[Music] basketball fans summer is over school is back in session another season of raptors brand basketball and Raptors today I'm M Augustine your man in the powder blue Sherm Hamilton the Principal Paul Jones producer Jake on the boards Jake wants me to ask you guys about your Summers but I already know how it went Sherm played golf and you were at the Olympics but go ahead and tell them for yourselves mine was great played lots of golf y a little bit of travel and uh can't wait to do it again yeah I got some golf
in before uh Paris but uh being at the Olympics is always a great experience all right now we got to shift Focus the nation from the Olympics and the disappointment that was to another Raptor season Messiah jury spoke with the media and we take you to his comments now just want to ask you how if you were to attach an ad adjective to this season coming up what would you use would it be rebuilding would it be um you know would it be competitive like is there a kind of evaluation might want to provide for
the season before it even starts I would I would use the word rebuilding uh that's the that's that's the right word uh to do I think we uh we have a clear path now going forward um uh first of all thank you thank you for being here and hope everybody's uh doing okay um yes rebuilding um young team growing team I think um we uh we set a path that um we went into the draft last year and uh got a couple young young players and we want to continue to grow and build this team
around uh Scotty who's 23 years old and um continue to continue to grow as a team so yes in sports you always want to be competitive and you play to win we're going to play to win but it is a rebuilding team I think everybody sees that like loud and clear okay Michael gra doing his best to Corner Messiah and get him to assign an adjective to his expectations for the season and I think that's always one of the key parts of media day for the Raptors is the media members trying to get Messiah to
put a label on what he's calling this team because then that dictates exactly how they're going to report on it and what they're going to say about it so CH for him choosing to use the word rebuild Jonesy what does that mean moving forward well and and people were always uh a little bit differential or or hesitant to say well it is a rebuild but messiah's not saying that well that's that was the issue the last couple of years right but the last couple years going back you had the remnants of the championship team still
you still had Fred around you still had Pascal around uh OG OG you still had these guys that had their hands on the trophy so and and and Messiah said it there about being competitive and you play to win I don't know if you'd necessarily call it a rebuild when you have those guys around and you have maybe higher expectations it's clear now Fred's gone OG was traded Pascal was traded you're being led by a young guy in Scotty Barnes who you gave a whole bunch of money to looking forward you gave a manual quickly
another young guy money moving forward it is a rebuild it is a a situation where you're trying to have these guys to come to come together to make you a competitive team or at least put you in that compe of ilk because some of the some of the other players may not be around when you're winning or if you keep ascending toward a championship so I I think that's a proper adjective right now and it's obvious because of what happened last year well it's the right word I mean you think about the the elements that
are going into this season number one they're young very number two there's not a lot of familiarity amongst the core group of the young guys you look at Scotty you look at IQ you look at r J all these guys are young they haven't they played together one season Scotty missed a lot of the Season Too part of a season so you're thinking that there's not a lot of cohesion yet so there's an unknown so you don't know what it's going to be like you just look at their offseason workouts and you say they look
like they're going in the right direction they look like they've done some things to improve their statuses and then you have to look at it and say well we can't guarantee that this team is ready to be that team so as we continue to move move forward we will rebuild this if necessary and try to make it different if we have to but there's so many questions going into the season and what you know is your core is Young And if they figure it out they can be a good team down the road it's clear
what the direction is it's unclear what the identity is and a lot of that falls on Darko so let's listen up last year at this time you were coming into a new job first time here how have you developed over the past 12 months and what did you learn over the summer to help you improve over last season great question Aaron um obviously I spent a lot of time thinking about that and uh um biggest learning last season was how to manage time and how to manage uh a lot of people coaching staff plus medical
plus uh all the players on the roster it brings down to more or less 50 people that you need to manage every single day and uh finding time how you can touch every person and talk to every person and make sure that that they are doing well and that you can help them uh was something that I was learning along the process and uh uh for me the most important thing was creating processes how I'm going to be dealing preparation wise for the games uh how I'm going to be preparing for the um practices um
uh one thing that I want to do much more this year is um to rely on my coaching staff last year was getting to know each other getting to to know what I stand for offensively defensively we made some tweaks over the course of the summer and uh so this year I really want to have my coaching staff to own more things and that they I can rely on them even more um as far as for basketball I always want to to learn I always want to be open book I'm learning from other coaches I'm
learning from my players and I'm always all open book to to learn and get better coming up year two for Coach Darko is somewhat surprising choice for some people when the Raptors initially made the choice now I can sit back here and honestly tell you guys there's a lot going on last year but even stepping away from it I don't have a strong grasp of exactly how Darko is going to approach this group we know we talk about defense we know talk about utilizing the big man in the more European style where it's a little
touch and go with him but for you guys and sure I'll start with you year two what are the some of the key telltale signs you're looking for in Darko as he Helms this group well I think he established that he wanted this team to be a faster paced team a team that was going to move the basketball play unselfishly and play with some Tempo and I think those things were evident when they were healthy you saw them play with a certain Pace I think this year I mean we heard a lot of conversation about
this the defensive side of the basketball yeah can they be better on that side of the basketball and I think a lot of times in especially in Training Camps the defense is ahead of the offense because you can Implement more more strategic things defensively and the flow things offensively come over time and I think this team will have the opportunity to do that really get solid or get more intent on their defensive preparation and I think that'll be a sign for Darko but also for Darko the ability and I thought he did a great job
of this last year he had the ear of the players they took to him they listened to him they communicated with him and that's part of his style he wants everybody to talk to him and I think this year with a year under his belt all communication is not great but at least people are communicating and I think he'll understand more about what communication means whether it be with players whether it be with management whomever he's dealing with he'll understand that better and experience isn't just about the players experiences for a guy like Darko who's
got a year under his belt and that institutional knowledge that he gained last year will continue to grow this year now selfishly I want to jump in here because I want to talk about something like we're talking about defense and we hear so many years and especially with this Raptors group defense defense defense but at the time scoring was out of control in this NBA right and then this year post Allstar we saw teams like Minnesota allowed to really change the way the game is being played on the core hand check or not really hand
check but play a little bit more physical is that a trend and is that what the rpps are trying to capitalize on Jonesy and I'd love it if Sher you could chime into you know I don't I don't know if it's a trend to keil I think that was to me it was a reaction after after the All-Star break last year it was re the the the the offense was crazy and there was a a sect of the NBA that values the purity of the game saying well wait a minute like you can't touch a
guy you can't be a little bit physical I I'm I'm I'm of that ilk I'm in I'm in that too like you it's there's got to be a little bit of give and take it can't all be offense I mean and and it's gone that way in every sport hockey football like baseball I'd hate to be a free safety in the NFL well and and so I think to me that was a reaction is it a trend I don't know we'll see if that continues at the start of this year but what I do know
is as much as we talk about offense it's almost key stops that you have to get over the course of the game getting a a timely stop getting one in a in a situation where you're on the comeback or you need to preserve the game and and I think you can't just produce those and pull them out of your hat lar you can't go to the gym once lift weights and say I'm in shape it doesn't happen like that I've tried it it doesn't work doesn't work it's got to be purposeful intentional consistent and then
maybe you'll get that stop when you need it you can't just pull it out of your hat sh quickly you buying this version of the NBA are we going to see lower scores no we're we're not going to see the scores dip precipitously but I I do think you think about a team like Minnesota Chris Finch is a coach and Chris Finch is about an old older School kind of get after it defensively he's an offensive mind as well but he understands how you win is defense and I think we're going to see some more
of that but the NBA wants scoring they do want scoring and we're going to see scoring you're going to have some teams that are going to buy to the defensive end a bit more intently than other teams and we're going to see the differences in those games in true Toronto man fashion not only could you catch him in Florida and Spain but our guy Scotty Barnes was downtown Toronto working out at the new t you but today he was speaking with our local media at Raptors media day talking about this uh new role of a
of a leader have you feel like youve always been um a natural leader and what have you found in terms of being a vocal leader or being a leader by example like what have you found in terms of differences in that role uh I would say you know I'm usually accustomed to being just a leader by example you see I go out there play hard um showing a lot of effort um once the game gets going you know you see different things throughout the game you talk to your teammates you're communicating it's not really something
that's super hard uh it just comes natural to a lot of people some people are different from others uh but me you know once the game gets going your whole mindset just changes uh you do scouting you do game plan and then your mind just gets going and trying to just figure out ways to win um so you know once it the game gets going the ball get tossed up you you know I'm trying to win uh and you know you you adjust within the game uh what A team's doing um so it's just about
being able to get that game plan and communicating to your teammates within those moments of what you see out there what you find out there and then you know talking to these guys off the court just building that Bond and that relationship with them is just one my was my one of my main goals this summer all right lots of talk about where will the Raptors end up are they a playing team are they playing for or a draft pick whatever wherever they go is going to be because Scotty Barnes LED them there cuz he's
clearly the face of this franchise so as a leader what are the biggest signs that things are going in the right direction that you're looking for Jonesy um does he need to be more vocal because he talked about being more of a leader by uh I guess his presence and selectively I think he needs to be more vocal um you know if you're a leader by example and that and being vocal and boisterous is not necessarily in you then it's not going to suddenly appear but it'll look fraudulent there are times when you do have
to say something and I think it might even be more impactful if you're a guy that doesn't say stuff and leads by example and then when you say something I think people will have a tendency to listen um that said I'm looking for signs of this group coming together playing together uh the stuff that's coming from Darko to the team maybe through Scotty as the leader and them acquiring some more cohesion them being able to um you know in terms of the rebuild play well enough with some of the teams in what you would consider
the top tier of this league so that to me is a sign of of development and just watching Scotty how he plays in those situations how he handles the inevitable uh defeat or or uh failures that will come how do you bounce back from so a lot of it's going to be based on his body language his reaction the press conferences postgame and then how you come back from it are you backing up what you're saying As you move into the next part of your game yeah I think when you're looking at a a leader
uh consistency is key you've got to be consistent about your message about how you go about business how you work out how you practice your attitude your how on time you are you know as you said the the intangible things that people are looking at and they don't want to see this fluctuation they want to see consistency you know I think back to a former head coach for the Raptors and Dwayne Casey he was as consistent as there was with his message about how to play the game Pound The Rock you might not like it
but he's delivering the same message and there's a lot of respect for that and I think Scotty being a 23y old he's going to have some up and downs as he figures out how to be consistent as a leader but remember his rookie season there were times in the game where Scotty was by far the deao leader yeah because he took games over so by action he says he's a leader I believe it I've seen it but as a leader grows you understand different people need different things from you and you have to lead in
different areas so it's going to be fun to watch how he expands his leadership and we'll be able to see some of it on the court but a lot of it might happen behind the scenes where those conversations are happening those practices where he's got to be the leader those things we might not see but we'll see some of it on the court now it's time to check in with the Toronto Knickerbockers IQ and RJ we've heard from messai and Darko today about how this is going to be a rebuilding year but obviously you know
you're a competitor you you want to win how do you balanced that as one of the the key parts of this young core well I don't think there's any balance uh I think you come into every game and to prepare to try to win uh will we be young will we be learning a lot still yeah are we probably uh maybe not as talented as other teams maybe but that does that's no excuse to not play hard each and every night no excuse to not give 110% uh and no excuse not to be prepared again
whoever you go against so um obviously there's building blocks and steps that you have to take to reach where you want to be but um there's no excuse to you know not come out and get and try to win every night you touched on this a little bit but this is like obviously you're here with the team at the start of the Season rather being trade mid-season how much does that help you in terms of in terms of your preparation knowing play The Playbook knowing your teammates all that stuff yeah uh it's you know it's
huge just being able to start out here is a lot uh it's a lot different you know than kind of coming in Midway like Midway I was that's me Midway I was uh I was playing Without Really knowing any of the plays um just had got there like I think I played like two days after I got traded or something like that so you know just learning everything on the fly uh was fun but now to be here to like I said be locked in and uh from from the jump is um something that you
know something I like it's it's more comfortable just for me and kind of for everybody you know we're able to to know what we're doing in the direction we're going from from the start all it's weird to hear RJ say he was getting 20 plus points a game without knowing the plays because that's basically what happened once he arrived in a raptor uniform so sure is it fair to have greater expectations or you know like 20 game couple rebounds what's the expectation for RJ RJ can score you've seen him score so and it's not a
surprise not knowing plays he found a way to score yeah it's what he does and I think when you're a good player you can assess what's happening and figure out the spots that you can take advantage of until you learn the plays and I think we've heard over the years players talk about it having a full training camp to really get ingrained in the system you're not jumping on a moving bus you you're going into training camp to understand all facest of everything and you get more time to be around players in different scenarios and
I think for RJ like everybody else it's going to help and you know sometimes experiences don't just come in in the in the form of training camp I mean RJ had a summer where he garnered a lot of experience internationally so that you build into what he's going into this year and understanding that he plays a vital role in this young core moving forward that added pressure and that understanding I for a guy like RJ will give him added energy and an added I think intent to get the job done at a high level consistently
because we've seen him be able to score the basketball how is his game going to grow how is he going to get better and help this team outside of just scoring that's another element to look at so I'm I'm really interested to see how he develops this year as well Jones the IQ gets his bag right he gets paid the money's in the in the account now the real question is you know a fous remark maybe but you know he's one of the best three-point Shooters on this team they're saying maybe 10 threes a game
but without them really addressing like Gary Trent's out Grady sure gets those extra shots but when it comes to shooting he's going to be a big part of what this team does because he's probably one of the most capable guys on the perimeter that's what he that's what they had him doing in New York and and you know to kind of punctuate sher's point about RJ and you know both of you guys talked about it finding a way to score RJ was in a bit of a box in New York corner corner threes right Randall
had the ball Brunson had the ball okay now it's your turn and I better do something with it with six seconds on the shot clock quickley was the guy that came off the bench the same way okay let's get in there you're the mini microwave we expect you to score he's come to Toronto now and like RJ is in a new role he's he is the point guard he's responsible for scoring but he's also responsible for Distributing get getting his other guys involved uh being uh you know more more you know intentional at the point
of attack basing which I think is going to be a huge issue for this team he has all those things on his plate and I I I liked what he said at the end where he he basically said yeah we're we're rebuilding but that doesn't mean we're trying to lose games you can still play hard and and he talked about you know the winning aspect of things and it's always more fun the rebuild everything looks better when you win so I'm I'm looking for his development to be holistic as well not just with the shooting
that he came to Toronto with and that he's good at but the other things that I talked about Distributing the ball as you said running the offense being responsible for the the spacing and keeping that three-point percentage up being a good Defender you know we talked about defense in the last block it's something that also has to be consistent with IQ the cam Mumbo NBA legend Georgetown Hoya Alum one of the reasons I fell in love with this game as a Young Man has passed and he had an impact on a lot of us but
more significantly he had an impact on Messiah ujiri who was a close friend let's hear Messiah now I'm sorry it's a tough one I have I have to say though that that guy he made us he he made us who we are all right that guy is a giant incredible person yeah who who are we without the K tumble not possible it really is not I went to dbos Hometown with him I went to his hospital he you have no idea what that guy means to the world I mean he's gone left us to mumbo's
family to Mama Rose to his kids there's there's no words was the biggest giant that you can ever find and do remember the Toronto Raptors kick off their preseason against Washington at the Bell Center in Montreal and we will be in Montreal all week so stay tuned to NBA TV Canada for Raptors today we got you covered e
