Fred VanVleet: 'All we care about is winning'

At Raptors training camp in Victoria, Fred VanVleet reflected on how last season ended, the adjustments he's made in the summer and why Toronto are more competitive than ever.

Video Transcript

- What are you-- what are your impressions? I mean, I guess you've been working with these guys now for longer than two days. But when you look at where you've finished off last year, and-- what makes you more or less optimistic about this year?

FRED VANVLEET: You just probably just look for, like, attitude, demeanor, energy. I think we've aced the test so far. Obviously, we're not passing with flying colors in terms of attention to detail, things like that. It's the first couple days of practice. It's going to be ugly.

But guys are playing hard, flying around. You could feel-- hungry team, still got stuff to prove. A lot of guys came back better.

We've got some new additions that we could see that could help us. So I'm feeling pretty good about our team, and having a good camp so far.

- I mean, there's always a conversation about your minutes and blah, blah, blah, blah, and apparently, you're playing less.

[LAUGHTER]

And that's what we've been told. Why do you think you guys can pull that off this year, presuming you let them take you out?

[MUSIC PLAYING]

FRED VANVLEET: Again, we got better. So in theory, a better team requires less from the top guys. And that would be the hope, so we'll see. I'll believe it when I see it. But all we care about is winning and whatever that takes.

- You said-- you said on Monday that you just stopped listening to your body down the stretch a little bit. And I assume it's you know how important you are to the team. Does seeing the team succeed both without you down the stretch and a little bit in the playoffs, does that help-- do you think it will help you say, OK, I can listen to my body now? Obviously, depending on whatever situation you're in.

FRED VANVLEET: Right, you live and you learn. But I think that's just a life philosophy for me. Like, I'm willing to do whatever it takes for this team. And last year, that meant playing through an injury during a crucial stretch of the year when we were out of the playoff picture, or close to being out of the playoff picture. And we got ourselves back in the picture. So I played hurt during that stretch.

It's not something that I need credit for or a pat on the back for. It's a choice that I made. And in hindsight, yeah, it sucked, the way it ended.

But you know, I can't say that I wouldn't do it again. I would just try to be smarter about it. And whatever the team needs from me, that's what I'm willing to do.

- One of the things you talked about going into the summer was looking into maybe doing things differently in terms of routine, or managing your body throughout the summer. Did you find those things?

FRED VANVLEET: Absolutely, absolutely. Just had to go back to the drawing board. And you've got to always find ways to get better. It's a 12-month season now. It's year-round. And after I was able to nurse the injury and get back to where I felt good, I changed everything I was doing.

And hopefully, I can stay on this regimen the rest of my career. But there's always going to be new changes and things you have to adapt and adjust to as you try to grow. And I've had a hell of a run so far. So to continue to try to keep growing is going to be challenging every year. But you know, I'm up for it.

- Was there anything in particular that you can share about what you've been doing?

FRED VANVLEET: Yeah, I mean, I'm not one of those guys that wants to make a big deal about it. But probably a little more-- just a different approach to strength and conditioning, a different schedule. Obviously, diet is always a huge thing. So all of those things combined.

And the most important thing is that I feel good. I feel strong. And I'm excited about the start of the season.

- Have you picked Kyle's brain at all? Because I know he was in a similar spot at this stage of his career, playing more minutes, and trying to find different ways to manage.

FRED VANVLEET: Absolutely, and I watched him do it. And I've talked to him about it, and see what worked for him, and what didn't work. And I took some things, and other things that I took from other guys.

So I was able to go out into the field and find guys that-- who have done it already. Talked to a lot of different professionals and experts, and put it together, what makes sense for me.

- Are you planning on plant-based?

FRED VANVLEET: No.

[LAUGHTER]

No. Not quite.

- Congratulations.

FRED VANVLEET: Not quite, but--

- Whole new endorsement category--

FRED VANVLEET: Yeah, I mean, if I can get a percentage of a plant-based company, I might, but--

[LAUGHTER]

- What kind of basketball [INAUDIBLE] do you have to make to your game?

FRED VANVLEET: I don't know. We'll see.

- Yeah.

FRED VANVLEET: We'll see. I think just continue to get better, you know? There's always areas for improvement. I'm still not shooting great at the rim. I was pretty good in isolation situations last year, not great. Shot really good catch-and-shoot, off the dribble.

So there's always areas for improvement. I look at my numbers. I look at the film, see where I can get better. And I try to just attack it from a holistic standpoint every year.

- When you look to where Pascal is today from where he was when you first met him however many years ago, what do you think of that journey, that development process, especially by him?

FRED VANVLEET: Yeah, I think it says just a lot about his character and his makeup. And at this point, you know, it's all mental fortitude. And he can add certain skills to his toolbox, for sure.

He continues to grow and get better every day. I mean, I watch him work out every day. And I've been watching it for six years. So you can see the growth and the development.

But I think just the wherewithal to stand in there and deal with the ups and the downs, the highs and lows. He looks like he's having fun again, back at peace, and just playing at that All-NBA-caliber level.

And now, we've just got to get him the top five player in the league. That's what he wants to be. And we got to-- we've got to help him do that.

- Can he be that?

FRED VANVLEET: Absolutely. Absolutely, no doubt about it.

- [INAUDIBLE] or skill, and heart, and--

FRED VANVLEET: He's got the toolbox. There's not anything on the court that he can't do. Find ways to support him and put him in positions to be great, and continue to lead us.

- I'm guessing you've seen a lot of Scottie this offseason. You know, it's probably safe to assume that he'll take on a bit more of a responsibility in his second year. Do you know how that's going to look? Do you have some feelings about how that's going to look in terms of his growth?

FRED VANVLEET: No. I mean, just-- you just got to keep getting better, you know what I'm saying? He's young. He's-- it's rough. It's early. Like, it'll happen.

And it sucks for the fans. And it'll suck for you guys because nobody knows when it will happen. But we all see the star power. We see the potential. And it'll happen at some point.

And again, another guy who we're just here to support and help get better. And whatever he wants to be, he can be. And we just got to see how it plays out.

- I think that last year, there would have been a couple of moments of frustration with Scottie, maybe, from his dribble?

FRED VANVLEET: Yeah.

- Would that be a fair way to put it?

FRED VANVLEET: Yeah.

- How did you get past that and sort of give him his edge, to make those mistakes, and to correct them the next time out?

FRED VANVLEET: He earned it. He earned it. And early on, it took a little bit of learning. Coach definitely pulled him a couple of times quick. There were certain conversations with him.

I only had one with him. And that's all I needed to have. And he earned that. And he played, and we relied on him.

And as a rookie, for him to win us games last year, that's special. And again, we'll just see how he grows from here and how he continues to get better. But he's earned the trust. And he's going to continue to do that.

- If you look at where this team was last year, and what they accomplished, and the strides they took, coming into camp, is there one area that you circle and go, this is where we can make our biggest push?

FRED VANVLEET: It's so much. So I mean, I'm fresh out of practice. I've got a million things I could tell you right now.

But I only think about the playoffs. That's all I think about. And in the playoffs, we struggled to finish possessions on the defensive glass. There were some coverages that we didn't execute in terms of our personnel that we had out there. We've got to be able to find ways to be better.

And obviously, halfcourt offense is always a adventure because of the lineups that we have out there. So we'll continue to tweak that and get better. But that was our first year playing together, too. So there's some more familiarity this year. And I think that will help.

- How much of a challenge is it to you, as a lifelong point guard, to relinquish the ball as much as looks like you might be asked to? And as you pointed out, some of those lineups, there's not another point guard out there. And you're the one being expected to run off the ball.

FRED VANVLEET: I'll let you know when I find out. I'll let you know when it happens. I haven't seen it yet.

I don't think my role has changed much, if at all since I've been here. But other than having it more and being asked to do a little bit more-- when guys were out last year, I definitely dominated the ball, and when Pascal missed the early season, and then we had a couple of injuries late. But when we got our full team, I mean, I don't see it--

- Low usage for a point guard.

FRED VANVLEET: Yeah, yeah, we'll see it. We'll see what it looks like again. If we're winning, it will not matter, trust me. So that's all I'm worried about.

- Fred, can you talk about the development last year, just over the last year and just like how important is the [INAUDIBLE].

FRED VANVLEET: Yeah.

- [INAUDIBLE] fast forward to [INAUDIBLE]?

FRED VANVLEET: Yeah, I mean, night and day, night and day as who I saw his first time in the gym last year and then to who he is today. So again, you've got to give credit to Precious, his work, and his work ethic, and--

[BUZZER]

--his dedication to-- goddamn-- his dedication to continue to get better. He's found more touch around the rim, which is great to see. But I was most impressed with his one-on-one defense on the perimeter. He guarded some of the best in the league better than anybody I've seen. And I think that's a valuable asset for us this year.

- Does your team feels bigger? I mean, you've got Chris, who's really kind of established himself. Precious, as you point out. You know, Juancho. You don't have, like, that one monster, but--

FRED VANVLEET: Yeah.

- --does it feel like a bigger team?

FRED VANVLEET: It's always the same to me. It-- [LAUGHS] it all looks the same to me out there. But definitely a lot of arms and legs flying around everywhere. And you could just see-- like, it doesn't look like much when they're all standing next to each other. But when it's moving up and down, and-- you can always tell when we play another team that they can feel the presence that we have out there. And we've just got to continue to try to enforce that.

- Fred, the Rico Hines Runs seemed to be predominantly Raptors this summer. What impact do you think that has for, like, the younger guys like Gabe and Dalano, Jeff playing in those?

FRED VANVLEET: It just gives them a jump start on the season, which is why training camp has looked so good, you know what I mean, so far is because stuff that they've been doing, and they're familiar with, and the work is consistent. And you've got to give credit to those guys. They put a lot of work in this summer.

And it builds confidence, it builds camaraderie and chemistry. And hopefully, there's carryover to the games. But it's all fun and-- fun for now. But none of that really matters until the season starts.

- How important in an offseason development program or plan is getting live, quality scrimmage versus guys in your hometown, or playing-- looking at D-I or something?

FRED VANVLEET: It's everything to me. I just like to play. I like to hoop. Like, there's nothing better than that.

You can work with cones. You can work with coaches. You can work at the YMCA. It's all-- sounds good until you get real live NBA athletes out there in front of you, and you've got to be able to stay mentally confident and locked in, and be able to make those same moves against elite guys. I think that's the only way to truly get better.