Casey goes to Raptors as coach

TORONTO. – Dwane Casey hopes to bring a rugged, NHL-style of defense to his newest job in the NBA.

The Toronto Raptors hired Casey as their coach on Tuesday, nine days after the Dallas assistant helped the Mavericks win the championship.

Casey succeeds Jay Triano, a Canadian who became a consultant after the Raptors finished 22-60. Casey was the head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves from June 2005 to January 2007, compiling a 43-59 record.

Casey said his No. 1 goal is to give the Raptors a "defensive identity." He partially credited the Mavericks’ performance against LeBron James and the Miami Heat in the NBA finals to the breaking down of hockey video.

"Because we felt we were playing too soft against Miami to start the series," he said. "And it really set the tone."

"I don’t know a lot about of hockey. I know I’ll learn about it. But we spliced in those guys checking players up into the window, into the boards and that type of thing and that’s the way we want to play," he said. "We want to make sure people feel us when they cut through the lane. And that’s a mindset, and that’s having a disposition–a bad disposition–when people come through your paint."

Poor on defense, Toronto missed the playoffs for the third straight season. The Raptors have made it past the first round only once in their 16-year existence, doing it in 2000-01.

The Raptors want to start their improvement Thursday with the fifth pick in the NBA draft.

Casey won’t have much input on who the Raptors pick.