Toronto Raptors Media Availability | Postgame vs. Brooklyn Nets | February 22, 2024

Toronto Raptors Media Availability | Postgame vs. Brooklyn Nets | February 22, 2024

Team to play defense and they look to look at good at uh Jack Le today and let 40 about uh I I wish it’s that simple that I ask them and they just do it you know um obviously we we put a lot of work

Into it uh we we had uh really good practices ability to to talk ability to uh address what what is what Focus needs to be and that this was just one game that that we did good job in those areas and I still think there is a lot of for

Us to improve and get better at but it definitely it was a step into the right direction tonight you like Emanuel aggressive shots I gu you 16 shot go uh yes I I like his aggressiveness our team likes his aggressiveness his teammates they like his aggressiveness uh I think uh he did

A really good job um of attacking but also it’s going to be work in the progress like how quickly he needs to get off the ball in some of those situations especially like in Picos if he goes too deep in in in the paint some of those probably he can find Outlets

Earlier but overall I I thought that he played good defense on both ends of the floor RJ made some good reads especially early in the game seven assists where where have you seen kind of the biggest areas of growth in his ability to read the game and make plays Mano Ginobili

We had a conversation and uh it was a couple of weeks ago and I I told him that I see some of that type of play in him that he can actually attack that he can he he’s the floor really well and that that’s what we need from him to do

To be able to score and attack but also to make right plays and to be playmaker for us and very fortunate thing about that is that mono job is his favorite player as well so uh it really it really helps that that his mindset is the right

One of finding the the good balance between being aggressive and really finding his teammates and he ended up game tonight with with seven assists and to be honest with you I expect that from him every single night I was going to ask if You’ had him studying Manu but it

Sounds like that’s something that he’s been doing for a while now yeah look looks like that that’s his favorite player and and obviously he watched him a lot and I’m planning of sitting down with him and just watching that film together and enjoying that film together

Coach Gary didn’t miss a shot in the first half uh how important is that to have him have a hot start and what did you see from him in general tonight um I thought that uh he was uh uh obviously making shots in the first half I thought

That he was aggressive I thought that he his defense was really good um I thought that a couple of times we did not find him open in transition especially start of that third quarter that led down to lack a little bit of his focus and that

Was uh that was the reason I took him out of the game and that was the reason I talked to him on the bench to to refocus and to get back in the game and to do what he’s capable of doing and uh it’s on him to stay to be mentally

Strong in those moments and be able to move to the next play but it’s also on his teammates to understand that what what kind of shooter we have in him and to really find him when he’s open what do you know about DJ carton what have

You learned about him in the last 24 hours uh DJ carton uh um I I like the grid that he he brings with him uh obviously he’s very short with us I don’t like to make any conclusions B based on 24 hours or one game I know

That uh our Scouts and our front office they they’ve been following him for some quite some time and they have high opinion on him and uh we’re going to continue evaluating working with him putting him in play groups and I was happy that he actually got a chance to

Step on the floor tonight and and play you said before the game that between oai and Jordan defense would determine the minutes just to broaden that out to all the sort of shooting guard guys with Gary and Grady how would you say um the defense was at that position tonight I I

Thought that overall we did good job uh obviously one player that that really hurt us tonight was uh Mikel Bridges from the three-point line we lost him couple of times uh with some miscommunication or just like losing him on the court and he’s he’s the type of player that

You cannot lose you know so um but to answer your question I I thought that both uh Gary and uh and uh Grady they did solid job defensively as well apologies Gary’s out side so we’ll do two more questions you mentioned uh before the game that you know there were

A couple tweaks that you guys worked on defensively during the break uh felt like tonight there was a lot of help the nail I’m wondering if that’s maybe one of those tweaks like a lot of aggression at the name yeah kind of shared that with you okay yeah Atlanta coaches are going to

Listen to this and get ready for the game fair I guess the the main question I have is the on Bal defense seemed like it was working to a te there was 10 steals tonight lot more deflections that’s the type of energy I’m assuming you want to see that’s kind of like what

We talked about before the game like I don’t care what coverage pick and roll I don’t care what schemes you have if you don’t have good on ball defense it’s not going to work and that that’s biggest emphasis for us like call out coverages and and help on the weak side and

Everything we’ll figure it out but we got to be really good on Ball g you had a strong start to the game not missing a shot in the first half uh but the coach was just telling us that you guys had a conversation in the third overall what

Would you say your performance was like tonight just went out there play hard try to contribute towards winning uh we came up off the allstar break and got a win so that’s probably the most important thing yeah what did coach say to you in the third quarter that maybe

Motivated you to get 10 I believe it was in the fourth he just pulled me out three minutes in the halftime and said get focused I said okay Coach I understand you and kept it pushing that’s all really I can say can’t do you know obviously he sees something on the floor

You know I’m all here so after going up against RJ for for a few years is there anything that you’ve learned about him or anything that surprised you about his game now being a teammate with him uh no not really not at all I’ve been familiar

With RJ again I done said this a couple times I don’t know if I said this publicly but the first time me and RJ and quick met we was 15 and 14 years old playing each other in Argentina so I’ve been familiar with his game with USA basketball versus Canada basketball and

We came back the next year and played him again so just just to see his growth and his development from us being 16 to now I would say it’s exceptional you know obviously he’s getting bigger body filling out more athletic than we were younger but just putting all the pieces

Together you know he’s making nice passes you know just being a complete player how long did it take you when you were first traded here a few years ago to kind of develop that chemistry with Scotty um whether it’s like working you as a screener for him and those two man

Actions and just finding chemistry with him on the court yeah I don’t know I was here in Tampa and he came we drafted him all that so but it was great though you know again his development as well too him being such a threat downhill and being a mismatch nightmare you know it

Could put you in different positions to be successful whether if I’m screening or somebody else is smaller screening like quick you got to switch the point guard on to him and now to big man is trying to chase Scotty and now the guard is trying to get back to me so it’s just

A cat Mouse game but you know it just works you got continue to keep doing it continue to keep going it you know whether it’s me quick you know anybody can be in that position we got Scotty at top with the ball Gary Darko was mentioning before the game that on ball

Defense is something that you guys are really working on as a team collectively I wonder just in general people say you know half of defense is effort right how much of it is technique versus that effort I would say a lot of it could be technique and effort you know obviously

Effort is a big thing but technique in a certain position that you put in on the defensive end whether it’s certain defenses you playing whether it’s you got the ball and you’re weaken in the middle or sometimes you have it on the side you can ice it and keep it on the

Side so it’s different defenses and different things that obviously can help you depend on your teammates and your skill set as well and it can kind of balance out it’s a you know there’s been a lot of talk since you came here about finding the right mix between shooting

And setting guys up and darko’s been pretty clear he wants you to be more on the aggressive side and was pleased with your effort tonight how how did you feel out there first game back felt good uh took one or two days off and got right back to work honestly um um worked

Pretty hard during the break a little bit I feel like and uh just excited to finish the year strong um and it felt good out there felt good you did a three-pointer in uh 27 consecutive games which is ties the uh longest streak of your career what’s the

Key to your consistency see over that stretch um I’d say now it’s just honestly I’m shooting so many I’m one’s going to fall eventually I feel like uh but n just honestly just staying aggressive and I appreciate the coaching staff staying on me to be aggressive and

Kind of be like who I am really uh and I feel like when I’m more aggressive I can find my teammates a little bit easier there’s a lot more help when I’m more aggressive and in the scoring mindset so uh just try to take what the defense

Gives me but try to be aggressive first to look from my shot there’s that balance that you know you were mentioning offensively but there’s also the balance of offense and defense and being able to kind of focus on both sides uh Darko was mentioning how on ball defense is super important to you

Guys moving forward how do you think you can kind of balance that with what your responsibility is on the offensive back um really just the mindset to try to be a two-way player uh to not be a guy that teams feel like they can go at

Uh and Target whether that be the Scout or the game uh uh and just take pride honestly I’ve every organization in college high school that I’ve ever played in USA basketball um we’ve taken Pride on defense and I pretty much played manto man my whole career so just

Taking Pride uh helps side helping your teammates things like that uh just try to take it to another level we seen tonight what we can do on the defensive side so uh we just got to try to continue to do that for you know the rest of the season obviously you and

Scotty spell each other a lot as far as being the sort of point guard with the hybrid units or the bench heavy units and then when you’re out there with the starters Yak is the guy who’s usually screening cuz that’s that’s what he does how do you build chemistry with Scotty

Given those sort of realities uh in like Twan game or just playing off with each other um well I mean the point guard word is kind of honestly kind of dead now in today’s game with how guys can guys like Scotty 16 can dribble the ball

And make plays and things like that uh but I think it just makes the game easier for me I don’t have to go against uh full coure pressure the whole game I can tell Scotty to go get it and I can play off the ball and you know be

Aggressive from that way so um just trying to use everybody’s strengths uh together to um to help each other I mean that’s basically what you try to do to try to get wins you guys played really well in transition what do you feel like you can take this game whether it’s

Transition or something else that you noticed and bring it forward to tomorrow’s game uh yeah just understanding one that every game is different uh just because we won this game and played well uh we have to bring up pretty much a more more intensity and and more defensive uh uh togetherness

And fight cuz uh we know that Atlanta can put points on the board so um just go back and watch the film so we can be better because you can be better you can learn from wins you learn from losses so uh just try to find a way to get better

From the film and see where you can improve and just bouncing off that you guys darklo mentioned it a lot of times that you guys are focused on development from here to the end of the season really um how tough is it from a player perspective to learn new systems to

Learn a teammate your new teammates while also still trying to win and be competitive oh no that’s my focus uh both really uh development is uh I feel like it’s not being result-based exactly but also still caring about competing I think is a kind of what I’ve

See as uh you never go go into a game and say I’m just going to develop you know I’m going into the game to try to win but also uh just understanding that you know there’s a learning curve that we have to reach and we’re trying to

Reach it as fast as we can and uh I think if guys put everything they have into every day I think we’re going to be right where we want to be how would you evaluate uh Grady’s defense uh I guess good I honestly I don’t even remember to

Be honest today that’s that’s a very specific question um well I can get more specific I I think it was good from what I from what I remember I think I mean so you weren’t here at the beginning of the year um but teams were targeting him a

Lot and uh you know fell out of the rotation a bit but he’s been sticking around pretty consistently for the last little bit um yeah I mean so I guess uh you might not be the right person no he no he he could competes though he

Competes I love it and he’s a he’s a great team player he’s a great team Defender and then individually he competes so you know you can’t really ask for much more than that um he competes so I was asking Gary about this before but I mean how much of defense’s effort versus

Technic I think a majority of it is probably just honestly effort just trying a lot of guys really just don’t try to be honest uh and then as you get more years in the league you learn Tech techniques and things that can you know put you in position faster or things or hand

Activity and stuff like that but most of it is really just effort and being in shape because if you’re not in shape then you don’t feel like giving effort so thanks for watching the Toronto rappers YouTube channel check out our latest video And subscribe for more a wide open the that was great

Raptors’ coach and player speak with the media following the Raptors’ 121-93 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday.

0:00 Darko Rajakovic
5:35 Gary Trent Jr
8:14 Immanuel Quickly

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