'Every year': Fred VanVleet on prospects being overlooked due to age

Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet discusses the loss to the Pacers and why older prospects are overlooked despite having more NBA ready skills.

Video Transcript

- Hey, Fred. Did it feel like tonight just came-- did it feel like it just came down to shot making? Or where did you see you guys fall short?

FRED VANVLEET: Yeah, I mean, that was part of it. It was a lot of things tonight. I thought just overall, low energy, low compete level, lack of execution, you know? Not really trying to get done what we were trying to get done, you know? So we really just got completely outplayed. I mean, if you watched the game, looking at the stats, in pretty much every aspect, points in the paint second, chance points, fastbreak points. We turned them over 18 times. But other than that, they just outplayed us tonight.

- I mean, energy has been a word that we come back to frequently. Do you have any answer for it tonight?

FRED VANVLEET: No. I mean, look it was one of those ones. So we got to be able to move on, short-term memory, and focus on the ones in front of us. But I just thought, you know, everything was a little step slow on defense and a lot of short shots.

And the ball was sticking. That happens when you're just not moving. Bodies weren't moving at the normal speed we need them to. And the way we play, we need to be pretty crisp. And I just didn't think we had that overall. But give those guys a lot of credit. They deserved to win tonight.

- You guys had a lot of trouble guarding that double drag actions towards the end. When that is going well for you guys, do you find its being more sticky at the point of attack or being kind of quicker on the back end rotations?

FRED VANVLEET: We just didn't have an answer at all. And we didn't really get to an adjustment that worked either. So yeah, I'm sure, you know, look at the tape and understand we could have done some differently. But overall, our defense has been a lot better than it was tonight.

But they spread the floor pretty well. They play a lot of different guards. And that was just a tough matchup in that regard. We just couldn't get it under control out front and pretty much the whole game. We had good defense in a couple minutes spurts, maybe in the second and third a little bit there. But other than that, they pretty much got whatever they wanted.

- Pascal did a good job of reading the defense as the game went on. Do you see that happening in real time as he's kind of picking that stuff up and making those adjustments in the middle of the game?

FRED VANVLEET: Yeah, just being more patient. I think he's just letting it come to him. And early on, just missed a couple of bunnies, and then took his time, figured out where he could attack and seeing where the help was coming from and was able to find his spot. So I thought he played a really good game offensively.

And then we just couldn't make the plays down the stretch that we. I probably needed to score a little bit more the way our defense was going. And 20% from 3. And it's one of those nasty, ugly games for us. But we got-- we got games in front of us. So we got to get better and try to put a better performance together on Friday.

- On another note, you've spent your entire career in Canada. You've obviously played a big part in the growth of basketball in this country. As an honorary Canadian, I guess, so to speak, how cool is it to see all of the Canadian talent pretty much on a nightly basis coming in here?

FRED VANVLEET: Wasn't very cool tonight so.

- [INAUDIBLE]

FRED VANVLEET: Yeah, there's not much appreciation from me tonight. But you guys should be proud. You know, you guys should be proud and just how far the game has come. And you know, so many guys, even since I've been in the league, in my seven years, it feels like every year there's more and more young Canadians coming into the league that play well and that play big minutes and that have really bright futures in this league. So maybe we shouldn't be so welcoming to them when they come play us.

But like, Nembhard killed us tonight. Obviously, Mathurin is having a great year. We know Oshae. We had him. We got our own Canadians on our team. So there's-- we've seen a lot of them in the last week. And as the Canadian basketball culture, should be very proud and excited about the future.

- --think teams spend so much time looking at upside of prospects, that quality players like Nembhard, because they're older prospects, fall down the draft, people spend so much time on age?

FRED VANVLEET: Every year, every year. We see it every year. So potential is just-- I'm not going to comment on it. But yes, I think people get caught up in what you think somebody should be or what you want them to be, instead of just trusting your eyes and going with somebody who's done it their whole life.

And we watched a kid do it. He's been doing it. He's been the same player everywhere he goes. It wasn't going to be any different in the league. And just needed a little bit of opportunity. He's having a great year.

- Thank you

FRED VANVLEET: Thanks, guys.