A little context:
The Raptors were down two with about twenty seconds left to go against the Pistons. Toronto had a timeout left, but Dwane Casey elected not to use it. Lou Williams was inbounded the ball. He proceeded to dribble the ball in place, before crossing over and taking this shot. Lou missed. Game over.
Jan 25, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Raptors guard Lou Williams (23) moves past Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond (0) in the third quarter at Air Canada Centre. Toronto won 114-110. Mandatory Credit: Peter Llewellyn-USA TODAY Sports
After the game, Coach Casey was asked about the play (you can see the full interview here). His response:
"We just scored on the same play—what we call the ‘three quarter fist’, high pick and roll—for whatever reason, Lou decided not to use it. Again, you got to trust it.I probably could have called a timeout with six seconds, but I thought Lou was going to attack. It was a set play that we had already called, and we missed a screen."
Lou Williams thought differently:
"We didn’t call a play. Once I got across half-court and realized we weren’t going to call a timeout, to me it became a routine play for me."
Amir Johnson was also asked about the play. He said:
"I feel like he had the iso. The clock was winding down and I feel like he had the shot.I don’t think it was a play call. We just came down, we could have set a pick and roll, but I felt like he had the iso."
So, Coach Casey thought there was a play called, while Lou and Amir did not. This may seem like poor communication or bad coaching. But it’s not.
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Let me explain.
That right-to-left crossover into an off-balance shot is a shot Lou has taken many times this season. In fact, in an article written in January, it’s shown that it’s a relatively poor shot. At the end of the game clock, Lou is shooting around 24.4% on shots twenty feet out and further. I’m sure that every team expects Lou to take that shot, which is where Casey’s genius comes into play.
Think about it. As a defender, it’s practically a given that Lou is going to take that shot. So much so, that it’s actually too obvious. So obvious that it must be a trick play! Now the defender, Reggie Jackson, instead of focusing on playing defense, is trying to figure out whether or not the Raptors would be so unimaginative to call a play everyone expects, a play that frankly rarely goes right.
Casey takes his mind games to the next level by not calling a time out. It seemed almost ridiculous not to call a timeout, which was Casey’s goal. He diverted the Pistons’ attention from the play to wondering how Casey is still a head coach.
The fun didn’t stop there however. Casey didn’t stop at baffling the other team, he confused his own team as well. How could the Pistons play defense when Toronto players didn’t even know if a play was called or not? The answer is they couldn’t have.
Well played Coach Casey. Well played.
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Raptors Coach Dwane Casey