Darko Rajakovic on Siakam's fouls, Barnes not playing bulk of crunch time

Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic discusses pondering putting Pascal Siakam back in the game in the 2nd quarter, Scottie Barnes not playing the majority of crunch time and Gary Trent Jr.'s return.

Video Transcript

- Darko, another game you got in a big first half hole. Did you think about going back to Pascal in that second quarter when the game was kind of getting away from you, even with the three fouls?

DARKO RAJAKOVIC: Yes. I mean, that was a tough, tough one. He picked up the 2 fouls early. We had a sub for him to get him out earlier in the first quarter so he can come back and play. With 3 fouls, it would be really, really hard. I was not willing to risk there and get him in the fourth foul, god forbid, and now he cannot play a full third quarter.

So he was able to come back. He kept his mentality there. And he was huge in the second half for us. I wish he played eight, nine more minutes in the end tonight.

- They got a bunch. The wide open 3 they made-- [INAUDIBLE] to go. Did you just sort of lose them in transition or lose them--

DARKO RAJAKOVIC: You're talking about White's play? Yeah, I just looked at it on a film. Holiday was backing up on a post up. We were supposed to just guard him over there. If he spins baseline, Gary was ready to help with that. And they were supposed to run to the corner to chase that line.

But at the same time, Jalen was cutting inside. So Pascal felt that he needs to help there for a second. And we were not in our shell from the top. We had Precious, who was a little bit higher, who would probably need to drop and cover all of those cuts there.

So unfortunate, the broken play, and a big time shot from White.

- Aside from the second quarter, it seemed like you handled Boston's defense a lot more crisply than you did a week ago. What did you think was the key to that? Or was it just making shots that you missed on last week?

DARKO RAJAKOVIC: I mean, making shots definitely helps big time. Dennis made 5. Gary made 3 tonight, took 5. I wish he took even more. Scottie made 2 3's. I thought that he had another two or three opportunities to shoot it.

We've just got to continue working on it, trusting it. Trust me, our guys, when I see them working and putting work in, we have guys that are very, very capable shooters. Now, they've got to embrace it and take those shots. But also, we knew what kind of physicality they're going to bring to us. So we were able to adjust a little bit with our angles of screens and how to create advantages on some rolls to the rim and to attack certain matchups as well.

- That late stretch with Scottie on the bench, did you think you were going to have an opportunity to get him back there a little quicker because I know he ended up--

DARKO RAJAKOVIC: Yes, yes. I was down to 2 timeouts. I was hoping to get him faster. He was running. He was already 12 minutes straight on the court. So I just literally wanted three seconds to give him a break and get him back in the game.

Unfortunately, that's on me. I'm going to own that one, that I was not able to get him back on the court.

- Did you consider using your foul to give-- in that situation at all to get Scottie back in there, or is that too valuable a tool to have just for--

DARKO RAJAKOVIC: It's one of those things. Yes, I did consider taking a foul there. But at the same time, it was-- we had momentum with that group there as well. So I wish that we were able to get him sooner on the court. It did not happen tonight. And we'll find ways to avoid it in the future.

What would you say for your team's effort in that, especially in the third quarter, even the fourth after the type of second quarter that you guys had?

DARKO RAJAKOVIC: I mean, second half, we won in the second half. We did not do great job, especially in that second quarter, allowing them 39 points. We've just got to put it together. We have moments that we're playing really solid defense and really solid offense. We're talking about one of the-- arguably the best teams in the league right now. And we were able to hold him down to 108 points.

I thought that they had some breakdowns in the second quarter. We allowed Hauser to get wide open shots. Even we had designation to chase him off the line and not allow him any 3's there. So I thought that our intentions and our focus was on a much higher level in the second half, especially the third quarter.

- [INAUDIBLE] considering that he wasn't always successful [INAUDIBLE]

DARKO RAJAKOVIC: Yeah, he-- our main coverage was there for guys to continue to pursuit and to stay on guards. If Porzingis pops, we wanted to switch those but not necessarily on rolls. But a couple of times, he figured out what we were doing. So he was able to get inside.

And you know what? They're taking, over us, contested shots and 2's instead of getting wide open 3's and layups. I thought that overall, we did a much better job tonight comparing to the previous game against Boston.

- As far as playmaking, this was Pascal's most robust out of the post. How did you find the timing of the cuts working off of when he would [INAUDIBLE] bottom or the top?

DARKO RAJAKOVIC: Definitely, I've got to watch more film. Probably right now, you have better feel than I do. I thought that we were cutting and moving the ball there, moving the shift guy really well.

A couple of times, he dropped off pass, late pass, one time for Jak, a couple of times for some cutters. I thought it was good. We've just got to continue working on it. Also, we've got to do a better job of pulling shooters in front of him.

I thought he was trying to make every time down the stretch to make right decisions. If they were putting two players on him, he was trying to find open man. We got [INAUDIBLE] 3 there out of one of those plays.

- That last time out there, the play you dropped in that got Scottie a pretty clean look, is that the exact way you wanted it? Or did you think there was-- maybe something was slightly off with him?

DARKO RAJAKOVIC: We were looking for a 3. We also told our guys that they will be looking to switch everything. If they're switching everything, we wanted to go quick to try to get a quick point.

I wish that on that play, that he just slipped to the rim to get a quick 2. I thought that the whole paint was open there. But I trust his instincts going to the corner there and trying to get us back in the game with a 3-point shot.

- Another really solid third quarter from Siakam when facing a deficit. What are you seeing from him from a leadership standpoint, especially when facing those type of deficits?

DARKO RAJAKOVIC: I'll tell you what, he is, every single day, upbeat and full of energy. And I really appreciate his leadership. He's talking to all the guys every single day. He's more vocal. He's really embracing the role on this team. And I'm grateful, the way he is coachable and the way he is treating his teammates and everybody.

- Seems like Precious is finding his rhythm a little bit more. But I think this was the first time he played with Poeltl this season. What do you like about that frontcourt pairing?

DARKO RAJAKOVIC: I mean, obviously, Precious, yes, I agree, he's getting more rhythm now. He's feeling more comfortable in his movements and everything on the court. I think that he brings elite defense for us.

Second half, I thought that he was everywhere. He was getting deflections. He was rebounding. He did a really good job there. And I don't mind playing him together with Jak there. I think it just allowed us another huge body over there on the court that can do multiple things.

- In terms of the in-season tournament, did it feel the same as a regular season game tonight? Did it feel different? Obviously, a close game kind of matters in terms of point differential. What did you think?

DARKO RAJAKOVIC: Yeah, it's-- yeah, for sure, at the end of the game there, it's the question of, would we foul there or not at the end just to try to stay in the game or not. But the last possession, it was 3-point game. I told our guys, just go for a steal. It's 1.7 seconds. It does not make any sense for us, without time out, to foul them and give them 2 free throws.

On the other side, they fouled us and gave us 2 layups. So it really felt that every point and every possession is important. So I really enjoyed that.

- Coach, just your thoughts on Gary after his return and absence?

DARKO RAJAKOVIC: We missed him big time. And he's the guy that I think that we as a group, we as a team, we've got to do even better job of finding him shots because he's such a shooting threat. We should be locating him at any point of time on the court.

I really like his intentions, that he is playing more aggressively. He had a great pick-and-roll layup attack in the first half. Those type of players are really, really important to any team. And Gary is amazing. He's a tremendous professional and a shooter that really helps our team to stretch the floor.

- Thanks, Coach.