The full quotes from today’s media availability will be in tomorrow’s Morning Coffee (which we’re considering renaming to Morning Shot of Hard Liquor) but here’s some select quotes and a reaction to those quotes, since embedding Tweets alone does not make for Pulitzer Prize winning journalism.
We had Grevis Vasquez putting an end to the Paul Pierce talk, and soon after, the talk shifted to basketball matters.
Patterson: "I sense they're trying to win the psychological war but as far as physicality, no. I don't think they're more physical than us"
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) April 19, 2015
Depends on how you define physicality. If it’s in muscle and strength, then yes, Washington is more physical than us. But if you define it in terms of…um…say…like…who can open a jar of pickle first, then that’s up in the air. On a more serious note, jars of pickle can be quite a pain and it’s no shame if your girl hands you one to open, and you struggle and sweat.
Maybe Patterson’s referencing whether the Raptors are willing to get down and dirty with the Wizards in the paint, and in that sense, I agree. The Raptors aren’t afraid to get physical and compete on the glass, it’s just that they have a strength disadvantage which they have to overcome through energy and tactics, which didn’t happen in Game 1. Patterson, in fact further clarified:
2Pat: "We know that they are a stronger, taller team than we are. We have to use our youth … and energy to our advantage."
— (((Eric Koreen))) (@ekoreen) April 19, 2015
Casey was asked about the whole Hansbrough/Pierce matchup and whether he knew what was going on:
Casey: "i didn't get off the last potato truck. I knew Paul Pierce was at the four."
— (((Eric Koreen))) (@ekoreen) April 19, 2015
Awesome. So he consciously had Hansbrough guard Patterson. I would’ve settled for an answer like, “Yeah, that happened way too quickly and we didn’t adapt well enough”. That would’ve made more sense.
Here we have some quotes about the Raptors wanting to run in Game 2:
"I think we really bogged down and played too slow," Lowry says.
— (((Eric Koreen))) (@ekoreen) April 19, 2015
Casey and Lowry want team to run more. "Push the ball push the tempo. That's on all of us."
— Ryan Wolstat (@WolstatSun) April 19, 2015
Casey on pace: “Once you secure the ball, that’s when you say, ‘giddy up, let’s go.’”
— (((Eric Koreen))) (@ekoreen) April 19, 2015
Casey and Lowry want team to run more. "Push the ball push the tempo. That's on all of us."
— Ryan Wolstat (@WolstatSun) April 19, 2015
In theory, great idea. In practice, not so much. Mostly because the Raptors were 24th in the league in taking care of defensive rebounds, which isn’t conducive to running, and going up against a Washington fronline that places an emphasis on rebounding, it’s hard to see how the Raptors can run on the Wizards. And running usually implies that your’e OK with an open game, which would favour Washington just based on the fact that they have the fastest end-to-end ball-handler in the league in John Wall.
Up next we got Kyle Lowry who was asked about Beal waving goodbye to him:
Lowry on Beal's wave goodbye: "I woulda done the same thing. When you get 1 of the best players off the court you should be happy about it"
— Josh Lewenberg (@JLew1050) April 19, 2015
Like the confidence, Kyle, but when you go 2-10 and were the worst defender on the night, might not want to talk about who’s best. Lowry will play better simply because he can’t play any worse. His coach seems to see it that way as well:
Casey expresses no doubt Lowry will play at a better level from here on out. Thrives on doubt.
— (((Eric Koreen))) (@ekoreen) April 19, 2015
Having Lowry guard Beal obviously backfired even though Ross on Wall worked to an extent. Hindsight is 20/20, but going back and looking at Bradley Beal’s movements, anybody checking him would be exhausted after a couple possessions because Beal’s movements have been Rip Hamiltonesque. Maybe the focus shifts to conserving Lowry’s energy instead of hiding him against Wall, who you have to expend less energy to guard.
Before we sign-off, here’s Zach Lowe succinctly summing up Ujiri:
Masai Ujiri cursing before playoff series is one instance away from becoming like Undertaker winning at WM: have to do it out of expectation
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) April 19, 2015
I didn’t like Ujiri’s comments, because they may sound great in the 15 seconds after he says them in front of a raucous crowd, but as soon as you step back and think about it, it helps Washington and distracts everyone from the game and puts the focus on an individual.
Meh, let’s see what Game 2 offers. Neither team could play much worse, hopefully the Raptors find their way.
