Siakam challenges "quiet" Raptors team to speak up more
The Toronto Raptors are in search of some noise — on and off the court.
Heading into last night’s contest against the Atlanta Hawks on a four-game losing streak, Toronto was in dire need of a big performance to help right their course.
And it was Pascal Siakam leading the way for Toronto, dropping 35 points, including five three-pointers, to give Toronto its 10th win of the year.
Following Toronto’s win over the Hawks, Siakam challenged his teammates to speak up a bit more while on the court.
“I think for the most part, we were solid into the principles that the coaches want us to have out there in the game. I thought we did it a lot better. I thought we trusted it a little bit more, I thought we communicated well, which I feel like is something that we have to do better,” Siakam said following the game.
Siakam himself has been characterized as mostly a calm leader, someone who leads by example rather than with his voice. Back in May 2022, former Raptors head coach Nick Nurse compared him to Kawhi Leonard — someone who shows up, works hard, and lets their play speak for itself — which can work in some situations, but is, in theory, less effective when the team is in search of answers on how to rise in the Eastern Conference standings.
“I always say, the character of our team, we have a lot of quiet people. You go out there in the game, we have to find a way to energize each other, find a way to communicate to each other, and I thought we did that better today,” Siakam added.
Siakam emphasized the team’s defensive end as a particular area where he feels they could communicate a little better, as they’ve been outscored 114.4-112.8 on average this season. It’s a small margin, sure, but a few baskets stopped here and there could be all the difference between a winning record and the Raptors’ current mark of 10-14.
Pascal Siakam says the #Raptors have “a lot of quiet people” and admits they could communicate better on the court.
“We have to find a way to energize each other… and I thought we did that a lot better today.” pic.twitter.com/GI0DhvEh5w
— Adam Laskaris (@adam_la2karis) December 14, 2023
“Just knowing that you have somebody there, just some of the concepts we have on defence, applying them and at the same time, sometimes you’re in the game and you can just be thinking something else or you’re not doing what you’re supposed to be doing. And sometimes if your teammate’s [talking to you], it just reminds you [what to do]. I think sometimes we just miss that,” Siakam added.
The Raptors return to the floor tomorrow night for the rubber match of a two-game set with the Hawks, again at Scotiabank Arena. Tipoff is set for 7:30 pm ET.
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