If Bismack Biyombo hasn’t yet won fans over with his defensive presence, foul drawing, and rebounding, he’s trying his best to do so with some terrific post-game quotes.
The Raptors scratched out an incredible 103-98 victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, a game they had little business winning. They’re out here making believers, showing the never-say-die attitude that DeMarre Carroll and head coach Dwane Casey were so adamant they’d possess before the season started. Down as many as 12, on the second night of a road-road back-to-back, the Raptors fought like hell to steal one from a very, very good team.
To hear Biyombo tell it, that toughness is something Raptors fans should get used to. Here’s Biyombo, courtesy TSN’s Josh Lewenberg:
I’ll tell you what, they’re tough but we’re tough, too. We’re not backing off of nobody. We’re not going to back off. We’re going to come in every building and we’re going to play our game. We’re going to be tough, we’re not going to back off anybody. That’s just our mindset and we don’t care who it is. We respect them, we respect their building, we respect their fans but guess what? We’re going to play here, we’re going to go back to Toronto and we’re going to handle our business.
Biyombo’s hustle and defense help set the tone in that regard. That intensity got the better of him midway through the fourth quarter, as Biyombo got whistled for a technical foul for shoving Russell Westbrook. Biyombo was called for a foul as Westbrook tried to run right through him, and Biyombo didn’t take kindly to the additional contact.
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The tech cost the Raptors a point that really could have mattered late, but Biyombo had to send an important message in that moment. Again, from Lewenberg:
I mean, there is not much you can say about it. You let the image speak for itself but one thing is, nobody is going to punk me. Where I came from, you’re not going to do that to me. I know there’s a lot of TVs and of course everybody wants to look tough, it’s good to look tough on TV and I respect that about everybody, but you’re just not going to punk me.
Awesome.
The early returns on Biyombo’s play aren’t quite there, in part because someone put feet where his hands should be. The Raptors’ offense has scored 17.8 points per-100 possessions fewer with Stumps on the court, and The Bismack Biyombo Blown Bunny Counter (patent pending) is at nine in 84 minutes of play. Still, he’s pulling in 20.9 percent of available rebounds when he’s on the court and has provided solid rim protection, deterring straight-forward drives and baseline cuts. As far as backup centers go, he’s going to be just fine.
