Fred VanVleet: Raptors 'play young and dumb a lot’

Raptors point guard Fred VanVleet spoke to the media after a frustrating loss to the Hawks. He doesn’t have an explanation for the team’s recent play, but knows he has to be better. He also chalked up some of the mistakes to youth, noting that sometimes the style works and sometimes it doesn’t.

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Video Transcript

FRED VANVLEET: This is the time to play. Time to play. Coming back from the break is not really the time to ease your way into it. That's the time you should be turning it up. And we've done the opposite of that. So we've got to get back on track.

- [INAUDIBLE]

FRED VANVLEET: I don't have an explanation. Not for you, at least. I got to be better. I'll start with myself. I got to be better. And we will be better. So I'm not really that worried about it. But obviously not performances you're proud of or ones that you sleep well at night thinking about. So again, we've got to be better going forward. We will be. And we just got to learn from it.

- [INAUDIBLE]

FRED VANVLEET: No, because we did have it. We did have it. We played a pretty good first half. Came out of the gate and it just didn't happen in the third. And that's how it goes. These teams get hot and it's hard to slow them down when you don't get it going. We're not guarding, we're not making shots. And that's a recipe to get blown out. So we've got to figure it out. We will. And just keep it moving.

- [INAUDIBLE]

FRED VANVLEET: Right. Well, we've just been a little slow getting back. I think that is a product of shot selection and just not having offensive chemistry. Kind of surprised when shots are taken or just having the wrong floor balance. And these teams have been playing fast. And we just got to get back and get our defense set up. We've been OK in the halfcourt. But turning the ball over and having quick shots, it's kind of hard to get back to get them stopped. And then once they get going it's just a snowball effect.

- [INAUDIBLE]

FRED VANVLEET: Yes. Again, as the leader, as the point guard, I take the responsibility for the performance that we put together these last two nights. And we've got to be better. It's time to wake up and at least fight a little bit more. Just play together. Not going to win them all, but you can certainly play better than what we've put together. But again, it takes a lot to win in this league. It takes a lot to win in this league. And we play young and dumb a lot.

And sometimes we get away with it. Sometimes we don't.

- Fred, [INAUDIBLE]

FRED VANVLEET: Well, if you're going to go, you got to get them. You know what I mean? If you're going to go, you've got to get them-- we had 10 tonight. Ended up losing the rebounding battle. But yeah, it's a give and take there. We've had success. We've been at the top of the league offensive rebounding for most of this season. And when you don't get them, you don't make shots, you're not tracking them down. We had our opportunities. Again, I think we're just slow. Just a step slow offensively, defensively. So we've got to pick it up.

We got to pick it up. But again, I'm not really that worried about it. I think that we have to be better. We've shown that we could be better. And not saying we can keep going through the motions, but I'm confident that we'll turn around.

- Thanks Phil. Two questions for you here, Fred. Go ahead, Josh.

- Hey, Fred. What was the process like with the knee? It sounded like it went pretty close to the wire tonight. What did the decision come down for you?

FRED VANVLEET: I just wanted to play. Again, I'm really not going to talk too much about my knee until you see me not playing. I'll answer questions when I'm not playing. But if I'm out there, it is what it is. You guys watched the game. Take from it what you will. And I'm not going to make excuses for myself, certainly. But I got to be better. It's something I got to deal with. And it's not a major thing, but it's definitely a pain in the ass.

And I got to continue to keep working and rehabbing and trying to be available as much as possible for the team.

- Thanks man. Happy belated.

FRED VANVLEET: Thank you.

- Last question here for you, Fred, goes to Vivek. Go ahead, Vivek.

- Fred, just looking back on the break. I was wondering mentally this being a shorter break than you're used to, were you still able to reset as much as you would like?

FRED VANVLEET: Yeah. I mean, listen, guys. You guys can overreact and write whatever you want, I really don't care. If we win these last two games, the narrative and the story would be completely different. So we come out we play like an ass and everybody wants to jump to conclusions and try to make deep dives and break down what went wrong and who did what. And I shouldn't play in the All-Star game and that's the guy who was on vacation. Like it is what it is, man. It's the All-Star break. It's in the middle of the season.

We didn't come out of the gate performing like we wanted to. So write what you will. I believe in this team. I think we'll be back playing at the level that we need to be playing at. Hopefully sooner than later. And I take full responsibility for the poor performances. And I'm looking forward to getting this team back to where we need to be.

- Yeah. Fred, to be honest, I meant it more from like a general standpoint. A season where like-- how much does those moments with the family and your kids contribute to just being able to disconnect and get your mind right before games and stuff?

FRED VANVLEET: My question is, why does that matter? Like what does that have to do with anything?

- OK. Fair. I just meant from a general standpoint, working on something different. Nothing related to the two games.

FRED VANVLEET: Me personally, I don't really have an issue with disconnecting or getting away from the game and having a reset. I was able to take a trip and enjoy my time. Obviously All-star was a blur. And if you've ever been there you know what a circus it can be. So I had to experience that. But I still got a couple of days in to just relax and be with the family and get ready for the second half and for the second push.

Now, having a knee thing in the middle of that made it a little bit different because I didn't come back as fresh and with that pop that I would have liked to. But we'll get there. We'll get there. I'm not concerned. And hopefully we can look at the tape and see where we've got to get better and bounce back.

- Great, thanks.