'I'm ready to make this next step': What OG Anunoby told Darko Rajakovic in first meeting

On the latest Strictly Hoops, Amit Mann and C.J. Miles discuss the rare company OG Anunoby is in within the NBA and his impressive drive to improve each season. Watch the full episode on our Yahoo Sports Canada YouTube channel or listen on the 'Raptors Over Everything' podcast feed.

Video Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING]

- What's it like? What's it like? What's it like to see the moment, to feel yourself growing? This is greatness that I'm showing. Close your eyes. I'm still glowing. Close the door. I'm still going. This is grand business. Have a seat, and be a witness. Hey, what's it like?

- For me, it's not surprise. First time I met OG in Atlanta. Like seven days after I got hired, I went there. We spent some time. And he was telling me, Coach, I'm ready to make this next step. I want to work on this.

And he's very deliberate about the work. He's not just, like, being out there and taking spot-up shots. He's actually working on his game, on drives and finishes. And when you put the work in, then confidence grows, of your teammates, of your coaches, and everybody else.

AMIT MANN: He's referencing-- Darko's looking at his work ethic, game in, game out, the preparation he does into going into some of these games against Luka Doncic. And he said that there was-- a few days ago, he's talking to OG. And he was giving a scouting report on a particular player. I'm assuming it was Luka. And Darko walked away. He's like, you can be an assistant coach on my staff any day because of how detailed everything was with the scouting report that OG gave.

And also, another thing that Josh Blumberg of TSN, he pointed out, Anunoby, over the last two games-- 50 points on 33 shots while serving as a primary defender on Wemby and Luka, who needed 42 shots to score 51 points.

CJ MILES: He's searching.

AMIT MANN: Yeah.

CJ MILES: Like, he's not letting everybody tell him, man, you could be this. You could be that. We can put you here. You got so much upside. He's searching for the advantage. So when you go do it yourself, and you search for it, you find even more than you thought you would find. It's like that with anything, right?

You go to study. Instead of letting people tell you that you could be the next Kawhi Leonard, go find out. Go find out what Kawhi's done. Go study. Go watch some Kawhi film. Go watch the film of your old games. Go find out what you see. Because it's enough for them to say it, but you got to believe it.

And the only way you're got to believe it is for you to go see it, and for you to find out, and you test yourself. And that's what he's doing. And that's the thing that sends guys into the stratosphere, right? They have this belief in themselves that does not waver.

It doesn't matter what you think. It doesn't matter if you think I'm good today and you think I suck tomorrow. I'm still good. I'm good on every night. I just didn't have a night tonight. I'm still the same guy I was two days ago when you were-- everybody was applauding, and I had the chain on. I'm still the guy I was last night next week.

AMIT MANN: When I spoke to him during training camp-- and I think I've mentioned this before, but I loved his answer. I asked him, what are you proudest about, thinking about where you were at the beginning of your career and where you are now? And he's like, that I just kept on getting better, continuously gotten better and better each year.

And that's hard, to stay motivated. But this is what we're talking about. The self-motivation in him it's not something that's always discussed, but he's got it.

A few years ago, you were asked during an end of season media availability, after reflecting on your career, and where you have come, and where you are now, what are some of the things that you're proud about? But at the time, you weren't able to answer the question. But upon reflection now, does anything come to mind? Are the things that you're proud about your development?

OGUGUA ANUNOBY: Just the constant growth every year, getting better every year. Because it's easy to not get better. But I feel like I've gotten better every year. And I work really hard. And I just make an emphasis on trying to improve. And I think I have. So I'm proud of that, for sure.

CJ MILES: And it's also-- it's also hard, the route that he's in-- another thing, speaking from experience. You're playing with these great, super-talented guys that don't really allow a lot of wiggle room, right? Play with all-stars, two all-stars when you first come in, on a team that's already established and really good, guys that are already good, and vets that are under them that already have and been in rotation. Then, you get thrown into the starting lineup, and people feel like you were giving stuff that you didn't have to work for. You know what I mean?

There are so many things that go into that. And you got to be able to stand and take it. And he's been able to do that, and then, while standing and enduring it, improve at the same time. For some guys, it's just enough to be able to endure it. Like, just for me to be able to take the hit and not fall over is hard enough. But for me to take the hit and then go a extra mile is special.

For him to do what he's doing on both ends-- because it takes a lot of legs to, one, shoot the NBA 3 consistently and to be able to guard those guys. Those guys are getting pick and rolls. Those guys are getting screened for to get into isos. He's got to get down the floor early to meet them. There's so many things that go into the way he's playing right now.

And I think that's something that should be spoken to. And that's the reason why OG always looks like he's tired. He's not, but he's got to make sure he catches his breath every time he can because of the way he's playing.

But the one thing I'll say about him, his attempts will grow when he is able to really fly off of stuff and shoot it. Like, right now, that's not his strength. So there's a cap on the type of 3's he can shoot. He get to 10 easy if we can run him off staggers and he can shoot it on the move some, right?

And there's not a lot of guy-- and I'm not telling him to go do that and just chuck them up. But I'm just saying, that would open up more opportunities and more drives. Because guys would be trailing him and running him off. And it would just open up more, just, opportunities offensively.

And I look at that, the same with a lot of-- same with Scottie, right? Scottie's making them right now. He's got his little step-back going now because he's getting his little pacing to that. He's making them, some standstill. But there's a play early in the game where they run Scottie off a stagger. And he-- the only reason he misses that shot because his feet.

He's not used to running off. And the guy goes under. And he's like, oh shoot, I didn't think I was going to have this much space. And now I got to try to fix my feet to shoot it. And the better the feet get for those guys, when they learn to use the feet the same way every time they come off, whether they're shooting it or not, it will change the hesitation point that's in between the read.

AMIT MANN: Mm-hmm. Looking at previous players that have won Defensive Player of the Year, OK-- so I'm just going down the list a little bit-- you got Jaren Jackson, Marcus Smart, Rudy Gobert, Giannis, Rudy [INAUDIBLE], Draymond, Kawhi, Joakim Noah, Marc Gasol, then a whole bunch of centers, Dwight, Kevin Garnett, Marcus Camby, yada, yada. But my point being is that how many of these guys are also serving as, like, the number two option sometimes, or at least putting up 17-plus points per game on a very-- on pretty good efficiency? Like, this is a rare--

CJ MILES: Kawhi's probably the only one.

AMIT MANN: Yeah, exactly. This is pretty rare company that he's in right now. Even Draymond, in his '16--'17 year, like, he's still within the Warrior system.

CJ MILES: First of all, Draymond only focuses on defense.

AMIT MANN: True. True.

CJ MILES: And that's not to say he doesn't facilitate. But his role offensively is not taxing, right?

AMIT MANN: Yeah. It's taxing on the defensive end, yeah.

CJ MILES: He defends. Like, he gets to focus solely on that to be who he is, right? Kawhi is probably the biggest comparison right now. Marcus Smart is good offensively, but he's not the go to, right? He's grown as a playmaker in the pick and roll. He's such a good passer now. I think he doesn't get enough credit for it.

Jaren Jackson's talented in the post. He can score. But I wouldn't say-- I don't even know how to put it yet. He's growing into it. Because he makes 3's. They're getting him more post-ups. He's getting better down there. He's got the-- he's got the upside to do it, as does OG, has more upside in his game that's going to grow too. So those guys are probably in the same ballpark right now as far as that goes.

AMIT MANN: You know what, looking at it, Ron Artest, 2003-2004--

CJ MILES: Oh, that's a good name right there.

AMIT MANN: --18-- so in that year, 18 points, right, 5, rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, almost a block on-- he didn't shoot the 3 very well. But that's probably the comparable right there.

CJ MILES: Nah, Ron Ron, in Houston, and in Indiana, was a problem. In Indiana, it was a problem. I remember-- that is the strongest-- that is the strongest wing defender that I've ever had to deal with. It was like-- when he stopped, it was like hitting a wall. And I think, offensively, a lot of that got lost in it because he ended up going to the Lakers. And he was always with guys. But like, he--

AMIT MANN: Won a chip. Won a chip.

CJ MILES: But he-- offensively, before the Lakers, he was a problem.

AMIT MANN: Yeah.

CJ MILES: He really grew into that. He added a lot to his game.

AMIT MANN: And damn, even the attempts are kind of similar, like 15 in a year, 17, 15, 15. Yeah, there are some similarities between these two, obviously not in every single way, OK, just to be clear. But yeah, I mean, the fact that-- yeah, I always think about that bump. And I talked about this on the pre-- or the recap pod I did earlier today, that OG can take that bump from Luca, and Jokic, and Embiid, and some of these guys.

Like, he blocked Embiid the other day, mano a mano, at the nail. And he blocks him while Embiid's driving. Like, what? How is he doing this?

CJ MILES: That dude is strong, man.

AMIT MANN: Yeah.

CJ MILES: And he's naturally strong too. So I couldn't even imagine if OG decided one day-- he's like, let me see how strong I can get. I'd be scared if he decided to think about that. Because he's got such natural ability. And he works on his body, obviously. You've seen that. Since he's been in the league, he's definitely improved it.

But he's naturally gifted, man. And he's got a lot of-- he's got a lot of upside he's going to continue to grow into.