'The more we score, the more food there is to eat': Darko Rajakovic on balanced scoring

Toronto Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic discusses the teams success on offence vs. the Bulls and how quickly runs happen in the NBA.

Video Transcript

- Darko, I think in that first quarter you had 14 assists on 16 baskets. That was the kind of ball movement start you want from your team every night? Sort of the tone for the game?

DARKO RAJAKOVIC: Yes. We were hoping to get 60 assists tonight, but we fall off after a little bit. No, I'm joking. , Obviously the first quarter was high level basketball and we really moved the ball, and we were finding each other. In that first half, Pascal himself, had seven assists.

I thought that we did a really good job there. And we're always trying and targeting to have 30 plus assists. And try to always get more than 3-2 deflections. And tonight we hit both. We hit three deflections and three-- two assists. I thought that we played together. They had runs. Like they're a really good team. Talented players. But we were able to slow them down and get our runs as well.

- [INAUDIBLE] make a 3 pointer, they get 5 tonight. How does that open up the rest of the floor for the other players? How does that work for you?

DARKO RAJAKOVIC: I mean, he making shots. I thought that Gary played a great game as well. When you have those two on the court, when they open up the room for everybody else-- I thought that majority of our shots-- all of our shots tonight that we took, were high quality shots and then open shots. So we just got to continue trusting it and building it. And the more players you have that are knocking down shots, you know, it's going to open up even more floor. And then you can make really quick decisions on the close outs. How to attack, how to drive. And then read rotations and find next man open.

- I think it's three games in a row now where Precious has had at least four assists. Are you noticing an improvement in his playmaking, his passing, the decision making the way and the way that he's seeing the floor.

DARKO RAJAKOVIC: To be honest with you, like from the first time we met, after watching film, like I saw that potential in him to be connected. That he's-- I think that he has a very good feel for passing, how to find teammates. But also, I thought that, he, tonight was aggressive. That he was driving the force, taking it to the rim.

And now, it's going to be making the right reads. Like playing at that speed, with that kind of energy, and just finding the right reads. And I thought-- I thought that he did a really good job. Scottie was outstanding, you know? He was plus 19 every time he was on the floor. He was so good for us. And when he sets the tone defensively and with rebounding, and ball movement, like it's really hard to play against him and against us.

- Gary led all scorers after the first quarter and then finished with 16 off the bench. How important is that kind of production from someone who is coming off the bench?

DARKO RAJAKOVIC: That's in the description of his job. And tonight, he played only 20 minutes. I wish he played more, but he was efficient. He was getting great shots. He was able to get 13 shots in those 20 minutes. And for me, that's more important than how actually minutes he spends on the floor. He can be 30 plus minutes on the floor and he gets 8 shots. I prefer that we as a team are always aware to find him and get him good looks because he's such a offensive threat. That really, really helps us. And I thought that he did an outstanding job today.

- How important is it for you guys to have a box score? That kind of looks like this, where you have six guys, more than 13 points, no one was more than 26. Everyone was 13 field goals. Is that kind of the picture you're trying to create?

DARKO RAJAKOVIC: Correct. I mean, 32 assists. That says a lot. Scored 121 points. The more points we score, there is more food on the table to eat. If one player scores 40 and the other 3, and nobody else scores points, there is not enough food on the plate-- on the table. And when we score like-- when we play like that, there is more to divide. And that's a model that we're going after. Everybody eats and everybody's playing together, and everybody's got a share. So I'm really, really proud. I don't have words to describe how much I'm proud of our guys and their unselfishness, and willingness to play together.

- You guys have had these hot starts. You had one against Detroit the other night. And then, you lose it. Is there something that you feel like you can take from this or something that you-- What is it?

DARKO RAJAKOVIC: Absolutely. It's called NBA game. If you watch every single night, it's happening around the league. Like this league is the best players in the world. I don't think that you can go in a game and have a 15 point lead, and keep it during the whole game. Obviously, we're trying always to figure out what it is, what we can do better, what we can do. But this is game of runs.

And we got to be able to, when they go on a small run, to call a timeout, to refocus, to address the adjustments defensively or offensively, to change match ups, to change coverages, to get us back in the game. I've never seen the 48 minutes of a perfect game that everything goes easy. So I give credit to Chicago Bulls. They have a lot of talent there as well. And we got to respect those guys as well. I thought that, that's the game of tonight, as well.

- Do you think that those like-- those-- it seems like there's 20 point leads in games more often. Are you sensing that too? Maybe just this team. Or, one way or another, does that seem more common these days?

DARKO RAJAKOVIC: I mean, I'll tell you what. I came from Europe. In Europe, when you have a 10 point lead at half time, you're already thinking who you're playing next game. Like it's a really, really hard to get back in the game. So I came and started coaching in the G League.

And 20 point lead at the half time, you're up or down, doesn't mean much because game is so long. And rotations and players. And the speed of the game. Like if team knocks down three shots and three possessions, that can happen over the course of like two minutes. And you can get that run. It's definitely like something that we are constantly trying to improve and get better. But it's not easy. If you have any solutions, meet me. Outside don't share. Don't share with media.

- Coach, what's the next step, offensively, that you'd like to see this group progress to?

DARKO RAJAKOVIC: A lot of stuff. I think reads, angles of screens, how to read different coverages, what defenses are throwing at us, is the big all the way back, how to play against switches. Like there is a lot of for us to continue learning. And our biggest ally and biggest enemy at the same time, is time. Because we don't have it enough.

We had last practice on November, 16. It's just so hard. And then we're trying through shootarounds to find the rhythm. Tomorrow we'll get the practice, we'll be able to address some of the things. And as I said, like this group is such a resilient group and trying to execute everything. Really, really proud of them.