On working with the brash Tim Leiweke, president and CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment
“As a leader, for me, I love it. What else can he do? Is he supposed to go sit in his office and just manage us? He has to challenge us. He has to challenge the organization and the people that work for him … He’s engaging. You just walk into his office and you’re fired up. That’s just his nature. It’s not something that you see that he’s just saying in the paper. He acts it. He treats people that work for him well. We love that.”
“As a leader, for me, I love it. What else can he do? Is he supposed to go sit in his office and just manage us? He has to challenge us. He has to challenge the organization and the people that work for him … He’s engaging. You just walk into his office and you’re fired up. That’s just his nature. It’s not something that you see that he’s just saying in the paper. He acts it. He treats people that work for him well. We love that.”
On what he expects from the Raptors
“The team has to play. That’s the plan. The team has to play for us to make an assessment of where we feel they are. What part of the season can [we draw conclusions]? I don’t know. I don’t know how long it will take. We’re going to assess every game. … I really can’t say this team is going to be fourth or seventh or 12th. I can’t do that. I want us to have growth, big-time growth, and improvement so that we can actually know what we have on this team. And then we can move from there. Right now I don’t think we know what we have? Have guys reached their potential? Have guys reached their peak? Have guys levelled out? Can guys get better? Are guys going to get worse? You have to give them the opportunity now.”
“The team has to play. That’s the plan. The team has to play for us to make an assessment of where we feel they are. What part of the season can [we draw conclusions]? I don’t know. I don’t know how long it will take. We’re going to assess every game. … I really can’t say this team is going to be fourth or seventh or 12th. I can’t do that. I want us to have growth, big-time growth, and improvement so that we can actually know what we have on this team. And then we can move from there. Right now I don’t think we know what we have? Have guys reached their potential? Have guys reached their peak? Have guys levelled out? Can guys get better? Are guys going to get worse? You have to give them the opportunity now.”
On the similar skill sets of DeMar DeRozan and Rudy Gay
“They both have parts of their games that I think they have to work on in order to play well with each other. I think they’ve put in the work this summer. Are they similar? Yes. Is it because they take a lot of mid-range jumpers — I think that’s the perception, or that’s what it is. I think they’ll get better at it. They are young in some ways. What you find with those kinds of players, what we’re saying is wrong with them, you can teach. What they have, you can’t teach. They’re athletes. They’re long. They’re agile. I feel that there’s a chance that they can get better. We’re going to see if this will happen.”
“They both have parts of their games that I think they have to work on in order to play well with each other. I think they’ve put in the work this summer. Are they similar? Yes. Is it because they take a lot of mid-range jumpers — I think that’s the perception, or that’s what it is. I think they’ll get better at it. They are young in some ways. What you find with those kinds of players, what we’re saying is wrong with them, you can teach. What they have, you can’t teach. They’re athletes. They’re long. They’re agile. I feel that there’s a chance that they can get better. We’re going to see if this will happen.”
On the role of advanced statistical analysis in team building
“It’s a great part of the game to know. I think the NBA is trendy. I don’t want to say it’s the trend now. But that’s the nature of us. I think analytics are a huge part. We have a good department that studies the game that way. I study the game that way. With the NBA, that’s just how it is. One day it’s high-school players. The next day it’s international players. Another day it’s the big three. The next day is analytics. Our job is to find out what’s the next thing that is going to be advantageous to us and contribute to winning.”
“It’s a great part of the game to know. I think the NBA is trendy. I don’t want to say it’s the trend now. But that’s the nature of us. I think analytics are a huge part. We have a good department that studies the game that way. I study the game that way. With the NBA, that’s just how it is. One day it’s high-school players. The next day it’s international players. Another day it’s the big three. The next day is analytics. Our job is to find out what’s the next thing that is going to be advantageous to us and contribute to winning.”
Lots of good talking points in here. A few more on the link.
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