Coach Darko’s Clinic | Raptors Today – March 19th, 2024

Coach Darko’s Clinic | Raptors Today – March 19th, 2024

Basketball fans welcome into Raptors today we got Sherm Hamilton and his best friend Ashley docking and now sorry my bad sh my bad I I that’s how we’re starting sorry sorry that’s how we’re starting talking Raptors brand basketball on a non-traditional off day for the Toronto Raptors instead of a

Normal practice head coach Darko held his very first Raptor open house the annual give back from the Toronto Raptor basketball commity to the Toronto Community allowing coaches to come in and with that I think we should talk about darko’s tenure at this point in the year coach um sorry producer Jake

Was mentioning he’s kind of had like three different teams right there was the the camp team that came in with OG and the guys Pascal then there was the post trade team with BBQ and now this hodg Podge with a lot of the key players injured so we want to get your

Assessment of the job that coach Darko has done Sher starting with you yeah I think he’s he’s had a lot thrown at him this season and uh I would argue that he’s done a very good job I mean it kind of had a 905 feel to it you know a

G-league feel where you’ve got all these moving parts and you just got to as a head coach continue to keep it together in some way and you know he went from a a pretty veteran team y to a team that became very not veteran yep to a team

That became injured and now you didn’t have you don’t have a lot of your stars and it’s like like he’s still getting these guys to play motivated basketball they’re you can see that they’re playing for each other and you understand too that he’s created this understanding of

If you do what you’re supposed to do you’re going to get the minutes and that keeps guys engaged and I I think he’s done a great job and you know you watch him after timeouts you know calls that he makes during the game usage of time outs very crucial I think

He’s really balancing everything that’s been thrown at him on a very very good level yeah certainly on hairline watch for sure as we you know that’s just a part of the job it feels like with these coaches right it’s so stressful and I think you nailed it there’s just been so

Much thrown at him but I really do love the fact that he’s been able to get players that he really doesn’t know that well and hasn’t get gotten a lot of time to get to know playing for him or at least playing for each other and I think

That speaks to the culture I think that speaks to his enthusiasm I think it speaks to his nature as well it’s not an easy thing to do and again on top of having to run the systems that are in place or adapt them on the Fly also having to investigate the players that

He has what can you do besides what I know about you exactly how can I get more out of you or we have a role to fill who’s going to step up in this moment and to your point about having a g-league feel I think in a lot of ways

Too it’s like for some of these players where am I going to go next potentially and what’s that going to look like because if I’m sitting here with bad body language and I’m sitting here not trying and I’m sitting here hanging my teammates out to dry why would this team

Want me why would another team want me so he’s done a really really good job of maybe making people see the bigger picture and buying in you know one thing I’ve thought that Darko had to do during this phase was he was going to have to teach habits really hold guys

Accountable keep them in line and understand that there’s responsibility and with responsibility comes accountability and I think he’s doing a very good job of getting these guys to understand that the bad habits are not going to be tolerated it’s about creating consistent good habits both on and off the floor and sometimes that’s

The hardest thing to teach young men but I think he’s doing a very good job of that so to follow up on that point do you think we know what a Darko Leed team looks like or do we have to wait and be more patient because he’s had to do so

Much foundational work in establishing what the culture and the workplace environment has to be like yeah I think you could kind of parallel this to Grady dick Grady did came in as a draft pick and was supposed to be something that people thought he was supposed to be he

Went to the G League it didn’t work out came back up and now we’re seeing a different version of him a better version I don’t think Darko has had the opportunity to really Implement what he needs to do with a roster with the kind of consistency and continuity that he

Wants so I I still would give him the benefit of the doubt and say when he gets to next season has a full training camp has a roster and healthy guys we’ll get a better feel of him on that level but right now we’re getting a very clear

Understanding of a guy who can motivate a guy who stays positive he can kind of Groll with the punches as they’re thrown at him and he’s adjusting on the fly so there’s a lot of positives I feel and he’ll go to bat for his guys Abol that’s

Such a big one I think because we know there are some coaches that are shady boots out there and whether or not whether or not they’re saying it directly about a player that needs to step up or needs to change one thing or the other they are making those comments

And they’re alluding to something and some coaches just say it outright and some coaches don’t say it some coach we have seen it here a couple times some coaches don’t say it in a way that’s almost like constructive criticism sometimes they’re just like flat out it wasn’t good enough they need to be

Better and now it’s like is there a rift now the media is talking now there’s speculation and so I think that he that’s not in his bag that’s not in his wheelhouse but in particular even if it is at times knowing that now is not the moment for that because you don’t need

That infighting or that Rift when things are already Tough Enough I think that is what we learned about him as a coach well we’re going to be learning a lot more from head coach Darko let’s see what we can learn right now B of A an experience here what was it like doing

Your first post photographers uh it was great uh first of all uh great to see uh all the coaches and and fans coming in and uh you know showing a lot of interest in in our program um I thought that coaches did a really good job of

Presenting uh some of the stuff that we’re doing offensively defensively but it was also uh very cool to hear um coaches to to ask really good questions and uh we’re really looking forward to continue to build this experience uh for our coaches and for our fan base and we

Already have some very interesting uh ideas and and plans for the future that we’re going to share with you at later point but it’s going to it’s going to continue to grow we saw uh Scotty yak and Chris all around the court participating as best they could how important is it to have

Injured players at practice and participating in whatever way they can I think it’s uh Paramount I think it’s very important for of all for them to be around the team uh you know Scotty is our team leader he can always be there and help with with his voice and uh you

Know even he’s 22 he’s uh still very capable to help our guys and give them you know encouragement and instruction or whatever it might be and then for yak and CBS veterans it’s it’s very important for them to help other guys but also I think it’s very important for

Them to feel that they are still part of the team you know they’re not separated they’re not way like they’re they’re there with us and everything that we’re teaching and coaching and you know trying to improve they they’ll be able to hear and um and it’s going to speed

Up their process of coming back thanks for watching the Toronto Raptor YouTube channel check out our latest videos and subscribe for More Trent answers back Gary s step great got it yeah

Akil Augustine, Ashley Docking, and Sherman Hamilton are in studio today to discuss how well has Darko done in developing young talent this season.

0:00 Introduction
0:33 Darko’s Roster So Far
2:00 Getting Players to Buy In
3:15 Creating Habits
4:40 Having The Players’ Back
5:29 Darko Rajakovic
7:10 Thanks for watching!

—————————————————
WATCH more episodes of Raptors Today: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOfGdce15qw9iGIpjI5LKubiiCuiZxouw&si=YnT4t0BNnG_9YvSG

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​FOLLOW the Toronto Raptors on:

X – https://twitter.com/Raptors
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/TorontoRaptors/
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/raptors/
TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@raptors

#Raptors #TorontoRaptors #NBA #RaptorsToday