is working together. I mean we're in here at 7 this morning talking about who else we might need to add to the roster. So we feel good about the chemistry, we feel good about the work ethic, but at the same time, we all understand we've got to win games."

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By linchao
Added Aug 17 '18

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