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Precious Achiuwa wants the NBA to respect his defence

Precious Achiuwa was lauded for his play against Joel Embiid in the first round of last season's NBA playoffs but the 23-year-old Toronto Raptor says he's not stopping there and wants to be talked about as one of the league's best defenders.

Video Transcript

- Just asked Chris, how much different does camp feel? I know it's still early, but from a year ago when a lot of new faces, a lot of young guys. Have you got continuity this year-- a lot of guys back? Does it feel like you guys are able to pick up where you left off?

PRECIOUS ACHIUWA: Yeah. I think it's a lot different from this year and last year. Just like how you said-- there's a lot of familiar faces. There's not a lot of new guys. Guys are familiar with each other, understand each other's game patterns, and all that kind of stuff. So I think it's not like-- it don't feel fresh. It's like we just understand each other's game and we're just picking up from where we left off last year.

- Who'd you spend most of the time with this summer, in terms of teammates?

PRECIOUS ACHIUWA: In terms of teammates?

- Teammates.

PRECIOUS ACHIUWA: OG. Yeah. Me and OG, we got in the gym a few times this summer.

- Is there-- when you come back, obviously, you come back a different player than you were. How are you doing?

PRECIOUS ACHIUWA: Everything-- every part of my game has been-- in my opinion-- has been getting better. That's a big emphasis of mine. It was a big emphasis of mine, and still is. Just trying to get better all around when it comes to my game.

- You had such a strong second half of the season last year. Do you feel like you were able to carry some of that momentum into the offseason, in terms of your work and your training?

PRECIOUS ACHIUWA: Yes. I was able to. Second half of the season, I'm kind of like-- it just made me really understand what I'm capable of doing, and how much more I could do. Just got to keep doing the same thing-- having the same approach to the game. And I took that to my workouts as well. It's kind of like a vision. We see it, and then you just run with it.

- How does somebody get better at defense in the offseason?

PRECIOUS ACHIUWA: It's all will. You just got to be willing to want to play defense.

- But can you work on that in the-- how do you work on that [INAUDIBLE]

PRECIOUS ACHIUWA: There's a lot of ways you can work on that. Lateral quickness, sprinting up, trying to get quicker. Understanding concept, obviously. Watching film. Understanding bodies and where bodies are going to move. Tendencies-- well, if he goes here, he's most likely going to go here. So just little concepts like that. That's how you can get better on defense.

- It's easy to make offensive goals for yourself. Are you able to do that on the other end? Or is it just how things feel, at a place where you want to be defensively?

PRECIOUS ACHIUWA: Yeah, of course, especially for someone with my ability. Being able to guard a lot of positions-- all five positions-- comfortably. I have goals you know that I'm trying to accomplish. And I'm trying to be talked about as one of the guys in the NBA, defensively, when it comes to NBA defense and stuff like that. Just one of those guys that are well-respected on defense.

- You and Chris together-- is that for a full year, bringing in Otto, having a guy like Juancho-- how much can the length and size and the versatility be a weapon for you guys?

PRECIOUS ACHIUWA: We can't get enough.

[LAUGHTER]

We're just out there just looking for a 6' 8", 6' 9" guys, long arms-- hey, come on in. But that's the vision. If you look around, it's basically guys that just are versatile to play basketball. Athletic-- run, shoot, dribble, get to the basket, play defense. We're just trying to just-- out-size and out-speed everybody. Either we'll out-size or we're out-speeding the next team in every position. I think that's the goal. And I think so far, we're looking good.

- Precious, you said you obviously do a lot of things on defense, guarding one to five. But when it comes to guarding those big fives like you did meet in the playoffs, what did you learn from guarding him in that series? And just what is your level of confidence guarding up a little bit of size?

PRECIOUS ACHIUWA: Like I said, we're looking for-- we're looking to be bigger in every position, or quicker and every position. So that goes on offense and defense. So defensively, when I'm guarding guys like that, I'm trying to use my speed against them. I understand I'm faster, quicker hands, quicker feet. So I'm trying to-- what's it called-- beat them to the spots, read their moves before they make them, anticipate.

- How much better did you feel like you got, doing that against Embiid as that series went on?

PRECIOUS ACHIUWA: It was big. Being able to guard a player like that for, what, five games? Six games, maybe? It was-- you learn a lot. You just understand, OK, this is his tendencies, and you just learn as the games go on and on and on.