Boucher: VanVleet made the Raptors believe in themselves

On the debut episode of 'Hustle Play', Chris Boucher shares lessons learned from Kyle Lowry and new NBA All-Star Fred VanVleet, saying that the latter has made he and all his Raptors teammates believe in themselves this season. Boucher also opens up on Pascal Siakam's struggles and impressive return to form this campaign.

Video Transcript

- You know who else I think about too? Fred VanVleet.

CHRIS BOUCHER: Frederico-- that's a different guy though. I like this guy-- different.

- Fred VanVleet.

CHRIS BOUCHER: Bet on yourself.

- What's it like been playing with Fred, with him now as the starting PG, the leader, the captain?

CHRIS BOUCHER: I mean, he done turned into bet on yourself for everybody. You know what I'm saying? We're a younger team. We lost all the guys that we had for the championship except OG, me, Pascal, and-- OG, me, Pascal, Fred-- and Fred. So like, it's a new-- we learn every time. Scottie-- we got so many young guys that just got here. Precious just got here.

And like I said, Freddie took over the leadership that Kyle left. You know what I'm saying? And obviously, it's not an easy role to do. Like, you know what I'm saying? You got to be more patient. You can't be talking to people the same way because now you're the leader and stuff.

So you know, he had to learn that so quick. And he was doing that during the years. But then when Kyle left, it was like, OK, this is it. So he's doing a really good job. I think he made all believe that we could bet on ourself. Because everybody that goes on this court right now plays like they believe in themself. And I think it starts with Freddie. Same thing he did with Gary, and now Gary is just lights out.

- Gary looks crazy right now.

CHRIS BOUCHER: Listen, I don't know what Gary's on, but jeez, keep it going. Because he shoots the ball like this, and I go back on defense. It's going in. Doesn't matter.

- I mean, when they traded for Gary last season, I thought he was going to be a good player, a decent player. Like--

CHRIS BOUCHER: I was hurt.

- I knew he could shoot the ball. I didn't know how good he was defensively.

CHRIS BOUCHER: Yeah.

- His offensive arsenal has gotten better.

CHRIS BOUCHER: Yeah, for sure.

- I didn't know he was going to be this good this quickly.

CHRIS BOUCHER: Yeah, I mean, me-- the reason why-- obviously, I won a championship with Norm and all that. So it hurt a little bit. I felt like he was one of my vets during that time. And they brought Gary. So I was like, you know what? At the end of the day, I don't know much-- I don't know much about Gary. Obviously, I watched him play, but I don't know much about him.

But I learned to, like, know who he was. And I got close to him. But his game just took another level, like, from playing defense to being third in the league with steal on top of the offense that he brings know. It's hard to deny.

- Yeah, his two-way game is up there, man.

CHRIS BOUCHER: Yeah, it's hard to deny it. And he's playing like a superstar right now. He's doing some Steph stuff. He's averaging, like, 30 a game for five games now. And those are not-- I'm not talking about blowouts. I'm talking about close games.

- Yeah, he's clutch.

CHRIS BOUCHER: Big shots.

- He's clutch.

CHRIS BOUCHER: Big moments. You got to respect that.

- The biggest difference between Fred and Lowry.

CHRIS BOUCHER: I think this it's just the years right now. I think Kyle, obviously, had a lot of years to show-- to get his little ship to the certain point where, like, when we got to the championship year, he was already a vet. He was already-- been an All-Star. He already did a lot of stuff-- been to the Conference Final. He did so much.

So I think Fred is to the point he's took everything that Kyle learning. He's probably a little different version, because, obviously, they're not the same person. But he's definitely following that path.

And it's surprising that he does it at a young age. Because Kyle, like I said, his greatest years were those last years that he played. I mean, championship, and I think that was his best year for me, like, the way he played in the playoff. But Fred is doing this right now. So it's kind of hard to deny it.

- What do you miss most about not having Kyle Lowry anymore?

CHRIS BOUCHER: Don't poke the bear, man. I think he had that all the time. I think he always made it-- we never thought that we were out of a game with Kyle. Going to halftime, we could have been down 20. I was there-- you were there for that comeback against Dallas?

- Yeah, I was there.

CHRIS BOUCHER: You don't do that without Kyle. Like, it's a 30-point game.

- That was crazy.

CHRIS BOUCHER: That's what I'm saying. And when he did that with me, I didn't have that much experience. Malcolm Miller didn't have nice experience.

- Yeah, it was the bench. It was the bench who brought them back in that game.

CHRIS BOUCHER: That's what I'm trying to tell you. So--

- Everybody thought that one was over because that was in the second half you guys were down by 30.

CHRIS BOUCHER: I thought it was over too. Like, when Coach put me in, usually, I'm-- especially during that year, I was like, oh, yeah, try to show you something. I didn't know we were going in there to try to win down 30. But we end up winning, and that's Kyle. Kyle had, like, 20, fourth quarter and led us the way-- did the assists and also.

But Fred had some great game too. That's what it's hard for me-- it's hard when you're on the team and you played with both to actually say there's a difference. Because I feel like they all had the same type of game and big moments.

- Siakam--

CHRIS BOUCHER: He went through some shit.

- Pascal is nice.

CHRIS BOUCHER: He went through some shit.

- What do you mean, he went through some shit?

CHRIS BOUCHER: After the bubble, he went through some shit, man. People are saying, send him back to Africa and all that.

- Oh, yes, yes, yes.

CHRIS BOUCHER: He went through some shit. Like--

- This must be people on Twitter again.

CHRIS BOUCHER: Listen, Twitter-- I think it was more than Twitter. Because it's at a point where, like, I would go places and hear how people were mad about Pascal. That's not Twitter. That's me going to Marbles or something like--

- Who are these people though?

CHRIS BOUCHER: To me, they're nobody, but--

- Like, just people in their basement and stuff.

CHRIS BOUCHER: Listen, it could be a doctor. It could be a surgeon that he thinks that because he can fix a new ass, he knows how to tell you how to play basketball.

- Yeah, I bet they ain't saying it now, are they?

CHRIS BOUCHER: Absolutely not because Pascal is playing like an All-Star. And that's what it is. They love me. They hate me. And they love me again.

- You know what it was? I mean, was he really playing that terrible? No. I think what the difference was is that they were looking at how Pascal played predicated on Kawhi Leonard being here. And it's different when you have a guy like Kawhi Leonard in the lineup.

CHRIS BOUCHER: Yeah.

- Because the defense is focused on him. That kind of opens the floor up for Pascal. So I was urging patience for people when it came to Pascal Siakam.

CHRIS BOUCHER: 100%.

- Because now when the defense is primarily focused on him, because it looked like the offense is going through him, it's going to be a little different, right? It's going to be challenging. There's going to be adjustments. But the way he looks right now, to me, I think this is the best he's ever looked.

CHRIS BOUCHER: Yeah, he's passing. He's rebounding. His IQ got better.

- He's aggressive as hell.

CHRIS BOUCHER: He's aggressive. This year, he got the little mid-range, got a little-- he still got that spin move that he's using. And there's one thing I've realized about Pascal is that he's back to himself. There's a moment where I feel like we all were like, it's Pascal, but we don't feel the Pascal energy. You know what I'm saying?

- You mean, like, it that off the court, though, or--

CHRIS BOUCHER: No, it's just like the way he's moving. I've seen Pascal from championship all the way to now. Know what I'm saying? So there's something I feel like he was missing. And I think we all got those moments where there's a little flare, a little swagger that you lose a little bit sometimes, and you get it back. So I think there was that.

I think a lot of people were mad. Like I said, a lot of people feel like they are the GMs. They are the coaches. They are-- they the one paying the players. You know what I'm saying? So a lot of people, they were mad because they were like, why did we pay him? Who did you pay? What are you talking about? We pay him $135 million! No, you don't pay nobody. The Raptors are.

- Well, you know how it goes already.

CHRIS BOUCHER: I understand. But like, you shut up.

- Look how many people are going to be talk-- look how many people are going to be talking shit when this show is done.

CHRIS BOUCHER: Talk shit about who?

- They'll be talking about me. Oh, look at this guy. Who is this guy? Everybody always has a comment for something.

CHRIS BOUCHER: You could come on this show and talk your stuff. Come on. Like I said, we don't discriminate any. But if you come here, you have to know what you're talking about, first of all. Because honestly, we're being honest about a lot of stuff. And not like just talking to make people feel like we know everything. Like, I don't know everything. You could come here and learn me some stuff. I learn everybody's stuff every day.

- But I think that's kind of the society that we live in now because we have Google.

CHRIS BOUCHER: I mean, it is what it is to be honest with you. I don't live my life over what people think about me. I know who I am. Obviously, I want people to have a good image about me and see me as a role model. But if you just decided to see Chris as an asshole or whatever, then I can't do much. There's so much I could do. You know what I'm saying? Like--

- Yeah, but I think people-- they don't-- when they see professional athletes, they just see guys who make a lot of money.

CHRIS BOUCHER: Yeah.

- They kind of dehumanize you, right? They don't look at you guys as actually--

CHRIS BOUCHER: 100%.

- --people who have feelings also. They just said, you guys are athletes, and it doesn't matter how they feel because you're rich.

CHRIS BOUCHER: Some of us don't do a good job with that, too, though.

- What do you mean?

CHRIS BOUCHER: For example, you see somebody-- you see a kid or whatever, and he's like, hi, and you brush him off, or you don't-- you know what I'm saying? Something simple as like-- when I see somebody, and he actually approached me a certain way, I'll say hi back, something like that.

But if you're a total douchebag, then when something wrong happens to you, don't expect them to feel any sympathy for you.

- Yeah, that's true.

CHRIS BOUCHER: You get what I'm saying? Like, some guys are really good guys, good athletes, and they really-- so when things like that happen to them, then I'm like, yeah, fuck you, guy. What the fuck you talk about?

This guy's-- you know what I'm saying? He's a good athlete. He's a good-- he does whatever he has to do. Never been in the wrong. He never did something off the court, whatever. So if it's all of because he didn't play well, that's fine. You could be mad for one day, and then leave it alone.

It's different when let's say, I go outside, and some fan sees me. And he's like, hey, Chris, how you doing? And I'm like, fuck you, whatever, right? Then the next time he says something about me, I understand. Last time you saw me, I told him to go fuck himself.

- Yeah.

CHRIS BOUCHER: Makes sense.

- Yeah, it does make sense.