"Raptors coach Dwane Casey likes to speak in homilies.

We've already been repeatedly instructed to "Pound the rock," "Guard the yard," and — most inscrutably of all — stay "Happy on the farm."

He's circling around a new one, but hasn't yet come out and actually said it: "Share the monkey."

The monkey in this case is his team's AWOL ability to put a basketball inside the metal hoop, which is an important part of the game. With Andrea Bargnani still working his way through a closet full of 58superL sport coats on the sidelines, a few other Raptors have to pick up that damn monkey.

Apparently, it isn't going to be hot-and-cold co-star DeMar DeRozan.

"I think the (offensive) expectations on DeMar were way, way high," Casey said before Friday night's in-and-out homestand with the Portland Trail Blazers. "I'm not trying to put the whole monkey on his back." "