Pascal Siakam on Raptors still 'figuring it out' offensively

Toronto Raptors forward discusses the team's halfcourt offence and improving spacing between himself and Jakob Poeltl.

Video Transcript

- How do you gather what you've done through four games and try and stay positive about it and see how you can fix it?

PASCAL SIAKAM: I think obviously a couple of games there where I felt like we played well. We played well enough to win but we didn't we didn't rebound well enough. Possessions out there where we played good defense and just didn't finish the possession and give them second chance opportunities, sometimes even third. So it's tough to win that way. And then obviously, we didn't shoot the ball well from three.

In this league, if you don't shoot like that like, it's going to be hard to win at it if you don't rebound with that. It's even harder. So I think that we've got to fix those things. Again, like I said, I think it's just a matter of us staying together. It could have been 2-2 or whatever you want, you might want to look at it, like if we correct some of the things that we- the mistakes that we made. So, yeah, we've just got to move on and try to get better, look at the film, and do better next game.

- Do you see enough from the way that Darko has been emphasizing? I mean, you look statistically like the number of passes and the number of assists are up. There is a lot of encouraging things. So do you see enough that guys are going to stick with it and be determined to see it through?

PASCAL SIAKAM: I mean, yeah, I think we got to make shots, obviously. I think we had a lot of big touches last game, but I feel like we can even get better in terms of just creating opportunity on the off, like, away from the ball to allow drives. We want to take people away from our paint, but we've got to be able to get in the paint as much as we can. And those threes even look better once you get into the paint and then you kick it out. So we've got to continue to work on that. Yeah.

- That's what Darko was saying after the game yesterday, sort of not enough pace in the half court. Not necessarily running out, but in the half court. Is that just overthinking it? Like maybe just wanting to get the passes in or-

PASCAL SIAKAM: No, I mean, I think he's just trying to set up the play. I mean, it takes he takes a lot longer to set up the play than what we're supposed to do. So we've just got to have more pace into our offense. And I think that's going to even help with the cuts and all the other things that we want to be able to do. If we don't do it with pace, it just doesn't matter anway.

- You go from eight shots one game to 20 the next. Is that is that the way the game dictated that? Or was there an emphasis to get you the ball last night? Or did you-

PASCAL SIAKAM: No, I think it was just play. No, I think it was just play. Obviously, to me, l want to play the right way. Again, we're all in this together trying to figure it out. And that was that was one night. It happened. Move on. Try to make the right play every time down the floor. That's what we want to be, right? So I think we've got to be able to do that.

- Are you still finding your spots a little bit and where your shots are going to come from in the new one?

PASCAL SIAKAM: I think obviously I'm figuring it out. I think trying to find a way to be effective, trying to find ways to, again, just the abilities that I have on the floor, being able to still explore those within what we're doing.

So I think that I'm trying to figure it out. We're all trying to figure it out as a team. And again, we knew it was going to be easy. Everything is new and it's going to be rough times. So as long as we don't we don't go away from each other during those times, I think that we can continue the fight and see it through.

- Is the defense scenario that you guys are encouraged by?

PASCAL SIAKAM: Yeah, no, I think we we've played well enough defense. Again, I think the rebounding is the only thing really that's out there. You can watch the film and there's a lot of possessions where defense is terrific, and then they miss it, and then they get another rebound, and they get another rebound.

So it's hard, especially when transition is probably one of our best things right now that we do well. So if we can get those rebounds and run, it's going to be hard. So I think that we've got to be able to do that. Coach has been showing the film. We've put a lot of emphasis on it. And we plan on getting better at that because I think that's going to help us.

- Can you talk about the matchups tomorrow and Thursday? What are you looking forward to personally? And how are you going to approach those two games?

PASCAL SIAKAM: I think, obviously, we're 1-3, right? So must win games for us. We've got to win this game. So we've just got to go out there with that approach, winning, giving everything that we have to win. I think that should be the only really concern. Obviously, really tough, talented teams coming up against. So it's not going to be easy, which it's not easy any night. So we've got to just go out there, stay together, work hard, and the focus is just winning.

- Pascal, I asked Jak this last night but how much does defensive breakdowns or missed rotations almost influence the offense maybe starting it a little bit later?

PASCAL SIAKAM: I mean, I think it can influence it, but like I said, I feel like for the most part we've had a lot of good defensive segments, like where we play really good defense and we just don't come up with the ball.

I just think that, again, if we rebound then it helps, even on offense, because we can run in transition and it gets the offense to get a little faster. And then if we don't have anything in transition, then we can do something else or set up a play. But, yeah, it's just a chain of events that happens that we've got to fix all together.

- Pascal, offensively, in the past couple years, by the way you've succeeded is-

PASCAL SIAKAM: I can't hear you, bro.

- I'm sorry. By the way you've succeeded, it's like you get a good switch and you work out of that. And then in post, maybe score one on one or wait for a double and just play out of that. In a sort of new system, is the challenge for you finding a way to make that style work within the system? Or is it having to find different ways?

PASCAL SIAKAM: Oh, I think it's just, again, I mean, it's a game of matchups. The NBA is a game of matchups, right? We've got to find a way to exploit what we have, the talents that we have, find a way to exploit it to get the best out of it. That's the way it's got to be. We've got to continue to exploit that.

Like I said, it's continuing to attack the paint, continue to make the right reads, and as a team, coach is involved. We've got to figure out a way to do that. Use the abilities that we have, use the talent that we have in our advantage to go out there and export anything that we can on the floor. It could be cuts, it could be whatever the case might be, but we've got to be able to get to the paint.

- How do you guys continue to buy into the new offensive system when the results so far haven't been great?

PASCAL SIAKAM: I mean, it's four games. What do you want us to do? We've got to continue to play, work hard. Four games, like I said, look at a couple of those games. One possession there, one possession there, and it's a different outcome, and you guys are not asking me this question. So I think that we just got to stick with it, continue to play hard, continue to trust each other, and just go out there and try to get a win.

At the end of the day, we can talk about all these schemes, but it comes down to one possession here, one possession there, where we get a rebound or whatever, and it looks a little different, or we make more than four threes next game, and it looks a little different. So, yeah.

- Pascal, a lot of times last night when you were driving, Jakob Mann was there to help over on you. Is there a way you guys can work better together to help space the floor even in the paint?

PASCAL SIAKAM: Oh, yeah, I mean, I think, obviously, maybe for me, trying to see where he's at a little bit more. Maybe once the big step up, just find him a little bit more for dump off passes. It's just super crowded down there that sometimes you think about the pass that you want to make and you hesitate instead of-

I think, especially me and Jak, we have that good- I can make those inside passes, he can catch well, he can finish well. So I think we've got to be a little bit better on that. And like I said, I think Jak also got to continue to keep moving.

Once the defense is committing, all these defenders committing, just moving, creating a little bit more space, and I've got to do a better job probably find him for a couple of those, and then that's going to open up for me even more. But yeah, I think we could do better.