Thaddeus Young on having to adjust to Raptors’ unique system

Toronto Raptors forward Thaddeus Young stressed the importance of simply “flushing” away a poor performance against the Charlotte Hornets and getting ready to bounce back the very next night. He also discussed how he’s still adapting to the Raptors’ system, having to learn multiple positions on the court.Follow our Raptors coverage all season long on Yahoo Sports Canada.

Video Transcript

THADDEUS YOUNG: Defensively, we were out of position to, you know, protect the board. Just a lot of different things, a lot of miscues, very unorganized night for us. And that happens, you know, coming off a post all-star. You know, so but the good thing is, we can flush this one and then move on to the next game.

- That's what I was going to ask, I mean, a 32 point loss is the same as a one point loss. It's just, at the end of the day, it's one. So as a-- right? A loss is a loss, a win is a win. As a player, you guys play 82 games a season, but after a night like tonight, are you almost, like, glad that you have a back to back?

THADDEUS YOUNG: Yeah, for sure. You know, that's the one thing about this league, games keep coming no matter what. So you know, for us, you know, it's just a matter of just kind of, like, you know, pushing us from the side. We got the the post all-star jitters out and now, you know, get back to work, and let's continue to try to win games.

Any other questions? Go ahead, Justine.

- Thanks, Phil. We'll start with Josh Lewenberg from TSN.

JOSH LEWENBEG: Hey, Thad, thanks for taking the time. Before the break, you were talking about how much you were looking forward to having a few days to sort of get settled. Now that you've had that week, how helpful do you think it was, both in terms of learning the system, but then also getting settled [INAUDIBLE] like that?

THADDEUS YOUNG: Still trying to learn the system. You know, I think the biggest thing, like, we're learning this system is, you know, it's a lot of interchangeable pieces so you have to learn multiple positions as opposed to learning one or two positions. Now, I have to learn the one through five, because sometimes I might push the break, sometimes I might line up on the wing, sometimes I might come from the posts and do step ups.

So that's a little bit harder within itself, because you're learning so many different positions on the fly, and you've only had a short period of time. Like even, you know, right before all-star, you know, learning what I learned, you know, I still have to learn a little bit more. And then I didn't have any time with the team over all-star break. So you know, those are some of the hardest things, but trying to settle in and just trying to, you know, make smart reads and decisions and just kind of trying to use my brain a little bit as opposed to, like, thinking so much on the fly with all of the different plays that we're running.

JOSH LEWENBERG: In addition to this sort of being a fresh start to the season for you, the OG injury obviously, opens up a bigger role as well. You spoke to us a few weeks ago about the process of staying ready physically and mentally when you weren't playing in San Antonio. Do you feel like this was sort of the opportunity that you were waiting for?

THADDEUS YOUNG: I mean, I try to treat every situation as an opportunity. Any time I'm walking into the game, you know, the OG situation is very unfortunate for us, because he's an integral part of what we do and integral part of the team. You know, but you know, not just me. You know, it opens up things for a lot of other guys as well, and whoever can fill that void, you know, we'll take it and then we'll keep on. But you know, it's not just me, it's everybody.

JOSH LEWENBERG: Thanks, Thad. Safe travels.

THADDEUS YOUNG: Yep, thank you.

- And next we have [INAUDIBLE] from NBA International.

- Hello, Thad. My name is [INAUDIBLE] from Tokyo, Japan. Very nice to see you. I'd like to ask you about one of your new teammates, Yuta Watanabe from Japan. My question is, he just had a kind of really tough time before the break, and he's trying to get back to his normal form right now I think. And as a veteran, what kind of impression do you have of his performance and maybe approach to the game?

THADDEUS YOUNG: He approaches the game just like, you know, all of the guys on the team. You know, he comes and works hard each and every day. He stays after practice. Just this morning, you know, me, him, and Chris we were shooting together, and he even stayed after, you know, me and Chris left and went back to the hotel.

So you know, he's a hard worker. He has a lot of tools and intangibles. You know, I think he just has to get the right opportunity, obviously, to be able to go out there and show it. But you know, in spurts, you know, he has done a good job, like, going out there playing defense, knocking threes down, driving the basketball and finishing strong at the basket, and making guys foul him. So he definitely has the tools, and he's definitely a great teammate. He's definitely a great guy to be able to play with.

- And are you getting closer with him or maybe enjoying some cultural interaction with him?

THADDEUS YOUNG: Yeah, he doesn't speak very much. But you know, guys are joking and stuff like that, you know, he's always smiling. He's always very, very happy. And you know, when I do have a chance to talk to him, we speak and we have really good dialogue. And he's been, like I said, he's been great so far.