Toronto Raptors Media Availability | Postgame vs. Utah Jazz | December 23, 2023

Toronto Raptors Media Availability | Postgame vs. Utah Jazz | December 23, 2023

You know when it starts getting away from you a little bit you guys played so well through the first three quarters and um couple of one and done on a few possessions and they get some momentum how do you how could you looked back how could you think you could have stopped

Some of their momentum as they got oh yeah I don’t know I mean I think again we started forth with a good lead um you know missed a couple shots they made they made them um made a run like at the right time basically for them um again I I don’t know

Yeah I I don’t know I mean I think it just probably was a little too easy for them you know out there um once they started making that run but you know it’s a game of runs like and they made it they made a run like at at the right

Time good thing about the NBA usually is you don’t have much time to to sit on a game like this before you’re back out there how tough is going to be the next few days to have to no it’s was tough obviously cuz we felt like you know that

Was a winnable game um and you know kind of kind of got away from us um so yeah I think yeah it’s going to stink um but you know not much you can do we got to just move on to the next one um you know

Get some days to relax um get your mind off of it a little bit and then come back and um you know trying to rectify what we didn’t do well out there I thought you know for for most part again we played a good game but you know those

You know that that fourth quarter was was was critical Darko has Ted throughout the year that kind of leadership this year has been more a collective thing a lot of different guys speaking up what’s it like in the room after a loss like that are guys in the

Room speaking up is it more of the coaches uh I mean I think right after the game it’s kind of kind of hard to say anything you know it’s just yeah just sucks you lost the game so um yeah just go back regroup and yeah try to be

Better it was your 500th game with the Raptors uh I know it’s probably hard to think about that right now but like what’s that say about your career and your longevity with uh one team um yeah I don’t know I didn’t know that until until today um but obviously

I just you know like grateful to to be able to play the game um play 500 games like you know um for someone like me you know it’s not it’s not it’s not given every single day so you got to be grateful um and and I’m just you know

I’m I’m I’m blessed that I’m able to do that and I hope I can play you know a lot more Yeah per B for Last not you obviously came out with real Focus early and uh maybe just take me through that what uh what kind of profit that start that you personally got out on um just taking wide open shots um they were helping a lot so it was easy kickouts

And I was knocking down the shots shots was falling Scotty you guys over the last two nights have played extended stret is a really good basketball is it just now about extending it out further and was that kind of the message in the room these last two games just one I think uh

Beginning of the 4th um it started off really good and we wasn’t getting the good looks that we were getting on game um we had that lead and we just allowed him to cut it right back in and like three or four minutes so you know I was

On us for allowing them to get those easy transitions get offensive rebounds and you know we just got to do a better job there is there somebody or maybe a few guys in the room that are especially vocal after a tough game like this or is it mostly just the coaches that are

Speaking after after our loss I think we all really know what we needed to do out there in order to win so we already have it in the back of our minds uh but the coaches usually you know they come in and tell us what you know we could have

Done better or the effort we put in and and just trying to stay positive is it hard getting hard to stay positive even I think you lost 10 out of 13 now is it getting a little difficult uh you know I’m just trying to be happy that I’m playing basketball you know I’m

Grateful every day that I wake up and be able to go out there and play NBA basketball you know it’s the it’s the best even coming off last night’s loss you know wake up happy that you about to play another game I love those back toback being able to play another game

Right after another I just love basketball um so you know I’m I’m happy to play the game basketball and be able to play with our guys so I’m I’m I’m excited every practice every every game uh I look forward to it would you try to sort of Disconnect with it for a few

Days or or what’s sort of your approach uh with a little break um n ain’t no disconnect you know I’m still work on my game uh guess some shots up and you know talks to some family hang out with some family you know 41 Point fourth quarter against you

What did you see went on in that 12 minutes it it was not uh just those 12 minutes those 12 minutes definitely were were the problem but the problem started uh start of the third quarter uh you know we had 23 assists in the first half

And uh uh we talked about that we need to continue moving the ball and and playing together and the way we started that third quarter just gave them life you know they ended up having uh eight points in transition it was zero points in the first half I think that that they

Gave them gave them some life they start feeling well they start making shots and uh we did not make our shots uh the the way we did in the first half um you know we made nine threes in the first half only four in a second and we did not do

Good enough job of uh of uh guarding in the four quarter that that allowed them 41 points there we call a really quick timeout the start of the third quarter and then again start of the fourth it got away from me with a bunch of backups

In is it just effort again at that point that point in the game or C it’s it just looks like one thing leads to another thing if if you don’t do right things on offensive end it really affects uh what everything that happens on defensive end

And uh you could see that the second half our defense was not non-existent they scored 71 points in the second half and uh we did not have the same flow we settled for some shots that we did not Tak in a first half and uh we settled

For for for some contested shots instead of fighting Open men who was there and they just like took energy from us I know 11 and 18 is obviously more is about going to just lineups and things like that but in your eyes is it getting ugly enough or now lineups minutes

Distribution all that like has to be looked at or we’re looking at like but like always when we talk about it like uh what how why who you know those are the questions like and how all of that affects everybody else sure we can mix up rotations we’re we’re mixing up

During the game and uh you know it’s it’s not like we have Steph Curry sitting on the bench and I am going to put him in there I’m I’m not keeping him on on on the court you know it’s it’s constantly we’re looking at we’re trying to to get some chemistry we’re seeing

Some improvements like we did it first half the first half you know why we didn’t do second half that’s the question for me it’s not really about lineups it’s like the same people were on the court in the second half as well but we were completely different the way

We played in the second half that’s that’s the mentality that we got uh that we got to look at and address and that that has to be uh pointed out you know and uh you know everybody that touches the floor you have responsibility towards the team what what what needs to

Be done you know so the easiest thing is to to to change lineups um but uh yeah are are are those just like Cosmetics or are we addressing the real thing we we had 16 points lead in the first half you know before the game about how a win

Could go a long way and kind of reinforcing some of these things that you guys have been emphasizing and working on how demoralizing is a loss like this and how do you make sure that it it doesn’t get to that point where it’s demoralizing for the team it is

Demoralizing it should should be demoralizing because it was a second half you know we did in this first half and then we we followed the game plan and uh we did good job defensively kept them to 55 points and scored 71 like for me what happens there at a halftime for

Us not to be able to sustain that in the second half and excuse cannot be it’s it’s a backto back and none of that this is NBA like we know the schedule how schedule Works in this league and uh it has to be our mentality that we put

Winning and we put uh Team always in the first place Barn matched to career high with 32 points but most of them came in the first half uh what did you see from him tonight uh he was rebounding the ball well uh he passed the ball really well

He scored a lot of points in the first half uh second half he lost a little bit momentum there with with a couple of shots I I thought some of those shots were good shots as well uh he just continues uh to improve and uh he’s he’s

Making the next step there so I wish that that all of us we can uh help more and and uh and U you know help team wi what did uh what was the message obviously everybody’s going their separate ways for a few days what did you uh what did

You tell the guys in terms of uh just what you think about over the uh I told guys that uh first of all me as a leader of a team I got to look in the mirror and see what I can do better uh or

Different and how I can help the team uh better and I I expect same thing from coaching staff and all the players to look at the mirror and uh evaluate themselves like what what what there can be done like what each indiv individual can do better uh to help a team that’s

Uh we have two days off it’s a Christmas uh people should uh spend time with family but also it’s it’s going to be very healthy for us to to think about like what we can what we can do different uh different and better when we come back you a few times where uh

You know efforts haven’t come carried over from the first half to the second half or uh sometimes when the shots don’t all the defensive focus and energy seems to to drop with it um is that a is there a leadership element within the group that needs to kind of uh take

Charge of that a little bit is the team kind of a little bit nobody wants to step on anyone’s folks um there’s a little bit of that as well you know and I think we have a good guys but there’s a little bit of that like talking on you know being on

Eggshells and like you know not trying to offend anybody you know and uh you know as a team conversations are always good and helpful and uh you know sometimes addressing things is is helpful but it it has to come from within our group and uh team and and coaching staff

Players and Coach speak with the media following the Raptors’ 126-119 loss to the Utah Jazz on Saturday.

00:00 Pascal Siakam
04:34 Scottie Barnes
07:07 Darko Rajakovic
#raptors #TorontoRaptors