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TSN Raptors Reporter

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LOS ANGELES - To say Dwane Casey's future was up in the air a year ago at this time would be an understatement.

In his third season at the helm of the Raptors, and the final on his contract, Casey's Raptors would fall to 6-10 on the first night of December, their third loss in a series of five straight defeats.

They weren't good enough to justify Masai Ujiri's patience but they weren't quite bad enough to be considered a serious contender in the Andrew Wiggins sweepstakes. Ujiri insisted he would give the players and coach he had inherited the chance to sink or swim, but something had to give, and it was about to.

Rudy Gay was a week away from being traded. Kyle Lowry was on the block. And the coach? It's reasonable to assume he was on the hot seat.

But one thing we've learned about Casey since he took over ahead of the lockout shortened 2011-12 campaign: he's unflappable. He wasn't coaching for his job any more or any less than he was the year prior, or than he is now that he is locked up for another three seasons.

He's also one of the more humble and personable men you'll come across in this business of professional sport. He possesses the innate ability to relate and get through to just about anyone, an essential cog in last year's remarkable turnaround followed by an even more impressive first month to the new season.

On the heels of a franchise-best 13-4 start, good for the best record in the conference, Casey has been named the East's Coach of the Month, a well-deserved honour for the leader of a club that has managed their expectations, avoided complacency and continued to thrive for more despite their accomplishments a year ago.

Casey last won the award following an 8-6 December last season, becoming the first Raptors' bench boss to win Coach of the Month twice.

If you're looking forward to his acceptance speech, a heads up, it will be brief and unassuming.

"I don't give a crap," he had said after winning the award last year. "I mean, it's not about me. It's about that team in there, in that locker room. I'm going to be in coaching for a long time so it's not about me, it's about those guys."

The 57-year-old Casey has always taken individual acknowledgement - either for himself or one of his players - as an indication that collectively everyone is doing their job the way they're supposed to.

DeMar DeRozan has blossomed into an All-Star. Lowry is on his way to doing the same this season. The locker room, as we've been reminded over the last 12 months, is one of the most harmonious around. They've put their egos aside in accepting roles, which for many of them require the occasional swallowing of pride. Then there's Casey, the conductor, driving the train, ensuring it doesn't stray and go off the rails. It could have, it still may, but it hasn't.

Now, the Raptors' head coach and his team face a new challenge with DeRozan sidelined indefinitely. Once again, Casey will be tasked with rearranging the pieces, placing his players in new and in some cases unfamiliar roles and maintaining a high level of performance in the process.

"Everybody is happy during good times," he said after Sunday's loss to the Lakers, the first game without DeRozan. "But we've lost a couple of games and now we will see what we are made of. We have to make a muscle, stay together and stay positive. Two games don't make a season. We've had it pretty good here for a while but now we have to bounce back, regroup and reload."

With a record of 118-129 since taking over in Toronto, Casey's winning percentage (.478) is the highest of any coach in team history. He recently passed Lenny Wilkens for second on the Raptors win list, approaching Sam Mitchell for top spot.

He has brought stability and consistency, an air of calm since Bryan Colangelo poached him off Rick Carlisle's staff in Dallas, just days after he helped lead the Mavericks to a championship. Carlisle, in town with the Mavs last week, remains one Casey's most loyal advocates.

"First of all I give [Colangelo] a lot of credit for hiring Dwane," Carlisle said in Toronto on Friday. "There were a lot more established coaches that he passed on. He really targetted Dwane as a guy that he knew could take a group of younger guys, mould them and instill a defensive philosophy and a defensive disposition in how they played."

"The very first year the record wasn't great but the defensive numbers did a 180. From there they have built it up each year. Dwane has earned the right to have a team this good and he has done a great job of building it up to this point."