Open Gym Pres. By Bell S12E17 | Opportunity

Open Gym Pres. By Bell S12E17 | Opportunity

With all these guys out of the lineup people are getting opportunities evaluations through the end of the year and into next year these are Big moments for these young guys it’s what they do with the minutes they have how are they going to impact the game going in just

Being able to play my game uh don’t do nothing out of an ordinary cuz that’s to be the quickest way for them to look to the next guy I’ve been super blessed to be in a position where I do get playing time and I do get to carve out minutes

On a team that does have a bright future take advantage of every little opportunity I get this to just be here and stay here for as long as I can I’ve been knowing Jon for a minute then him coming over here we just connected it’s

Just a familiar face and we get to talk a lot about our opportunities and our job now is just to stick and be a part of their Future take fou take fou take foul take foul take foul yeah time out time out time out time out Scotty Barn had only missed 13 games in his young NBA career and he underwent successful surgery on that broken bone in his left hand but it’s too early for

A timetable the same goes for Yak of curle who is seeing Specialists about that dislocated left pinky finger everybody take advantage of the opportunity take advantage of the opportunity we playing for for the whole Squad right here come on this is a underman team they’re down Scotty they’re down Yak they’re down Bruce

Brown but they’re still fighting and you can tell that they’re fighting we talk about evolving and adapting as a staff right while it’s been challenging and the wins and losses are part of it we’re trying to build something of sustained success here and something we just have

To go through and again we’re trying to just maximize each day we are choosing to see it as opportunity opportunity to to get our young guys uh time on the court and that comes with injury a lot of the guys that were not playing a lot

Of minutes now are showing us they not teaching us what we can expect from them situations like this that’s we just can’t control what we can control and what we can control is getting better every day today has to be better than yesterday and tomorrow better than but I

Think the game repetition is something you have to go through the fire to get to the other side of it we got a lot of guys right now that are getting opportunity and really taking advantage of it and we’re hoping to just kind of build on that type of stuff

Prior to college like I was injury-free you know had a lot of success playing with my brother won lots of games had lots of fun my dad was coach it was just like all fairy tale type basketball experience never really hit adversity and then all of a sudden like three

Years straight boom boom boom injury injury injury because at the time I mean I left school early I didn’t expect to get hurt leaving school and then I you know I tear my ACL after signing with an agent and everything so I was kind of stuck in

The draft go undrafted not sure what my future will look like it is scary cuz you don’t know I mean obviously your plan a was to make a good income um playing basketball whether it’s here or overseas and if that’s not the case then what are you going to do usually you

Have a Runway guys getting older you’re like okay I’m going to retire in a few years what am I going to do but for me it was like boom brick wall I have to make a decision am I going to keep playing or am I going to get into

Something else and if I am getting into something else what is that going to be and that was the question I couldn’t answer I think I just owed it to myself I I believe God blessed me with Incredible gifts both physically and just you know a great mind for the game

And he blessed me with an amazing family that nurtured those talents and grew them I think it would just be a waste for me to throw uh those talents away and not give it my all and see where it ends uph I believe in myself at the end of

The day that I’m an NBA player and I believe I’m one of the best players in the world and I belong here my agent would call me everyone now and then like hey we have this offer overseas you can go make a lot of money but you know it

Lowers your chances of signing with an NBA team obviously and there’s times where I’m like really tempted because you know when you see those contracts you’re like let me just sign that out of line and make a quick Buck it’s like tempting but at the end of the day I

Want to compete at the highest stage and play with the best players in the world and that’s only available here in the states in the NBA I am a big fan of the g-league and a big fan of what they’re doing there with the call-ups and everything it’s a grind

For sure but you know that’s what molds us g-league guys into the people we are today since I first started coming I decided to like go to the NBA or try to get to the NBA I learned that patience is a virtual is a key to life honestly

So um I feel like just sit back and chill whatever’s going to come is going to come with good intentions the Raptors that they wanted to do an E10 in the summer they had called like last second after summer league when I had already committed to

Playing with Detroit in December I get a call from Toronto kind of out of the blue uh that they wanted to do a two-way so I knew they were interested from preseason stuff it was never a two-way it was never a roster spot but at least

They had their eyes on me as I’m packing up for this Chicago road trip I get a call from my agent telling me not to hop on the bus and we had an offer for a two-way and you know the rest is history flew out that night to go join the team

In Maine and then after that quickly got called up and for the most part I’ve been with the Raptors since and it’s been a blast from August in LA to now it’s been a great uh experience and a good opportunity for me just to show that I

Could play on this team play on the NBA level team going in just being able to play my game uh don’t do nothing out of the ordinary cuz that’s to be the quickest way for them to look to the ne a guy my time with the Grizzlies a few

Years ago um I was so used to being an end of bench Guy where you know you get in with 30 seconds left in a game 2 minutes and that’s basically your audition you go out there and do your thing but it’s really hard for guys that

Are you know you warmed up two hours ago and then you’re sitting being a fan of the game and then all of a sudden you’re asked to go in there and perform um so I was just kind of used to that so whenever I did get called for the

Raptors I wasn’t expecting to play I was expecting to just you know be a great teammate encourage and then learn from Yak learn from Dad young at the time unfortunately which has been kind of a theme of the Season since I’ve gotten here at least there been a lot of

Injuries there’s been a lot of guys that are out for a certain time um and that’s super unfortunate because I love all these guys and I would never wish harm on any of them at the same time that does create opportunity for other guys including me who’s not necessarily

Someone who would start the season as a rotation player I’m a fresh Tile player you know take advantage of every little opportunity I get um I play hard I work hard I’ve been doing this for a little minute so I’m just trying to just be

Here and stay here for as long as I can I it’s been super super fun I’ve been super blessed to be in a position where I do get playing time and I do get to carve out minutes on a team that does have a bright future with all these

Young guys so yeah it’s unfortunate as the injuries are and as quickly as I hope they heal up and get back on the court it has been a blessing for me in terms of playing time and I’m just trying to make the most of it for however long it [Applause] Lasts the biggest thing for those guys trying to crack a rotation is a consistency of play I think being consistent in their approach understanding their matchups understanding our defense being able to to guard their guy being able to direct the ball and pick and rolls and then

Being able to rebound the ball you know those are things that they can do on an every night basis on a consistent level the shots will come and go but there’s a lot of things they can do on an every night basis that’s well within their

Ability to you know to make a case for themselves as we move forward freedom and liberty when you look at him in the G League scores the basketball at a high clip when he comes to this team the big team he’s playing he’s playing cool he’s playing calm he’s understanding he

Doesn’t have to rush shots so for him being a young guy trying to find his way in that speaks volumes right about his maturity when you talk about por I just really like how he’s progressed he’s gotten more confident and you’re seeing that out of his game high quality people

Uh high quality workers um All About team and their teammates and trying to make other people better uh and a high high level uh work ethic I J my first time coming we played with the bulls together Vegas summer league so um I’ve been knowing jont for a minute then him

Coming over here we just connected me and Javon grown super close um we not only live in the same apartment we like walk to games back and forth together we talk about stuff and uh we’ve been on the 905 road trips a few times together so just you know

Famili it’s just a familiar face and we get to talk a lot about our opportunities and with the Raptors the position we’re in right now is all about um building these young guys building the confidence building the building blocks for the future um and I think they’ve made that clear whether it’s in

Practice or film or games they’re giving us young guys opportunities which is all we can ask for and uh our job now is just to stick and be a part of their future and fingers crossed we I can continue to do enough to be a part of that [Applause] [Applause] future Are we about to witness baby’s first words let’s hear him oh johned out by the blender rookie moves oh so sad audio Magic Eraser you kidding me h Hello pixel in the clutch share that with Grandma Google pixel 8 even better with bell

In this week’s episode of Open Gym, opportunities arise for others, as the team is fraught with injuries with the season in its final stretch. Javon Freeman-Liberty and Jontay Porter forge a friendship as the two look to prove their NBA future lies in Toronto.

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