Why C.J. Miles would play for Darko Rajakovic & luring free agents

On the latest Strictly Hoops, C.J. Miles discusses his thoughts on Darko, why he would want to play for him and whether players could sign with Toronto because of Darko's coaching style. Listen to the full episode on the 'Raptors Over Everything' podcast feed.

Video Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING]

(SINGING) 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?

CJ MILES: Also, talking about habits again. Not just gonna go away.

AMIT MANN: Yeah.

CJ MILES: Like, I know it's easy to look at it from the outside. And it's basketball, and we tend to take things away from life because it's sport and they make money and they're on TV. But it's no different than you trying to quit smoking cigarettes or whatever your thing is, right? It's not just gonna go away because you decided today it's going away.

AMIT MANN: For it to go away, yeah.

CJ MILES: There's so much-- so many things, so many factors, so much time you spent doing one thing that you don't realize it's on autopilot. Like we said, especially when the day is going bad. Especially when you get a flat tire on your way to work. Especially when somebody calls you and tells you that they can't do what they said they were gonna be able to do for you. You know how loud that cigarette gets calling you?

AMIT MANN: [LAUGHS] Yeah.

CJ MILES: So you know how loud those old habits get on the court when you're losing by 30? When you've had success with something, I've never had success with this thing, though? You know how hard that is to break, to make me see something that I've never seen before?

AMIT MANN: Mm-hmm.

CJ MILES: It doesn't work that way. We played how many games? 11? 12? 13?

AMIT MANN: Yeah, something like that.

CJ MILES: Something like that? And we tend to forget there's 82 games in a season. In real life, you don't even know how long it's gonna-- you don't even have a number like that. We know we have a number, and we're talking about the first 10 games.

AMIT MANN: Yeah.

CJ MILES: Like, think about that. You have a luxury of knowing there's 82 games, and you're still-- and we're still at a point of, oh, my god, he's gotta do it now. I can't do it now, even if I wanted to. If I was winning right now, if we were 10 and 0, you'd be saying, he can't do this all year. So either way, I can't win.

AMIT MANN: [LAUGHS]

CJ MILES: You know what I'm saying? Let me focus on what's in front of me.

AMIT MANN: Yeah. A comparable is that the LA Clippers-- so they've lost six in a row, right? And heading into the James Harden trade, someone asked Ty Lue, how long is it gonna take you to get things repped out and to figure out how to make the best out of these talented players? And he said, 10 games.

Clearly, it's going to be more than that. So that's Ty Lue dealing with his situation-- probably one of the hardest jobs in the league right now. And we're talking about Darko breaking the habits and also dealing with an offense that, like, let's be honest, is not conducive to 0.5 basketball because of the spacing limitations.

CJ MILES: Exactly.

AMIT MANN: We can't forget about that.

CJ MILES: Like, I'm trying to create something.

AMIT MANN: Yeah, a foundation with not ideal pieces. Yeah.

CJ MILES: With not the best soil, right? I'm trying to grow an apple tree. I got plenty of water. We want it.

AMIT MANN: You're doing it with apple juice. [CHUCKLES]

CJ MILES: Yeah, I don't have the best-- all the tools I need to do it right now.

AMIT MANN: Would you want to play for Darko?

CJ MILES: I would love to play 0.5 basketball.

AMIT MANN: Would you want to play for Darko?

CJ MILES: Yeah.

AMIT MANN: Everything you know about him, yeah?

CJ MILES: From what I know about him, yes-- from his attention to detail, from his paying attention to his players and what they need to be able to perform. He's also not allowing guys to sit in their habits, right? He's pushing guys. I want all of that as a player. I didn't know that when I was 18. But as who I am now, I would love to have that.

And as a young player, I think they should really cherish that because it's not always like that, as we know. Some coaches are just like, you're gonna do what I say. I don't care what your game is or what-- you're gonna do what I say because I know best.

It's not always, these are the players I have in front of me. What can I do to get the best out of them? What does he need for me to be able to coach him well? And that's what he's saying.

AMIT MANN: And also believing that there's more-- there's more to a player. And his development, he's been praised from so many people. Even when I talked to Justise Winslow last week, or earlier this week-- if you guys want to check out the interview, it was terrific. Great dude. I learned a lot about him.

But he said when he was in Memphis for that short stint with Darko, he's like, what stood out was his energy. His energy was nonstop. It didn't stop. Every single day, he was relentless with positive attitude. And just his mojo, he had a fire about him, a liveliness, that he said was infectious.

And that's something that I'm curious, how does that go over the course of the entire season, where maybe things aren't gonna go exactly well? But as I say that, it seems like Darko is gonna maintain it because that's just his character. That's who he is.

CJ MILES: Yeah, and that's the battle he can't lose.

AMIT MANN: Yeah. And it's not fake. Yeah.

CJ MILES: Because if he loses that battle, then it runs down the whole team, right? Like, if I look at him and who he's been since the beginning of the year one day goes away, I have no reason to really trust him because it makes me look like he was faking the whole time. It makes it look like everything is predicated on a result, and that's not who he is. It's not genuine. It's not-- it's not real.

Change only comes from it being real because I gotta serve it, even when it's not serving me. I gotta stay with this, if this is the right way, if I believe that. And if it's not, then I gotta make adjustments. But my energy can't change. I just make adjustments to what I'm doing.

And I admit that I was wrong and this isn't working for us. I say that to-- even if it gets to a point where it's, like, 0.5 basketball, we can't do it right now, say it out loud if it gets to that point so they can understand and that you take responsibility for, and they understand that you're watching them for real, you see their struggle. So let's figure out what works for us.

That's what leaders do. They lead. They figure out the necessities. The coach is only-- is only considered great based off what? How the players play. And we all know if players play well, you win. It's not based off always how, like, oh, yeah, he's cool. He's nice. But do the players play well?

AMIT MANN: Yeah. Do you think we get to the point where Darko is able to recruit free agents? Players are coming to Toronto because they are just jiving with how he is. They feel like he's someone that's gonna help them develop. And this was a reason why some players did end up coming to Toronto in the past.

I think of some of the names. I remember Justin Champagnie when he signed with the Raptors, right? And he's like, I came here because their development system. And there's been other players outside of him. But now it seems like the Raptors have something tangible to look at. There's a reason why it could be going this way is because Darko and his attitude and everything we're talking about in this conversation, especially the fact that--

I mean, we gotta talk about the fact that he is European. European basketball is growing. There are more European players arriving in the NBA. There are a couple of (WHISPERS) very good Serbian basketball players in the NBA. And also Darko is Serbian. And they know each other, and that'd be really cool. Anyways, do you think that's gonna become--

CJ MILES: Hampering.

[LAUGHTER]

No, I think it's something you get to add to the pot of this culture that's being placed and cultivated in Toronto, right? We know about the young guys. We have proof of the young guys and that we can develop guys from Fred, Pascal, OG, Dalan, Jak.

I was there. I can attest to that, right? I know my word doesn't matter now besides the podcast, but we know that system works. And we know they know how to do that.

So now adding that coach with the connections he has to great players and his reputation of who he is definitely helps. Now, we just have to add some winning to the equation. So now you can see-- now, the players on the outside can see that they just need me, or they just need this, they just need that.

Do I fill that role? I'm going there. Because if I fill that role, that team is really good. If I can get this-- if we can get enough pieces for teams to-- I mean, for players to really see the picture, then it changes everything.

You know Masai will do anything to win. You know that already. You know, him and Bobby, how they are. You know that. They traded arguably the two best Raptors of all time. And I don't mean that in a malicious way or a mean way but just saying they recognized that it was time. They didn't wait it out just to appease those guys.

[MUSIC PLAYING]