Exclusive Preseason Game #2 Raptors @ Trail Blazers Game Thread - Quote Book

[SlyPokerDog]

HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS
“We played a pretty good game, obviously except for the last five minutes or whatever, but we did a lot of good things defensively. I thought our ball movement in the first half was very good which led to a lot of good opportunities. Got to look at different combinations. It’s always good to win.”


On starting lineup group:

“I thought we got off to a good start obviously. They’re used to playing with each other. They looked comfortable. I thought Moe did a really good job defensively. I thought our help defense was pretty solid most of the night. We tried trapping and showing on pick and rolls with Lowry so it was something we hadn’t done or really practiced so we used this as kind of a game to try that out. I thought we got better as the game went along with it.”


On Swanigan:

“Solid. Probably more on the defensive end. He came up with some loose balls. I thought he was good defensively in pick and rolls, he’s good in help-side defense. I don’t know how many rebounds he came up with but he has a nose for it and I liked his energy, I liked his fire. Again, playing with different guys, he was out there with Nurk so I don’t think he played any with Nurk last time so it was good to see those two play together.”


Has Connaughton improved his handle?

“Yeah, I think Pat’s improved every area of his game. He’s a more confident, consistent shooter. He’s worked on his ball handling. When he came out of college, he was primary a front line player and he’s spent a lot of time learning to be a two-guard in this league.”


Have you seen passing like that from Swanigan?

“Yeah, one thing I think about Zach and Caleb playing together is they both come from a college system where they played with a couple bigs and interior passing so I think they’re both comfortable in that position of getting it in the middle of the floor and looking high-low or swinging it to the weak side. But Caleb’s shown that passing, he showed that in Summer League. That’s kind of what he does.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

DAMIAN LILLARD
“I thought we had everybody contribute to what we did. I thought we were really consistent on the defensive end. They made shots but we closed out, we contested shots, we played physical. We had a presence. I thought we executed our coverages pretty well. Our communication was pretty good. Now we’ve just got to minimize the breakdowns because it seemed like every time we did have a breakdown, they did take advantage of it and usually that’s what’s going to happen when you get to the regular season when teams are sharp and they’re locked in. So we’ve got to try to minimize those mistakes as much as possible and just continue to grow. I think we’ve shown growth. In training camp, I feel like we’ve been sharper in this training camp. Usually the first few games of preseason looks very, very bad and I think we’ve come out and we’ve been intensive, we’ve paid attention to details and we’ve been sharp enough to look decent and look like we’re going in the right direction so I’m proud of that.”


On more defensive focus than in preseasons of past years:

“A little more focused. It’s still the preseason. You’re going to be out there with guys that may not be the guys playing a lot of the minutes. The guys that usually do play a lot of minutes, they might not be completely focused on the games because they know it’s preseason, but I think for what it is, we’ve shown that we’re paying attention to the defensive end of the floor. Our presence is there physically and mentally and it’s important for us to continue to grow.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

HEAD COACH DWANE CASEY


His thoughts on the first quarter:

“We had some defensive breakdowns that we didn’t execute, we lost Anthony Morrow a couple times and there was a few things that we didn’t do on time. We had a lot of ‘my bad’s’ in the first half, there’s things that we have to get back to Toronto and get back to our fundamentals, get back to training camp mode and go from there. Things that need to be corrected.”


On the team’s play:

“Well we had some good things. I thought Kyle Lowry came back with a vengeance and played in the style of play that we know we have to have to win. Norm (Powell) I thought he missed some bunnies but he made some physical, aggressive plays and then I thought Jonas Valanciunas is playing at a high level right now. We didn’t play him a lot in the first half because we wanted to look at Lucas (Nogueira) and Jakob (Poeltl) but Jonas is really making good decisions, excellent decisions with the basketball and still adjusting to how we want to play so I thought he played well.”


On not having DeMar DeRozan available:

“Well it’s training camp and in exhibition we want to look at a lot of different people. Of course when you take 27 points out of your lineup it affects you but again that’s why you have a roster and that’s why we try and find those next guys to step in and get in the playing opportunity. As much as you want to win there’s a lot of things you’re trying to accomplish in the exhibition season.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

KYLE LOWRY

You led the team tonight in scoring, how did you feel out there?

It was a good effort by that last group to get us coming back. We have a lot of work to still put in, but it’s still early. We’re still in pre-season mode. I’m just trying to get everybody on the same page, and it will be fun.

How do you see the Raptors through the season? Is top 5 realistic?

Yeah. I think so. We’re a really good team. We’re a really talented team. We have to put things together. We still have a long way to go right now, but we got some time. We have to take it day by day, game by game

What is your role as a leader to help the young guys?

Keep them positive. Keep them upbeat. Let them know when they’re doing things well, but also let them know when they’re doing things bad. Keep their spirits high and make sure they know that we’re going to need them.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

BRUNO CABOCLO

How did you feel out there tonight?

Feels alright. It’s one of my first times playing with those guys. I was playing with the second set, but it’s okay. We will get better, and I’m going to keep working.

How do you feel about this season? What will be your role on the roster?

Coach said my role is going to be a shooter, and I’m going to keep working on that to find where my best shots will be on the court.

It’s your third year with the Raptors, how has your game changed?

I think I’ve grown a lot as a player. I’ve gotten a lot better. In the early seasons I couldn’t put my game together, but good days are going to come and the ball is going to fall.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

TEAM
• The Trail Blazers led wire-to-wire en route to the first Portland win of the 2017 preseason.
• Portland outrebounded the Raptors on the offensive glass, 11-4, while scoring 20 second chance points.
• The Trail Blazers’ starters outscored their Toronto counterparts, 54-48.
• Portland made 16-of-18 free throws and is shooting 84.6% from the free throw line during the preseason.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

PLAYER
• Damian Lillard scored a team-high 16 points (5-14 FG, 2-6 3-PT, 4-4 FT) and dished out a game-high eight assists in 26 minutes of action.
• CJ McCollum scored 15 points (5-11 FG, 4-6 3-PT, 1-1 FT) in 22 minutes while also recording four assists and a team-high three steals.
• Jusuf Nurkic led Portland with two blocked shots to go along with 12 points and six rebounds.
• Al-Farouq Aminu and Caleb Swanigan tied for the team-high in rebounds with eight boards each.
• Anthony Morrow shot 4-of-5 from the 3-PT line, finishing with 12 points in eight minutes.

 

[Strenuus]

HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS

Has Connaughton improved his handle?

“Yeah, I think Pat’s improved every area of his game. He’s a more confident, consistent shooter. He’s worked on his ball handling. When he came out of college, he was primary a front line player and he’s spent a lot of time learning to be a two-guard in this league.”

Ummm.... what?

He surely connaught.