Raptors eager to get better fast with first taste of playoffs on deck

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Despite losing four of five games, spirits were high for the Toronto Raptors on Saturday afternoon.

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“One of the better practices. I would say maybe top three, top five of the season,” said head coach Darko Rajakovic when he met the media afterward.

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“It was really good focus, a really good video session, addressing all the stuff that we needed to address. So I think we got better,” he said, adding later the players did a good job of calling each other out when mistakes were made.

It came during one of the most practice-heavy portions of the season, a period Rajakovic, who loves to teach the sport, has relished.

“We’re a  young team that is learning all of those habits. For us, practice time is so valuable. I always say that we’re going to see benefits of this practice today and what we’re working on today. But I don’t know if it’s going to be tomorrow or three games, five games down the road,” Rajakovic said.

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“All of those days, they accumulate. The whole point of all of this, I told the guys jokingly today that we’re constantly in training camp. Any opportunity that we have to practice is like training camp. Not with the volume, not going for two and a half hours, but those 60 minutes that we put on work are really high intensity.”

WHAT DID THEY WORK ON?

Rajakovic and Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett, who talked after him, listed specific areas where the team most wants to improve.

“Top of the list is taking care of the ball, not allowing teams to benefit on our unforced mistakes. And this last game (against Minnesota), our 14 turnovers created 26 points for the opponent,” Rajakovic said. “So that’s something that you cannot do and overcome playing against really good teams.”

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Making less risky passes is one thing Toronto has been working on.

The team also wants to finish more efficiently when it gets out and run, because forcing turnovers has not been an issue but finishing off those plays has been.

As well, the well-documented offensive struggles late in games are also high on the agenda.

Barnes said they like the shots (mostly by Brandon Ingram) they are getting down the stretch of games, but they can do a better job of helping Ingram out.

Barnes also said withstanding the physicality of top opponents, a major concern all year, will be essential moving forward.

Ingram missed practice with an injury and is listed as questionable for Sunday.

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RATCHETING IT UP?

Only 20 games remain in the regular season and for the first time in years, those late in the year games will all be meaningful.

That’s one of the reason the Raptors were so engaged on Saturday, ahead of Sunday’s home game against the Dallas Mavericks.

“Love it. It’s what we want. We want pressure,” Rajakovic said.

“Pressure is good. It beats the alternative. When you have pressure, it means you’re doing something you care about. It means something has value to you. If there’s no pressure, there’s no point in doing any of this. We love the pressure. Pressure is a privilege. I’m embracing it. I’m loving it. I’ve got goosebumps right now. Can’t wait for next game and to go out there and compete.”

Barrett is one of the few Raptors with a decent amount of post-season experience.

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“It’s right there. We need to do our jobs,” he said. “We’ve done a good enough job so far to put us for ourselves in a good position. So now it’s about finishing the season, fighting for position, winning games is gonna solve all that.”

“The playoffs is something completely different,” Barrett added.

“One, is it’s some of the most fun basketball I’ve ever played in my life. And two, our goal here is just to win, win a championship. That’s what we got to be striving towards.”

Toronto entered Saturday just one game up on Philadelphia and Miami (the Heat has played two more games), good for fifth in the Eastern Conference. Orlando won earlier Saturday to also move a game back. Fifth and sixth earn playoff spots, while seventh and eighth will host a play-in game (with a second shot to get in if they lose that game if they beat the 9/10 game winner).

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CAPTURE THE FLAGG

Some of the best players in the Western Conference have missed their only trip to Toronto this season, but the hope is potential rookie of the year Cooper Flagg will play.

Flagg, the front-runner in the race, though his former Duke teammate Kon Knueppel has also had a fantastic first NBA season, is a fun show, but just played back-to-back games, his first action in nearly a month.

He’s not yet back in form, having shot 7-for-22 and 7-for-23 in the two games, but at just 19, is already one of the most intriguing young talents in the league.

“What he’s been able to do as a rookie is off the charts. Unbelievable,” raved Barnes about Flagg, who like Barnes and Barrett before him starred at Montverde Academy in Florida before going to college.

Barnes pointed to Flagg’s 49-point game in January and said, “When he’s been out there on the floor, he’s just been killing it.”

Barnes lauded Flagg’s all-around game and how “he’s been able to do it on both ends of the floor.”

Barrett, who like Flagg also was a Blue Devils standout, said “he’s good, he can hoop for sure,” but added, while he respects Flagg, “I’m not worried. We got Scottie (to guard him).”

@WolstatSun

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