Yuta Watanabe flaunts Scottie Barnes ‘ROTY’ propaganda in post-game presser

Rocking a Scottie Barnes ‘Rookie Of The Year’ shirt, Yuta Watanabe made it clear who he thinks deserves the prestigious award this season. The Raptors forward also discussed how he stays ready when playing scarce minutes off the bench and more. Follow our Raptors coverage all season long on Yahoo Sports Canada.

Video Transcript

- Just gave your vote-- I guess you don't have a vote.

YUTA WATANABE: I don't have a vote, but I'm--

- Did he give you that shirt or is that yours?

YUTA WATANABE: No, I don't know who gave it to me. But after the game, they had two t-shirts on the chair and one of them was this. So I just decided to wear this.

- What's it like coming into a game-- been off for a while and it's like play the whole fourth quarter.

YUTA WATANABE: I'm not going to lie. It's not easy to do. But that's what I have to do, just stay ready no matter what, no matter injured, not being out of rotation and stuff like that. But that's what a pro have to do, just stay ready. And when your number is called, you've got to show what you've been working on it.

That's the opportunity I got. So I thought I wasn't perfect, but I did a good job tonight. And I'm glad we won tonight.

- You said you didn't have a lot of energy in that fourth quarter and were affected. But you seem really frustrated after missing the dunk when you went to the timeout. Why so much frustration?

YUTA WATANABE: That was-- just because I missed it. And well, actually, I saw the Twitter after the game. People were saying, that was a great block. But I didn't get blocked, first of all.

So I didn't get blocked. I just missed it. Sometimes that happens when you're not playing for a week or so. But I still got to make it though.

- [INAUDIBLE] When they were struggling their first couple of months, one of the great things was all the teammates, they never made them feel like they were playing badly, and they kept on encouraging them. What's the support been like for you?

YUTA WATANABE: Yeah, it's been the same to me. They are always talking to me, communicating with me, not only players, but coaching staff too, just keep encouraging me. So the last couple of months was very hard for me. Especially in the beginning of the season, I was on the rotation guy and now I'm out.

So it's been tough, but they made me-- they made my confidence keeping high. And so because of them I was able to show play like this tonight. So I really appreciate their support and I love my teammates.

- How excited are you to see the playoff atmosphere [INAUDIBLE]

YUTA WATANABE: I'm sorry?

- How excited are you to see--

YUTA WATANABE: Oh, yeah, I'm super excited. And it's going to be my first playoff in my first season, so it's going to be fun. I'm going to be ready. We're going to be ready. So I'm really excited about it.

- Could we do a few words for online questions?

- Thank you. So we'll do a question for you first in English from Christos and then we'll go to the Japanese media so go ahead Christos.

- Hey, good luck and congratulations on the win, first of all. From your perspective and everything that you see from the practices until now, how good is this team potential wise.

YUTA WATANABE: How good we are? Very good. I think we can definitely compete for championships. So we have only one [INAUDIBLE] game left.

We definitely are trying to get [INAUDIBLE] in the New York. And I think we're ready. We're going to have six days off, but we're going to have great practices.

We're not going to know who we're going to play in the first round. But no matter who we're going to play, we're going to be ready. So I'm really excited.

- And those about your role of the team, how important for you personally is to bring a positive vibe, even to stay on the bench or you play on the floor for 10, 15 minutes, or more or less. How important for you is it to bring a positive vibe in the team with your presence?

YUTA WATANABE: Yeah, just trying to be a good teammate. Sometimes I've seen-- not on the Raptors-- but I have seen the guys who's not playing, just sit on the bench, not clap your hands, or not standing up and cheering for their teammates. But that that's not who I am.

No matter what, I'm going to just stand up and cheer for my teammates and just keep giving them positive energy. So I think especially when I'm not playing, that's my job. So I'm going to just keep doing it.

- Thank you very much.

YUTA WATANABE: Thank you.