"Highly disappointing": Rajakovic says Raptors need more effort on defence
If you were to create a list of the most memorable basketball seasons in NBA history, the 2023-24 Toronto Raptors would be pretty, pretty far down the list.
The team has now gone 1-9 in March, including a string of eight straight losses. With a record of 23-46, they’re 7.5 games back of the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference, and are on pace for their fewest wins in an 82-game season since 2005-06.
The franchise committing to a rebuild wasn’t much of a shock to anyone who closely follows the team, much less to head coach Darko Rajakovic — who was brought in with the possibility of pivoting towards the future when he was hired last summer.
But following a loss of 123-89 on Wednesday night at the hands of the Sacramento Kings, Rajakovic was asked about the team’s effort levels, and he suggested the team still had quite a bit of room to grow in that area.
“Effort is up and down like any other team,” Rajakovic replied. “There was definitely moments where the effort was not good enough. Especially when you’re committing turnovers and not getting back on defence. Highly disappointing. We’re trying to move the ball and mistakes happen, but we’ve still got to get back on defence and cover for each other and play hard.”
The Raptors committed 21 turnovers on the evening, while also giving up 36 fast break points to the Kings. Over the last 15 games, Toronto’s defensive rating has slipped to 116.8, ranking 27th in the league over that span.
With an off-day on Thursday, the Raptors return to the Scotiabank Arena court on Friday night against Shai Gligeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder. It’s an earlier tip-off than usual for most Raptors home games, starting at 7 pm ET.
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