Toronto Raptors Media Availability | March 19, 2024

Toronto Raptors Media Availability | March 19, 2024

Bit of a different experience here what was it like doing your first 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 uh 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 first 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’re still part of the team you know they’re not uh separated they’re not away like they’re they’re there with us and everything that you’re teaching and coaching and you know trying to improve they they’ll

Be able to hear and um and is going to speed up their process of coming back obviously there is hundreds of Youth and amateur coaches watching today um each one represents you know dozens of kids or young players how serious do you take that responsibility of helping grow in

The sport of basketball in Canada at that level by helping out coaches uh in the day I was one of those coaches you know I was sitting in the stands and listening to the clinics and trying to steal any knowledge I can and learn so for me it’s uh it’s it’s a path

That I went through so I can really respect uh you know Tuesday morning to show up over here in in a cold uh Arena and uh ask questions and you know be eager to to find out uh new information so I take it very very seriously and uh

Anything that can do to help any of those coaches and and the basketball program in Canada I’m here unless when you’re playing against Serbia then then not I was going to ask how cold is this Arena compared to some of the the gyms you in in Serbia uh trust me those gyms

In Serbia can be even colder uh and also in the summer they can be much harder because of the lack of AC Co what’s your assessment of how uh Ramsey and Jordan specifically have responded to getting increased minutes during this stretch both of them are doing a really good job

Of trying to take advantage of the opportunity they have obviously uh Jas is on his second 10 day uh he showed us enough in those first 10 days that to Intrigue us to to give him another opportunity to extend his time with us and we’re really trying to take the uh

Opportunity that we have to give him minutes and then for him to to fight for those minutes and uh I thought that jamas is doing a really good job especially on defensive end is like uh applying a lot of pressure on the ball um and uh with Jordan it’s it’s it’s a

Constant battle you know it’s um we know that he can really score but at the same time we need him to to improve his defense and he’s showing uh some very very positive signs of improving on defensive end and uh taking it much more seriously than than he did over the

Course of his career so I’m really proud of of their work coach um we saw you guys work a lot on defensive fundamentals for grp itals rebounding um thank you for noticing that uh because uh a lot of people would think okay you’re in NBA you’re doing

Something out of this world you know um one of the first calls that I got when I got hired as a head coach was from coach pop and we had a long conversation and one thing that he kept saying is don’t skip any steps you know and that that’s

What I’m really trying to do with with our young team not to skip any steps and uh if that means that we need to spend more time on Simple Thing as uh boxing out and technique and how to extend elbows and protect the ball that’s what

We need to do and at the end of the day when basketball is is about that is about fundamentals when you watch NBA finals and seven game series there are no play that you cannot Scout and take away but what you cannot really Scout and take away is individual

Strengths and fundamentals of the players and really comes that uh down to that on both ends of the floor when you think about in the corner when you think about just you sitting in the coach’s positions was that kind of the aha moment for you of like you’re always

Just sitting there thinking how you can be a better Coach and what you can do to get your young players ready to the NBA and then you have someone like yourself that says actually no it’s just that simple is that like a common realization do you think growing coaches um I think

A lot of times for for uh coaches at any level is uh hearing other coaches speak and I’m on the right path a lot of times it’s not necessarily like you’re going to learn something new you just lot of times just getting confirmation you know that that’s what you’re working on is is

Right thing my first time when I when I came to United States um I had chance to spend four weeks at the University of Arizona with the legendary coach L Tolson and I had chance to visit with with San Antonio Spurs for seven days and I I brought this book and WR writing

All the notes and all the stuff but the interesting thing was like 90% of that stuff I was already working over with my teams back in Serbia and it was really confirmation like I’m not that far off you know so I think lot of times we’re trying to learn something new but just

Getting confirmation is is good as well but also hearing something that that you don’t agree with that’s going to make you just think about like you know as much as you can out of the box and I always encourage my myself my coaches uh and all the coaches I talk to think with

Your head the the the the the easiest thing for young coaches is like oh YouTube Let me see something on YouTube try to solve the problem on your own be creative to find Solutions on your own ask questions you know spend time just like not being copy copycat you know but

Actually trying to come up with your own Solutions and of course you go then then after that look for some additional information you can get did you feel extra judged out there with all those Coos in the suits um I mean not really I mean it’s it’s kind of it’s I think it’s

Kind of cool uh cool opportunity for them to to see what we do and um kind of break things down and see how we practice at the at the professional level so I thought it was pretty cool you haven’t been here that long how do how have you found how dark approaches

Practice compared to other years in your experience um I mean obviously just being here in year or two and having one other coach but uh Darko I think he he brings an intensity to practice I think that that helps us get ready for the games um kind of put stuff uh into light

And and into Focus that you know we need to really take going into a game so um with his intensity and how uh how intentional he is with things during practice I think it helps us out during the games what’s dark’s message to you about like what he wants to see from you

On a nightly basis especially with the extended minut um just just keep getting getting better every every single game um defense offensively just being aggressive on both ends and uh just trying to turn it up a level every single second that I’m out there so if you look at like The Possession numbers

Like you are on vano basically more than any Raptor has been on any player at any game this year what does it feel like after two games against somebody you’re giving up a fair bit of size too yeah um I mean obviously he’s a great player so

It’s a it’s a tough matchup to begin with but uh uh just relying on my teammates relying on uh on our coverages and uh what our game plan is on him um going through and just you know dial in on that and uh I think just doing the

Best that I can to to to speed him up or uh you know make him make him take a tough shot how do you think your run at Kansas shaped you as a player these days um I think really just uh for me being there four years and kind of going

Through the ups and downs there and eventually finishing finishing up on top I think it showed me a lot about you know um how how all the hard work doesn’t doesn’t really show all up in you know one game or or one season takes a while takes two two to three years and

Takes a while for a cult culture to build and um guys to to form around each other and um that’s really it yeah we we’ve talked about the value of playoff games in the NBA or playing games and playing games that matter what about March Madness games right and the doing

Do die mentality that like yeah that’s that’s a that’s a lot that’s a whole it’s a whole whole new game um whole new uh whole new season I feel like um guys are starting it to today I believe the the game start today um but it’s a whole

New season I mean it’s it’s uh winner go home obviously and um the stakes are at its highest and every mistake is uh magnified at that at that stage when you speaking of Kansas when you left Kansas you um you left a note behind in the

Room right the warm room and it’s just so funny that Grady end up taking that room and now you guys are teammates you guys ever talk about that and you know why you did that and you know all that connection Stu yeah yeah we’ve obviously talked about it um talked about earlier

In the season when I when I when Jazz played here and we we kind of talked for a little while but I thought it was just really cool and I wasn’t really I didn’t know who was going to get it or who was going to be on the other end of it but

Um me being there for 4 years and uh what I had done there and kind of just leaving leaving that off in a note was was that that was my way of kind of passing it down so right how have you seen Grady grow um I’m sure you watched

A lot of Kansas and your teammates with him I’ve seen him grow the last like year or so uh I mean he’s grown a lot I mean kind of kind of going through the same rookie year that I did um last year kind of coming coming in being a lottery

Pick and having to play in the G league First first few months of of uh the season and kind of going back and forth back and forth and I know how that feels and and obviously to get this chance and for him to be doing so well now and and

Catching stride um I mean obviously that’s a testament to his work and uh what he’s put in this season yeah how did it feel about way when you when you mentioned like come up and down and a lot of expectations with a lottery pick how did it feel for you to go through

That uh I mean it’s tough it’s tough I’m not going to sit here and say it’s easy um by all means but uh build something you and um I think it gets you ready for for the NBA level um as far as just going through through the G League going

Through the the NBA team and kind of going up and down and just being ready I think that that’s what it teaches you to to be ready uh at all at all times do you feel uh sorry do you feel like added pressure when college guys are playing it’s like their last chance

To prove something before potentially before the NBA draft do you feel yourself you know if I go on a Deep Run I’m moving up with the middle draft or by losing the first round it could impact my my status in a way yes but I feel like the talent is Talent um

Obviously they’ve had 20 25 plus games at this point to to show that talent and um tournaments the tournament obviously uh NBA you know NBA Scouts and people are looking for winners and and guys that can win at the highest level when the stakes are the highest and the

Pressure is on the most so um yeah that if you do make it farther in in March Madness it shows a lot about you and and all that but at the end of the day it’s still basketball and um Scouts can still you know Scout Talent um whether you win

Or lose I was just asking o about this too but um you know when he was finished at Kansas he left that note behind in dorm it just so happened that you ended up getting that did you guys talk about that moment and just talk to me about your connection with oai especially

Through Kansas yeah it it was you know a special moment for sure um not only for me but for my parents um kind of them dropping off their last kid at Kansas it was kind of emotional time but um a great time nonetheless but yeah like Raptor happened I texted him um thanked

Him for it and um those months leading up to it getting recruited by him and Christian um and just trying to make the right decision for college and them ultimately helping me find their you know it’s just just a cool moment all around was that like getting recruited by two NBA Bros like

That future NBA Bros it was great I mean at the same time that’s been my dream School growing up so it wasn’t you know too difficult to convince me yeah yeah so um but yeah then you know having the success that they did kind of was a

Cherry on top and um more more of a reason to be there gry how was it practicing in an open practice in front of hundreds of local Youth and amateur coaches it was cool it was really cool um it wasn’t expecting there would be that much um because um we were talking

About yeah just having the practice and then Coach Evo um had to do something beforehand and I had to kind of be the demonstration um just me and him one-on-one in front of everyone so it’s um definitely a cool moment and um just just um thankful to you know be an

Opportunity to to Showcase kind of what we do around how was the full team practice different than practice like was it more intense less intense same drills like that um a lot of it was normal what we’ve been doing you know we really didn’t change that much up um you

Know we’re so in the thick of the Season where it’s more just of kind of you know getting prepared for the next game you know not really going you know too crazy you know on our bodies because obviously we have you know a good stretch left so

It’s it’s one of those things where just kind of stay tuned up and you know that’s all dark speaking of that Darko on Friday was speaking about like how you from you know coming off the bench playing 20 20-ish minutes to a full starter Road uh role starting on that

Road trap how does your body feel after a game now compared to like in that role in 30 32 minutes versus you know 20 minutes I feel great right now but yeah obviously when it was that kind of quick change you could definitely feel you know a little different soreness I guess

Um cuz you know like like you said it’s a different you know change of of minutes but um the great thing I’m most thankful is you know the vets and how much you know knowledge they have of just recovery wise and um you know so many guys you know play even more

Minutes and do that you know consistently so you know if it works for them you know you got to work on your recovery and that’s the biggest thing I’m learning right now so the more I you know kind of go fully immersed into that then I feel a lot better does playing

Against different Personnel obviously you’re seeing starters groups playing in the starters does that I mean everything’s a learning experience does that really help you your growth like is there does the video maybe teach you a bit more than you were seen before yeah for sure you know different lineups um

Are you know it’s kind of different you know competing out there because you know say I’m used to going against maybe the second group and then you know I’m just kind of thrown in the fire going in against the first five um it’s a different level of you know

Competitiveness that you know I definitely need as a young guy coming in here and seeing a whole different um you know thing on defense offense whatever just whatever can help me get most prepared you know I I want you know to go against that when you think about the Raptors have

Talked about the value of important like playoff games how does that comparative sort of Mak you play those yet but but March Madness games and the pressure of a Do or Die game what’s that like for guys how does that shape you as a player I think it’s really the most exciting

You know time of the time of the year for um everyone you know all the guys that you know are competitive like that because it’s you know a lot on the line you know you win in advance you lose you’re done so it’s it’s what made March

Menace so fun for us last year um obviously not in the second game but um just the whole of the whole tournament you know it’s one of the most fun times of the year you know for a college basketball fan and just basketball fan in general but um yeah going to the

Playoffs too is a little sense of that where um you have a chance to you know win it all and win the you know the best accomplishment in all sports so um it’s definitely a lot to ride on was it like for you watching on that it was crazy

Well I remember telling the story I think I was on my way to hoop Summit um the Nike hoop Summit thing and um I was on my way to the airport had on my phone and then they they got in a big hole in the first half and then I got on my

Plane when it hit halftime so I was like I don’t know what the deficit was but they were down by a bunch and then got off the plane and some dude had on his phone and it was like the last 10 seconds they got back and won it so

Missed the whole good part but uh good way to end it for sure gr we got to ask you about the um the Jersey swap the other day um why did you choose to to swap jerseys with Anthony BL that’s my guy no actually I’ve been I’ve been

Playing with him since or against him and with him you know around Middle School days so that’s been my guy for a long time and you know guys Jersey swap with their boys so that’s my my friend do you have other Jersey swaps planned in the

Future if I played with them growing up and they’re my they’re my guys then I’ll Jersey swap with them nothing more to it thanks for watching the Toronto rappers YouTube channel check out our latest video And subscribe for more lead pass here’s McDaniels in a crowd wide open the that

Coach and players speak with the media following Tuesday’s practice.

0:00 – Darko Rajakovic
7:02 – Ochai Ogbaji
12:00 – Gradey Dick

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