Toronto Raptors Media Availability | Postgame at Detroit Pistons | December 30, 2023

Toronto Raptors Media Availability | Postgame at Detroit Pistons | December 30, 2023

Game aside but you you kind of wake up in the morning and you got a certain set of teammates and then 3 hours later everything changes what what’s that what’s that like to go through I mean this just OG male precious uh I mean they are brothers you know um OG been

Here for seven eight years six years um a long time um I mean NBA is just uh it’s a business you know at the end of the day um for me uh it’s always tough uh because I’m from Europe and in Europe basketball you know it’s like a family

Thing and people call it here family but you know then you wake up in the morning and you had a different team but at the end of the day it’s you know that’s the system um I’m grateful to be in the NBA but you know that’s the downside of it

You know um not being with your brother no more and uh I hope you know OG Mel and precious they doing you know great things and they new w and um yeah we got to move on and of course I mean uh all the players who we

Got uh we welcome them for sure um but at the end of the day it’s it’s it’s tough you think it had any impact uh in terms of a team performance tonight going through all that obviously the bench was short-handed but uh did did you felt like it crept into your game at

All I mean uh everybody was a little bit down but we don’t we don’t use excuses at the end of the day you know um Detroit I mean they made it you know Boston really hard too last game and they came out you know they wanted to

Win and um but I think uh it’s a shout out to the whole lock room from us too because I think that’s the hardest we played all year um and if we if we play that way you know we going still uh can turn it around that it’s given your

Experience within the league you’ve seen trades happen but when you’re thinking of a guy like Scotty Barnes is probably a big one just given how close he was with OG and precious um what advice would you give a Scotty who is kind of going through the big one for the first

Time yeah I mean uh this is his team you know at the end of the day uh he’s still young he still needs to learn a lot of stuff um but at the end of the day um I mean he just got to you know go through

Um stuff like that but at the end of the day just you know keep it in your mind that the NBA is a business and at the end of the day you know the owners organizations they just want to you know make sure on their side that they you

Know good and um uh and I mean you just got to move on you know of course uh like I said precious and OG that was uh his brothers and Mel but at the end of the day you know he’s just in a different city you know still same

Contract still same money you know and uh I mean we in the best league in the world and we just got to embrace it everybody and um just move on you mentioned this being one of the hardest you’ve played all year um obviously that’s been something that everybody’s

Been trying to figure out how how to put together 48 minutes etc etc and we know it’s a long season and games are long why do you think it’s been so difficult for this group to put longer stretches together I mean uh the the culture is

Just a different culture you know when I got here um I mean Darko did a great job just um putting his you know um system um to the organization um but I think we just got to um follow that you know everybody just being unselfish um sharing the ball

Because at the end of the day not you know one or two person you know can win I mean sometimes they can but uh to be you know a winning team um we need everybody um even the the guys who don’t really really play um people got to be

Grateful cheering on their teammates when they get a stop or when they get on the floor dive pick them up um being excited for another and um I mean I don’t want to you know go deep into that but I I I need to you know feel that

Because I mean in the summer I didn’t we we didn’t had you know I went to war with all my brothers I mean from the national team but we knew we had each other and I mean I don’t feel it here yet like that and I just want to you

Know every single day I just want to keep going at it build relationships you know I know it’s hard um because NBA is a little bit individual as well um but at the end of the day if you keep playing like this nobody’s going to win

You can you walk me through um just like the game tonight itself like you know what you saw from Detroit they obviously Came Out Swinging they didn’t want to get to get the new NBA record what what was it like to play against them tonight oh they play well I mean everybody just

You know playing with confidence they still got you know um guys who is hungry who want to want to win I mean 28 games you know to be in a losing streak like that of course you want to you know come out and win a game and um they played

Hard um it was a dog fight you know and um uh congrats to them denn it’s just to follow up on your point of kind of Summer and coming into now um do you think that that takes time to build or conversations like how do you call at

That level of chemistry that you had in the summer with your guys I mean it’s just you know enjoying every single at first off it took a long time um I mean I’ve been playing 10 years nine years with the national team the last two years we got you know uh bronze

Medal and uh uh the gold medal this summer um but to be to enjoy the moment and to be grateful that you in the NBA I mean people saying that but I mean it’s just because when you’re in the NBA bubble it’s hard to you know sometimes

You get away and you think it’s normal that somebody’s bringing your shoes or you know like it’s it’s it’s funny but at the end of the day that’s like a blessing to have you know I mean we come to practice we don’t have uh nothing I

Mean my Street closed I come in and I got my Loop you know and uh somebody’s going to wash it afterwards that’s that’s that’s not normal you know at the end of the day everybody just got to be grateful for that and um enjoy uh each and everyone come together enjoy

Togetherness and I think that’s that’s uh that’s about it but if you don’t do it then it’s it’s going to be hard to win do you think that element not to harp on this but do you think that element is lacking specifically with this team or compared to other NBA teams

Or is that just the NBA as a I just I just I mean in my career where we really like in Atlanta like my second third fourth year with like great you know vets um who didn’t you know really care about having you know points or was just

About winning you know at the end of the day I think everybody here in this lck will want to win as well um and I feel that still but at the end of the day I just want us to you know um be more engaged be more excited you know and um

I think if we do that and you know bring the new guys in and you know tell them the same thing we’re going to be good are you committed to the plan Dennis in terms of you know bringing that forward and kind of being a part of that change

That you do want to see within the locker room for sure I mean I want to be you know close with everybody who’s in that locker room um I’m trying uh I want to be you know um we ain’t got to be best friends but when we get on the

Court I want you know I’m a fight for every single one of them and I want the same from them too you know and um if we get to that stage um it’s going to be great obviously playing shorthanded wasn’t ideal going into tonight do you think that was a

Factor um at any point just not having enough bodies I mean uh it it was that and uh I’m really proud of the energy that our guys gave having everything uh in taking everything in account um late C here a very emotional day for everybody but guys guys gave it all

Today like all the guys that that play just like the day for uh we missed uh couple of free throws we missed a bunch of layups that we usually make and that was the difference actually shooting from the three-point line we did a good job but like we could not finish in the

Pain there and uh I also don’t want to take away from from from what Detroit did uh congrats to them they played really good game um they made some very very timely shots I think it was like four or five times buzzer buzzer beaters really tough shots and contested shots

And uh um they got to win they deserve that win tonight obviously Pascal is is maybe one of the more affected guys having played with OG for the longest and and you know uh with his history with the team uh you mentioned being proud of the team what did you think of

His third quarter and what looked to be you know some Defiance there yeah um I I challenge both uh him and and Scotty at the halftime that we need more from them and that that they need to do better job in the second half and they showed up

Both of those guys did a really good job uh Pascal in second half uh he he was much more aggressive and he was coming closer to the rim and he was on the balance for for for uh majority of those shots I thought that he did good job you

Know kind of why is it the fact that you know you took it took basically calling them out and saying that you needed more from them at halftime for them to step up in the second half and instead of like seeing that right away from out the

Gate uh I don’t think that uh that the energy and effort was was the problem to start the game uh I I just wanted them to be more aggressive like you know just to to to take it more to the rim to to take it deeper like they were kind of

Like a little bit passive there it was not a question of energy but just like you know taking on them to to uh to be more aggressive and then to score more for us obviously you guys are all Professionals in this but given kind of the day that you’ve had the

Conversations that you have after a game like this uh how do you navigate um in terms of kind of keeping the group together as you know it has been a pretty emotional day um it is very emotional day but uh all I can do is uh

To show my support and to talk to to to the guys and to understand their positions as well and um you know whoever needs a talk or whoever needs I like to get stuff of their chest I’m there for them and uh through through all of this we got to stay together and

Uh you know I think uh energy was good tonight and I told guys it was not the outcome that we want but I thought it was maybe one of the harder playing games for us this season so I want to try to build on this and and and get

Better through this obviously it might take some time a couple of days but is there a sense now within the locker room that a day like today could be a defining point for the season either way that it goes um I don’t get that feel I

I think it’s way too early to to get a pulse on you know how team is going to react we still did not you know see uh new players in our team that’s going to be a process like we we understand that all of this of building a team that’s

Not overnight fix you know so we want to uh um you know to welcome you guys to get them accustomed to to our team and to learn what they have and what we have with them and and to grow our main main objective is is to grow and to get

Better and to learn what we have with our roster how has this day been like for you personally like what those conversations and emotional emotionally has been like for you um emotional day very emotional day uh you know everything happened very quickly and you know uh while I was thinking about guys

They’re leaving us and you guys uh guys coming I also had to uh prepare for the game and and then stay focused on the game tonight and the guys that are here in the locker room to to give them um everything they need to to go out there

And be ready to compete for the game I mean having seen two pretty important players just get traded um do you think elsewh in the roster guys are kind of looking around and thinking you know what’s next or does it maybe say okay well maybe we need to pull this together

If we want to keep this together do you think there’s anything they can interpret from that I I’m I’m not really sure of you know so that those are conversations are probably coming in next days and uh we today did not have time to to Really dive into that so it’s

Early and premature to to comment on that

Players and Coach speak with the media following the Raptors’ 129-127 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Saturday.

00:00 Dennis Schroder
08:13 Darko Rajakovic
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