Dwane Casey Looks to Inspire Players With 1,300 Pound Rock
The NBA’s Toronto Raptors have a new coach and a new motto to start this strike-shortened season. To emphasize his point and to help his players believe in his new philosophy head coach Dwane Casey put a 1,300 pound boulder in the team’s locker room.
Casey’s motto “Pound the Rock” aims to set an example of hard work and determination.
“That's our motivation this year, as you know rocks are hard to break, and our goal is to break that wall and to persevere,” forward Jamaal Magloire told Fox Sports.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The Raptors have become known for their mediocrity and lackluster performances over recent seasons. This year they are looking for a fresh start with a new coach who was an assistant with the championship winning Dallas Mavericks last year.
The Raptors are a young and inexperienced team but that does not seem to bother Casey.
“I knew we were going to be a work in progress, every time we walked on the floor we were going to have to have something to get us to think about ... how we have to get better, we've got to work to get better,” Casey said, according to the AP.
Casey explains that he got the idea from a story that had been around for a long time and had inspired countless others.
"It's from a story about a stonecutter. Every time a stonecutter hits a rock it may not break. You may have to hit it 100 times but on that 101st time you hit it, now you crack the rock."
The 1,300-pound rock was bought at a quarry in Thornhill, Ontario, just north of Toronto. Raptors employee Graeme McIntosh was sent out to find a rock that would fit the Coaches message. Once Casey saw a picture of the rock it was sent to the Air Canada Center.
"Every day we walk into practice it may not end up in a 'W', it may not end up in a great game, but we've got to keep pounding, we've got to keep hitting the rock, and eventually it will crack," Casey said.
