Transcription
The Raptors have promised us a lot over the past few months. They promised a more competitive team. They promised a roster, a group that will be more aggressive, more intense on the defensive end. They promised us development of the younger players coming into this year. And this one stat, this one latest development for this team proves everything they promised is coming to fruition. And it gives a little bit of nostalgia to Raptors fans as they are bringing back a competitive advantage that they had that ultimately culminated into an NBA championship.
So, we're going to break down all of these latest developments that prove all of the promises the Raptors have been making are coming to fruition and why Raptors fans should be very, very excited about the Toronto Raptor season that is starting tonight. We play against the Atlanta Hawks, a very, very, uh, you know, rebuilt team out there in the Eastern Conference, and I am absolutely pumped. We will be live for that game. So, make sure to check that out tonight. Turn on your notifications if you're not subscribed just yet.
But what's going on? Because again, Raptors fans, we've been waiting for this day. We've been waiting to see Brandon Ingram out there and play an actual competitive Toronto Raptor game beyond preseason. How is he going to look with this group? Darko Rajaković has been promising this entire summer a team that's going to be more aggressive. We saw it in summer league, a team that's going to be coming out and developing and all this type of stuff. And we've heard a lot of quotes. Brandon Ingram just gave a couple about this group, about this roster, saying this team can be whatever we want it to be. Ingram said, "We have everything on the defensive end. We play hard and the next thing is execution over and over again on the offensive end. The East is wide open this upcoming season. We have a chance to be better, but we got to expedite it." You know, talking about how moving forward in this rebuild, taking the team to the next level, everything that we've been hoping for for this team.
But again, we're going to break down more Ingram quotes. But a lot of this can be put up to just talk, can be put up to this, that, whatever. But there's one thing you can't really fake, and that is, you know, the numbers. That is the things that, uh, you know, the works it's going to win. Of course, winning games for the Toronto Raptors would prove a lot of this, but we haven't played any games yet. But there's one stat that, or a few stats that really should, you know, have Raptors fans excited. And this is some of the measurement changes we've seen from this group. Again, the height is whatever how that's getting listed and stuff. You know, Chuckie Hayes and, uh, Jonathan Moa ended up shrinking from the last measurements. That is what it is. But what is very interesting about this are the weight changes for this Toronto Raptor group because again, with this talk of, hey, these guys are going to come into their own. They're going to be focused this offseason, taking their games next level, development, all this stuff. Strength and conditioning is the most important thing that's being brought up. And it's something Darko has talked about being a very, very important thing coming into this year. And it feels like all of the Toronto Raptors in terms of, you know, strength, the condition that needed some added muscle, some added changes. You could see it visually out there in these games, but they took that very, very seriously.
And the first one that I do want to bring up is Brandon Ingram. We'll talk about a few of these guys, but Brandon Ingram put on 15 pounds. And if you look at Ingram out there on the court, it is 15 pounds of muscle. And this is extremely, extremely important for Brandon Ingram coming into this year because he's dealt with a ton of injuries. He's dealt with a ton of stuff. So strengthening those joints, strengthening those muscles to prevent injuries, to be able to take some hits and, you know, have that contact and come into this year and be as healthy as possible. That is going to go a long way for Ingram, who's going to be playing a ton of minutes for this group. And he's talked about it, right? He's come out and said, uh, you know, the Raptors, I felt a commitment right away when the trade happened. I felt a commitment from the first talk with Masai throughout the process when they were telling me that they were interested in me. I felt the love and commitment and how they raved about me on the phone. So, I was ready to get here and hopefully try to get to speed up my rehab. And went on to say that my body feels good. I can still do the things that I am known to do and I am in control of myself. The training staff has been really good at communicating to me and being there for me and asking questions and overcommunicating. I feel like I'm a good, in a good spot right now. I'm still trying to figure out, figure out Toronto out and get used to it. Last season when I got traded, I wasn't used to being in the cold and it snowed two months straight when I got there. I was wearing two pairs of clothes, uh, when I got here and then, but we've been good. Everybody shows love, whatever we got, I got out. So basically, Brandon Ingram has come to this team. He's in the mix and he is committed to this group, committed to working on his body, and he says it feels great. And that is absolutely crucial because we all expect Brandon Ingram to be phenomenal out there on the basketball court. I mean, his stats last season, 22 points per game, 5.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists. Brandon Ingram is an absolute beast. He's still in the prime of his career. And when he's out there with the ball in his hands, he's a bucket getter. He can facilitate. And the Raptors have said all the right things and put him in the right spots in preseason to really execute. So there's no worries on that. But him being stronger, being able to take more contact, being able to play more minutes and not deal with injuries, that is exactly what we are hoping for, knocking on wood. And this injury, this muscle development should really, really help his game.
But it's not just Brandon Ingram. This is a team-wide approach in terms of the intensity, in terms of taking this team to the next level. And we saw it from a lot of these guys. RJ Barrett, you know, a player that I have been sounding off. I do not want to trade. I think he is on the brink of really just turning into one of the most upper echelon wing players in the entire NBA. He put on more strength and you can see it in his, you know, body out there on the court. He's already always been good at taking contact and finishing through traffic. You add that extra layer of strength, you get that sort of the way Jimmy Butler has really, uh, you know, impacted his game, you know, slash and good stuff. He'll be able to get to the free throw line more and all this and injury prevention as well. And one thing I did want to note as well, right? Alex McKechnie got a lot of praise for Kawhi Leonard, injury management and stuff. This is the type of things that the Raptors have done in the past that have won us championships. So that's something very, very encouraging there.
But not just RJ Barrett, the young guys, right? If you want younger players to develop, of course, Gradey Dick put on a ton of muscle last season, but he put on nine more pounds of muscle, which should help him on the defensive end, not let him get pushed around. Jaden Springer, who was certainly very skinny last season. He really took that serious this year. Yo, we take a look at those numbers. He came out and went from 180 lbs to 201 lbs. That's 21 lbs of muscle. That is just absolutely insane there for Jaden Springer, which should be able to, you know, again, he's been a shooter, he's been a bucket getter, he's shot creator, but finishing in traffic, the more weight you have on, the more your center of gravity is lower. And if you have your body control, you're able to finish out there in the lane and score on people. So, you know, Jaden Springer being in that mix is good. Immanuel Quickley, a guy that, you know, I'm looking for big, big developments, big, big step forwards for him to establish himself as the starting guard, lead guard out there on this team and earn that contract. You know, him putting on some strength and stuff. Finishing is one of the things that, uh, he needs to develop because we know he's a great three-point shooter. We know he has that floater, but being able to get to the rim, use his body similar to Kyle Lowry, having an extra strength is huge. And it's just a long list of guys out there on this team. You know, Mamadi Diakite, AJ Lawson, you have Jakob Poeltl losing weight, which I think is a positive there to get some more mobility out at the center position. Obi Toppin putting on some strength. That is exactly what you want to see from this group coming in and putting their money where their mouth is. Because if you have all this talk, you know, promises, hey, we're going to be more intense. We're going to do all this. You got to, you know, do the hard part, which is the cardio, which is the strength training, which is putting the work in on your body. And, you know, nothing else came of it. At least that you can say that they tried because you put in the effort, it actually delivers out there what you put work on your body. So, the Raptors did all of that stuff and has me very, very excited about the game tonight.
Cuz tonight the Toronto Raptors play against the Atlanta Hawks. We do have some interesting developments there on, uh, on this front. So, we'll take a take a look at those if we get the the right things brought up. Yeah, that's, uh, that's a lot, lot, lots of stuff happening here, but, uh, basically and intensity defensively. The Raptors are trying to be locked in. Uh, Brandon Ingram said Darko's defensive schemes are 12 out of 10. So excited to see them in actual action, but we do have some injury developments as Jakob Poeltl was a full participant in practice yesterday and Koloko was a limited, limited participant to non-contact only. So, it's unlikely to see Koloko play tonight, but Jakob Poeltl should be in the lineup and should be ready to go for game one. Of course, Jakob Poeltl is one of the most important players out there on this Toronto Raptors team. Without Jakob, this team is very, very thin out there on the front line. So, nice to see Jakob Poeltl practicing well yesterday and, uh, ready to go. Of course, we want to see Koloko ready to rock because again, he's important part of this front court. And we actually, I'm able to believe he can have an impact early.
So, let me know what you guys think. If you're excited about this game tonight, again, check us out. We're going live for this, uh, you'll watch along here tonight, so I don't want you to miss a single thing. And, uh, fantasy league basketball will be back. Setting that all up today. Anyways, you guys the best. I'm signing out.