In each of his first five seasons as head coach, the Toronto Raptors have gotten better under Dwane Casey.
The Raptors went from 23-43 in his first season (2011-2012) to a franchise best 56-26 last year, when the team became the toast of the town, going toe-to-toe in an exhilarating playoff push that fell just short against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Casey understands that the upward mobility of his team from season to season – at least as far as the win-loss column is concerned – will have to come to an end some time.
With the Raptors set to start the 2016-17 NBA year Wednesday night at the Air Canada Centre against the Detroit Pistons, Casey says win totals are not necessarily the hallmark of a successful regular season.
"Being consistent, I think, more than anything else," he said Tuesday after putting his team through one more practice in preparation for the tipoff. "I know you guys get tired of hearing me say the same thing, but it's about consistency. It's not going to change.
"And as far as our identity, how we have to win in this league … we've got to be the hardest-working team because you're not going to out-talent the rest of the league."
To be sure, it will be a difficult proposition for Toronto to match the highs of last season, one in which the team rolled to its third consecutive Atlantic Division title in the Eastern Conference.
Along the way, the Raptors opened the BioSteel Centre, their sparkling new practice facility on the grounds of the CNE. The organization also hosted the NBA all-star game that featured franchise cornerstones Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan.
And then came the epic playoff run, with the team surviving two elimination games in the first two rounds of the playoffs, against Indiana and Miami, before advancing to the conference finals against the heavily favoured Cavaliers.
Nobody gave the Toronto, in its first conference finals in the 21-year history of the franchise, much of a chance against the likes of James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.
But the Raptors had other ideas, losing the first two games but winning the next two at home to make a series of it.
The home games were sold out, with appreciative fans loudly proclaiming their allegiance. Thousands more gathered outside in the square christened Jurassic Park, where they partied hearty while watching the action unfold on a giant video screen.
Cleveland won Game 5 back at home and would ultimately prevail over a tiring Toronto outfit in Game 6, back at the ACC, to take the series 4-2.
The Cavaliers, who will be in Toronto Friday, would go on to win the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.
The experience has left the Raptors yearning for more, and the core of the team, including DeRozan and Lowry, are back along with Jonas Valanciunas, their big galoot of a centre.
Always a solid rebounder, Valanciunas was starting to emerge offensively in the second round of the playoffs, against Miami, where he averaged 18.3 points over the first three games, well above his season average of 12.8.
But he sprained an ankle that kept him sidelined until the last two games of the series against Cleveland, where he wasn't really a factor.
If the seven-footer can consistently fill up the basket this year, it would make things a lot easier on DeRozan and Lowry, who are the team's primary one-two options on offence.
"For sure, because I'm getting too old to try to score 30 a night," DeRozan joked on Tuesday.
Bismack Biyombo, Luis Scola and James Johnson have moved on, but the Raptors brought in Jared Sullinger, a bruising power forward to help shore up the front line.
However, Sullinger will be sidelined for as much as two months after undergoing foot surgery on Monday.
Patrick Patterson is the leading candidate to get the start in Sullinger's spot, but Casey said Pascal Siakam, selected 27th overall in the 2016 draft, would also get consideration.
Casey also said that centre Lucas Nogueira is also probably out, nursing a sore ankle, which means Jakob Poeltl, Toronto's first pick (ninth overall) in the draft, is also likely to see playing time in the opener.
Casey was asked if Poeltl was up to the task.
"We'll see. We'll find out," he said. "We have no choice: They're not going to cancel the game."