Interview with Bayless and Stojakovic (Fan 590)

[Built Ford Tough]

http://www.fan590.com/media.jsp?content=20101123_145934_2852

 

For those of you don't want to listen, I'll recap a bit.

 

 

Bayless

 

- Knew a trade was coming

 

- Called playing in a sports city like Toronto the "opportunity of a lifetime" and always wanted to play with a youthful group like this one

 

- Said he is excited to learn from Jose about how to become a point guard. Wants to learn how to run a team and has no problems coming off the bench

 

- Said that he is excited to play with DeMar as they've known each other since he was 14 (through AAU ball and what not)

 

- Very excited to play on a team with athletes like Toronto. Wants to get out and run, run, run

 

 

Peja Stojakovic

 

- Unsure of what role they want him to fill, but open to anything

 

- Aware that he may not be in Toronto for long

 

- Excited about the fresh start in Toronto. Likes the city and has always enjoyed coming to Toronto in the past

 

- Will talk to Colangelo in the future about whether this is a good fit or not

 

- Sounded frustrated about how things in New Orleans ended (my own interpertation)

 

 

 

It sounds like Bayless is really excited to be in Toronto (and not just the usual, professionally correct enthusiasm either). He seems to really want to develop his game as a point guard and not a scoring combo guard. Sounds super excited to play in a faster paced system and it sounds like Colangelo/Triano emphasized pushing the ball to him.

 

Stojakovic, on the other hand, sounded like he doesn't expect to be in Toronto for very long. I don't know if it is just his personality or what, but he doesn't really seem all that excited (might be just because he is a laid back person) and seems to realize that he probably won't have much of a role with the team and is a short term solution.

 

Anyways, slow day for Raptor news so I thought I'd pass this along.

[*Swish*]

Loving the excitement that Bayless has. I'm sure he's going to have a great season with us!

[Built Ford Tough]

Here are Jay Triano's comments from practice earlier today:

 

- Both new guys seem happy to have a fresh start: “I think they’re guys that weren’t playing in a situation down in New Orleans and I think that the one thing players always want to do is the ability to play. They want to go out and be on the floor. They come in and it’s like the start of a new school year for them. Come in with the right attitude, work hard and try to find their way into a rotation spot.”

 

- How soon did you get to work on the playbook with Bayless?: “Physical was done at 5 o’clock yesterday. At 5:05 he had a playbook. That fast. We ran through a bunch of plays today. He saw it on paper overnight and we ran through it today and we’ll show him some video clips of some of the things we’ve been able to capture this year of our stuff just so he knows what to look for. For the most part, in the game tomorrow we’ll probably have a very short playbook so that he can concentrate more on playing rather than running the team.”

 

- How will it be easier for him, playing with a faster-paced offence here: “The first thing we told him about our playbook is, if there’s somebody in front of you, pass it ahead. Don’t worry about running plays. When we have to get set in the halfcourt, we’ll have some simple stuff and easy stuff for you. Drag screens and pushing the ball up the floor and hitting the guy in front of you are probably the key things we touched on with him already.”

 

- On Peja’s role with the team: “Probably situational right now, but I don’t think I want to close the book on him and say this is where we see you. We’ve got to find a way for him to fit into our rotation. If he does that and knocks down shots, he’s going to help us. I think he’s shooting the basketball last night when he was in here, shooting it today, excellent. We knew he was a good shooter, but just to watch it go through, there’s no variance on where that ball goes. It goes right through the middle every time. We’ve just got to find him ways to get that shot off in the game and find him a way to be on the floor.”

 

http://blogs.thescore.com/raptorblog/2010/11/23/were-talking-practice-and-bayless-and-peja/

 

There are also comments from Calderon, Barbosa and a more detailed recap of the interviews that I posted above.

[Check my Stats]

Excited to see Bayless play. He is finally being given a chance, hopefully, like Sonny, he will take the ball and run with it.

[Check my Stats]

Excited to see Bayless play. He is finally being given a chance, hopefully, like Sonny, he will take the ball and run with it.