A Historical Loss | Raptors Show Full Episode

A Historical Loss | Raptors Show Full Episode

Hello and welcome to the Raptor show on the sportset radio network brought to you by Campbell’s new chunky spicy soup it’s time to get fired up make sure you find the Raptor show wherever listen a podcast uh listen rate review subscribe to the show I’m your host will Lou joined by co-host Blake

Murphy tough day for you Blake especially having to do double duty man man what did I do to deserve this uh Lo by 48 and a franchise record by the way franchise record we’ll get to that shortly um and then you know because I’m like all right the Raptors are done I

Got to do the react pod but like let me at least like put something on the TV in the backround so I switched on my favorite channel in the whole wi world sportset and boom I look at the the Jay’s game I think they were down five

Nothing at that point think they lost ultimately eight nothing uh they got one hit which I didn’t even know until after the game because I had the the game on mute because I was doing the reaction show but man the first thought I had was

Blake this is this is tough yeah so set a record for largest defeat um they’re close to setting a record for longest losing streak in franchise history the Toronto Blue Jays became the first team in the history of baseball which is like 500 years long to get no hit and one hit

In the first seven games of the Season uh not great stuff and by the way as we’re watching all this unfold Malai Flynn for the first time in his life at any level drops 50 piece oh wait hold on that’s not true because if you’re going

To add Cave of at any level you’re saying Seattle proam he he said no level well at at a personal I had a personal experience going to uh tmu Toronto Metro Metropolitan University where uh the bald don’t stop summer program in Toronto was was held and Malachi was in

That with Scotty and Malachi put up at least 70 in that one too okay so Malachi doesn’t count that one then because he told our pal James Edwards the athletic uh that it’s his first 50 piece at any level in high school I had 49 and my

Coach took me out I still have a grudge uh so he got the 50 piece so just uh obviously very very happy for Malachi uh the tape on it is really funny the Hawks are defensively exactly what you remember them as when the Raptors were playing semi competitive basketball

Against them um but yeah a lot of fun for Malachi Flynn but really did feel like just kind of twisting the knife at the Raptors right now I I was so happy I I was actually so happy for Malachi because he he’s obviously in Tonto didn’t work out who knows if it even

Work out in Detroit it didn’t really work out with the Knicks but he was a really nice guy yeah and at the start of the season I remember you know going back to this merciful start of the Season we were so much younger and and happier and cheerier um even you know in

Spite of how bad last season was but one of the story lines of the side of the season was how much belief they were and support they were showing to Malachi Dennis was coming on this show every weekend talking about how much you know he’s taking on his wing and and dark was

Talking about Malachi as if he was his son like just you know you could do better smile more remember he was like you know Malachi you’re very ugly you don’t goodness what a year um and it didn’t quite work out but I I really was

Rooting for him and I he was always good to interview as well so happy for Malachi that he got his 50 PS whatever the the Pistons loss it’s not about wins and losses at this point it’s about wins and lessons and uh on the Raptor side the lesson is

Like I mean the lesson is first off who are some of these guys well we start with Malik Williams yeah I mean if you want so the the Raptor signed Malik Williams yesterday we did like 30 seconds on it on the show um you know I kind of gave you the rundown off

Air and I I put some tweets out I got to watch one of his games from like obviously I knew who he was from Louisville and uh the 905 played sou Falls earlier in the year um but he had had a recent game against Cleveland’s g-league affiliate where Pete n and

Isaiah Moy were both down there who are two of the better like four like bigger two-way guys um in the g-league and and he looked really really good against them so I was like okay I I see what’s there but even in so I wrote about Malik Williams last night because heading into

That game what else am I going to write about um and his story is cool but like he’s not he’s not an NBA player right now and he’s started a game his first day with a team and had to play 31 minutes against a top four at worst team

In basketball and the best defense in the league by far like it was just that’s the least Fair landing spot thought you could ask for a guy in his NBA debut on top of which like he’s not an NBA guy yet this this is about

Getting a look at him for the summer and for summer league and stuff not about helping your NBA team right now yeah so you’re not saying this based on the fact that uh the Raptors signed him the day of um threw him into the starting lineup that allowed Kelly to finally mercifully

Get one day off he had been playing every single game him and Grady were the only two that played every single game Grady’s now our Iron Man um Malik joins the team the same day same day delivery okay he goes 0 for seven from the field

You know air bought a couple jumpers got blocked a couple times on his first pro Poss like his first NBA possession Jaden McDaniels just like erased him at The Rim right but you’re not you’re not making this judgment based on yesterday because obviously it’s not fair to

Honestly out of all the guys who played yesterday I’m there’s nothing on the leag honestly there really isn’t the guy is just a stranger to the whole situation he’s walking in like um like childish Cino did in in in community basically Donald Glover yeah everything’s on fire everything is

Referring to his acting career still as Childish Gambino when he has like like community and Atlanta and Mr and Mrs Smith is like a director now as well is is wild Mr a bad show that I did enjoy watching but in any case um yeah I mean

I I don’t blame him but what’s his history at least the background people more familiar I wrote about this for sports that last night you can go check it out and it’s a it’s not a deep feature it’s just kind of the quick the

Quick notes but like he was at he was a five-star recruit so he’s at Louisville and the tools never turned into production like he was at Louisville at the same time as Jordan wara those were those were teams with big expectations and and things like that never came

Around he lost a bunch of time uh to foot injuries at one point he got suspended by Louisville at one point for um the conduct detrimental to the program there was just okay it just didn’t it didn’t click and it never really came around so in 2022 not only

Did he go undrafted he didn’t even play in Summer League where like most guys who go undrafted if you come from a major program or whatever like someone’s going to kick the tires on you he didn’t get a until January after that year he signed in Poland as their like third

String Center almost got cut multiple times because third string in Poland yes uh so almost got cut multiple times because over there you only get so many you only get so many import slots so if you’re not doing it or there’s someone else available you’re going to

Potentially get cut anyway he ends up starting on that team by the end of the year they win their tier of European Championship it’s crazy so this year no summer league again has to go to sou fall training camp as a walk-on like similar to the Alonso mckin story back

In the day with Wy City he’s a walk-on to that team gets cut in training camp and then ends up one of their players gets called up the NBA so they’re like oh we’ll sign him as an emergency guy like the 905 have done this year and he

Only sticks around because C di Alo goes to Japan and it opens up a roster spot that was in mid November and by January he’s starting by March he’s playing against uh you know Moy and Nance and stuff like that the the brothers Moy and Nance not the actual Moy and n that’s

Fine part of the family and like now he’s in the NBA so like it’s a really good story and I think the Raptors look at the the fact that he’s improved a ton start to finish last year in Poland and start to finish this year in the G

League is encouraging moving forward but like this is a guy who got cut from the G League less than six months ago like him playing 31 minutes starting in an NBA game is like he’s not he’s not ready yet even if you watch some of the tape

From March in the G League like he he’s not there yet this is about hey we want to get to know the guy and see if maybe we want to bring him in for the summer it’s not about his ba Talent right now yeah uh we’re going to bring in Garrett

Temple Garrett we’re we’re discussing your newest teammate uh Malik Williams and Blake had a a really good rundown of sort of just his last like year to date um I’m curious in terms of just when did Malik join the team and how much preparation did he have before going up against Minnesota last

Night um what’s going on guys good morning also good morning as well thank keep for joining us as always he he join he joined the team yesterday uh um and so we had we didn’t have a shoot round because it’s a back to back so we

Had a a uh a team like meeting in the morning well around 12 o’clock in Minnesota and uh I think he went to the gym before that just to uh with the guys that weren’t going to play uh just to kind of walk through plays and get to

Know a couple of the uh things that we do on offense and defense and then went through shoot around and and coach said I mean went through our team meeting and coach said at the team meeting this got to be the first time in history that or

One of the first times in history that a guy com straight from the G league and starts right away so that hasn’t played that hasn’t played one NBA minute so um and he got he he gets to go against Rudy goar and N Reed so uh right into the fire the number one

Team in the west so yeah it was yesterday so we all met him I I met him yesterday obviously Jordan knew him Jordan played with him I think in college and uh so yeah he thrust right into the fire right away how much different is that like obviously we’ve

Asked you a couple times about jamas Ramsey Kobe Simmons coming in javon’s coming in St when it’s a big man instead of a guard coming in how different is is that adjustment um for you as a leader but also the team getting used to that guy or that guy picking up the system

And stuff um I think the biggest difference is not necessarily whether it’s a guard or a big I think it’s a whole different team um like he didn’t come from 905 so he doesn’t know our coverages and what we call um he and the fact that he’s so young so

Jiah’s played in Sacramento for you know a year or two and um Javon has played in the league again before I think the fact that he didn’t come from our system and the fact that this was his first NBA game uh was probably the biggest difference more so than the big and

Small him being a big uh uh you know I’m able to tell him you know you know things of that that we like to see as bigs I asked him what his game like do you roll do you pop he let me know he’s

Like I’m not I’m not I’m not a I’m not a live guy just letting you know that now okay I I got some touch you know what I’m saying I got floaters and I could shoot a little bit but you know just so I need to know what his game is so we

Can play off make sure we play off each other the right way um I’m not if I’m looking for him to be Emoji then you know I got to ask him about that you know if he’s if he’s a guy that can pass it so it’s just a matter of getting to

Know the nuances especially since he’s going to play a lot of minutes you know obviously the other guys that come in when they sign these contracts they may not even play the first game you know the second game um and so the other guys you kind of jamise I was able to play

With him in like the conditioning league and play groups a couple of times early on so I knew his game I I could tell he could shoot I could tell he’s a Defender with Malik the F first time I played with him was that tip off so um it’s

Just a different Dynamic there yeah that’s got to be really unique I thought you were going to say I GNA offer him tips as a fellow Pig because because you I was gonna say you spent a decent time guarding Naz as well last night you know I started on him no

No question I mean I Wasing ad yeah I told ad you know Braun Braun my wife sent me a I guess a screenshot of Braun saying telling JJ on his podcast like they got Garett temp at the five at X5 right now um and that’s just the that’s

That’s what that’s the situation we’re in right now man um n yeah I definitely spent a lot of time guarding n fellow U guy love him to death love how his growth you know talk about somebody that was you know counted out yeah after going like it was very great coming out

Of high school yeah LSU he did you know whatever for whatever reason he went undrafted was always very talented just glad to see him thriving um but n I’m that that that’s the situation we in and you know my thing is I’ve always loved challenges and I think the

The best teams every player on the team takes whatever challenge the coach gives them and tries to thrive in that and uh so that’s what I try to show to everybody around like I don’t care you want me to guard a d great let me guard

It you want me to guard an Edwards great who whoever you need me on whatever you need us to do let’s go do it to the best of our ability well I mean this is why when people talk about leading by example like this this is exactly that I

Mean you know the team’s obviously in a difficult situation right we we’re talking about like you know you’re you’re bringing Malik he’s goes through walk through and then immediately starts against you know the number one team in the west you know um you are a guard let’s be honest right you played some

Point guard you played some shooting guard now you’re guarding ad by the way you did get a chase down block on ad you know like a little I think they call it a steel but we were cheering from upstairs and we saw that we were like

Yeah Garrett do it for the Raptor show so the thing is though I’m talk about that I stole a the ball when he when he tried to post me up in the first half I stole the ball yeah the one that everybody thought was a block I gotta be

Honest I didn’t block that RJ blocked that it looks like I blocked it it did look like you blocked it I saw the film and it looks very much like I blocked it but it’s just just the way it looked I feel like R.J got his hand on it I know

I didn’t or maybe we just both filed him and he just it looked like block that’s fine I gotta be honest that wasn’t me I appreciate I appreciate though wow okay well still you’re you’re going out there you’re proing by example but I think the more difficult thing for the younger

Guys is like how do you not just like let go of the Rope right because I I do feel like you know what we can all see the situation you guys are playing with eight guys a lot of these guys are inexperienced people aren’t expecting wins but when it gets to that point

Where it’s like all right it’s it’s a 48 Point loss it’s a 40 Point loss it’s a 30 point loss A lot of that just comes down to like guys letting go of the Rope at a certain point and starting to play sloppy and I thought a lot of that

Happened last night as well I don’t know how I guess my question is how do how do guys not do that it’s just the mentality um it’s a mindset um it’s a competitiveness um that you know I think you have to have in order to be a really good team so individually

You have to have it to have a long career have a good career and then you have to have enough guys that have that mentality to have a really good team and then obviously Talent you know on top of that makes you Championship caliber um but I think it’s you know that’s one

Thing we say no matter who we have because you see these teams like Washington you see these teams like Memphis beating teams yeah um so it’s not about winning the game but it’s about being competitive and I think the last two or three games we haven’t done

That and um we got to we got to fix it because it’s not going to get any easier nobody’s going to feel sorry for us so we have to have a mindset of exactly what you said not letting go of the Rope at any point and um coming out here and

Competing every single night um as best we can um okay so you play against that team last night and obviously that’s a a really tough loss for you guys it’s the biggest one that you’ve you’ve had as an NBA player it’s the biggest one the

Raptors have had um some of that is also the wolves are are really really good um what do you make of that I guess also we we joked you know we we just talked about you guarding Anthony Davis and re you were also guarding Anthony Edwards

So I guess I want to start on that like how like if we’re talking about the the toughest one-on-one guys to check in the league right now like how high up there is Anthony Edwards oh he’s very high he’s extremely high up there um obviously I haven’t the last year and a

Half kind of I haven’t been in the practice of guarding guys just being completely honest not playing but I think back to when I was playing a lot and being the guy like I’m guarding the guys um just seeing ant the thing about him he’s so athletic he’s so offensively gifted

Um he can make he has basically every shot in his bag and he’s willing to take every shot like he’s not a guy that that’s the one thing that he has he can grow just just reading the game and understanding when to take his spots and

You know uh but as a one-on-one guy he’s he’s got to be top five for sure um you know with his physicality his his his athletic ability he probably he’s probably top three in terms of toughest to guard uh and and then he started making threes against us he was off the

Last three four games and he started hitting him against us so yeah he he’s very tough to go up very tough to go up what about this wolves team as a whole um again you you mentioned they’re they’re at the top of the West the the

Top of that West is is crazy we don’t know what the timeline is like exactly for them to get car towns back but they’re the number one defense in the league like by far statistically um how far do you think that team can go after seeing them like

That um I think the biggest thing is their defense man you know they they they have so much length on the defensive end you know we you know guys were talking about it at halftime you know Grady maybe mentioned he’s like Jaden McDaniels I pump faked him and he

Flew by and then he still block my shot like what how does that happen um and the relentlessness that they play play with on defense yeah so you know when you have guys that can guard on ball um and then you can just send them to

Rudy uh you know Rudy is a guy that changes shots you know deter shots um I think the the one thing the one concern about them in the playoffs is just experience you know that’s why they brought in Mike Conley and Mike’s going to be great for them calming calming

Them down but he’s only one guy Ka Kyle Anderson has great experience but and Rudy as well um but their their guys aunt and Cat this is going to be you know when cat comes back them being able to mesh all three of those bigs that all

Three can play and all three have big impacts on the game I think for them getting cat back as early as they can will be you know Paramount and uh they have the ability to match up well with different teams because they can go big

And small um it’s just going to be the experience and um them going through the you know ant and Cat honestly going through the Growing Pains of different playoff situations matchups learning how to read the game in the playoffs if you know I wouldn’t be surprised if they

Go depends on who they match up against too you know it’s all about match ups in the playoffs like you got Phoenix at seven who’s beating everybody by 20 and 30 now you know um is it gonna be the Lakers is it gonna be Golden State you

Know like you never know who’s going who they’re going to play against uh so it’s going to be very very interesting but their defense is their calling card right now and I think they they’ll be able to lean on that and that’s that bods well for him yeah that really well

For him G you you mentioned the uh the fact that Minnesota has has has this like relentlessness on defense right they really get after and you know for a long time and you’ve been in the league you played Minnesota a lot like that was not what they’re known for in fact it

Was like the opposite you know what I mean like Minnesota was like an unserious team for a long time or they young team like trying to figure things out but would never say they were a defensive like you know like they get after it on defense I think obviously

You you add Rudy goar right a guy who’s won so many defensive player of the years that’s gonna help you add Jaylen McDaniels or Jaden McDaniel sorry two used to saying Jaylen his brother um Jaden obviously really gets after Anthony Edwards when he really wants to

He’s he really locks in too so but is it is it like the players bring that intensity or is it the coaching with with Chris Finch like how do you how do you generate that defensive identity and that defensive intensity that you need to to win at a high level that’s a great

Question um will you know Chris Finch was my first coach in in the pros he coached me in the g-league oh word with the uh real real Grand Valley vipers it was his first year coaching over here my first year playing love Chris Love fin

To death um gave me a lot of confidence on the offensive side of the ball he’s an offensive mind now I think Finch understands you have to play defense in order to win games win championships you have to be a top 10 defensive team um and but he also has such a great

Offensive mind so he you know he delves this responsibility defensively to his defensive coordinator but a lot of it has to do with your personnel you know they’ve done a great job bringing in guys that can guard and you know they they’ve I guess reiterated to him that

Defense is what is going to help us win you know we have guys that can that can score for us and like you said Jaden obviously um Kyle Anderson is a very underrated Defender uh Rudy obviously Mike on the ball is really good just understands and

An on the ball is a is a beast now off the ball he gets a little you know relaxed and lacad isical and and loses guys a lot of a lot of high-end guards do that in the NBA I mean John Wall was like that when we played in DC on the

Ball he’s a monster and then off the ball he just you know he’d lose guys because he’s kind of UN interested off the ball on the ball is competitiveness I’m athletic I I can just lock you up so that that’s a you know one thing that he

Has to get better at but I think it has a lot to do with the coach letting guys know what we need to do but then the Personnel that you have actually having the mindset of doing it and because at the end of the day it’s an old adage

Coaches can’t go out there and play you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink so it’s about the guys on the court doing the actual um defensive schemes that are out there every scheme any scheme can work if you

Do it at a high level and you have the Personnel to do it right you know Rudy Gober is much better in a pick and roll defense dropping keeping you know stopping the lobs than I would be he’s 7 foot two and you know what I’m saying so

Personnel definitely matters um and you just have to have the the coach is just putting you in a situation to to utilize the Personnel the right way uh speaking of personnel being utilized uh in different ways I want to go outside the here but to uh someone Raptors relevant

Someone you were doing shooting competitions with earlier in this year Malachi Flynn dropped a 50 piece last night uh when you check your phone and you see that first of all like statistically it is the least likely 50-point game in NBA history nobody has ever had a lower scoring average and

Dropped 50 uh then Malachai Flynn so out of nowhere he was a even with Detroit he was only averaging six points a game before this one with the Pistons um how surprised were you and then second to that how happy for him are you so

Um I found out when I was walking in the locker room and I was you know people got understand I love Mal like a brother when he got traded you know we were in the room we you know upset together uh love my young fellow man like for real

He one of the he was one of the closest guys I got to on the team before the trade and uh so when I heard it I was you know kind of upset that I heard that because we should be thinking about a 50 point we should be thinking about a 50

Point loss um but once the air cleared and we you know calmed down I knew I had to hit him you know I heard he was 18 for 25 so we get on the plane I text him then I FaceTime him and I was mean ecstatic for

Him because of what he’s going through this season you know having a chance to actually show that he can be an NBA player this year and then getting traded to New York and then getting traded to again um and then being in a situation where he was backing up you know he’s

The third string guard on a team that’s you know has the worst and second worst Rec in the league being in his fourth year and I talked to him he said bro I didn’t even think I was gonna play you know Kade was still playing until you

Know and with Kade and saster play then I’m I’m out I don’t play he was like Kade was playing until like till right before we tip off he just couldn’t go and I got to play and I said tell me about it man how I felt he said I just

You know got a couple mes to fall and some some free throws early on and it was it was up from there Off the Bench man 34 minutes and yeah I think he didn’t even start the second second half he came in like the six seven minute

Mark and had 33 in the second half man and I was I gotta go back and I gotta watch it um you know I hit him up right away you know me him me him I put me him and Dennis are in a group chat we were

Really close and uh I text the group chat and then said yeah man I hit him right after the game so I facetimed him and I was just hyped I was so excited for him man um uh it was crazy I was talking to some guys in Minnesota Anthony toer was at

The game I went and talk to him after the game and we talked about ma Malachi at 50 and it brought up Cory Cory Brew 50 yeah and uh that was like 20 transition lays that was such yeah that was so unlikely because nobody Cory brew

Having 50 and then I said yeah but Ma is probably more unlikely and then like you said you read the stat it’s the most unlikely 50 ever but I’m I’m so happy for my guy so happy for him for sure yo you know honestly you’re putting in

Perspective but like I I know you’ve been around a lot of Trades and all that kind of stuff you’ve been on multiple teams yourself but I mean like the reaction the fact that you know you and Malachi were close he gets dealt you and Dennis were close he gets dealt OG

Everyone loves OG like he’s such a lovable guy he gets he gets traded obviously is part of that trade precious Pascal you know like I don’t know man like H how does a locker room recover after all those like you know big departures like that or people that like you know

Had time and investment here in Toronto this is the most eventful season I’ve ever been a part of yeah period Point Blank um I mean it’s hard it’s hard to recover it’s very difficult to recover um you know you know you gotta think about you gotta think about a guy like Chris bue

That’s been here so long and seen so so much change in this year um and then gets injured you know what I’m saying um you think about Scotty who was with those guys for you know his first three years and then so much change this year it’s just it’s not easy

Um but this is the this is the one the you know not the middle ground but one side of the NBA you know the NBA their business you know they might have one or two trades it’s on you on this side one or two trades and then

You know you have maybe three or four you’re on this side but then we’re on the the the other side of it with probably the most trades I’ve seen on a team since I’ve been on for sure the most turnover on the team so it’s the

League it’s the business we’re in and uh you know you do this obviously to find some some type of sustainability in a roster and um that’s that’s what it is um okay before we let you go here Garrett uh this weekend it’ll be officially announced but Shams broke the

News yesterday I don’t know why we need to break the news on stuff like this but your boy Vince is going into the Hall um what’s that like like is he allowed to talk about it yet or it’s not official like are you allowed to text him about

It and say congrats are you waitting until the official how’s that been no you know I told you about the group chat we had so I text chy first uh and then I text and then I actually I think J Jax um text our group chat with

Me him and G Hill and said old man going into the Hall cuz we had text him when he got nominated obviously yeah and uh he was like man it’s it’s unreal so I mean to answer your question I’m allowed to text it I don’t have nothing to do

With it I’m just if if it doesn’t happen I’m like Oh my fault bro I’m just going off with you know yeah they’re never wrong right um but yeah he’s just he’s a static man and it’s just you know both of those guys careers him and chanta but

Vince is I mean I think Vince was so underrated as a player I mean he was looked upon more as like a superstar because of his dunking ability but what he did game to game you know in terms of scoring the ball like was elite elite

And uh you know it’s great to see him get his flowers um I’m excited for him man I’m really excited for him for sure well that’ll be the first Raptor officially to go on the hall which would be really really good and and hopefully he’s he’s followed soon after by two more Kyle

Dear I mean I feel like these guys are all your friends basically man you might be one of the most popular guys in the league this is what we’re figuring out off of all these interviews he’s like yeah I text the chy I’m like what what’s the connection there you know but yeah

You know chy my first like one of my I think my second start in the NBA first no fourth star in the NBA I was with the Spurs and I was playing against chy bips Antonio MCD was my like my the starting four for us the San Antonio it’s my

Rookie year and he came up to me before the game and was like cha was asking about you because I’m I’m playing point guard I’m going against Denver cha bips Jr NA Caro a talented team the squad the squad with Denver and uh I’m like what

Did he say he was like he just ask me about your game and stuff so we won the game after the game TR was like I like your game young fell you gonna be high in this league wow he Big Shot talking to me man golly yeah so since then we’ve

Been tight and uh yeah that’s that’s my guy that’s my guy all right yeah Garrett man we appreciate you we could honestly we could talk to you like for the entire if we didn’t have a pre-tape to air in the in the next segment yeah yeah we got

A bump you for Eric Cy man blame blame coach Cory for that one all right all right no problem no problem bro I appreciate you Garrett and we we we’ll catch up with you again next week all right G Temple what’s they gonna have him do next man guard Yiannis maybe yo

This guy got to do everything you got to do everything on the court for the Raptors then he got to come care the Raptor show as well appreciate G Temple a lot man seriously genuinely you could tell like he such a good guy yeah there’s a reason he has all these

Friends and everyone is text friendly with him and stuff like from from Legends down to um you know guys who are just coming in the door yeah there you go um okay we’re going to take this break but my my laptop is frozen Blake

Can you take us out to the break I can take us out to the break uh on the on the other side Raptor 905 head coach Eric Cy joins us uh this has been Blake Murphy and will L you’re listening to the Raptor show on the sports at radio

Network brought to you by Campbell’s new chunky spicy soup welcome back to the Raptor show on the sports radio network I’m your host big thanks to G Temple for joining us in segment one Blake Murphy co-host what do we have for Segment two uh the other day

I spoke to Eric kurri not Eric Ken Eric Cy who’s the head coach of raptors 905 this season and last he’s now rejoined the Raptors as an assistant coach the uh the rest of the way here so yeah we talked about kind of how tough the 905

Season has been and then focus more on some of the individual successes some of these guys were seeing I know this interview took place before the Malik Williams signing so we didn’t get his Malik Williams take uh but yeah talk to about Kobe Javon moi guys like that okay

So let’s uh let’s hear that interview joined Now by Raptor 905 head coach and Toronto Raptors assistant coach for the rest of the season Eric Curry Eric how’s it going man uh end of a end of a tough season but you’re back with the wraps now how are things I’m doing well thanks

Uh all wrapped up now and uh yeah excited for the home stretch here um so what is I I want to talk mostly about the Raptors 905 season but what are these last couple weeks like for you where you now kind of rejoin the Raptors

Are are you back in like your old role when you were on the bench are you focus mostly on your 905 guys are who are up um what what’s that like for you right now uh I’m really just being around and maning a helping hand wherever I can

Obviously the it’s a great staff that has been doing just fine without me all year so I’m just here to kind of like observe help out and just land a hand wherever I can um did jamama tell you how good an assistant coach I was for

Him in the media game not yet I’ll make sure to ask him yeah I can’t I can’t believe that hasn’t made the rounds yet yet oh come on I’m sure uh I’m sure it’s just too good that he he doesn’t want to threaten other people’s jobs of course

Of course um so this was your second year in the job as head coach of raptors 905 um tough season for you guys with with a lot of injuries a lot of uh not having the NBA guys and things like that um but big picture how do you feel uh

Your second season with the 905 win yeah I really enjoyed it uh like you said tough injury or tough uh season record- wise a lot of ups and downs started out the year with a whole bunch of injuries right away which gave everybody a lot of opportunities to play which is great um

And guys got the get a sense for what the league is like uh then we started to get healthy near the end of the Showcase portion we had some good success it was a fun time and middle portion of the year was pretty solid and then you know

How the g- league is the the Raptors all of a sudden got a bunch of injuries and took a bunch of the guys back there so it was a lot of ups and downs but overall a really fun Year great group of guys um that it was a pleasure to work

With every day uh everyone got a little bit better which is always one of the big priorities in the in the g- league and it led to some individual success too definitely individual success and I I want to Circle back to that in in a second because you guys have graduated a

Ton of guys to the NBA which is you know probably even more than the record and the championship from from 2016 and things like that uh part of the reason right like that that’s a that’s a big part of it or 2017 rather uh the championship so getting those guys to

The next step is a big part um but I wanted to the the craziness that you guys have dealt with um like everyone knows that’s part of the G League Nick nurse has told a million stories Darko has told some stories but Darko even said the other

Day he’s never seen it like this like and that’s talking about at the NBA level so the trickle down to you guys of you’re dealing with injury stuff and the Raptors are taking all your players not just the two- ways but calling your guys up proper from the G League there was

And I’m hoping you can share this story a little bit because I’ve alluded to it on air but there’s a game against Greensboro this year where you guys had like last minute Uber people to the game just to have enough players um I can’t imagine you’re going to have to to

Repeat that at any point in your career but how how like how close a call was that to not having enough guys to go oh it was something else um credit to Luke he was scanning through the available player pool that also met the criteria

That they could make it to the game in time to to be available yeah cuz you can’t just like tag me in it has to be someone in the player pool right for sure they would have had to go through all their medical ready uh they can’t

Just jump on in so it was really a lot of work by Luke uh they got there on time and then it was pretty funny we’re uh usually you do your shooting groups before the game or guys kind of warm up but for them they had to learn the

Entire system offense and defense so we’re trying to teach as much as they can you can see the the greensb assistance on the other side of the Court pen and Pad taking notes of oh that’s what this play is oh that’s what that play is and they we basically have

To give everything away but without that they would have just been playing basketball freestyle where where the rest of the team was kind of trying to be on the same page and a couple of those guys who got the kind of unexpected player pool opportunities ended up turning it into some decent run

With you guys uh Jaden delir ended the season you know in the rotation for you guys after being one of those kind of uh emergency call-ups how much obviously like you can’t execute your offense fully you can’t really you know if Grady’s down there for one of those

Games you can’t really evaluate how he looks with two guys he he just met five minutes before the game and who don’t know the system and stuff but in terms of those individual players how how like High Fidelity is that information like you learn about them pretty quick I’d

Imagine right for sure um and and these guys are really sharp they they’ve played a bunch of different systems before uh so they they did a really good job of picking up uh the play calls we’re for the most part we uh kept the Playbook relatively straightforward to

To plays or actions I would say that most guys have run before even if it’s different names uh we didn’t try to over complicate it but yeah to your point there was a game at Long Island uh where we had five of our regulars Grady being

One of them and three guys that we picked up that day and Grady just had to play basketball with guys he had never met before um so it’s pretty tough for everybody involved when we get into those situations so Grady is an example of how you know the the win loss record

Is not everything in the G league and maybe even a guy’s individual stat line isn’t everything um some of what guys are working on down there maybe doesn’t pop in the G League doesn’t show up in the stat sheet Etc when you look at this season the way that you guys helped

Grady get from where he was over those first couple weeks to where he is now where he looks very very comfortable at the NBA level how big a part of of your of how you evaluate the season that you guys had um is Grady kind of finding his

Way and using the 905 on route for sure and it’s it’s so great that the the 905 and the Raptors are are really in sync um coach Darko from day one has invited me into every meeting brought me along so that way I can execute exactly his

Vision at the 905 level as well so when there is somebody like Brady or one of the two ways they’re not playing two different styles of basketball they’re coming and spending time with us and and being able to play Raptor basketball while they’re with us uh and those 30 35

40 minutes that he can play are going to be really valuable um and in his case yeah he’s it’s tough for him you know when he’s with the 905 he’s the number one guy on The Scouting Report uh teams are trying to show like hey I’m going to

Lock down this Lottery Pick and at the other end we’re going to attack and do everything and then of course there’s a different situation up here so at times I’m greatting that I spoke about this it could be like almost tougher in the 905 for him than it is at the Raptor level

Even though the level of competition’s different um G’s playing with guys who are going to set him up and and make sure to find him whenever he’s open in 95 obviously it’s a different league right so he doesn’t have the same Talent surrounding him uh and especially on

Games where he’s meeting three or four new guys the day of the game as well so I give him a lot of credit he worked super hard he was completely bought in in his time with us and it was awesome to see him have a great second half of

The season and I got to ask him the other day about hey you were starting alongside Javon just a couple weeks ago with the 905 and now javon’s getting starts with the Raptors um obviously Kobe Simmons uh Mo G before he got hurt DJ carton you know these guys from 905

Getting some NBA opportunities um let’s start with Javon what what have you seen from him like this is uh even for a guy who thrived as a two-way and was putting up huge numbers in the G League um got the contract converted and everything this is a lot of opportunity for a guy

Who was coming off the bench in the G League last year yeah it’s been awesome to see uh Javon put in so much work this summer and throughout the season uh he is a heck of a player he gets downhill with the best of them and his shot is to

A point where you can’t close short at all if you’re not running ad him he’s going to knock it down that’s both catch and shooting off the bounce um the biggest thing for me with Javon is a lot of the focus this year was helping him

To be more of a point guard as opposed to purely combo guard and his voice has grown so much this year uh his communication his his leadership on the court which has been really cool so that’s uh one of the most exciting parts and and he’s a heck of a Defender when

He’s locked in nobody’s really going around him or through him so it’s been it’s been uh really fun to see him get this opportunity with the Raptors and make the most of it you know I like my guys who had big steel rates in college so Javon understood uh understood the

Appeal um so Kobe Simmons is backing him up right now on a 10day with the Raptors he’s been with you guys pretty much all year um now a bit more of a known commodity this is I think his sixth season in the G League um but where did

You see growth from Kobe this year and how stoked were you guys for him to get this kind of reward call up at the end yeah coob definitely deserved it uh he’s such a great guy he he’s the leader in the locker room for sure communicates

Extremely well he’s so young how much of a vet he actually is to your point he’s been around six seven years but he he’s still a young guy and he’s able to to communicate with the guys in the right way to push them along and and say hey

Look I know we’re in the G league right now but if we’re not practicing the way we’re supposed to be practicing and executing the way we’re supposed to be executing it’s it’s going to be really tough once you take the next step and he’s a great example of how the hard

Work does translate to the next level so very deserved call up um and I’m happy to see him playing really well here he’s picking up guys 94t making him uncomfortable uses his speed and his uh his quickness he’s he’s a tough guy to keep in front of that’s for sure um so

He’s leveraging that really well and then making the right read whenever he uh breaks down his initial Defender and then there’s the uh the third 905 playing regularly for the Raptors right now 310 of the rotation um Moji has been getting minutes and it’s been a a fun

Story another guy was coming off the bench in the g-league last year and is now getting NBA time um you know not the not quite the same level of opportunity as Javon and Kobe and jamas before that and you guys you know have obviously liked him as more of a long-term thing

Even his two-way deal is a multi-year deal um maybe not as ready for the NBA minutes as a couple of those other guys but what are you seeing from him in terms of the ability for that energy level to affect the game even in a small

Role at the NBA level for sure um I mean the first thing you’re always going to talk about with Moji is how great a guy he is he’s super smart um charismatic everybody likes hanging out with him just a great dude all around uh and his defense is up there with anyone like

When you drive to the rim you better keep an eye out for where Moji is because he can block anyone’s shot no matter what league he’s in and he’s shown that a couple times for the Raptor so far which is awesome his ability to change ends for his position is awesome

Too he can he can run the court and in the open court he’s trouble like once once he gets his takeoff and he gets his two feet under Rim watch out Rim like he he goes flying so he’s got obviously room for growth like everybody does uh

And I’m excited to to see him finish out the season the right way and and like you said with the multi-year thing have a great summer with us and and he’ll probably even take it off even further next year how helpful is that so Mo um

Javon DJ carton who I know is out with the ankle uh that bad ankle injury um but all those guys are on multi-year deals where you know normally this time of year yeah with your with your grades or whatever I’m sure you guys as a coaching staff are starting to formulate

The development plan for the off season what next year could look like but a lot of times with these two-way guys or guys who got a 10day and things like that it’s impermanent you don’t know if you’ll have them for summer league you don’t know if you’ll have them for next

Year you’ve got a couple of these guys now in the organization for multiple years how helpful is that for you guys as you kind of plot out you know where these guys could go with with the org over the next I don’t know 18 months it’s amazing because especially in the G

League and really any League you don’t want to be doing too much tweaking with the guys game in the middle of the Season there’s game day after day after day um but to know that you’re going to have a few months of opportunity without any games so even before summer league

You know like you have April May June to really work on your craft and now you can start to break things down now you can start to to fine-tune your game and tweak things that you think need tweaked uh both from from the players perspective and the coaches perspective

So if there’s areas you want to work on and kind of restructure this is the time to do it once summer league starts then you want everybody wants to be playing basketball and being in playing shape and then kind of that carries over to August in training camp you don’t want

To do too much before training camp so these these spring months uh great opportunity and to know that the guys are going to be with you as opposed to G League guys whether they’re returning or not to the 905 you don’t know necessarily you don’t get the

Opportunity to work together as much uh want to focus on you for a moment here uh this was your second season uh with the team where have you and your second season as a head coach obvious obiously you know people know your story I wrote it um you know coming up through the

Analytics department and then the the assistant coaching staff on the Raptor side um two years in with head coaching in the g- league now where has your growth come as a coach and just your overall experience these last two years yeah it’s you go into the first year you

Don’t really know what you don’t know right so after the first year it’s great you have a lot of time to reflect and say hey what would I like to do differently next year and it’s a great opportunity to actually go out and do it

So uh I realized ear on and I knew this going into the job the importance of the relationship building and getting to know the guys um but I really put a lens on it this year and made sure and it was a great group of guys we were very

Fortunate like every player who played for the 905 this year pleasure to be around you know somebody you’d want to grab a coffee with grab a bite with and we did a lot of that this year which was great uh and when you get to know guys

Better and you kind of see where they’re coming from it makes some of the tougher conversations easier uh it can be really difficult at times and it’s a league that’s not necessarily fair so if there’s a bunch of assignment guys or two- R guys regardless of how the game’s

Going they’re G to get their minutes as that’s the purpose of the League so a guy who might have just had one of their best games of the Season scored 20 some points and get their 35 minutes the next night they might only be getting spot

Minutes and that can be a really tough one guys it’s a it’s not always a meritocracy um so to be able to have those relationships in place and and get to communicate what’s happening and why it’s happening helps a lot and to your point off the top you know again Des

Despite the record so many of these guys are heading into the offseason in a better place than they were at the start of this season career-wise um so as long as you can you know communicate that and keep everyone kind of hanging on to the

Rope in that regard um this is a bit of a inside basketball nerd question but I know that I know some of where your interests lied as an assistant and I’m curious how how different like when you’re actually drawing up a play in a Timeout like forget the the like system

Stuff that you’re implementing and stuff but the actual atto stuff how much different is that like when you’re actually on the sideline trying to executed and like did that remain a really fun part of the job or is it too stressful no that’s super fun part I

Would say one of the most fun parts for sure the in-game coaching um it’s actually even more fun in this position because you kind of have the Rolodex that plays in your head uh of stuff that might work and then you do all your prep

Ahead of time and you say oh this is a team that likes to s one through four and be in coverage for the five and then the game happens and you see they’re doing something different like oh I’ve got a great ATL against that coverage

I’m going to be able to whip this one out and and when it works you know it’s it’s really fun and the g League time has to short so you better be on top of your stuff so that way you can read the game and real time see what’s going on

Out there figure out what the weaknesses the other team’s doing and go after it so it is pretty cool to be able to after all the years of kind of building up that Rolodex of plays and getting the opportunity to go ahead and execute some of them

Nice and it’s it’s a lot of fun to watch man glad you guys got to end the season uh with a couple of wins actual wins and a couple of wins with with guys like Javon and Kobe and mo contributing uh to the Raptors Eric thanks so much for

Taking the time out man I appreciate you having me on all right that was Blake’s interview with Eric Corey um we have very little time before we go but um yeah what did you make of Eric season yeah it’s tough man it’s always tough to evaluate when like literally there are games where

Again that’s not an exaggeration they are uing players in last minute like this is a g-league version of Malik Williams last night but at least Malik Williams was playing at a g-league level against some NBA players they had to call people off the couch to play in

Game so it’s it’s hard to evaluate that you know they didn’t perform Super well in late and close situations until the very end of the year maybe you ding him for that but you know most of these times we’re evaluating the coaches down there on the individual Player

Development you look at Grady if javon’s a guy jante before the jonte stuff happened um I think you can see enough enough good there to get past the record fair enough okay all right that does it for us today I’ve been your host will you’ve been listening to the Raptor show

On the sports radio network brought to you by Campbell’s new Chucky spice soup time to get fired up big thanks to everybody working on the show today thanks to Garr Temple and Eric Curry for joining us and we’ll be back tomorrow

William Lou and Blake Murphy are joined by Toronto Raptor Garrett Temple to discuss the string of bad losses for the team, facetiming Malachi Flynn after his career-high 50 points on Wednesday night and Vince Carter entering the Basketball Hall of Fame. Later on, Blake sits down with Raptors 905 Head Coach Eric Khoury to chat about the G-League season, Gradey Dick’s improvement and much more!

———————————————-
0:00 – Intro
1:23 – Malachi Flynn’s 50 piece
3:27 – Malik Williams signing with the Raptors
8:02 – Garrett Temple joins the show
32:01 – Eric Khoury joins the show
———————————————-

Subscribe to Sportsnet on YouTube – http://sprtsnt.ca/2paAT2L

Watch Sportsnet on Sportsnet+ – http://sportsnetplus.ca

Visit Sportsnet.ca for more sports news and highlights – http://www.sportsnet.ca
Follow Sportsnet on Facebook – http://sprtsnt.ca/YTFB
Follow Sportsnet on Twitter – http://sprtsnt.ca/YTTWTR
Follow Sportsnet on Instagram – http://sprtsnt.ca/YTINST
Follow Sportsnet on TikTok – http://sprtsnt.ca/YTTIKTOK
Follow Sportsnet on Snapchat – http://tinyurl.com/SNsnap

———————————————-

Sportsnet is Canada’s #1 Sports Network. Your home for the latest highlights, breaking sports news, in-depth athlete interviews, cutting edge podcasts, live streams and much more. Don’t miss a single highlight reel goal, huge home run, exceptional dunk or shocking fight finish. Get inside scoops and industry leading insights with unparalleled access. Get to know a different side of your favourite sports superstars in one of a kind, offbeat comedic interviews. Sportsnet is the one stop shop for the fan inside all of us.

———————————————-