Shootaround: Raptors look to get more physical, George expects ‘a different DeMar’

If you’ve been paying attention to what the Toronto Raptors have been saying in response to their Game 1 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Saturday, it was more of the same at shootaround Monday. Despite dropping the first game of the series for a third year in a row, the Raptors remain confident, in themselves, their gameplan, their identity, and their chances in the series.

Here are a few quotes from shootaround.

DeMar DeRozan vs. Paul George
DeRozan continues to stress that he just had a bad game Saturday, and that it’s unlikely to repeat itself. He feels he missed shots he normally makes, watched the tape, and thinks he’ll bounce back. To his credit, he’s spent the entire season scoring against tough defenders whom he previously struggled against, so there’s good reason for his confidence.

“I’ll be fine,” DeRozan said. “I’m not worried about it at all. It was just one of them nights. I needed to get it out of my system, so to speak. And be much better tonight.”

For his part, George believes the same, giving DeRozan plenty of credit. They’re not entirely dissimilar players, and it’s clear George knows that nights like that happen, and his job as DeRozan’s primary defender won’t be any easier in Game 2.

“DeMar is as good as anybody in this league,” George said. “He’s been an All-Star. The reason why he’s been an All-Star is because he does an amazing job of making shots. He didn’t make shots Game 1. It’s gonna be like that sometimes, sometimes shots don’t go in. But I know DeMar. DeMar is as fierce as it comes. I expect a different DeMar tonight.”

“They’re a great offensive team and they had a tough shooting night the other night,” Frank Vogel agreed.

DeRozan, meanwhile, did the usual and didn’t give George much credit for locking him down, instead putting the blame on himself. George did a great job and is a terrific defender, but athletes are rarely going to come out and give credit – and show weakness – in the middle of a series.

“Naw,” DeRozan said. “Nothing is causing me problems. I missed a lot of easy shots, a lot of floaters I normally make. I’d take all them shots again, I know I wouldn’t go 4-of-19 or whatever I went.”

Getting more physical and adjusting to George
The other side of the George coin is that he also went off offensively in the second half. The Raptors did a nice job blitzing in the first half but George began to sneak into too much space as the game wore on, leaving the Raptors at a loss. Head coach Dwane Casey was defiant in responding to a Toronto Star article that claimed they made no strategic adjustments on George throughout the game.

“Somebody wrote an article this morning that we didn’t make adjustments,” Casey said. “Which is the most asinine thing I’ve read. We made adjustments. We blitzed him, we switched him, we did everything. Somebody who watched that game to say we didn’t do different things with Paul George wasn’t watching the game. I think it’s funny. If you watch the game, you saw different people guarding him, we did different things. He made some tough shots.”

“A player like Paul George, you’ve just gotta make things tough on him,” DeRozan said. “It’s more of a team effort. It’s not just one guy.”

Norman Powell said the key for the Raptors is to get more physical and take advantage of what the referees are allowing, a sentiment Casey later agreed with.

“We’ve gotta be physical with him,” Powell said. “I think in the first game we let him run freely off pin-downs and in his post-up situations. Just gotta be more physical with him.”

That will extend to Powell on the Pacers’ guards, too. Powell played well in his limited minutes – the coaching staff agreed – and he’ll look to dig in to Monta Ellis and company a little more.

“A lot more physical,” Powell said. “The refs are letting you grab, hold, whatever it is, to take the guys out of what they want to do. So with the minutes I do get, I’m looking to bump guys off, make it difficult for them to catch the ball, deny them, whatever it takes.”

Easing the tension
DeRozan admitted it “sucks to lose at home” but doesn’t think he felt a tension during Game 1. Fans might be getting nervous, and the ACC atmosphere might be fragile Monday – he also acknowledged a good start is important – but the locker room remains steadfast in their confidence.

“At the end of the day, we understand, it is basketball,” Derozan said. “We lost. We understand what we’ve gotta do to win…I think we was just too tight on both ends…Take that away, I think we won the game. Like I said, that one’s over. We’ve got another opportunity tonight.”

Yes they do.

Assorted
“HASHTAG!” – Bismack Biyombo yelling in to DeRozan before he spoke. I need to know the context of this.

“My thing is, compete with poise.” – Casey on keeping a sense of focus and balancing excitement with the minutiae of the task at hand.

There’s nothing firm on a potential increase in minutes for Carroll. “We plan to, that’s what he came here for is to guard,” Casey said. “But not one guy is gonna stop him (George).”

Also, it’s ALL PURPLE EVERYTHING tonight!