Toronto Raptors Media Availability | Postgame at Chicago Bulls | January 30, 2024

Toronto Raptors Media Availability | Postgame at Chicago Bulls | January 30, 2024

Show some tangible results no for sure uh did a lot of good good stuff tonight um you know we talked about um area for us of improvement is uh uh rebounding we kept this team to to six offensive rebounds and U we did much better job of

Protecting the paint allow them only 46 points in the paint uh so uh we got to definitely be happy with that uh be be happy with with the win ended up the game with another high number of assists uh ball movement was good um got a lot

Of good stuff to to learn from and then get better at haven’t come through five tough losses like getting a win sort of Gets In Their Heads you back about it yesterday a little bit like showing a a a chual result for playing hard for sure

Um I mean I really have to give a lot of credit to to our group of guys they really work hard they’re really into dissecting the film and and getting better we lost five games but we were in all of those games we were like you know

In games and it was a couple of possessions that decided uh one way or the other you know so um keeping up their Spirits building those guys up uh you know and next next man up mentality you know tonight Ted Young with 16 points six assists and six rebounds like

You know we got to recognize that and uh Gary of the you know started the game really well shoot the ball really well you know a lot of guys really contributed um I was happy with the with u Jaylen McDaniel’s minutes there as well of the bench as well as uh Jordan

Noir Plus in the game we lost uh J Porter with with some um lower back pain so um so he was not able to to come back and finish the game you guys were still able to get a fair fair bit of offense in the paint what was working for you

There I saw Fair number of interior passes but what was kind of key for a small team to score at The Rim Yeah we were really looking uh to to attack certain matchups so we can attack the the paint uh obviously we have uh players uh in Scotty in Dennis that that

It can touch the paint uh you know on on a will uh we were able to to get 20 times to the free throw line as well made our free throws tonight and uh you know when we move the ball and they fight open shots like that touching the

Paint actually open opens up shots for us you know so multiple actions multiple back door cuts because they were trying to go and blow up all of those dhos and of ball screens and we kept talking about cutting and cutting and cutting that is going to create offense for us

You spoke about the things you were doing to try and contain dribble penetration I looked like at at the end certainly there was a lot of trapping especially D and got some turnovers um how nice was it to see your guys adjust to that game plan which really hasn’t

Been a huge thing for you guys this year um it’s uh it’s it’s a work in progress uh and there there are moments that we do it really well and there are moments that that definitely we need to go back to to film and back to practice and then continue getting better

At think you guys gave up a basket in like the last eight minutes of the game what did you do you do anything differently or just do things better uh we we did it uh we did it better you know our Focus was on on on very high

Alert uh we stayed down on shot fakes we were able to contain uh in some of those situations on uh against the Rosen and then at the end of the game we went last couple of minutes we we every time we tra him and wanted to get the ball out

Of his hands if anybody else is going to beat us they’re going to beat us but we didn’t want the Rosen tonight to be the guy um coach I know that faad he played limited minutes to start the season but he’s obviously been a key factor especially in this uh stretch injuries

What are you liking from what you from what you’re seeing from him and especially even just tonight I mean um I can I can speak about Ted Young for for whole night you know it’s not just like what he does on the court it’s everything that he does of the Court as

Well you know this whole season when he was not playing uh he was not in rotation he always stayed in shape he was always part of the play groups he always was the right voice for our team he was always building our guys and um

It’s great to see him to be on the court out there playing and now even more his voice is a value because now he’s sharing the court with players and he can help them on the court even more Billy was speaking about him before the

Game knowing that he’s a pro who will be ready for everything did he talk to you about what you were getting in Thad before the season or or is it just a nice not surprised uh I mean uh it is not surprised everybody who knows Ted

Young for short 17 years in NBA know what he brings to to uh to to the to the team and uh you know we’re just just lucky to have him as a vet on our team har what’s it been like for you the last month or so with things changing so

Quickly because of the TR first the trades then the injuries have you found what have you found the adjustment like in general everybody just trying to figure it out and you know roll with the punches in a sense like you said it’s been a lot of new pieces uh again we

Have a whole new team this year starting out the year and then got a basically a whole new team and within 30 games so you know just trying to stay afloat balance it continue to keep pushing continue to keep working be an energy giver and and go from there you had 13

Points in the first quarter was it a conscious effort to get a quick Offensive start for you guys to get the game into a pace and a FL that you’re accustomed to uh really just opportunity presented itself was swinging teammates found me just knocked down some shots

Early got it going and you know went from there your season’s been kind of after kind a little bit of slow start you it seems to just kind of hit your stride and particularly your the looks you’ve been getting from three you been knocking them down is is there

Something is it did it take a little time to maybe find a good rhythm with the way darker wants to play and and is it suiting you in terms of the level of ball movement and player movement again just trying to figure it out it’s a whole new bunch of pieces a whole

Different offense you know I’m just trying to figure out where your spots where you going go again whether I’m playing 35 minutes 30 minutes or 25 minutes which is half the game I’m going to go out there and try to contribute to winning as much as I can so that’s

Really my only focus and goal going in every game I think like I don’t know how many games in a row you guys have had like 30 assists now as a team but as a shooter um are you finding is it easier to get into a rhythm because you know the ball is

Going to be flying out and and there’s opportunities if you’re if you’re moving your feet are set that there’s a good chance the ball’s going to find you yeah really just you’re getting just the opportunity come into your hands the minutes uh going out there playing hard

And just trying to impact winning how does it change your role when you know you have Yak out Jon with out tonight how does that change the dynamic on the court for you on both sides uh I wouldn’t really say it changes too drastic you know

Again it could help kind of in a sense have us be more spaced out again we kind of going small a little bit dad is still playing you know great and slashing and rebounding and doing stuff like that but you know we kind of play more five out

In a sense but you know either way I feel like I should be able to adapt and adjust it no matter you know who’s who what have you grown to appreciate about that over the last two and a halfish years just his approach to the game uh his

Mindset uh his knowledge I would say you know the things he talks about the things he sees on the floor uh the countless of situations that he’s been in so you know he has a he’s like a Old Testament book that got all the rules just in terms of next game kind of

Looking at a little bit how weird will it be to see Fred Maybe um never be weird it’s going to be great to see him you know and I’m hope he being hope he’s blessed and hope he’s good you know we’ll see him when we get down

There car yeah so so tough uh two tough tough bigs to go against uh um V and and Dre you know um just two two big guys that know how to rebound the basketball very physical um takes a toll on you but you know one thing I I’m willing to do

Is is you know fight with him and you know do the job that’s needed to be done I what what’s your mindset when you’re going in and knowing that you know pretty much every minute on the floor you’re going to be facing One S foot or another and pretty physical guy

In druming especially I mean for me you know it’s always it’s always about like the battle like I enjoy the competition level so for me you know I’m willing to take whatever challenge there is you know whether it’s me going out there and guarding guards or me going out there

And guard my position or playing at Center so you know it doesn’t matter to me but my mindset is always just do the best job I can and then live with the results you said you enjoy the competition obviously minutes have been up and down the last few years um does

That make the competition when you get it at this level even more enjoyable yeah I mean for me um anytime I can step on the court and be able to play against guys at at a high level and you know still be able to do this after 17 years

You um you know it’s you know it’s always going to be great for me you know if I didn’t enjoy the competitive nature of it you know I’ve been done three four five six years ago you know so you know for me you know it’s always going to be

About that competitive spirit and uh just you know being in that that battle with my teammates I know that your age is always brought up in these conversations how uh almost like how old is that conversation getting for you cuz clearly darkos he’s just praised you for

How well you take care of your body and we can see how you’re moving on the court as well yeah um I mean I don’t pay too much attention to that you know um yeah I’m 35 years old but you um you know that’s young in regular life but

You know when you play over a thousand basketball games that’s that’s old to everybody else um you know but for me um I don’t pay attention to that I just continue to play and show that I can continue to play at a high level with

These guys and you know as long as I’m able to do that I’ll continue to play I mean do you think you’ve opened your eyes for some of the guys who uh maybe haven’t seen you playing the kind of minutes you normally play play certainly for most of your career and like just

You know they’ve seen you do all the work they know what you’re all about but to go and deliver it in real time probably matters yeah I definitely think it has um you know um you know open guys eyes to you know um you know making it

To you know where I have you know in year 17 and being able to still play in a high level you know by you know doing the things that’s needed taking care of my body and making sure that you know I’m you know doing doing everything I

Need to to stay in shape you know when I’m not playing and then um you know just doing the extra work you know so you know for me um you um God’s blessed me with you know health and you know I’m grateful for that each and every day and

You know hopefully I continue to stay healthy and continue to be able to play at a high level you know um and we’ll see where it takes us but you know um definitely think it’s opened some guys eyes to you know see that you know it’s possible it’s a it’s it’s a possible

Thing that you can do you know I try to tell guys all the time you know um you can play you know 15 years in this league if you you do the things that you you need to do early on in your career and that’s what you know I started off

From day one doing pH and Darko have praised you tonight for your professionalism the way you comport yourself around the team where does that come from in your personality and how does it make you feel when you hear guys praise you for that uh I’m just a a layback guy by

Nature so you know for me um but I would probably say it it came from uh um Doug Collins um he he gave me a opportunity to be a leader of a team that we that we had with the Sixers and you know he would always tell me you

Know just be a leader you know continue to keep your personality but still be a leader and still you know because your your presence in your voice is always you know it’s always going to be louder than what you think and you know for me

You know when I speak I try to speak when it’s needed um when I’m talking to guys I’m trying to deliver the knowledge you know in a way to where you know they very receptive to it as opposed to you know you know biting back um and then I

I’m I’m really good at evaluating my teammates and understanding how I can talk to them in certain game situations and you know that’s worked out for me my whole career just being able to go to guys talk to him being able to kind of be that that arm you know between you

Know the coaches and you know the front office and the team I remember sing with you in a San Antonio practice gym two years ago asking you how much longer you going to be doing this so I’ll ask it again how much longer you be doing this uh that’s the

Question what’s the answer that’s the question uh I know uh for me it’s always going to be like about my family um I have two sons um who are getting up in age um TJ is 13 Taylor’s 10 uh but more so for TJ um he’s seventh grade now so

Um as the years go by he gets older and you know I definitely want to start you know putting a lot of time and working to him and you know making sure that I I give him the same opportunities I have I had but um you know that’s just

Something I have to sit down with my family just talk about um they they’ve been saying go to your 20 so you do it I mean I mean yeah physically yeah I’m I’m fine I can um nothing’s wrong with me I’m healthy you know continue to go but um you know it’s

Just at that point it’s just a matter of how much longer I want to play I Saw You catching up with Kobe after the final buzzer what were you saying to him uh with Kobe I just told him like like you know um I’m proud of him you know how

You know when Zach went down he kind of stepped in and took over that role um you know scoring the basketball playing at a good flow a good Pace um you know all the development over the course of the last you know four or five years you

Know it’s it’s paying off and it’s showing and um you know he’s doing a great job you know I’m I’m I’m just very happy for him because you know um it was tough for him his first couple years and you know um you know with the change in

The coaching staffs and you know front office changing a little bit and you know um when you don’t have that you know you know that that stability behind you it’s a little hard but now they have the stability and they have the development system for him and he’s done

A hell of a job of you know being receptive to that and building done a hell of a job of you know continue to develop you’ve had what two weeks now 10 10 days to play with Bruce Brown um he was really good tonight and and I’m just

Wondering what your impressions are of him as a as a player and teammate BR is a basketball player like he knows how to play you know and that’s what you want on your team you want guys who know how to play who know how to uh make reads

And knows how to you know just go out there and just just be a glue guy and and jump into the system and you know you know he hasn’t played with us very long but like it’s like he’s been here for the whole season uh just because you

Know he’s going out there he’s very receptive to listening to when guys are telling them where to go how to how to do certain things what to do um you know me personally like you know before every play starts I try to tell him like okay

Go over there do this do that you know just so he’ll know but um he’s like I said he’s a basketball player he knows what to do he knows how to play he knows how to cut he knows how to make reads you know when you have guys like that it

Just makes the game easier and then just in terms of bouncing off that even with Jordan wara what’s standing out to you about him hell of a job last game as well um like he’s came off he’s came off the bench from not playing uh very minimal

Um and lighting it up like just stepping in and doing his job and staying ready um you know and like I said that’s another guy that you know you love guys like that who can just step in and play and you know and it’s just it it just

Fits like a glove you know and he he did a hell of a job coming out tonight and making shots um playing defense and you know getting downhill putting a lot of pressure on their defense thanks for watching the Toronto rappers YouTube channel check out our latest video And subscribe for

More in a [Applause] wide

Players and coach speak with the media following the Raptors’ 118-107 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday.

0:00 Darko Rajakovic
5:01 Gary Trent Jr
8:06 Thaddeus Young

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